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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPresident Obama proudly channels Elizabeth Warren
President Obama proudly channels Elizabeth Warren
by David Atkins
The great right wing circus is going apoplectic over this:
Well, first of all, like I said, the only way you can pay for that -- if youre actually saying youre bringing down the deficit -- is to cut transportation, cut education, cut basic research, voucherize Medicare, and youre still going to end up having to raise taxes on middle-class families to pay for this $5 trillion tax cut. Thats not a deficit reduction plan. Thats a deficit expansion plan...
But you know what, Im not going to see us gut the investments that grow our economy to give tax breaks to me or Mr. Romney or folks who dont need them. So Im going to reduce the deficit in a balanced way. Weve already made a trillion dollars worth of cuts. We can make another trillion or trillion-two, and what we then do is ask for the wealthy to pay a little bit more. (Applause.) And, by the way, weve tried that before -- a guy named Bill Clinton did it. We created 23 million new jobs, turned a deficit into a surplus, and rich people did just fine. We created a lot of millionaires.
There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back. They know they didnt -- look, if youve been successful, you didnt get there on your own. You didnt get there on your own. Im always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. (Applause.)
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If youve got a business -- you didnt build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didnt get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we dont do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.
So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country, you know what, there are some things we do better together. Thats how we funded the GI Bill. Thats how we created the middle class. Thats how we built the Golden Gate Bridge or the Hoover Dam. Thats how we invented the Internet. Thats how we sent a man to the moon. We rise or fall together as one nation and as one people, and thats the reason Im running for President -- because I still believe in that idea. Youre not on your own, were in this together. (Applause.)
So all these issues go back to that first campaign that I talked about, because everything has to do with how do we help middle-class families, working people, strivers, doers -- how do we help them succeed? How do we make sure that their hard work pays off? Thats what I've been thinking about the entire time I've been President.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/07/13/remarks-president-campaign-event-roanoke-virginia?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/president-obama-proudly-channels.html
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)tooth and nail to save banker bonuses, calling for cuts in Social Security, deregulating corporate finance, and all the rest. Obama is only an FDR Democrat when he's in candidate mode while Warren seems to be one all of the time (so far).