President Barack Obama used his weekly address Saturday to praise Republicans and Democrats for lifting the “clouds of crisis,” but insisted that Washington “has to change.”
“There’s been a lot of discussion lately of the politics of this shutdown,” Obama said. “But the truth is, there were no winners in this. At a time when our economy needs more growth and more jobs, the manufactured crises of these last few weeks actually harmed jobs and growth. And it’s understandable that your frustration with what goes on in Washington has never been higher.”
“The way business is done in Washington has to change,” he continued. “Now that these clouds of crisis and uncertainty have lifted, we need to focus on what the majority of Americans sent us here to do – grow the economy, create good jobs, strengthen the middle class, lay the foundation for broad-based prosperity, and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul.”
As he did earlier this week, Obama also urged Congress to deliver a budget, revive the push for immigration reform and pass a farm bill.
“We won’t suddenly agree on everything now that the cloud of crisis has passed,” he said. “But we shouldn’t hold back on places where we do agree, just because we don’t think it’s good politics, or just because the extremes in our parties don’t like compromise.”