President Barack Obama will address the nation after Labor Day on jobs and the economy. Yahoo! Contributors asked Americans what they'd like to hear from him. Below are some responses.
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Single parenthood in a struggling economy, with costs rising and jobs disappearing, is a daily challenge.
Like other Americans, single parents have questions and look to President Obama's upcoming speech for answers. Here is what some single parents in downtown Los Angeles are hoping to hear in the president's speech:
"I hope to hear something about childcare. They need to get private companies to offer the same benefits as the government does. I have to pay over $500 a month to get someone to watch my daughter while I work. My sister works in Virginia for the federal government, and she has a daycare center in her building, all free. My life would be so different if I had that and, of course, insurance, too. I hope he talks about a government program, at least for kids." -- Araceli Garcia, administrative assistant, Paramount
"Health care, health care, health care. We need a new system and I sure hope Obama talks about a plan for one. I worked for a car dealership and had good insurance, for me and my sons. I got laid off and you know what they wanted to charge me to keep the same coverage? $900 a month. That's crazy, we need government health insurance." -- Sonya Partido, retail sales, Whittier
"Whether you're a single parent or anyone else, we all have the same needs. I need to have a good job to feed my family and succeed, so I'm hoping the president focuses on unemployment. And I want answers, not just what I call 'speech-speak' -- words politicians say to just make people feel good, knowing they will never do what they are saying." -- Dasha Banklewski, designer, Studio City
"It's all some bulls---. That man don't care about me, he don't care about my kids, he don't even care about you. All he care about is those dudes who write him checks. It's all about the money. Where are the jobs? How I supposed to feed my babies if I can't work. When is he going to speak on that? When he is he going to act on that?" -- James LaBrock, unemployed , Los Angeles
"Education is an important issue for Obama to talk about, also the Dream Act. I have a daughter and I just graduated from high school. I want to go to college, but I'm having problems with student loans because of my [immigration status]. I've lived here since I was two, all I want to do is go to school and make a good life for me and for my daughter, but the system just isn't working for me. I hope he talks about immigration." -- Sandra Portillo, student, Los Angeles
"Well, there's a lot of things I want President Obama to cover in his speech, but as a single mom, the two biggest are health care and jobs. People need good-paying jobs; everything else can grow from that. People can then afford to save money, buy insurance and to buy other things, which helps other people, and so on. Personally, I believe the president wants to make changes and do good things, but that system is just so jammed up and political, it's hard. Anything he wants to do, the Republicans will fight, so he doesn't look good. And if the president was a Republican, the Democrats would do the same thing. It's just broken." -- Rena Fineberg, physician, Westwood
" I'm a single father. My wife passed almost five years ago, God bless her soul. Obama needs to talk about ending these crazy wars, man. They're creating single parents every day -- when a soldier gets killed. I hope he talks about a time frame, tell us they going to be out in a year or something. All that money he giving the Army, every day, that's money that could make some jobs here. I hope he says we are ending the war tomorrow and going to use that money to make free insurance for everyone. That's my fantasy Obama speech." -- Ricky Collins, retail store manager, Miami, Florida
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