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In his weekly address today, President Obama calls for fiscal discipline and says his administration will eliminate waste and increase efficiency. "We cannot settle for a future of rising deficits and debts that our children cannot pay," the president says, adding that we must "recognize that we cannot meet the challenges of today with old habits and stale thinking. So much of our government was built to deal with different challenges from a different era. Too often, the result is wasteful spending, bloated programs, and inefficient results. It’s time to fundamentally change the way that we do business in Washington."...

Transcript - Quote: The Briefing Room The Agenda The Administration About the White House Our Government Contact Us THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary __________________________________________________________________________________ EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, April 25, 2009 WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Announces Steps to Reform Government and Promote Fiscal Discipline WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama reiterated his call for fiscal discipline and outlined the steps his administration will take to eliminate waste and increase efficiency. First, the President called on Congress to pass PAYGO legislation. Next, the administration will create incentives for agencies to...

<p>Obama on Saturday announced a plan for federal workers to propose ways to improve their agencies' and departments' budgets. The president said employees' ideas would be key as his Cabinet officials try to cut millions from the budget and trim the deficit.</p>

Think you can do better than your federal boss? President Barack Obama wants to know how. Obama on Saturday announced a plan for federal workers to propose ways to improve their agencies' and departments' budgets. The president said employees' ideas would be key as his Cabinet officials cut millions from the federal budget and trim the deficit. "After all, Americans across the country know that the best ideas often come from workers, not just management," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address. "That's why we'll establish a process through which every government worker can submit their ideas for...

WASHINGTON – Think you can do better than your federal boss? President Barack Obama wants to know how. Obama on Saturday announced a plan for federal workers to propose ways to improve their agencies' and departments' budgets. The president said employees' ideas would be key as his Cabinet officials cut millions from the federal budget and trim the deficit.

President Obama said Saturday that he will soon announce “the elimination of dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful or ineffective,” and used his weekly radio address to name two new high-level officials to assist him in that effort. The president said he would use his Cabinet meeting on Monday — the first time the full Cabinet will meet — to ask department and agency heads to come up with specific proposals for cutting their budgets by eliminating inefficient programs. [Snip] “If we’re going to rebuild our economy on a solid foundation, we need to change the way we...

Saturday, April 4th, 2009 at 5:30 am Weekly Address: The Challenges of Our Time In this weekÂ’s address, filmed aboard Air Force One between vital diplomatic engagements abroad, the President discusses the breadth and depth of the global challenges we face. Recapping his trip, though, it is clear just how much opportunity lies in reshaping AmericaÂ’s relationships around the world. On everything from turning our economy around -- which shed hundreds of thousands more jobs last month -- to ending the threat of nuclear arms, "The only way forward is through shared and persistent efforts to combat fear and want...

Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 5:30 am Weekly Address: Crisis and Service This week the President dedicates his address to the people of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota as they face down disastrous flooding. He speaks of what the government is doing, but also stresses that times of crisis like this are reminders of the need and opportunity Americans have to keep their dedication to service. He commends the Edward M. Kennedy National Service Act, which passed the Senate this week following similar legislation in the House last week, for helping to rejuvenate this spirit. "In the Fargodome, thousands...

President Barack Obama says that while the details may change, any budget passed by Congress must cut the deficit, reform health care, invest in education and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. After a week dominated by outrage over enormous corporate bonuses at bailed-out companies, Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address to turn the focus back on his budget proposal and getting it through Congress. But even as he outlined his four key requirements for a spending plan that would top $3.6 trillion, there was growing unease on Capitol Hill over a budget that congressional auditors say will...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Barack Obama defended his budget plans Saturday, insisting that he remained committed to halving the deficit within four years despite new data showing it was bigger than expected. "In total, our budget would bring discretionary spending for domestic programs as a share of the economy to its lowest level in nearly half a century," Obama said in his weekly radio address. "And we will continue making these tough choices in the months and years ahead so that as our economy recovers, we do what we must to bring this deficit down." The president said his...

Saturday, March 21st, 2009 at 5:30 am A Budget Equal to the Task Before Us The President reflects on lessons from his time spent outside Washington recently, which only reinforced the core principles in his budget.  The budget will be his central focus throughout this week: "These investments are not a wish list of priorities that I picked out of thin air – they are a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for too long:  the high cost of health care and our dependence on oil; our education deficit and our fiscal deficit."...

President Barack Obama on Saturday downplayed divisions between the U.S. and Europe over how to tackle the world's financial crisis and said China should have "absolute confidence" that its sizable investments in the United States are safe. In a conversation focused heavily on the economy, Obama met in the Oval Office with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. It was the latest in a series of talks the president has had with his counterparts around the world before a pair of international meetings where the economic crisis will dominate.

Obama vows end to irresponsible budgets Mar 7 09:59 AM US/Eastern President Barack Obama vowed Saturday that irresponsible budgets were a thing of the past as he promised bold action to help the United States emerge from the current economic crisis stronger than before. In his weekly radio address, Obama said his administration had inherited a 1.3-trillion-dollar budget deficit -- and a budgeting process that he called "irresponsible as it is unsustainable." He argued that for years Washington as well as Wall Street had used accounting tricks to conceal real costs of programs. "These kinds of irresponsible budgets -- and...

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Barack Obama told Americans on Saturday that ending the economic crisis will not be "easy," but the nation will emerge "more prosperous" through swift and bold actions. Speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address from the White House, Obama made the comments a day after the worst American unemployment figures were released in a quarter-century. "I knew that solving this crisis would not be easy, nor would it happen overnight," Obama said. "And we will continue to face difficult days in the months ahead. But I also believe that we will get through this —...

President Barack Obama on Saturday challenged his country to see its hard times as a chance to "discover great opportunity in the midst of great crisis." "That is what we can do and must do today. And I am absolutely confident that is what we will do," Obama said in his weekly radio and video address, taped a day earlier at the White House. The work week ended on more down news, with the report of 651,000 more American jobs slashed and an unemployment rate climbing to 8.1 percent. That is the highest rate of people out of work in...

President Barack Obama appealed Saturday to his fellow citizens to endure, find opportunity in these hard times and ultimately prosper from the challenge. "That is what we can do and must do today. And I am absolutely confident that is what we will do," Obama said in his weekly radio and video address, taped on Friday at the White House. On Saturday morning, the president and first lady Michelle Obama flew by helicopter to the presidential retreat in Camp David, Md., for the weekend. Their daughters, Sasha and Malia, traveled to Camp David separately, the White House said.

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/WEEKLY-ADDRESS-President-Obama-Presses-the-Case-for-Bold-Action-to-Address-the-Economic-Crisis/ THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________________________ SATURDAY, March 7, 2009 WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Presses the Case for Bold Action to Address the Economic Crisis WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama used his weekly address to detail his plans to fix our ailing economy, noting that reforming healthcare is necessary to ensure our long term fiscal health. While ending this crisis will not be quick or easy, the President’s plans will take the swift, bold, and responsible actions needed for the United States to emerge stronger and...

A combative President Barack Obama warned on Saturday he was bracing for a fight against powerful lobbyists and special interests who sought to pick apart the $3.55 trillion budget he wants to advance his agenda of reform. Obama's spending blueprint, with its massive $1.17 trillion deficit and tax hikes on the wealthy, seeks to squeeze billions of dollars in savings out of current spending through competitive bidding among health insurers and ending subsidies and tax breaks for banks, agribusiness and oil companies. "These steps won't sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way...

WASHINGTON — President Obama described his expansive budget proposal on Saturday as “a threat to the status quo in Washington” and cast himself as a populist crusader willing to do battle with special interests to expand health care, curb pollution and improve education.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama challenged the nation's vested interests to a legislative duel Saturday, saying he will fight to change health care, energy and education in dramatic ways that will upset the status quo. "The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long," Obama said in his weekly radio and video address. "But I don't. I work for the American people."