In his first speech to a joint session of Congress, President Obama on Tuesday night outlined an ambitious agenda to revive the economy, saying it's time to act boldly "to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity." Declaring that the “day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here,” after years of financial irresponsibility, the President said: “we will rebuild, we will recover and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”

In the opening passage of his address, Obama said “the impact of this recession is real, and it is everywhere,” the result of extravagant buying, gutted regulations and inadequate financial planning.

He said: "Too many everyday Americans bought homes they could not afford and did not think about their next mortgage payments. Too many banks handed out loans to people who could not pay. Politicians allowed the surplus to disappear with tax cuts for the rich. Regulations were gutted to help companies make a quick profit."

The President said: "The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth. Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure. What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more."

Out of the rubble, Obama said, was an opportunity to remake the economy and build a foundation for lasting prosperity. It was a message of hope over fear in these perilous times and he compared his program to the vision of others in dark times as “promise amid peril": the building of the transcontinental rail system during the Civil War to the G.I. Bill that sent World War II veterans to college and created a huge middle class.

President Obama focused on the three priorities of the budget he will present to Congress later this week: energy, health care and education.

He said his budget is a "vision for America -- as a blueprint for our future," but not something that will solve every problem or address every issue.

Obama said his administration already has identified $2 trillion in government spending cuts that can be made over the next decade.

He said he would cut spending considered wasteful, and invest in programs that will help the economy recover and fully provide for the cost of the two ongoing wars, for the first time..

The United States has "fallen behind" other countries when it comes to producing clean energy, he said, but thanks to the stimulus, he said the US will double its supply of renewable energy in the next three years.

Obama asked Congress to send him legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.

Making sure the nation's lending industry is strong is crucial to jump-starting its economy, Obama said, even as he acknowledged anger over the government banking bailout Congress approved last year.

"I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions. I promise you -- I get it,"Obama said.

"But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment."

He signalled that the government would be getting into the consumer banking business, creating a federal lending fund to help provide auto loans, college loans and small business loans “to the consumers and entrepreneurs who keep this economy running.” He did not provide any further details.

"This time, CEOs won't be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet," Obama said. "Those days are over."

The President said the US will invest $15 billion a year to develop new technologies and saying the United States can no longer afford to put health care reform on hold, Obama said his budget proposal will include a "historic commitment" to it. He plans to assemble representatives of business, labour, doctors and health care providers next week to begin discussing the reforms.

While the economy was the main focus of the speech, Obama said he'll soon be laying out specifics on how to win the war in Afghanistan and end the one in Iraq.

"We are now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war,"he said.

In an illustration that the melting pot still exists in America, the televised Republican rebuttal to the first address by an African-American to Congress, was made by  Louisiana Governor. Bobby Jindal - -  a son of immigrants from India.

The President commented on a number of the guests in the the First Lady’s Box.

"But in my life, I have also learned that hope is found in unlikely places; that inspiration often comes not from those with the most power or celebrity, but from the dreams and aspirations of Americans who are anything but ordinary. 

I think about Leonard Abess, the bank president from Miami who reportedly cashed out of his company, took a $60 million bonus, and gave it out to all 399 people who worked for him, plus another 72 who used to work for him.  He didn’t tell anyone, but when the local newspaper found out, he simply said, ''I knew some of these people since I was 7 years old.  I didn't feel right getting the money myself.""

Abess is CEO of City National Bank of Florida, now a subsidiary of Caja Madrid. He started his career in the bank's print shop, which made forms and documents. Working his way up the ladder gave him an appreciation for the role that employees play in the success of an enterprise.

"I think about Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was completely destroyed by a tornado, but is being rebuilt by its residents as a global example of how clean energy can power an entire community – how it can bring jobs and businesses to a place where piles of bricks and rubble once lay.  "The tragedy was terrible," said one of the men who helped them rebuild.  "But the folks here know that it also provided an incredible opportunity,"" Obama said.

The President concluded with a tribute to an eighth grader African-American student:"And I think about Ty’Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina – a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom.  She has been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this room.  She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp.  The letter asks us for help, and says, "We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world.  We are not quitters."

Transcript of address

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