Obama Calls for Help on 'Main Street'

[0:00]We cannot only have a plan for Wall Street. We must also help Main Street. I'm glad that our government's moving so quickly in addressing the crisis that threatens some of our biggest banks and corporations. But a similar crisis has threatened families, workers, and homeowners for months and months, and Washington has done far too little to help. For too long, this administration has been willing to hit the fast forward button in helping distressed Wall Street firms while pressing pause when it comes to saving jobs and keeping people in their homes. We already know that the credit crisis that's emerged from our largest financial institutions is becoming a credit crunch for small business owners, homeowners and students seeking loans in big cities and small towns across the country. Now that American taxpayers are being called on to share this new burden, we must take equally swift and serious action to help lift the burdens they face every day. In the same bipartisan spirit that's been showed with regard to the crisis on Wall Street, I urge Senator McCain, President Bush, Republicans, and Democrats to join me in supporting an emergency economic plan for working families. A plan that would help folks cope with rising gas and food prices, spark job creation through repair of our schools and our roads, help states and cities avoid painful budget cuts and tax increases, help homeowners stay in their homes and provide retooling assistance for America's auto industry. John McCain and I can continue to argue about our different economic agendas for next year, but we should come together now to work on what this country urgently needs this year.