My fellow Americans, as your newly elected President, I want to lay out my vision for the future of our country, especially as it applies to the economy. I know how worried so many of you from all walks of life are. This is how I will begin to address those anxieties starting tomorrow, my first full day in office.

First, I want to assure you that I will surround myself with the best minds available, regardless of party affiliation, as we formulate a plan. I am not an economist,
and even if I were, I could not get us out of this crisis on my own. I seek the wisdom and expertise of pragmatic people of action. What I will supply is my vision and ask them to find ways to implement it.

So, what, you ask, is that vision? Please allow me to highlight the most important aspects of it. I envision a country where each and every American is afforded the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential. This begins in childhood. My economic plan will have as its foundation a way to make sure every American has access to training that will lead to meaningful employment. I also want every child to receive an education that enables him or her to think, to analyze, to create, to make informed decisions as a citizen, to contribute ideas that move us forward as a nation. We will need to do this in a fiscally responsible way so that those whose educations are subsidized will repay that debt, whether by cash or national service.

This vision recognizes that not everyone will be able to find a job that pays a princely sum. We cannot simply tell everyone to find a "better" job - for one, no company can run on having all middle management employees. Every corporation needs not only vice presidents but janitors, mailroom clerks, and security guards. When you go to the store, you require someone to check out your purchases. When your parents become ill and infirm, you need someone who will carry their bedpans and mop their rooms in a nursing home. There are a myriad of jobs that people do honorably which are not "prestigious," yet which are necessary to all of us. Therefore, central to my vision is the goal that nobody who works in this country should ever be a member of the "working poor." How can we allow such a term to exist or such a condition? I will make sure the finest economic minds find a solution to this problem and create a way to assure that hard work results in an income that pays the rent and the utility bills and insurance without leaving a family with no money left for food. A universal living wage simply cannot be deemed impossible, and I will not allow my team of economic experts to give up until this vision is realized.

I also know that some people cannot even rise to the level of working poor. We have people whose physical and mental capacities are hindered in some way that they cannot hold down jobs. Yes, we cannot allow fraudulent claims by those who would like to be on the public dole even though they are capable of gainful employment, but we also cannot condemn those who are infirm to life on the streets. Homelessness is not an option in the America I will preside over. We shall find a compassionate solution to care for those people who simply cannot care for themselves and who have nobody to care for them. This will require tax dollars from those who work, but we will be a compassionate country. Today there are a significant number of veterans of our armed services who have no place to call home, and that is especially a national disgrace. It will not continue so long as I have a say.

Next, we get to the majority of Americans, the middle class, the backbone of our economy. I do not propose to impoverish them in an effort to regain economic stability for our nation. My economic team will be instructed to find solutions that reward the work of the millions who make our country great and strong. I call upon the middle class to be compassionate to those less fortunate, but I do not ask them to forfeit their security. An economy that benefits all is a strong economy that will make their position all the more secure.

Finally, we come to those people who are fortunate enough to be in the top 10% of income. Many of you have created the businesses that fuel our economy, and nobody is asking you to forgo any reward for that, but I will call upon you to make that reward a reasonable one. Never in our nation's history has the gap between rich and poor been so great. Never have executive salaries and corporate profit sheets approached the heights they have reached in recent years. You need consumers to keep your businesses profitable, and those consumers must be economically secure enough to spend. I will ask my economic advisers to formulate a plan that places some responsibility on you without punishing you.

Do I know how all of this will be achieved? No. Not today. But we are a country that determined to put a man on the moon, and we did it. We are a country where innovation and invention and hard work built a strong economy, and we can get that back with the same spirit. I realize some will be quick to attack me as an overly idealistic and unrealistic dreamer, but if we cannot even dream of greatness, what will we ever achieve? I ask that everyone cooperate with what plans my economic team formulate. We may not always agree on every political issue, but I believe we can all agree that the dignity of every human being should be preserved. It is time for every person who is capable to join together to make a world secure for all of us. Thank you.