“We've experienced great trials before. I'm confident that at this defining moment, we will prove ourselves worthy of the sacrifice of those who came before us, and the promise of those who will come after,” said the president.

In this weeks address, the president said that nation had lost another 651,000 jobs in February 2009. There are now 4.4 million people out of work. Unemployment is above 8 percent.

The president said that the Department of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development has released new guidelines to stop as many as 4 million new foreclosures by allowing lenders to restructure and refinance their mortgages.

Since credit determines the flow of money in the economy, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve initiated the “Consumer and Business Lending Initiative” which puts up to a trillion dollars into circulation to create loans for individuals and businesses.

The president said that “for years, as Wall Street used accounting tricks to conceal costs and avoid responsibility; Washington did too.”

He said he would order the reduction of “discretionary spending for non-defense programs” by ten percent or more and that he would end “no-bid” contracts for those who provided services and products to the federal government. This is expected to save $40 billion a year.

“ Yes, this is a moment of challenge for our country. But we've experienced great trials before. I'm confident that at this defining moment, we will prove ourselves worthy of the sacrifice of those who came before us, and the promise of those who will come after,” said the president.