ick ourselves up,
dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the
economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act -- not only to
create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build
the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed
our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its
rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's
quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and
the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform
our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new
age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who
suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their
memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has
already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is
joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted
beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us
for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether
our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether
it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a
retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move
forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who
manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely,
reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because
only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their
government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or
ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but
this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can
spin out of control -- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it
favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always
depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the
reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every
willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route
to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between o