WEEKLY ADDRESS: A Better Bargain for Responsible, Middle Class Homeowners

Remarks of President Barack Obama 
Weekly Address
The White House
August 10, 2013

video

Hi, everybody.  For the past few weeks, I’ve been visiting folks across America to talk about what we need to do as a country to secure a better bargain for the middle class. 

I’ve been laying out my ideas for how we can build on the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in America.  A good job.  A good education.  Affordable health care when you get sick.  A secure retirement even if you’re not rich.  And the chance to own your own home. 

This week, I went to Arizona and California, two of the states hit hardest when the housing bubble burst, triggering the recession.  All across the country, millions of responsible Americans were hurt badly by the reckless actions of others.  Home values plummeted. Construction workers were laid off.  And many families lost their homes. 

Over the past four years, we’ve worked to help millions of responsible homeowners get back on their feet.  And while we’re not where we need to be yet, our housing market is beginning to heal.  Home prices and sales are rising. Construction is up.  Foreclosures are down.  Millions of families have come up for air because they’re no longer underwater on their mortgages. 

Now we have to build on this progress.  Congress should give every American the chance to refinance at today’s low rates.  We should help more qualified families get a mortgage and buy their first home.  We should get construction workers back on the job rebuilding communities hit hardest by the crisis.  And we should make sure that folks who don’t want to buy a home have  decent, affordable places to rent. 

As home prices rise, we have to turn the page on the bubble-and-bust mentality that created this mess, and build a housing system that’s rock-solid and rewards responsibility for generations to come.  We need to wind down the companies known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, make sure private capital plays a bigger role in the mortgage market, and end the era of expecting a bailout after your pursuit of profit puts the whole country at risk. We need to preserve access to safe and simple mortgages like the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.  We need to keep laying down rules of the road that protect homeowners when they’re making the biggest purchase of their lives.  And finally, Congress needs to confirm Mel Watt to be our nation’s top housing regulator, so that he can protect consumers and help responsible lenders provide credit. 

No program or policy will solve all the problems in a multi-trillion dollar housing market, and it will take time to fully recover.  But if we work together, we can make a home a source of pride and middle-class security again.  And if Washington is willing to set aside politics and focus on what really matters, we can rebuild an economy where if you work hard, you can get ahead.

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

大家好。在过去的几周里，我一直在全国各地走访，与人们探讨作为一个国家我们如何为中产阶级争取更大一块“蛋糕”。

我一直在推介我的关于如何在决定什么是中产阶级的基石上立国的各项主张。一份好的工作。良好的教育。生病了看得起病。即使你不富裕但是退休后仍然有保障。有机会实现居者有其屋。

本周，我去了亚利桑那州和加利福尼亚州，两个房地产泡沫破裂引发经济衰退的重灾区。举国上下几百万负责任的美国人被那些人的草率行动坑害了。建筑工人被临时解雇。很多家庭失去了住房。

在过去的四年里，我们已经帮助了几百万负责任的美国房主自力更生。尽管我们还没有彻底现实我们的目标，但是房地产市场已经开始回暖。房价和销量都在回升。建筑业正在反弹。房屋抵押无法赎回的正在减少。几百万家庭可以长出一口气了，因为他们已经从抵押贷款的水深火热中走了出来。

现在我们应该百尺竿头更进一步。国会应该给每个美国人机会利用现在的低利率重新投资。我们应该帮助更多有资质的家庭很多抵押贷款购买他们的首套住房。我们应该让建筑工人重返工作岗位重建经济危机重创的社区。我们应该确保那些不想买房的人们能租得起一个体面的住处。

随着房价回升，我们必须翻过造成这种混乱的泡沫生成-破裂思维的一页，建立一个基础牢固鼓励对我们的后代负责任。我们需要让房利美和房地美之类的公司淡出市场，确保私有资本在抵押贷款市场发挥更大作用，结束你们追求利润让全国陷入危机就期待国家救助的时代。我们需要保证诸如30年固定利率的抵押贷款之类的安全的简单的抵押贷款畅通无阻。我们需要继续在房主们在他们一生最大的采购的道路上设立规则。最后，国会应该确认Mel Watt担任我们国家最高房地产监管人的职务，以便他能保护消费者并且帮助负责任的借贷人提供信誉。

没有什么计划或政策能够解决一个几万亿美元的房地产市场的所有问题，全面恢复需要时间。但是如果我们共同努力，我们可以让住房再次成为一种骄傲和中产阶级安全感的源泉。如果华盛顿愿意搁置政治分歧致力于真正的要务，我们就可以重建一个如果你努力工作就可以过得好的经济。

谢谢，周末快乐。

Important words and phrases:

1. lay out, lay down

2. plummet

3. foreclosure 

4. wind down

5. bailout