President Obama's Weekly Address 6/15/13: Celebrating Father's Day Weekend

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week's address, President Obama reflected on Father’s Day and said that nothing substitutes for the love and support of the presence of a parent in a child’s life. The President knows that for many people like him, being a good parent is a critically important job, and that personal successes matter less than being a source of comfort and encouragement to our kids. President Obama wishes all dads a Happy Father’s Day and everyone a great weekend.

President Obama's Weekly Address 3/9/13: End the Sequester to Keep Growing the Economy

WASHINGTON, DC— In his weekly address, President Obama said that businesses have created jobs every month for three years straight – nearly 6.4 million altogether, and have added 246,000 new jobs in February. We must keep this momentum going, and that’s why the President recently met with Republican leaders to discuss how we can replace the harmful, arbitrary budget cuts, called the “sequester,” with balanced deficit reduction. By working together, the President is confident we can reduce the budget by investing in areas that help us grow, and cutting what we don’t need.

President Obama's Weekly Address 7/14/12: It’s Time for Congress to Pass the Middle Class Tax Cut Extension

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama called on Congress to act now to extend tax cuts for the 98% of Americans making less than $250,000 for another year. If Congress fails to act, taxes will go up on January 1st and will be a blow to millions of middle class families and to our economy. Both parties agree on extending the tax cuts for the middle class, and the President believes it’s time for Congress to act so that we can give the middle class and our small businesses the certainty they need as we work to create an economy that is built to last.

Governor Jon S. Corzine :Doing What's Right

The following is a letter from Governor Corzine that I received in my inbox a few hours after he presented his budget to the State Legislature yesterday:

Friends-

Today, I submitted my executive budget for the 2010 fiscal year to the people of New Jersey. I take this responsibility seriously, and though this is my fourth budget, I remain as committed to doing what's right for the long-term economic health and prosperity of our state as I was when I submitted my first.

Because of the additional challenges facing our state brought on by the national financial crisis, I approached this budget with three primary objectives:

Protect education, health care and the state’s most vulnerable. I have proposed adding $300 to state aid for schools, $25 million in new aid for pre-k expansion and $149 million for Family Care. I've also proposed over $1 billion for 1 million New Jersey residents through direct property tax relief by insuring that Seniors receive the same property-tax rebates as last year, and preserving rebates for non-senior households earning $75,000 or less.

Allow New Jersey to remain ahead of the national economic crisis. This is my smallest budget since becoming Governor, with over $4 billion in cut spending. I have cut the operational costs of state government by more than $380 million, and reduced 850 line items, including proposed wage freezes and furloughs for state workers that will save our state hundreds of millions of dollars (because I believe that is a better to keep people employed and insured than on unemployment lines and Medicaid rolls). I have also asked the most fortunate in our society should pitch in, which is why I'm slightly increasing the income tax rate for the just-over 1 percent of New Jerseyans earning over $500,000.
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Prepare NJ to capitalize when the national economy rebounds. My Economic Assistance & Recovery Plan introduced last fall, in partnership with the Legislature, provided relief for those that need it now, while dramatically improving the State’s business climate and creating a jobs program to pave the way for a better tomorrow. I have worked hard to bring fiscal responsibility to Trenton by eliminating gimmicks, implementing spending cuts and making government itself more efficient and affordable. As such, New Jersey is well positioned to deal with this national crisis, and when the tide begins to turn we will be able to quickly put people back to work and increase funding for the programs that we all value.

We anticipated this downturn last year and cut the budget last year by the largest amount ever, setting the table for this budget. I am proud that we have be able to balance the most difficult budget in state history without a broad-based income or sales-tax increase and without hurting the people hit hardest by the recession.

But this isn't about me. This is about not shying away from the difficult decisions and doing what's right for the families of New Jersey.

I have laid out a clear set of priorities for the state, and put us on a path that I believe will keep New Jersey ahead of the curve in handling the national financial crisis. I've had to make some tough calls to forge this honestly-balanced budget, but I believe that this budget maintains our core values as a State by ensuring that we continue to nurture our children, honor our seniors, and protect the most vulnerable among us.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, ideas, and reactions in the weeks ahead, and I thank you for your continued support.

Governor Jon S. Corzine