Tradition

Each Saturday morning since the inauguration I have posted the weekly radio address of our president, Barack Obama. I have chosen to do this as a tradition to my page first and foremost because of how much I believe in and support this individual. President Obama motivated a nation to elect him president by a wide margin. After two months in office, he has been actively involved in so many different ways making decisions to get our nation back on track. He has made himself available to so many different groups of people and the nation in general. This past week he became the first sitting president on "The Tonight Show." While he focused on the problems facing this country mainly in terms of the economy and the AIG debacle, he also showed us a personal side. His self-deprecating humor unfortunately came at the expense of the Special Olympics when he described his bowling style. So, he isn't perfect. By now, he has long since apologized for the offhand remark, but I am sure he isn't the first president to make one. And if that's as bad as it gets, he's doing just fine.

The Saturday tradition is important to me because it impresses me and is humbling to see how much our president has to do. It is important that he remains in touch with the people that he serves. I guess that is one aspect of President Bush's presidency that left me very jaded. The refusal to listen to reason, it seemed, or to even consider the possibilities when it came to decisions for our country. I'm all for having principles and standing for something, but the business of our country is the business of a wide variety of people. So standing for what you, as an individual wants to believe in, simply cannot fly when you have been elected to represent a lot of very different people.

Each week President Obama has touched on interesting topics. He focused for the first month on the economy because plainly that is an issue that's at the top of the list, I would say, along with the ongoing war, that we as Americans are most concerned with. But other important issues are not being swept under the carpet. We learned about the upgrade to the Food and Drug Administration last weekend.

So, as a teacher, I feel it is my patriotic duty to report on what our president is doing. And it is mainly because this is a president who is really "one of us" that drives me to support him as much as I do. And there are still those who would sit and complain. There are still the naysayers who simply aren't happy because their favorite color is red and not blue, or some other silly immature reason for not liking President Obama. And there are others with more grown up concerns about his philosophy that they aren't in agreement with. But whenever I hear complaints about President Obama, I just think of the alternate government we might have had under President McCain and Vice-President Palin and I think the country made the right choice. And lastly, for those people with the audacity to say that they would be more sympathetic to President Obama if others would have shown the same kindness to President Bush, here is what I have to say to you. Had President Bush been a little bit more down to earth to the nation and shown some understanding or made an effort to reach out, I am sure he might have garnered more support. But clearly he was all about himself and was going to cut off his nose to spite his face. That is the type of individual who has a tough time finding a shoulder to cry on or comfort to give. I have never questioned his patriotism, just about everything else.

I, along with the rest of the nation, was clearly glad to see him go. I wish him luck.

And now, to continue the weekly tradition of hearing from our President, I bring you the highlights of the March 21 radio and internet address:

HIGHLIGHTS:

Last week I spent a few days in California talking with ordinary Americans. We talked about their struggles and hopes. They were concerned mostly about the very real and serious challenges their families face every day: jobs and paychecks; college tuition and medical bills; a safer and more prosperous world. They are concerned about the budget I sent to Congress last month.

This budget is an economic blueprint for our future; a vision for America based on a firm foundation on investments in energy, education, and healthcare. They are an essential part of a comprehensive strategy that attack the problems that have dragged down our economy.

As Congress takes up this budget next week, the details will change. But I expect a budget that meets four principles:

(a) reduce our dependence on foreign oil and put us on a path to a clean, renewable future; we have a proposed clean energy as profitable while investing in wind and solar power and efficient cars and trucks built here in America;

(b) a complete and competitive education for every American; countries outcompeting us today will outcompete us tomorrow; we have proposed investments in child education programs that work; high accountability and standards for our children; it is time to demand excellence from our schools;

(c) a serious investment in healthcare reform; guarantee people their choice of doctors and hospitals; some are just one illness away from bankruptcy; Medicare costs are consuming our federal budgets; healthcare reform and fiscal discipline - it's one of the best ways to reduce it;

(d) finally, this budget must reduce the deficit even further; it will cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term; $2 trillion cut in the next two decades; it's lowest level in nearly half a century; we will continue making tough choices in the months and years ahead.

I will discuss these principles next week as Congress discusses this budget. The challenges we face are too tough to ignore. I came here to solve problems, not pass them on. The American people are watching and waiting for us to succeed. Let's pass a budget that puts this nation on the road to a lasting prosperity.