Washington - President Barack Obama made it clear last night that the worst economy in decades won't keep him from trying his best to redeem his campaign promises.
His first appearance before a joint session of Congress was designed to reassure Americans that better days are ahead. But he also cast the economic crisis as an opportunity for "bold action and big ideas," namely, his own.
Obama wants to overhaul the U.S. health care system, put the country on the road to energy independence and make major new investments in education. That won't be easy, though, in the face of the worst economy in decades.
"The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation," Obama said. "What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face and take responsibility for the future once more."
Saying that he intends to lay "a new foundation for lasting prosperity," Obama outlined an ambitious and expensive agenda for the next four years. The time had come, he said, for America "to take charge of our future."
His address, laced with populist rhetoric, was aimed more at the viewing public than at Washington insiders. Obama wanted to make it plain that he understands the suffering and anger of ordinary Americans.
Referring to the unpopularity of the federal program to bail out troubled banks, he said, "I promise you, I get it." He defended the effort by arguing that "it's not about helping banks, it's about helping people" buy homes, find work and have more money to spend.
He cast the economic crisis as an opportunity for government action, using images such as the transcontinental railroad and the post-World War II G.I. Bill - but not New Deal public works programs - to cast America as "a nation that has seen promise amid peril and claimed opportunity from ordeal."
"Now," he said, "we must be that nation again" by acting on his plans to place a carbon tax on emissions, move immediately toward affordable health care for everyone, and expand educational opportunity.
For Obama to accomplish any of his major first-term goals would be a significant achievement, analysts say. Merely by pushing forward, he might make Americans feel that progress is being made.
"He's trying to do a lot," said Ross Baker, a Rutgers University political scientist. "Some people, of course, are very skeptical about that, that it's basically a lot of activity without a very clear idea about how it's going to work. ... But it's a level of activity that I think is going to be reassuring to the American people."
