We begin this year and this Administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action. Just this week, we saw more people file for unemployment than at any time in the last twenty-six years, and experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits. Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. And we could lose a generation of potential, as more young Americans are forced to forgo college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs of the future.

In short, if we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.

That is why I have proposed an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan to immediately jumpstart job creation as well as long-term economic growth. I am pleased to say that both parties in Congress are already hard at work on this plan, and I hope to sign it into law in less than a month.

It’s a plan that will save or create three to four million jobs over the next few years, and one that recognizes both the paradox and the promise of this moment - the fact that there are millions of Americans trying to find work even as, all around the country, there’s so much work to be done. That’s why this is not just a short-term program to boost employment. It’s one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century.

Today I’d like to talk specifically about the progress we expect to make in each of these areas.

To accelerate the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy like wind, solar, and biofuels over the next three years. We’ll begin to build a new electricity grid that lay down more than 3,000 miles of transmission lines to convey this new energy from coast to coast. We’ll save taxpayers $2 billion a year by making 75% of federal buildings more energy efficient, and save the average working family $350 on their energy bills by weatherizing 2.5 million homes.

To lower health care cost, cut medical errors, and improve care, we’ll computerize the nation’s health record in five years, saving billions of dollars in health care costs and countless lives. And we’ll protect health insurance for more than 8 million Americans who are in danger of losing their coverage during this economic downturn.

To ensure our children can compete and succeed in this new economy, we’ll renovate and modernize 10,000 schools, building state-of-the-art classrooms, libraries, and labs to improve learning for over five million students. We’ll invest more in Pell Grants to make college affordable for seven million more students, provide a $2,500 college tax credit to four million students, and triple the number of fellowships in science to help spur the next generation of innovation.

Finally, we will rebuild and retrofit America to meet the demands of the 21st century. That means repairing and modernizing thousands of miles of America’s roadways and providing new mass transit options for millions of Americans. It means protecting America by securing 90 major ports and creating a better communications network for local law enforcement and public safety officials in the event of an emergency. And it means expanding broadband access to millions of Americans, so business can compete on a level-playing field, wherever they’re located.

I know that some are skeptical about the size and scale of this recovery plan. I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan must and will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my Administration accountable for these results. We won’t just throw money at our problems - we’ll invest in what works. Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions about where we invest will be made public, and informed by independent experts whenever possible. We’ll launch an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov.

No one policy or program will solve the challenges we face right now, nor will this crisis recede in a short period of time. But if we act now and act boldly; if we start rewarding hard work and responsibility once more; if we act as citizens and not partisans and begin again the work of remaking America, then I have faith that we will emerge from this trying time even stronger and more prosperous than we were before. Thanks for listening.

Good morning.

Yesterday, we received another painful reminder of the serious economic challenge our country is facing when we learned that 533,000 jobs were lost in November alone, the single worst month of job loss in over three decades. That puts the total number of jobs lost in this recession at nearly 2 million.

But this isn’t about numbers. It’s about each of the families those numbers represent. It’s about the rising unease and frustration that so many of you are feeling during this holiday season. Will you be able to put your kids through college? Will you be able to afford health care? Will you be able to retire with dignity and security? Will your job or your husband’s job or your daughter’s job be the next one cut?

These are the questions that keep so many Americans awake at night. But it is not the first time these questions have been asked. We have faced difficult times before, times when our economic destiny seemed to be slipping out of our hands. And at each moment, we have risen to meet the challenge, as one people united by a sense of common purpose. And I know that Americans can rise to the moment once again.

But we need action – and action now. That is why I have asked my economic team to develop an economic recovery plan for both Wall Street and Main Street that will help save or create at least two and a half million jobs, while rebuilding our infrastructure, improving our schools, reducing our dependence on oil, and saving billions of dollars.

We won’t do it the old Washington way. We won’t just throw money at the problem. We’ll measure progress by the reforms we make and the results we achieve – by the jobs we create, by the energy we save, by whether America is more competitive in the world.

Today, I am announcing a few key parts of my plan. First, we will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won’t just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.

Second, we will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We’ll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and we’ll set a simple rule – use it or lose it. If a state doesn’t act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they’ll lose the money.

Third, my economic recovery plan will launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen. We will repair broken schools, make them energy-efficient, and put new computers in our classrooms. Because to help our children compete in a 21st century economy, we need to send them to 21st century schools.

As we renew our schools and highways, we’ll also renew our information superhighway. It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption. Here, in the country that invented the internet, every child should have the chance to get online, and they’ll get that chance when I’m President – because that’s how we’ll strengthen America’s competitiveness in the world.

In addition to connecting our libraries and schools to the internet, we must also ensure that our hospitals are connected to each other through the internet. That is why the economic recovery plan I’m proposing will help modernize our health care system – and that won’t just save jobs, it will save lives. We will make sure that every doctor’s office and hospital in this country is using cutting edge technology and electronic medical records so that we can cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help save billions of dollars each year.

These are a few parts of the economic recovery plan that I will be rolling out in the coming weeks. When Congress reconvenes in January, I look forward to working with them to pass a plan immediately. We need to act with the urgency this moment demands to save or create at least two and a half million jobs so that the nearly two million Americans who’ve lost them know that they have a future. And that’s exactly what I intend to do as President of the United States.

Thanks for listening.

Today, the leaders of the G-20 nations – a group that includes the world’s largest economies – are gathering in Washington to seek solutions to the ongoing turmoil in our financial markets. I’m glad President Bush has initiated this process because our global economic crisis requires a coordinated global response.

And yet, as we act in concert with other nations, we must also act immediately here at home to address America’s own economic crisis. This week, amid continued volatility in our markets, we learned that unemployment insurance claims rose to their highest levels since September 11, 2001. We’ve lost jobs for ten straight months – nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, many of them in our struggling auto industry. And millions of our fellow citizens lie awake each night wondering how they’re going to pay their bills, stay in their homes, and save for retirement.

Make no mistake: this is the greatest economic challenge of our times. And while the road ahead will be long, and the work will be hard, I know that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis – because here in America we always rise to the moment, no matter how hard. And I am more hopeful than ever that America will rise once again.

But we must act right now. Next week, Congress will meet to address the spreading impact of the economic crisis. I urge them to pass at least a down-payment on a rescue plan that will create jobs, relieve the squeeze on families, and help get the economy growing again. In particular, we cannot afford to delay providing help for the more than one million Americans who will have exhausted their unemployment insurance by the end of this year. If Congress does not pass an immediate plan that gives the economy the boost it needs, I will make it my first order of business as President.

Even as we dig ourselves out of this recession, we must also recognize that out of this economic crisis comes an opportunity to create new jobs, strengthen our middle class, and keep our economy competitive in the 21st century.

That starts with the kinds of long-term investments that we’ve neglected for too long. That means putting two million Americans to work rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, and schools. It means investing $150 billion to build an American green energy economy that will create five million new jobs, while freeing our nation from the tyranny of foreign oil, and saving our planet for our children. It means making health care affordable for anyone who has it, accessible for anyone who wants it, and reducing costs for small businesses. And it also means giving every child the world-class education they need to compete with any worker, anywhere in the world.

Doing all this will require not just new policies, but a new spirit of service and sacrifice, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. If this financial crisis has taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people. And that’s how we will meet the challenges of this time – together. Thank you.

On Tuesday, Americans stood in lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen. It didn’t matter who they were or where they came from; what they looked like or what party they belonged to – they came out and cast their ballot because they believed that in this country, our destiny is not written for us, but by us. We should all take pride in the fact that we once again displayed for the world the power of our democracy, and reaffirmed the great American ideal that this is a nation where anything is possible.

This week, I spoke with President Bush, who graciously offered his full support and assistance in this period of transition. Michelle and I look forward to meeting with him and the First Lady on Monday to begin that process. This speaks to a fundamental recognition that here in America we can compete vigorously in elections and challenge each other’s ideas, yet come together in service of a common purpose once the voting is done. And that is particularly important at a moment when we face the most serious challenges of our lifetime.

Yesterday, we woke to more sobering news about the state of our economy. The 240,000 jobs lost in October marks the 10th consecutive month that our economy has shed jobs. In total, we’ve lost nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, and more than 10 million Americans are now unemployed. Tens of millions of families are struggling to figure out how to pay the bills and stay in their homes. Their stories are an urgent reminder that we are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime, and we must act swiftly to resolve them.

In the wake of these disturbing reports, I met with members of my Transition Economic Advisory Board, who will help guide the work of my transition team in developing a strong set of policies to respond to this crisis. While we must recognize that we only have one President at a time and that President Bush is the leader of our government, I want to ensure that we hit the ground running on January 20th because we don’t have a moment to lose.

We discussed several of the most immediate challenges facing our economy and key priorities on which to focus in the days and weeks ahead to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity.

First, we need a rescue plan for the middle class that invests in immediate efforts to create jobs and provides relief to families that are watching their paychecks shrink and their life savings disappear.

Then, we’ll address the spreading impact of the financial crisis on other sectors of our economy, and ensure that the rescue plan that passed Congress is working to stabilize financial markets while protecting taxpayers, helping homeowners, and not unduly rewarding the management of financial firms that are receiving government assistance.

Finally, we will move forward with a set of policies that will grow our middle-class and strengthen our economy in the long-term. We can’t afford to wait on moving forward on the key priorities that I identified during the campaign, including clean energy, health care, education and tax relief for middle class families.

Let me close by saying I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead. We’ve taken some major actions to date, and we will need further actions during this transition and subsequent months. Some of those choices will be difficult, but America is a strong and resilient country. I know that we will succeed if we put aside partisanship and work together as one nation. And that is what I intend to do.

Good morning. This is Senator Joe Biden.

All across America, people are trying to figure out what the tough economic news of this past week means for them and for their families.

But for too many Americans, the economy didn’t start collapsing this week, this month, or even this year.

For too long, families have been asking questions as simple as they are profound:

Will I have a job next month? Can we afford to go to the doctor? To fill the gas tank? Is my house still worth what I paid for it? Will I be able to send the kids to college? Or retire?

Nothing less than our future prosperity and security are at stake in this election.

That’s why it’s been so disappointing that our opponents don’t seem to want to talk about the economy.

One of John McCain’s top political strategists recently said, and I’m quoting, “We are looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis.” He didn’t mean solving the crisis. He meant ignoring it and attacking Barack Obama. Well, most Americans don’t have the luxury of ignoring the economy.

The only new idea Senator McCain has offered in this financial crisis is to have taxpayers pay top dollar for bad mortgages all across America. John’s plan doesn’t demand that the outfits that helped dig us in this hole actually help families get out of the hole. Instead, it rewards them for their bad behavior and guarantees that American taxpayers will lose even more money than they’ve already lost.

Barack and I want to take a different approach. In this housing crisis, we’re going to make it easier for families to stay in their homes – we’re going to do it by changing the bankruptcy laws, and allowing judges to reduce the amount of money actually owed on the mortgage – not just the interest, but the amount of money owed to the bank.

Beyond that, we believe the values of our homes and the economic health of our communities are tied to one thing: jobs. And that’s why all of our plans for the future are about creating jobs.

Investing $60 billion in infrastructure to rebuild America, putting millions to work in renewable energy – wind, solar, biofuels, investing in education so we can out-compete anybody… All of our plans focus on strengthening our economy by creating jobs.

Barack Obama and I measure progress in terms of the dignity and respect that exists for the middle class.

How the folks like the ones I grew up with in Scranton and Wilmington, Delaware are doing. How the people Barack worked with on the South Side of Chicago are doing. This is the most important election of our lives. This is our chance to make the changes our country so urgently needs.

So I hope you’ll join me in these final days, in talking about the issues that matter to all of us … and in working to make sure that Barack Obama is the next President of the United States.

This is Joe Biden. Thank you for listening, and may God bless America and may God protect our troops.

"Good morning, I'm United States Senator Ken Salazar from Colorado. I grew up on a ranch in Colorado's San Luis Valley. My family has farmed that place now for five generations. Before that, they helped found the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1598.

"Over the last few weeks, I was back home on our ranch and traveling through most of Colorado. Everywhere I went, you see the effects of the last eight years. Jobs are disappearing. Health care is costing too much. And the cost of energy is through the roof. For farmers, diesel is costing more than four dollars a gallon. We simply can't afford it any more. Enough is enough.

"Democrats are working for change, and it starts with being honest about our energy future. We consume 25 percent of the world's oil, but we have less than 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. We simply can't drill our way to energy independence.

"In Colorado, we're doing our part on drilling. We have more than 34,000 active gas wells. And we're going to drill a whole lot more in the coming years.

"But we also know that drilling alone is not sufficient. Yet that was the only idea that John McCain and his friends at the Republican National Convention offered. ‘Drill, baby, drill' – that's not enough. We need it all.

"We need to replace the oil we import from countries that don't like us with alternative energy sources that we produce right here at home. Biofuels. Wind. Solar. Hydrogen. Geothermal. Clean Coal. American energy, American jobs. That's what we need.

"With the help of our farmers and ranchers and with Americans' hard work and ingenuity, we can grow our way to energy independence. To do it, though, we have to pass the tax incentives for renewable energy that Senator McCain and Republicans in the Senate have been blocking and opposing for months and years. We need an Apollo project that retools Detroit so that we can run our cars on the alternative fuels that we develop. And we need to give consumers a choice at the pump. Why not fill up with biofuels, if they're cheaper than gas? Why not have cars that get 100 miles to a gallon?

"Democrats are trying to solve these problems because we believe and know we can. President Bush and John McCain do not. All they want is more of the same.

"This week in the Senate, that choice will be clear as day. Democrats will be offering comprehensive energy solutions.

"I'm part of a small group of Senators from both parties who are working together to find bipartisan solutions to energy that we can all agree upon. But the thing is this: it's going to take more than a handful of Republicans who agree that we need a comprehensive energy plan. President Bush and Senator McCain have failed to show any leadership on this issue for the last eight years.

"Republicans have to decide whether they just want to talk about our energy problems on the campaign trail, or whether they will work with Democrats to actually solve them. If you're tired of $4 gasoline, if you're tired of a whole lot of talk without any action, if you're saying enough is enough, I hope you will tell President Bush, Senator McCain, and Members of Congress that it is time for honest solutions to our energy problems.

"This is United States Senator Ken Salazar from Colorado. Have a wonderful weekend."

Good morning. I’m Jeanne Shaheen, former Governor of New Hampshire and candidate for the US Senate this fall. Here in New Hampshire, we’re pretty independent-minded. We work hard and we’re proud of the lives we’ve created for ourselves and our families. But across New Hampshire families are really struggling after years of George Bush and John Sununu’s economic policies that have brought down the typical family’s income by almost $1,000. At the same time, the cost of everything from gas to groceries, health care to college tuition, has gone up. Washington just doesn’t get it.

The failed policies of George Bush and John Sununu have driven our economy into the ground and doubled the national debt to over nine trillion dollars. They have protected billions in tax giveaways for Big Oil and tax loopholes for businesses who ship jobs overseas rather than making a serious commitment to the development of clean alternative energy that can transform our economy and create thousands of new jobs. But just over a week from now, Republicans will assemble at their convention, and ask you for four more years of the same.

They’ll nominate John McCain to lead them. John McCain, who said he doesn’t know as much as he should about the economy. That’s certainly clear. Senator McCain keeps talking about the great progress our economy has made over the past eight years. He doesn’t get it. His economic plan is four more years of George Bush’s economic plan. Four more years of record spending, record deficits, record giveaways to the special interests and a reckless disregard for the middle class. But when Americans speak up and demand action, the Republicans tell us to be quiet. McCain’s chief economic advisor called America “a nation of whiners.” John Sununu told a group of small business owners in New Hampshire to “stop complaining about health care costs.”

Well, we will not stop speaking out until we fix this economy and make it work for the middle class again. This week, you’ll hear something different. In Denver, Barack Obama will lay out a new direction for jumpstarting our economy and rebuilding a strong middle class. It’s long past time for real action. Families don’t need more of the same old Bush-McCain-Sununu agenda – they need relief and they need it now.

That’s why I have proposed tax cuts up to 50% on health care premiums paid by small businesses for their employees and tax incentives to move small businesses toward energy efficiency. It’s why I have proposed a simplified and expanded tuition tax credit to help middle class families send their kids to college. It’s why Barack Obama has a plan to cut taxes for middle-class families and small businesses that puts up to $1,000 in the pockets of 95 percent of Americans – a plan that cuts taxes for middle class families three times as much as the Republicans would.

And we’ll do all this while bringing down the budget deficit, cutting unnecessary spending and government waste in Washington, and responsibly ending the war in Iraq. This November, the choice will be clear. We can’t afford a third Bush term and in New Hampshire, we can’t afford another six years of a Senator who supports the failed Bush economic policies that have devastated our economy. We’ve tried things their way, and they don’t work. I think it’s time for a new direction for America’s middle class families, and I hope you do, too.

This is Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire. Thank you for listening.