Following is the transcript of President Obama’s State of the Union address, delivered January 27, 2010, as released by the White House.
Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, the Coca-Cola Corporation, and fellow Americans.
From time to time, the President shall inform Congress of the state of the union. Well folks, this year that state is Oklahoma.
When I took office a year ago, we had two wars, a severe recession, and a government deeply divided and in debt. We still have most of those problems, folks, and I ask you Congress, can you hear me now?
Fellow citizens, what we need now is to act, and I ask you members of Congress, is it in you? Do you have what it takes to keep this nation strong? We’ve been fighting for the health care bill, and bickering has led us nowhere. Members of Congress, no matter what party you are in, give me a break–break me off a piece of that health care bill. Partisan tactics will not stand—those tricks are for kids.
I’ve gotten letters from across the country–from those of you on Main Street and those of you on Wall Street, and your message has come in loud and clear: just do it. There are too many Americans across the country who wonder when they will get their next paycheck, and I promise to make the economy and job creation my number one priority for 2010 because you’re worth it.
Many folks ask me, how do you spell relief? Well, we passed the Recovery Act last year, also known as the Stimulus Bill, and because of that we have saved over two million jobs.
When I took over after this last administration, I knew one thing, and it was that we try harder. We cut taxes. We cut taxes for working families. We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for parents trying to send their kids to college. We cut taxes for billion-dollar CEOs.
We have finished a difficult decade, and as a country let’s move forward. As a wise president once said, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Can this country change? I say yes we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.
This speech was brought to you by Exxon Mobil, GM, AT&T, JP Morgan Chase and the Hershey Company.
