[발췌: White House's remarks on] One Year After the Recovery Act of 2009

출처: Remarks by the President and the Vice President on the One-Year Anniversary of the Signing of the Recovery Act 

날짜: February 17, 2010

• 자료: The White House, Office of the Press Secretary
• 참고기사: "Obama says stimulus halted ‘catastrophe’" (Financial Times, Last updated: February 18, 2010)

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※ 발췌(excerpts):

THE VICE PRESIDENT: (...)  It's been one year today since the President signed the Recovery Act into law, and I'm probably preaching to the choir here as to how beneficial it's been.  I stand before you, as I said, actually one day -- actually the exact day to a year that we signed this act.  And what I want to talk about is what we've accomplished, where we were back then, where I think we are now, and where we're going. 

( ... ... )

THE PRESIDENT:  ( ... ) I want to begin by recalling where we were one year ago.  Millions of jobs had already been lost to the recession before I was sworn into office.  Another 800,000 would be lost in the month of January.  We'd later learn that our economy had shrunk by an astounding 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2009.  And economists from across the political spectrum warned that if dramatic action was not taken to break the back of the recession, the United States could spiral into another depression. 

That was the backdrop against which I signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in Denver with Blake alongside.  It certainly wasn't a politically easy decision to make for me or for the members of Congress who supported it -- because, let's face it, no large expenditure is ever that popular, particularly at a time when we're also facing a massive deficit.  But we acted because failure to do so would have led to catastrophe.  We acted because we had a larger responsibility than simply winning the next election.  We had a responsibility to do what was right for the U.S. economy and for the American people.

One year later, it is largely thanks to the Recovery Act that a second depression is no longer a possibility.  It's one of the main reasons the economy has gone from shrinking by 6 percent to growing at about 6 percent.  And this morning we learned that manufacturing production posted a strong gain.  So far, the Recovery Act is responsible for the jobs of about 2 million Americans who would otherwise be unemployed.  These aren't just our numbers; these are the estimates of independent, nonpartisan economists across the spectrum.

Now, despite all this, the bill still generates some controversy.  And part of that is because there are those, let's face it, across the aisle who have tried to score political points by attacking what we did, even as many of them show up at ribbon-cutting ceremonies for projects in their districts.  (Laughter and applause.)  But if we're honest, part of the controversy also is, is that despite the extraordinary work that has been done through the Recovery Act, millions of Americans are still without jobs.  Millions more are struggling to make ends meet.  So it doesn't yet feel like much of a recovery.  And I understand that.  It's why we're going to continue to do everything in our power to turn this economy around.

( ... ... )