"Preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States"

On the financial crisis: "Our economy is badly weakened -- a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age."

On the environment: "Each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet."

On pragmatism: "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works. ... Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end."

On torture: "We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."

On rogue states: "Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. ... But we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

On service and citizenship: "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world."

The rousing finale: "... and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

The Keynesian conundrum

Paul Krugman writes in Sunday's New York Times:

The biggest problem facing the Obama plan is likely to be the demand of many politicians for proof that the benefits of the proposed public spending justify its costs — a burden of proof never imposed on proposals for tax cuts.

This is a problem with which Keynes was familiar: giving money away, he pointed out, tends to be met with fewer objections than plans for public investment “which, because they are not wholly wasteful, tend to be judged on strict ‘business’ principles.” What gets lost in such discussions is the key argument for economic stimulus — namely, that under current conditions, a surge in public spending would employ Americans who would otherwise be unemployed and money that would otherwise be sitting idle, and put both to work producing something useful.

Full story here.