The 67 applauded statements in Obama's speech reveal his key ideas and plans

February 24, 11:41 PMPolitical Issues ExaminerJudah Freed

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Only 36 days into his presidency, Barack Obama tonight delivered before a joint session of Congress a "State of the Economy" speech that had all the trapping of a traditional State of the Union address. I counted 67 interruptions for applause during the talk, which may not be a record, but it's still impressive.

President Barack Obama addresses a joint
session of Congress in the House Chamber
of the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 24, 2009.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool)

Both Democrats and Republicans rose to their feet for standing ovations 34 times, by my count.

Democrats alone rose four times to applaud the American Recovery and Reinvenstment Act (ARRA), the stimulus bill signed in Denver one week ago.

Republicans alone rose only once for Obama's statement about not passing on vast debt to future generations.

You can read the advance text of the speech and watch the entire speech on video at The Huffington Post.

For me, the best way to distill the hour-long speech is to report below the 67 statements  that triggered interruptions for applause and standing ovations. The statements in bold generated the longest standing ovations.

Skipping over two standing ovations as Obama was introduced, here we go: 

1. We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.
    
2. We have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election. A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future.
    
3. Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market.
    
4. Well that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here.
    
5. It's an agenda that begins with jobs.
    
6. That's why I pushed for quick action. And tonight, I am grateful that this Congress delivered, and pleased to say that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is now law.
    
7. Over the next two years, this plan will save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90 percent of these jobs will be in the private sector - jobs rebuilding our roads and bridges; constructing wind turbines and solar panels; laying broadband and expanding mass transit.
    
8. And with a plan of this scale comes enormous responsibility to get it right. That is why I have asked Vice President Biden to lead a tough, unprecedented oversight effort - because nobody messes with Joe.
    
9. So the recovery plan we passed is the first step in getting our economy back on track. But it is just the first step. Because even if we manage this plan flawlessly, there will be no real recovery unless we clean up the credit crisis that has severely weakened our financial system... The concern is that if we do not re-start lending in this country, our recovery will be choked off before it even begins.
    
10. When there is no lending, families can't afford to buy homes or cars. So businesses are forced to make layoffs. Our economy suffers even more, and credit dries up even further.
     
11. That is why this administration is moving swiftly and aggressively to break this destructive cycle, restore confidence, and re-start lending. We will do so in several ways. First, we are creating a new lending fund that represents the largest effort ever to help provide auto loans, college loans, and small business loans to the consumers and entrepreneurs who keep this economy running.
     
12. I intend to hold these banks fully accountable for the assistance they receive, and this time, they will have to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars result in more lending for the American taxpayer.
     
13. This time, CEOs won't be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over.
     
14. Still, this plan will require significant resources from the federal government - and yes, probably more than we've already set aside. But while the cost of action will be great, I can assure you that the cost of inaction will be far greater, for it could result in an economy that sputters along for not months or years, but perhaps a decade. That would be worse for our deficit, worse for business, worse for you, and worse for the next generation. And I refuse to let that happen.
     
15. So I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions. I promise you - I get it. But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment.
     
16. It's not about helping banks - it's about helping people.
     
17. When credit is available again, that young family can finally buy a new home. And then some company will hire workers to build it. And then those workers will have money to spend, and if they can get a loan too, maybe they'll finally buy that car, or open their own business. Investors will return to the market, and American families will see their retirement secured once more. Slowly, but surely, confidence will return, and our economy will recover.
     
18. We cannot consign our nation to an open-ended recession. And to ensure that a crisis of this magnitude never happens again, I ask Congress to move quickly on legislation that will finally reform our outdated regulatory system.
     
19. It is time to put in place tough, new common-sense rules of the road so that our financial market rewards drive and innovation, and punishes short-cuts and abuse.
     
20. I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves; that says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity. For history tells a different story.... In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle-class in history.
     
21. In each case, government didn't supplant private enterprise; it catalyzed private enterprise. It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive. We are a nation that has seen promise amid peril, and claimed opportunity from ordeal. Now we must be that nation again.
     
22. That is why, even as it cuts back on the programs we don't need, the budget I submit will invest in the three areas that are absolutely critical to our economic future: energy, health care, and education.
     
23. I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders - and I know you don't either. It is time for America to lead again.
     
24. I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.
     
25. As for our auto industry, everyone recognizes that years of bad decision-making and a global recession have pushed our automakers to the brink. We should not, and will not, protect them from their own bad practices. But we are committed to the goal of a re-tooled, re-imagined auto industry that can compete and win. Millions of jobs depend on it. Scores of communities depend on it. And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it. [Note; Actually, the automobile was first inventted and developed in Europe; Americans invented automotive mass production.]
     
26. For that same reason, we must also address the crushing cost of health care.  This is a cost that now causes a bankruptcy in America every thirty seconds.... It is one of the major reasons why small businesses close their doors and corporations ship jobs overseas. And it's one of the largest and fastest-growing parts of our budget. Given these facts, we can no longer afford to put health care reform on hold.
     
27. Already, we have done more to advance the cause of health care reform in the last thirty days than we have in the last decade. When it was days old, this Congress passed a law to provide and protect health insurance for eleven million American children whose parents work full-time.
     
28. Our recovery plan will invest in electronic health records and new technology that will reduce errors, bring down costs, ensure privacy, and save lives. It will launch a new effort to conquer a disease that has touched the life of nearly every American by seeking a cure for cancer in our time.
     
29. So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year.
     
30. The third challenge we must address is the urgent need to expand the promise of education in America.  In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity - it is a pre-requisite.... That is why it will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education - from the day they are born to the day they begin a career.
     
31. We have made college affordable for nearly seven million more students.
     
32. And we have provided the resources necessary to prevent painful cuts and teacher layoffs that would set back our children's progress. But we know that our schools don't just need more resources. They need more reform.
     
33. That is why this budget creates new incentives for teacher performance; pathways for advancement, and rewards for success.
     
34. We will expand our commitment to charter schools.
     
35. And dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country - and this country needs and values the talents of every American.
     
36. That is why we will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.
     
37. I know that the price of tuition is higher than ever, which is why if you are willing to volunteer in your neighborhood or give back to your community or serve your country, we will make sure that you can afford a higher education.
     
38. And to encourage a renewed spirit of national service for this and future generations, I ask this Congress to send me the bipartisan legislation that bears the name of Senator Orrin Hatch as well as an American who has never stopped asking what he can do for his country - Senator Edward Kennedy.
     
39. These education policies will open the doors of opportunity for our children. But it is up to us to ensure they walk through them. In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will attend those parent/teacher conferences, or help with homework after dinner, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, and read to their child.
     
40. I speak to you not just as a President, but as a father when I say that responsibility for our children's education must begin at home.
     
41. There is, of course, another responsibility we have to our children. And that is the responsibility to ensure that we do not pass on to them a debt they cannot pay.
     
42. With the deficit we inherited, the cost of the crisis we face, and the long-term challenges we must meet, it has never been more important to ensure that as our economy recovers, we do what it takes to bring this deficit down.
     
43. I'm proud that we passed the recovery plan free of earmarks [hoots from Republicans], and I want to pass a budget next year that ensures that each dollar we spend reflects only our most important national priorities.... As you can imagine, this is a process that will take some time. But we're starting with the biggest lines. We have already identified two trillion dollars in savings over the next decade.
     
44. In this budget, we will end education programs that don't work and end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them.
     
45. We'll eliminate the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq...
     
46. ...and reform our defense budget so that we're not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don't use.
     
47. We will root out the waste, fraud, and abuse in our Medicare program that doesn't make our seniors any healthier, and we will restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas.
     
48. In order to save our children from a future of debt, we will also end the tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.
    But let me perfectly clear, because I know you'll hear the same old claims that rolling back these tax breaks means a massive tax increase on the American people: if your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime.
     
49. In fact, the recovery plan provides a tax cut - that's right, a tax cut - for 95 percent of working families. And these checks are on the way.
     
50. Comprehensive health care reform is the best way to strengthen Medicare for years to come. And we must also begin a conversation on how to do the same for Social Security, while creating tax-free universal savings accounts for all Americans.
     
51. Finally, because we're also suffering from a deficit of trust, I am committed to restoring a sense of honesty and accountability to our budget. That is why this budget looks ahead ten years and accounts for spending that was left out under the old rules - and for the first time, that includes the full cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. For seven years, we have been a nation at war. No longer will we hide its price.
     
52. We are now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war.
     
53. And with our friends and allies, we will forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat al Qaeda and combat extremism. Because I will not allow terrorists to plot against the American people from safe havens half a world away.
     
54. As we meet here tonight, our men and women in uniform stand watch abroad and more are readying to deploy. To each and every one of them, and to the families who bear the quiet burden of their absence, Americans are united in sending one message: we honor your service, we are inspired by your sacrifice, and you have our unyielding support. [Longest sustained applause of the speech.]
     
55. To relieve the strain on our forces, my budget increases the number of our soldiers and Marines. And to keep our sacred trust with those who serve, we will raise their pay, and give our veterans the expanded health care and benefits that they have earned.
     
56. To overcome extremism, we must also be vigilant in upholding the values our troops defend - because there is no force in the world more powerful than the example of America. That is why I have ordered the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and will seek swift and certain justice for captured terrorists - because living our values doesn't make us weaker, it makes us safer, and it makes us stronger.
     
57. And that is why I can stand here tonight and say without exception or equivocation that the United States of America does not torture.
     
58. And to respond to an economic crisis that is global in scope, we are working with the nations of the G-20 to restore confidence in our financial system, avoid the possibility of escalating protectionism, and spur demand for American goods in markets across the globe. For the world depends on us to have a strong economy, just as our economy depends on the strength of the world's.
     
59. As we stand at this crossroads of history, the eyes of all people in all nations are once again upon us - watching to see what we do with this moment; waiting for us to lead.
     
60. Those of us gathered here tonight have been called to govern in extraordinary times. It is a tremendous burden, but also a great privilege - one that has been entrusted to few generations of Americans. For in our hands lies the ability to shape our world for good or for ill.I know that it is easy to lose sight of this truth - to become cynical and doubtful; consumed with the petty and the trivial. But in my life, I have also learned that hope is found in unlikely places; that inspiration often comes not from those with the most power or celebrity, but from the dreams and aspirations of Americans who are anything but ordinary.
     
61. I think about Leonard Abess, the bank president from Miami who reportedly cashed out of his company, took a $60 million bonus, and gave it out to all 399 people who worked for him, plus another 72 who used to work for him. He didn't tell anyone, but when the local newspaper found out, he simply said, ''I knew some of these people since I was 7 years old. I didn't feel right getting the money myself."
     
62. And I think about Ty'Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina - a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom. She has been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this room. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help, and says, "We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters."
     
63. We are not quitters.
     
64. Their resolve must be our inspiration. Their concerns must be our cause. And we must show them and all our people that we are equal to the task before us.
     
65. I know that we haven't agreed on every issue thus far, and there are surely times in the future when we will part ways. But I also know that every American who is sitting here tonight loves this country and wants it to succeed.
     
66. That must be the starting point for every debate we have in the coming months, and where we return after those debates are done. That is the foundation on which the American people expect us to build common ground.
     
67. And if we do - if we come together and lift this nation from the depths of this crisis; if we put our people back to work and restart the engine of our prosperity; if we confront without fear the challenges of our time and summon that enduring spirit of an America that does not quit, then someday years from now our children can tell their children that this was the time when we performed, in the words that are carved into this very chamber, "something worthy to be remembered."

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