Alan Greenspan Admits He Made a Mistake by Not Intervening

Alan Greenspan

Congressional Confessions!

(CNN) -- The former head of the U.S. Federal Reserve admitted he made a mistake during his time as chair by presuming that lenders were more capable than regulators of protecting their finances, adding he was "shocked" when the system "broke down."He said that the U.S. is "in the midst of a credit tsunami," -- but that it will emerge from the credit crisis with a "far sounder financial system."

"I still do not understand exactly how it happened," he said.

Alan Greenspan, who chaired the reserve from 1987 through 2006, also added Thursday that whatever regulatory changes are made to respond to the crisis, "they will pale in comparison to the change already evident in today's markets."

Greenspan, who some analysts say did not do enough to control financial institutions during his two-decade tenure, made his comments in prepared testimony to the House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee.


Fears of recession continued to cause turbulent swings in stock markets worldwide Thursday.

The U.S. Dow Jones industrial average gained around 172 points to finish at 8,691, erasing a loss of as much as 275 points.


And he backed the $700 billion Wall Street bailout approved by Congress, which allows the U.S. government to buy bad mortgage investments from finance firms or buy a stake in troubled companies.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares ended the day up 1.16 percent, while Germany's DAX 30 was down 1.12 percent and France's CAC 40 up 0.38 percent. Watch how the markets progress

The economic turmoil will be the focus of the two-day, 43-nation Asia-Europe Meeting, which opens Friday in Beijing, according to European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso, speaking at the EU's Beijing office Thursday.


Leaders hope this week's summit in China will help bring agreement on a response to the crisis ahead of a November 15 meeting hosted by U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington.

"We need a coordinated global response to reform the global financial system. We are living in unprecedented times and we need unprecedented levels of global coordination," The Associated Press reported Barroso as saying. "It's very simple. We swim together or we sink together."

Barroso outlined no specific proposals but said a solution needed to be based on transparency, responsibility, cross-border supervision and global governance. He also said the world's financial system needed "major reform." Do we really need to rebuild, asks Charles Hodson

The current financial turmoil was sparked by the U.S. housing market collapse and a credit freeze in the United States and around the globe that is showing signs of affecting economic growth.

In Tokyo Thursday, the Nikkei declined 2.5 percent by late afternoon while South Korea's KOSPI closed down 5 percent. The All Ordinaries index in Australia declined 4.4 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 3.5 percent.

The Asian indexes declined after the Dow lost 514 points, or 5.7 percent, on Wednesday. Watch how Asian markets fall »

Amid the wild swings in both stocks and commodities over the last few weeks, "fundamentals matter very little right now" in the U.S. market, said Ned Riley, chief investment strategist at Riley Asset Management.

He said that most of what is happening is being driven by traders with a very short-term perspective.

On the upside, lending rates continue to improve, as the efforts of world governments to stabilize financial markets started to kick in. But any relief about the improvement in the credit market has been overshadowed by recession fears.

"Some of these programs are starting to work, but it's going to take a while for borrowing to reach the consumer," he said.

The declines on these markets comes after the Dow Jones industrial average lost 514 points, or 5.7 percent, on Wednesday -- the Dow's seventh worst ever point loss.

"The credit crunch seems to be behind us, and we are shifting focus to corporate earnings and economic conditions, and clearly both are deteriorating," Alex Tang, head of research at Core Pacific-Yamaichi in Hong Kong, told The Associated Press.

Main Street bank Wachovia -- which is due to merge with Wells Fargo -- reported a heavier-than-expected third quarter loss of $23.9 billion.

دعها تعمل ... أم دعها تغـرق؟

الرئيس السابق للخزانة الفيدرالية الأمريكية ينتقل من مقعد الأستاذ في الكونجرس الأمريكي ليتلقى الاتهامات بأنه أساء إدارة الاقتصاد عندما لم يستجب للتقارير التي نصحت بالتدخل لترشيد سياسات الإقراض.

آلان جرين سبان الذي جلس على مقعد رئاسة الخزانة الفيدرالية الأمريكية لمدة 19 عاماً يجلس أمام الكونجرس ليتلقى اللوم والاتهامات بعد أن كان يعد بمثابة أستاذ الاقتصاد الذي طالما حاضر الكونجرس وجلس أعضاؤه أمامه في مقاعد التلاميذ لسنوات طويلة. لقد اتهمه الأعضاء بأنه لم يقم بواجبه بالتدخل بصورة مبكرة أثناء ولايته ليمنع البنوك من التصرف طبقاً لسياسات ائتمان خرقاء.

واعترف ألان جرين سبان بأنه كان مخطئاً:

لقد ارتكبت خطأ عندما افترضت أن المصلحة الذاتية للمؤسسات والبنوك على الخصوص يمكن أن تجعل هذه المؤسسات تتصرف بشكل رشيد كفيل بحماية مصالح حملة الأسهم ... وما زلت لا أفهم أسباب الأزمة بصورة كاملة.

إن الافتراض الذي يتبناه الاناركيون (الفوضويون) والليبرتاريون المتطرفون نحو اليمين

Libertarians

بأنه على الحكومة تقليص القوانين والأجهزة التنظيمية

Regulatory Bodies

لأقصى درجة أثبت فشله تماماً مثل الجانب المتطرف على الناحية الأخرى من التطرف نحو اليسار والذي يفترض أنه على الدولة أن تتملك وسائل الإنتاج، بما يؤكد بصورة عملية أن السياسات المتوازنة الوسطية

Centrist Economic Policies

وسياسات الطريق الثالث الاقتصادية

Third Way Policies

التي توازن بين السوق الحر وتدخل الدولة من خلال أجهزة التنظيم وتبني السياسات التحفيزية لقيادة الاقتصاد نحو نقاط الاتزان الطبيعية بعيداً عن الوقوع في الأزمات العنيفة، العميقة والطويلة التي تنتج من التسيب المفرط و أن فكرة "دعها تعمل" إن لم تتوازن معها سياسات اقتصادية رشيدة إنما تتحول إلى "دعها تخرب"، أو دعها تغرق.

Joe the Plumber Again

Setting the Record Straight

for Joe the Plumber

I received an email from my wife (yes, we live in the same house, but I am away from home traveling. Actually sometimes we do communicate in email while being in the same house :) with more updated research on Joe the Plumber. It appears that I have been misled by a previous source. Please accept my apologies that my previous posts about Joe contained wrong information. I had relied on the source quoted which may have had wrong information.

Anyway, here are the updated "facts", this time according to updated source of information (WIKI). I will just publish the letter as it is.

An Update on Joe the Plumber

Quote

Just to get things straight

Joe the plummer's name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher

So his name is Joe

He works for a plumming company but does not have a license

According to WIKI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Wurzelbacher

Obama was talking to Joe (he was out playing football with his son) and joe told him that he wants to buy the plumming business he works in for 250000 to 270000 dollars and that Obama's new tax would increase his taxation.

I think personally that he was McCain's bait to Obama

This part is really funny:

"Wurzelbacher spoke to Katie Couric of CBS Evening News on October 15, shortly after the conclusion of the final debate. Asked whether Obama's proposed $250,000 tax threshold would affect him, Wurzelbacher replied: "Not right now at presently, but, you know, question, so he's going to do that now for people who make $250,000 a year. When's he going to decide that $100,000 is too much, you know? I mean, you're on a slippery slope here. You vote on somebody who decides that $250,000 and you're rich? And $100,000 and you're rich? I mean, where does it end?"

Also it turns out that the company he works in is a small company and does not make 250,000 in revenues - it makes 100,000

He is a registered republican since 1992 - proving my point that he was placed there by Mccaine

So the story is a bit different i think than you say in the note - although just as juicy

P.S.

It appears that Joe does not pay his taxes.

Unquote

Network of Arab Liberals (NAL) Meets in Tunis

دور المرأة في الأحزاب


السياسية في العالم العربي



تعقد شبكة الليبراليين مؤتمراً وورشة عمل عن دور المرأة في الأحزاب السياسية في العالم العربي، برعاية مؤسسة فريدريش ناومان للحرية. و تناقش الورشة الإطار الدستوري والقانوني في الدول العربية والضمانات التي يقدمها الدستور لدعم المساواة بين المرأة و الرجل، وما هي الضمانات الإضافية المطلوبة لتحسين أوضاع المرأة في كافة المجالات، مع التركيز على المجال السياسي. ويستعرض المشاركون الإطار القانوني المنظم لدور المرأة في المجتمع وهل هناك قوانين تمييزية أم لا، ما هو موقف الدول العربية من اتفاقية الامم المتحدة لإزالة كافة أشكال التمييز ضد المرأة ( السيداو)، والآليات المختلفة التي تتبعها بعض البلدان العربية لدعم المشاركة السياسية للمرأة مثل نظام تخصيص المقاعد في المجالس النيابية (الكوتا).

كما يستعرض المشاركون الواقع السياسي للمرأة، ومدى مشاركة النساء في البرلمانات العربية، ووصولها لرئاسة أحزاب عربية، أو توليها مناصب تنفيذية (وزيرات) في دولتكم، وتمحيص الممارسات التمييزية الحكومية لعمل المرأة السياسي في بعض الدول، وما هو رد فعل الأحزاب والمنتديات المشاركة تجاه مثل تلك الممارسات التمييزية، والاستراتيجيات التي تتبناها تلك الأحزاب لتقوية دور المرأة في دولتكم، ابرز إسهامات الأحزاب المشاركة في دعم المرأة في بلدكم.

ويشارك في المؤتمر ممثلون عن الأحزاب والمنتديات والفعاليات العربية من لبنان، الأردن، فلسطين، مصر، تونس، المغرب، الجزائر.

ويعقد المكتب التنفيذي للشبكة اجتماعاً على هامش المؤتمر يناقش فيه مجموعة من القضايا التنظيمية وبرمجة أنشطة الشبكة في الفترة القادمة.

Joe the Plumber

جو السباك


طلع مش سباك


وبيكسب ربع مليون دولار في السنة!





أوباما اتهم ماكين بتضليل الناخبين الأمريكيين عندما أوحى أنه (ماكين) يدافع عن جو السباك الغلبان الذي سوف يقع ضحية لسياسات أوباما الضريبية المتعسفة.

جو السباك بطل المناظرة الذي جاء ذكره 13 مرة في المناظرة طلع أصلاً مش سباك ولا يحزنون. طلع كمان اسمه سام. وطلع إنه بيكسب 250 ألف دولار في السنة - يعني حوالي مليون و400 ألف جنيه مصري في السنة.

السياسة الضريبية لأوباما تجعل من يكسبون أكثر من 250 ألف دولار في السنة يخضعون لضريبة 39% بدلاً من المعدل الحالي وهو 36%. ومن الجدير بالذكر أن 5% فقط من دافعي الضرائب يدخلون في هذه الشريحة.

وكان أوباما قد انتقد سياسة التنقيط التي تخفض الضرائب عن المليونيرات والبليونيرات على أمل أن هذا الفائض سوف يملئ الصحن فينقط الصحن بالرخاء على الغلابة والمساكين وقال أن الشعب الأمريكي لم يعد بقادر على تحمل هذه النظرية.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081016/ap_on_re_us/joe_the_plumber

Joe the Plumber is not a Plumber, his Name is Sam and he makes $250K a Year

Joe the Plumber

is not Really a Plumber

And He Makes $250,000 a Year !

Get this. Joe the Plumber makes a quarter million dollars a year. He is not actually a licensed plumber. His name is not even Joe!

According to JOHN SEEWER, an Associated Press Writer , Obama accused McCain of misleading the American People over "Joe the Plumber" story. On Thursday in New Hampshire, Obama said McCain was misleading voters by proposing tax plans that favor the rich while criticizing an Obama tax plan that would raise taxes only on people making more than $250,000 a year, just 5 percent of all taxpayers.

"He's trying to suggest that a plumber is the guy he's fighting for," Obama said. "How many plumbers you know that are making a quarter-million dollars a year?"

According to Obama's tax proposal, those earning more than $250,000 per year will pay 39% taxes instead of currently paying 36%.

Obama was recently quoted criticizing the "trickle down" tax policies saying that the American people "can't afford four more years of the economic theory that says that we should be giving more and more to millionaires and billionaires hoping that prosperity will trickle down everyone else."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081016/ap_on_re_us/joe_the_plumber

Obama Wins Final Presidential Debate

Poll: Debate Watchers Say Obama Wins

Final Presidential Debate

HEMPSTEAD, New York (CNN) -- A majority of debate watchers think Sen. Barack Obama won the third and final presidential debate, according to a national poll conducted right afterward.

Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain debate face to face Wednesday (15 Oct 2008) night.

Fifty-eight percent of debate watchers questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said Democratic candidate Obama did the best job in the debate, with 31 percent saying Republican Sen. John McCain performed best.

The poll also suggests that debate watchers' favorable opinion of Obama rose slightly during the debate, from 63 percent at the start to 66 percent at the end. The poll indicates that McCain's favorables dropped slightly, from 51 percent to 49 percent.

The economy was the dominant issue of the debate, and 59 percent of debate watchers polled said Obama would do a better job handling the economy, 24 points ahead of McCain.
During the debate, McCain attacked Obama's stance on taxes, accusing Obama of seeking tax increases that would "spread the wealth around." But by 15 points, 56 percent to 41 percent, debate watchers polled said Obama would do a better job on taxes. By a 2-1 margin, 62 percent to 31 percent, debate watchers said Obama would do a better job on health care.

Sixty-six percent of debate watchers said Obama more clearly expressed his views, with 25 percent saying McCain was more clear about his views.

By 23 points, those polled said Obama was the stronger leader during the debate. By 48 points, they said Obama was more likeable.

Comments:

McCain advisers said before the debate that McCain needed to win this debate. He did not. Obama went into the debate ahead in the presidential Race and came out more so. Obama collected points he did not even need.

CNN Poll showed that for those who watched the debate, Obama in fact enhanced his winning advantage.

Obamanomics: Done with the Trickle Down Illusions

Senator McCain’s campaign announced “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” Well Senator McCain may be worried about losing an election, but I’m worried about Americans who are losing their jobs, and their homes, and their life savings. They can’t afford four more years of the economic theory that says we should give more and more to millionaires and billionaires and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. We’ve seen where that’s led us and we’re not going back. It’s time to turn the page.

Full Text:

Barack Obama Economy Speech

Toledo, Ohio October 13

We meet at a moment of great uncertainty for America. The economic crisis we face is the worst since the Great Depression. Markets across the globe have become increasingly unstable, and millions of Americans will open up their 401(k) statements this week and see that so much of their hard-earned savings have disappeared.

The credit crisis has left businesses large and small unable to get loans, which means they can’t buy new equipment, or hire new workers, or even make payroll for the workers they have. You’ve got auto plants right here in Ohio that have been around for decades closing their doors and laying off workers who’ve never known another job in their entire life.

760,000 workers have lost their jobs this year. Unemployment here in Ohio is up 85% over the last eight years, which is the highest it’s been in sixteen years. You’ve lost one of every four manufacturing jobs, the typical Ohio family has seen their income fall $2,500, and it’s getting harder and harder to make the mortgage, or fill up your gas tank, or even keep the electricity on at the end of the month. At this rate, the question isn’t just “are you better off than you were four years ago?”, it’s “are you better off than you were four weeks ago?”

I know these are difficult times. I know folks are worried. But I also know this – we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. Because we are the United States of America. We are the country that has faced down war and depression; great challenges and great threats. And at each and every moment, we have risen to meet these challenges – not as Democrats, not as Republicans, but as Americans.

We still have the most talented, most productive workers of any country on Earth. We’re still home to innovation and technology, colleges and universities that are the envy of the world. Some of the biggest ideas in history have come from our small businesses and our research facilities. It won’t be easy, but there’s no reason we can’t make this century another American century.

But it will take a new direction. It will take new leadership in Washington. It will take a real change in the policies and politics of the last eight years. And that’s why I’m running for President of the United States of America.

My opponent has made his choice. Last week, Senator McCain’s campaign announced that they were going to “turn the page” on the discussion about our economy so they can spend the final weeks of this election attacking me instead. His campaign actually said, and I quote, “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” Well Senator McCain may be worried about losing an election, but I’m worried about Americans who are losing their jobs, and their homes, and their life savings. They can’t afford four more years of the economic theory that says we should give more and more to millionaires and billionaires and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. We’ve seen where that’s led us and we’re not going back. It’s time to turn the page.

Over the course of this campaign, I’ve laid out a set of policies that will grow our middle-class and strengthen our economy in the long-term. I’ll reform our tax code so that 95% of workers and their families get a tax cut, and eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000. I’ll bring down the cost of health care for families and businesses by investing in preventative care, new technology, and giving every American the chance to get the same kind of health insurance that members of Congress give themselves. We’ll ensure every child can compete in the global economy by recruiting an army of new teachers and making college affordable for anyone who wants to go. We’ll create five million new, high-wage jobs by investing in the renewable sources of energy that will eliminate the oil we currently import from the Middle East in ten years, and we’ll create two million jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads, schools, and bridges.

But that’s a long-term strategy for growth. Right now, we face an immediate economic emergency that requires urgent action. We can’t wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now – who don’t know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don’t know if next week’s paycheck will cover this month’s bills. We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle-class and we need to do it now. Today I’m proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities, and help struggling homeowners. It’s a plan that begins with one word that’s on everyone’s mind, and it’s spelled J-O-B-S.

We’ve already lost three-quarters of a million jobs this year, and some experts say that unemployment may rise to 8% by the end of next year. We can’t wait until then to start creating new jobs. That’s why I’m proposing to give our businesses a new American jobs tax credit for each new employee they hire here in the United States over the next two years.

To fuel the real engine of job creation in this country, I’ve also proposed eliminating all capital gains taxes on investments in small businesses and start-up companies, and I’ve proposed an additional tax incentive through next year to encourage new small business investment. It is time to protect the jobs we have and to create the jobs of tomorrow by unlocking the drive, and ingenuity, and innovation of the American people. And we should fast track the loan guarantees we passed for our auto industry and provide more as needed so that they can build the energy-efficient cars America needs to end our dependence on foreign oil.

We will also save one million jobs by creating a Jobs and Growth Fund that will provide money to states and local communities so that they can move forward with projects to rebuild and repair our roads, our bridges, and our schools. A lot of these projects and these jobs are at risk right now because of budget shortfalls, but this fund will make sure they continue.

The second part of my rescue plan is to provide immediate relief to families who are watching their paycheck shrink and their jobs and life savings disappear. I’ve already proposed a middle-class tax cut for 95% of workers and their families, but today I’m calling on Congress to pass a plan so that the IRS will mail out the first round of those tax cuts as soon as possible. We should also extend and expand unemployment benefits to those Americans who have lost their jobs and are having a harder time finding new ones in this weak economy. And we should stop making them pay taxes on those unemployment insurance benefits as well.

At a time when the ups and downs of the stock market have rarely been so unpredictable and dramatic, we also need to give families and retirees more flexibility and security when it comes to their retirement savings.

I welcome Senator McCain’s proposal to waive the rules that currently force our seniors to withdraw from their 401(k)s even when the market is bad. I think that’s a good idea, but I think we need to do even more. Since so many Americans will be struggling to pay the bills over the next year, I propose that we allow every family to withdraw up to 15% from their IRA or 401(k) – up to a maximum of $10,000 – without any fine or penalty throughout 2009. This will help families get through this crisis without being forced to make painful choices like selling their homes or not sending their kids to college.

The third part of my rescue plan is to provide relief for homeowners who are watching their home values decline while their property taxes go up. Earlier this year I pushed for legislation that would help homeowners stay in their homes by working to modify their mortgages. When Secretary Paulson proposed his original financial rescue plan it included nothing for homeowners. When Senator McCain was silent on the issue, I insisted that it include protections for homeowners. Now the Treasury must use the authority its been granted and move aggressively to help people avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. We don’t need a new law or a new $300 billion giveaway to banks like Senator McCain has proposed, we just need to act quickly and decisively.

I’ve already proposed a mortgage tax credit for struggling homeowners worth 10% of the interest you pay on your mortgage and we should move quickly to pass it. We should also change the unfair bankruptcy laws that allow judges to write down your mortgage if you own six or seven homes, but not if you have only one. And for all those cities and small towns that are facing a choice between cutting services like health care and education or raising property taxes, we will provide the funding to prevent those tax hikes from happening. We cannot allow homeowners and small towns to suffer because of the mess made by Wall Street and Washington.

For those Americans in danger of losing their homes, today I’m also proposing a three-month moratorium on foreclosures. If you are a bank or lender that is getting money from the rescue plan that passed Congress, and your customers are making a good-faith effort to make their mortgage payments and re-negotiate their mortgages, you will not be able to foreclose on their home for three months. We need to give people the breathing room they need to get back on their feet.

Finally, this crisis has taught us that we cannot have a sound economy with a dysfunctional financial system. We passed a financial rescue plan that has the promise to help stabilize the financial system, but only if we act quickly, effectively and aggressively. The Treasury Department must move quickly with their plan to put more money into struggling banks so they have enough to lend, and they should do it in a way that protects taxpayers instead of enriching CEOs. There was a report yesterday that some financial institutions participating in this rescue plan are still trying to avoid restraints on CEO pay. That’s not just wrong, it’s an outrage to every American whose tax dollars have been put at risk. No major investor would ever make an investment if they didn’t think the corporation was being prudent and responsible, and we shouldn’t expect taxpayers to think any differently. We should also be prepared to extend broader guarantees if it becomes necessary to stabilize our financial system.

I also believe that Treasury should not limit itself to purchasing mortgage-backed securities – it should help unfreeze markets for individual mortgages, student loans, car loans, and credit card loans.. And I think we need to do even more to make loans available in two very important areas of our economy: small businesses and communities.

On Friday, I proposed Small Business Rescue Plan that would create an emergency lending fund to lend money directly to small businesses that need cash for their payroll or to buy inventory. It’s what we did after 9/11, and it allowed us to get low-cost loans out to tens of thousands of small businesses. We’ll also make it easier for private lenders to make small business loans by expanding the Small Business Administration’s loan guarantee program. By temporarily eliminating fees for borrowers and lenders, we can unlock the credit that small firms need to pay their workers and keep their doors open. And today, I’m also proposing that we maintain the ability of states and local communities that are struggling to maintain basic services without raising taxes to continue to get the credit they need.

Congress should pass this emergency rescue plan as soon as possible. If Washington can move quickly to pass a rescue plan for our financial system, there’s no reason we can’t move just as quickly to pass a rescue plan for our middle-class that will create jobs, provide relief, and help homeowners. And if Congress does not act in the coming months, it will be one of the first things I do as President of the United States. Because we can’t wait any longer to start creating new jobs; to help struggling communities and homeowners, and to provide real and immediate relief to families who are worried not only about this month’s bills, but their entire life savings. This plan will help ease those anxieties, and along with the other economic policies I’ve proposed, it will begin to create new jobs, grow family incomes, and put us back on the path to prosperity.
I won’t pretend this will be easy or come without cost. We’ll have to set priorities as never before, and stick to them. That means pursuing investments in areas such as energy, education and health care that bear directly on our economic future, while deferring other things we can afford to do without. It means scouring the federal budget, line-by-line, ending programs that we don’t need and making the ones we do work more efficiently and cost less.

It also means promoting a new ethic of responsibility. Part of the reason this crisis occurred is that everyone was living beyond their means – from Wall Street to Washington to even some on Main Street. CEOs got greedy. Politicians spent money they didn’t have. Lenders tricked people into buying home they couldn’t afford and some folks knew they couldn’t afford them and bought them anyway.

We’ve lived through an era of easy money, in which we were allowed and even encouraged to spend without limits; to borrow instead of save.

Now, I know that in an age of declining wages and skyrocketing costs, for many folks this was not a choice but a necessity. People have been forced to turn to credit cards and home equity loans to keep up, just like our government has borrowed from China and other creditors to help pay its bills.

But we now know how dangerous that can be. Once we get past the present emergency, which requires immediate new investments, we have to break that cycle of debt. Our long-term future requires that we do what’s necessary to scale down our deficits, grow wages and encourage personal savings again.

It’s a serious challenge. But we can do it if we act now, and if we act as one nation. We can bring a new era of responsibility and accountability to Wall Street and to Washington. We can put in place common-sense regulations to prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again. We can make investments in the technology and innovation that will restore prosperity and lead to new jobs and a new economy for the 21st century. We can restore a sense of fairness and balance that will give ever American a fair shot at the American dream. And above all, we can restore confidence – confidence in America, confidence in our economy, and confidence in ourselves.
This country and the dream it represents are being tested in a way that we haven’t seen in nearly a century. And future generations will judge ours by how we respond to this test. Will they say that this was a time when America lost its way and its purpose? When we allowed our own petty differences and broken politics to plunge this country into a dark and painful recession?

Or will they say that this was another one of those moments when America overcame? When we battled back from adversity by recognizing that common stake that we have in each other’s success?

This is one of those moments. I realize you’re cynical and fed up with politics. I understand that you’re disappointed and even angry with your leaders. You have every right to be. But despite all of this, I ask of you what’s been asked of the American people in times of trial and turmoil throughout our history. I ask you to believe – to believe in yourselves, in each other, and in the future we can build together.

Together, we cannot fail. Not now. Not when we have a crisis to solve and an economy to save. Not when there are so many Americans without jobs and without homes. Not when there are families who can’t afford to see a doctor, or send their child to college, or pay their bills at the end of the month. Not when there is a generation that is counting on us to give them the same opportunities and the same chances that we had for ourselves.

We can do this. Americans have done this before. Some of us had grandparents or parents who said maybe I can’t go to college but my child can; maybe I can’t have my own business but my child can. I may have to rent, but maybe my children will have a home they can call their own. I may not have a lot of money but maybe my child will run for Senate. I might live in a small village but maybe someday my son can be president of the United States of America.
Now it falls to us. Together, we cannot fail. Together, we can overcome the broken policies and divided politics of the last eight years. Together, we can renew an economy that rewards work and rebuilds the middle class. Together, we can create millions of new jobs, and deliver on the promise of health care you can afford and education that helps your kids compete. We can do this if we come together; if we have confidence in ourselves and each other; if we look beyond the darkness of the day to the bright light of hope that lies ahead. Together, we can change this country and change this world. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless America.

Source:

http://www.clipsandcomment.com/2008/10/13/full-text-barack-obama-economy-speech-toledo-ohio-october-13/