It was a pretty good speech.

Posted 2/25/2009 1:20 AM PST on The Sacramento Bee
Our new president, who I like very much and agree with about almost nothing, is an excellent speaker. He may end up giving the old Gipper* a run for his money in that department.

But the speech was long on rhetoric and smacked of a sales pitch. Nonetheless, what I have done here, as much for my own benefit as for that of the respected reader, is remove all the hyperbole, and more importantly, I have only left that which says specifically what the new President is going to do. The process took it from ten pages to about one and a half.

Conceptual order has not changed, and except for an occasional pronoun here and there, I have not added anything. Finally, I have placed the complete text of President Obama's speach on the Public Messages Page.

*For those who are not ancient Neanderthals, the Gipper refers to President Ronald Reagan.

· We are creating a new lending fund.

· We have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure.

· We will act to ensure that the major banks have enough confidence and enough money to lend.

· This plan will require significant resources from the federal government – probably more than we’ve set aside.

· I will submit a budget to Congress. Everyone will have to sacrifice.

· We will double this nation’s supply of renewable energy in the next three years.

· We will soon lay down thousands of miles of power lines.

· We will put Americans to work.

· 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.

· We will invest fifteen billion dollars a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.

· 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 seek a cure for cancer in our time. And it makes the largest investment ever in preventive care.

· This budget creates new incentives for teacher performance;

· I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office.

· We will end education programs that don’t work.

· (We will) end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don’t need them.

· We’ll eliminate the no-bid contracts and reform our defense budget.

· We will root out the waste, fraud, and abuse in our Medicare program.

· We will end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas.

· We will also end the tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.

· The recovery plan provides a tax cut for 95% of working families.

· And these checks are on the way.

· I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war.

· We will forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat al Qaeda and combat extremism.

· My budget increases the number of our soldiers and Marines. And we will raise their pay, and give our veterans the expanded health care and benefits that they have earned.

· I have ordered the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.

· We will strengthen old alliances, forge new ones, and use all elements of our national power.