For the young people here: practicality is a good thing. There are times where compromise is necessary. That's part of wisdom. But it's also important to hang on to what you believe.

I do have confidence that we're gonna be able to get it right. But it's not gonna be overnight. And there's no silver bullets to this. The fact of the matter is, is that we are suffering from a massive hangover from a binge of risk taking.

I was elected because I believed in what we call "grassroots politics," politics from the bottom up, not the top down.

That's why the American Recovery & Reinvestment Plan won't just throw money at our problems, we'll invest in what works

I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.

In my first term, I sang Al Green. In my second term, I'm going with Young Jeezy.

The more we can encourage participation, I think the better off we are.