Remarks on Economic Stabilization and a Question-And-Answer Session in Fort Myers, Florida February 10, 2009

Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 / Feb. 10 Remarks on Economic Stabilization and a Question-and-Answer Session in Fort Myers, Florida February 10, 2009 The President. All right, everybody. Thank went from 4.7 percent last year to 15.3 percent you so much. Please have a seat. It is good to be this year; one year, and the unemployment rate in Florida, especially in February. [Laughter] tripled. I want to acknowledge a number of people Today I wanted to come to Florida, and I who are here who are just great friends and out- wanted to visit all of you in Fort Myers because standing public servants. We’ve got Florida you have seen hardship as well. You’ve seen a Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink; give Alex a change in the economic conditions of your com- big round of applause. We have your own may- munity. You see, all too often in Washington or, Jim Humphrey. Thank you, Mayor; Repre- what happens is, is that people think in terms of sentative Alan Grayson; Representative Allen numbers and statistics. They think about it in Boyd; Representative Corrine Brown; Repre- abstract terms. But when we say we’ve lost 3.6 sentative Kathy Castor; Representative Kend- million jobs since this recession began, nearly rick Meek; Representative Ron Klein; Repre- 600,000 in the past month alone; when we say sentative Suzanne Kosmas; Representative that Lee County has seen its unemployment Debbie Wasserman Schultz; and Representa- rate go from 3.5 percent to nearly 10 percent in tive Robert Wexler. It’s as fine a set of Congress less than 2 years; when we talk about the plum- people as you can imagine. Florida, you’re meting home prices and soaring foreclosure lucky. rates that have plagued this area; and the layoffs I want to give a special thanks to your Gover- at companies like Kraft Construction and Chi- nor, Charlie Crist, for joining us here today. co’s, companies that have sustained this com- The thing about Governors is they understand munity for years, we’re not just talking about our economic crisis in a way that maybe some- faceless numbers. We’re talking about families. times folks a little more removed don’t under- We’re talking about some of the people in this stand. They’re on the frontlines dealing with the town hall meeting today, your neighbors, your economy every single day; they’re having to friends. make choices about the budget every single We’re talking about people like Steve Adkins, day. They know what it means to balance a bud- who joined us today with his wife, Michelle, and get when revenues are short and more and their son, Bailey, and daughter, Josie. Steve is more people are asking for help. And Governor the president of a small construction company Crist shares my conviction that creating jobs in Fort Myers that specializes in building and and turning this economy around is a mission repairing schools. But work has slowed consid- that transcends party. And when the town is erably, like it has across the board in the con- burning, you don’t check party labels; every- struction area. Now, he’s done what he can to body needs to grab a hose. And that’s what reduce overhead costs, but he still has been Charlie Crist is doing right here today. forced to lay off half his workforce, which Governor Crist and Governors across the means that many of those people may now be country understand that. Mayors, like Mayor trying to figure out how are they going to pay Humphrey, understands that. And I think that their mortgage, how are they going to pay for you understand it, too, which is what I want to the basic necessities of life, which puts us on a talk about today. downward economic spiral. Last night I addressed the Nation to explain Steve and Michelle have made sacrifices of why I believe we need to put the economic re- their own: they’ve sold their home and moved covery plan that is before Congress in motion as into a smaller one. And that’s what this debate is soon as possible. But during the day, I had about: folks in Fort Myers and all across the spent some time in Indiana talking to folks, in country who have lost their livelihoods and Elkhart. In Elkhart the unemployment rate don’t know what will take its place; parents 79 Feb. 10 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 who’ve lost their health care and lie awake at The problems that led us into this crisis are night praying their kids don’t get sick; families deep, they’re widespread, and so we’re going who’ve lost the home that was the foundation to have to do a lot of different things to get the of their American Dream; young people who economy moving again. We need to stabilize put that college acceptance letter back in the and repair our financial system. We need to envelope because they can’t afford it. get credit flowing again to families and busi- That’s what’s behind the numbers; that’s nesses. We need to stem the spread of foreclo- what’s behind the statistics. That’s the true sures that are sweeping this country. measure of this economic crisis. Those are the My Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner out- stories I heard every time I came to Florida, lined a plan to address these challenges just because this isn’t new. When we were cam- this morning. We know that in order to ad- paigning down here before the election, I was dress our economic crisis, we’re going to have hearing about Florida suffering the first reces- to help homeowners, not just banks, but hom- sion that it had had in 16 years. We didn’t eowners as well. Fort Myers had the highest know then how deep it was going to go. Well, foreclosure rate in the Nation last year. Entire it’s gone deep; it’s gotten worse. And the sto- neighborhoods are studded with foreclosure ries that I’ve heard here in Florida, and in In- signs. Families across this city feel like they’re diana, and all across the country, I carried with losing their foothold on the American Dream, me to the White House. so—because when one person loses their I promised you back then that if elected home to foreclosure, that doesn’t just affect President, I would do everything I could to that family; property values across the board help our communities recover, that I would start declining. not forget. And that’s why I’ve come back here So we’re going to do everything we can to today, to tell you how I intend to keep that help responsible homeowners here in Fort promise to make communities like Fort Myers Myers and other hard-hit communities stay in stronger. their homes. If we want to truly turn this So the situation we face could not be more around, we’ve got to remember that the stron- serious. I don’t have to tell you that. We’ve in- ger our communities are, then the stronger the herited an economic crisis as deep and as dire financial system would be. And change can’t as any since the Great Depression. And econo- just happen from the top down, it’s going to mists across the spectrum have warned, if we have to start from the bottom up. don’t act immediately, then millions more jobs Now, in addition to the housing situation, will disappear, the national unemployment what we have to do is put people back to work. rates will approach double digits, more people Last week, we saw a thousand men and wom- will lose their homes and their health care, and en stand in line for just 35 Miami firefighter our Nation will sink into a crisis that at some jobs; 35 jobs, a thousand people standing in point is going to be that much tougher to re- line. It’s a story repeated across the country. verse. So we cannot afford to wait. We can’t There’s so much demand for jobs that just ar- wait and see and hope for the best. I believe in en’t there. hope, but I also believe in action. And that’s both the paradox and the prom- We can’t afford to posture and bicker and ise of this moment. At a time when so many resort to the same failed ideas that got us into Americans are looking for work, there’s so this mess in the first place. That’s what the much work that America needs done. That’s election was about. You rejected many of why we put forward this plan for recovery and those ideas because you know they didn’t reinvestment. It’s the simple idea at its core work. You didn’t send us to Washington be- that we put people back to work doing the cause you were hoping for more of the same. work that America needs done. It’s a plan that You sent us there to change things. And that’s will save or create up to 4 million jobs over the exactly what I intend to do as President of the next 2 years. It will ignite spending by busi- United States. nesses and consumers alike. It will make the 80 Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 / Feb.

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