Sept. 22 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2010

So that’s the progress that’s possible. Togeth- results that pull communities and countries er, we can collaborate in ways unimaginable just from poverty to prosperity—these are the ele- a few years ago. Together, we can realize the fu- ments of America’s new approach. This is the ture that none of us can achieve alone. Togeth- work that we can do together. And this can be er, we can deliver historic leaps in development. our plan, not simply for meeting our Millenni- We can do this, but only if we move forward um Development Goals, but for exceeding with the seriousness and sense of common pur- them and then sustaining them for generations pose that this moment demands. to come. Development that offers a path out of pover- ty for that child who deserves better; develop- Thank you very much, everyone. Thank you. ment that builds the capacity of countries to de- liver the health care and education that their NOTE: The President spoke at 4:49 p.m. at people need; development that unleashes United Nations Headquarters. In his remarks, broader prosperity and builds the next genera- he referred to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon tion of entrepreneurs and emerging economies; of the United Nations. The Office of the Press development rooted in shared responsibility, Secretary also released a Spanish language tran- mutual accountability, and, most of all, concrete script of these remarks.

Remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Reception in City September 22, 2010

The President. Thank you! Hello, New York! Tonight I want to talk a little bit about our ef- Thank you very much. forts here at home—— Audience members. Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! [At this point, there was a disruption in the au- The President. It is good to be back in the Big dience.] Apple. Thank you so much. I’m here this week Audience member. President Obama—[inau- to meet with world leaders at the United Na- dible]. tions to talk about our efforts over the past year The President. ——where this country is—— to make this a more peaceful and prosperous Audience member. President Obama, one, world. But it’s also nice just to stop by and see two, three! President Obama—— some friends. The President. All right. Now, you’ve got a couple of great friends in Audience members. Boo! these two right here: One of the finest Speakers The President. No, no, it’s all right. It’s all in history, I believe, Nancy Pelosi is here; chair- right. It’s okay. You don’t have to rip them man of the DSCC, Senator Bob Menendez is down. That’s okay. here. And they are doing outstanding work. Audience members. Obama! Obama! Obama! Chairman of the DCCC, Chris Van Hollen is The President. All right. We’re okay. It’s all here. And we’ve got just an unbelievable New right. It’s okay. Audience members. Obama! Obama! Obama! York delegation—Charlie Rangel, Scott Mur- The President. Wait, wait. Hey, hey, hey, phy, , Nita Lowey, , and hold on a second. Hold on. Hold on, it’s okay. Greg Meeks—in the house. [Applause] Yes, it’s Look, the young lady—you don’t need to yell. fun being here. [Laughter] The—apparently you’re interested in funding Audience member. We love you! AIDS. We’ve increased AIDS funding. I don’t The President. I love you back. That’s why know why you’re putting the sign up. We’ve in- I’m here. creased HIV/AIDS funding. So—but your mes-

1398 Administration of Barack Obama, 2010 / Sept. 22 sage was delivered. We have increased AIDS technology. The idea was, if we put blind faith funding at a time when the budget’s going in the market, if we let corporations play by down. their own rules, if we left everybody to fend for themselves, America would grow and America [The disruption in the audience continued.] would prosper. That was the philosophy that was put for- Now, look, we are here to talk about what’s at ward. For 8 years, we tried that. And that exper- stake—I—we listened to you. We heard your iment failed miserably. We know what hap- point. And as I said before, we increased AIDS pened as a consequence of these policies. It funding. Now, if you want to have a conversa- made it harder for middle class families to get tion later about how we can increase it even ahead. These policies turned record surpluses more, it’s a conversation I’m happy to have. into record deficits. And ultimately, these poli- But what I want to do is talk about what’s cies led to the worst economic crisis since the coming up. I want us to talk about what’s at Great Depression. stake in this election, because the people that That’s what we faced when I took office in potentially will take over if we don’t focus on January of 2009. Millions of jobs had already this election, I promise you, will cuts AIDS been lost. Hundreds of thousands more would funding, and they’ll cut every priority that you be lost before our economic policies even had a care about. So don’t—so this is not the time or chance to take effect. the place to do what you’re talking about. Now, over 3 years ago, I decided to run for I want everybody to understand this: Four President because I believed there were some million jobs had been lost in the 6 months be- very big challenges and some very difficult deci- fore I took office, half of the total job losses dur- sions that this Nation had ignored for too long. I ing this recession. We lost 800,000 jobs almost ran because I believed our economy was on a the month I was sworn in. path that was unsustainable for the middle class So my most urgent task as President was to and for our future. prevent a second depression. Now, 19 months In the last decade, we had experienced the later, we’ve done that. The economy is growing slowest job growth of any decade since World again. The financial markets have stabilized. War II, even slower than it’s been over the last The private sector has created jobs for the last 8 year. I want to repeat that: slowest job growth months in a row. There are 3 million Americans since World War II. Between 2001 and 2009—— who wouldn’t be working today if not for the Audience member. Don’t ask, don’t tell! economic plan we put in place. That is a fact. The President. ——the incomes of middle But look, because we’re climbing out of such class families—— a deep hole, there are still millions of Ameri- Audience member. Don’t ask, don’t tell! cans without work. There are millions more The President. ——fell by almost 5 per- who can barely pay the bills or make the mort- cent—5 percent. I’m going to repeat that: In- gage. And the middle class is still treading wa- comes for working families fell by almost 5 per- ter. I hear these stories every day. I heard cent. All the while, middle class families saw ev- some today from folks who had been struggling erything from tuition bills to health care bills with health care. I read them in heartbreaking skyrocket. And for too many hard-working fami- letters that I receive every single night, and the lies, the American Dream was slowly slipping worst are ones that come from children who away. say, “We’re worried about losing our house,” Now, it was not any accident during this or, “My parents lost their job. What can you same period a very specific philosophy reigned do?” in Washington: You cut taxes, especially for mil- Folks are struggling, and as a consequence, lionaires and billionaires; you cut regulations for they’re impatient. People are frustrated with special interests; you cut back on investments in the pace of change, and so am I. But I’m also education and clean energy, in research and here to tell you this: We cannot lose heart. We

1399 Sept. 22 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2010 cannot give up. Don’t ever forget that this Na- That’s not what they’re doing. Here’s an illus- tion has been through far worse, and we have tration. A while back, they set up a web site come out stronger. We’ve been through war where they asked Americans to speak out and and depression and struggles for equal rights offer their ideas about how to get the economy and civil rights. In each instance, we have made moving again. Well, it turns out that one of the progress. Progress took time. Progress took sac- most popular ideas posted on their web site— rifice. Progress took faith. But progress came. this is not—I’m not making this up—is ending And it will come for us if we work for it and if tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs over- we fight for it and if we believe in it. seas and giving those tax breaks to companies And that’s where this upcoming election that invest here in the United States of Ameri- comes in. That’s where we need your energy ca—a sensible idea. and enthusiasm, the energy and enthusiasm of Here’s the thing: That’s exactly the policy the everybody in this room and everybody you can Republicans have been fighting against for reach. years. [Laughter] That’s a policy they’ve been Audience member. You got it! fighting me and Nancy and Bob on for the last The President. So—well, no—but no—but I few months. So the problem is not that Ameri- want to make this point. This young lady here, cans aren’t speaking out; it’s that the other party isn’t listening. And that’s because they refuse to she wants increases in AIDS funding. That’s let go of the failed philosophy that they’ve been great. We increased AIDS funding. She’d like peddling for the last decade. more? I’m sure we could do more if we’re able to grow this economy again and if we continue So make no mistake: The Republicans run- ning for Congress, they want the next 2 years to on the policies that we’re on. look like the 8 years before I took office. They Young man back there shouted, “Don’t ask, might be announcing some new details tomor- don’t tell.” As President, I have said we’re going row—[laughter]—but the chair of one of their to reverse it. I got the Chairman of the—— campaign committees already told us their in- Audience member. That’s right! tentions. He said that if the other party takes The President. ——Joint Chiefs of Staff and I control of Congress, they plan to pursue—and got the Secretary of Defense to say that we’re I’m quoting here—the “exact same agenda” as going to reverse it. [Applause] But hold on a they did during the last administration. The ex- second. But hold on a second. Think about what act same agenda. happened in Congress 2 days ago, where you Audience members. Boo! got 56 Democrats voting to debate this issue The President. So here’s—look, here’s what and zero Republicans. And as a consequence, this comes down to. These folks spent a decade some of those signs should be going up at the driving our economy into a ditch. And so me other folks’ events, and folks should be holler- and Nancy and Bob and Chris Van Hollen ing at the other folks’ events. Because the and—we all put on our boots, and we went choice in November could not be clearer, a down into the ditch. It was muddy. It was hot. choice about what you want for the next 2 years, [Laughter] We’re sweating. There are bugs. what you want the next 2 years to look like in We’re down there, and we’re pushing on this this country. car. We’re pushing it up, and we’re slipping and You know what the other side’s offering. It’d sliding, but we know we’ve got to get it up be one thing if the Republican candidates there. looked back at the last decade and they said: And the Republicans are standing on level “You know what? Our policies didn’t work. We ground, and they’re watching us. [Laughter] ended up in a terrible recession. Let’s try some- And they’re sipping on a Slurpee—[laughter]— thing new”—if they were championing your is- and they’re saying, “You know, you’re not push- sues. Right? And you said, “Well, you know, ing hard enough,” or, “That’s not the right way maybe we’ve got an option here.” to push.” And we—every once in a while, we’d

1400 Administration of Barack Obama, 2010 / Sept. 22 look up to them and say, “Do you guys want to If we hand the keys over to the other side, we help?” They said: “No, no. No, we can’t.” will spend the next 2 years fighting to keep [Laughter] those tax breaks for companies that create jobs And so finally—finally—we get that car out and profits overseas, hundreds of billions of dol- of the ditch. Now, it’s a little banged up. It’s a lars in taxpayer subsidies we lose each year. little dented. It needs a tuneup. [Laughter] It’s Over the last 19 months, we’ve closed several not moving as fast as we wanted, but it’s on level of these tax loopholes. Over the next 2 years, ground, and we’re ready to move forward. And we’ll fight to give tax breaks to companies that suddenly we get a tap on the shoulder, and we actually create jobs within our borders: to small look back, and it’s the Republicans. [Laughter] businesses, to clean energy companies, to They said, “Excuse me, we want the keys back.” American manufacturers, to entrepreneurs that You can’t have the keys back. You don’t know are researching and investing and innovating how to drive. We cannot give them the keys right here in the United States of America. back. We can’t give them the keys back. That’s who we want to help. That’s the choice in Look, if you want to go forward, what do you this election. do? You put it in “D.” If you want to go back- If we give them back the keys, the other side wards, you put it in “R.” We can’t afford to go will spend the next 2 years fighting for a $700 backwards. That’s not a coincidence. We’ve got billion tax cut that only 2 percent of Americans to go forward. will ever see. They want to borrow $700 billion. Democrats, I don’t know about you, but I do They say that they’re about cutting deficits, but not want to spend the next 2 years watching they want to spend—borrow $700 billion and them try to drive our economy back into the give millionaires and billionaires an average tax ditch. I mean, we have seen this. We have seen cut of $100,000. this movie before, and we can’t afford to go This is the party that lectures us on fiscal re- back to what they were doing. Not now. Not sponsibility. That’s what they’re fighting for. I when we’ve come this far. I don’t accept that fu- don’t know about you, but I’ve got a different ture for the United States of America. set of priorities for the next 2 years. So we have a different idea about what the When I took office, I kept a campaign prom- next 2 years should look like. It’s an idea rooted ise to cut taxes for 95 percent of working Amer- in our belief about how this country was built. icans. And we’re fighting to make those middle We know that government doesn’t have all the class tax cuts permanent. answers to our problems. And we don’t believe Over the last 19 months, we’ve passed a new that government’s main role is to create jobs or college tax credit worth $10,000 in tuition relief prosperity. I believe government should be lean for each child going to 4 years of college. We and efficient. And that’s why I’ve proposed a 3- want to make that permanent too, because in year spending freeze and set up a bipartisan fis- good times or bad, no family should have to stop cal commission to deal with our deficit. investing in their children’s future. That’s what But in the words of the first Republican Pres- we believe. That’s what we stand for as Demo- ident, Abraham Lincoln, I also believe that gov- crats. Those are our priorities. That’s the choice ernment should do for the people what they in this election. can’t do for themselves. I believe in a country If we hand the other side the keys, they’ve that rewards hard work and responsibility, a promised to spend the next 2 years chipping country that invests in its people and its future, away at the new rules we’ve put in place for spe- and yes, a country where we look after one an- cial interests. And I refuse to let them do that. I other, where we respect everybody’s dignity, refuse to go back to the days when insurance where we say, I am my bother’s keeper, I am companies could deny you coverage or drop my sister’s keeper. That’s what we believe in. your coverage just because you’re sick. That’s what Democrats stand for. That’s the I was down with a group of families today be- choice in this election. cause starting tomorrow, we’ve got a whole

1401 Sept. 22 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2010 bunch of consumer protections, a patient’s bill with harmless-sounding names: Americans for of rights, that goes into effect as a consequence Prosperity, the Committee for Truth in Politics, of the Affordable Care Act. And I want you to or Moms for Motherhood. [Laughter] I made know, I met a woman from New Hampshire that last one up. [Laughter] who had gotten cancer, could not get insurance, But they pose as non-for-profit, social wel- and because of that legislation, she now is get- fare, and trade groups. Every single one of ting treatment, is feeling better, feeling optimis- them, virtually, is guided by seasoned Republi- tic about the future. can political operatives. None of them will dis- We had—[applause]—we met two moms close who is paying for these ads. They are whose children had preexisting conditions. And spending tens of millions of dollars against they were worried they couldn’t get insurance Democratic candidates without telling the for their children. And now they have the secu- American people where that flood of money is rity of knowing that those kids are going to be coming from. You don’t know if it’s coming safe. from big oil or insurance companies. You Two small businesses who were there saying, don’t even know if it’s coming from a foreign- we provide health insurance to our workers, but controlled corporation. one guy, he said his premiums had gone up a And we tried to fix this, but the leaders of the hundred percent in 7 years. He said, “Basically, other party wouldn’t even let it come up for a I could no longer afford it. Either I was going to vote. They want to keep the public in the dark. have to lay off workers or stop giving them in- But we won’t let them. We’re not about to allow surance—until this bill passed.” And now that special interests to take over our democracy. small-business owner is able to keep providing We’re not going to go back to the exact same health insurance to his workers. That’s what agenda we had before I took office. We remem- we’re fighting for. ber what it’s like. They’re counting on amnesia, We had—we’ve had reform in the financial but we remember exactly the policies that got sector to make sure that if you’ve got a credit us into a mess, and we’re not going to go back to card or you’re getting a mortgage, that you ar- them. en’t being cheated. And the other side is basi- So here’s the bottom line. A lot has changed cally saying, we want to take those protections since the last election. But what hasn’t changed away. is the choice facing the country. It’s still fear To paraphrase a friend of mine, Deval Pat- versus hope. It’s still the past versus the future. rick up in Massachusetts, the last election was It’s still a choice between sliding backward and about a changing of the guard; this election is moving forward. That is what this election’s about guarding the change. That’s exactly what about, and that’s the choice you’ll face in No- we’ve got to do over the next few weeks. vember. And it won’t be easy. So if you don’t think the stakes are large, I None of it will be easy, and that’s because the want you to consider this. If you don’t think the challenges we face right now are not easy. None stakes are large, I want you to understand, right of this is easy. But you didn’t elect me to do now all over this country, special interests are what’s easy. You didn’t elect me just to read the planning and running millions of dollars of at- polls and figure out how to keep myself in of- tack ads against Democratic candidates. Be- fice. You elected me to do what’s right. And as cause of last year’s Supreme Court decision in long as I’m President, that’s exactly what I will Citizens United, they are now—— do—do what’s right, not what’s convenient. Audience members. Boo! But I need your help. The President. ——they are now allowed to Audience member. You got it! spend as much as they want, unlimited amounts The President. Look, when I—but I want ev- of money, and they don’t have to reveal who’s erybody to listen up on this—when I see all the paying for these ads. And that’s what they’re do- polls, hear all the pundits, here’s what I take ing; millions of dollars being spent by groups away from them: The single biggest threat to

1402 Administration of Barack Obama, 2010 / Sept. 23 our success is not the other party; it’s us. It’s cial Security to Medicare—each and every one complacency. It’s apathy. It’s indifference. of those steps were laborious and difficult, and It’s people feeling like: “Well, we only got 80 there were people who were trying to block that percent of what we want. We didn’t get the oth- progress and people who were saying, that’s so- er 20, so we’re just going to sit on our hands. cialism, and people who were saying this was We’re not going to go out there. It turns out undermining the country—every step of the bringing about change is hard.” [Laughter] “I way, there were people who were fighting it. thought it was going to be easy. I liked the cute But people didn’t lose heart. Instead, people posters of the Obama campaign. I enjoyed the stood up and they said, you know what, we’re Inauguration. It was great when Beyonce and just going to keep on pushing; we’re going to Bono was singing.” [Laughter] “I didn’t know keep on fighting. that we were actually going to have to grind it Dr. King made famous a saying that “the arc out, that sometimes we’d have setbacks.” of the moral universe is long, but it bends to- [Laughter] wards justice.” We are moving in the direction You know, the only way we fall backwards is of justice. We are moving in the direction of if we don’t get mobilized, if we don’t get ener- prosperity. But we’ve got to keep on moving. gized—because I promise you, the other side is We can’t stop now. And if we are out there energized—if we don’t turn out our friends and working hard, if we are out there rekindling that our neighbors to vote. And that’s what I need spirit of hope, we won’t just win this election, you to do. I need you to knock on some doors. I we will restore our economy, rebuild the middle need you to talk to your neighbors. I need you class, reclaim the American Dream for the next to make some phone calls. I need you to re- generation. member that that election was not about me, it Thank you, New York. God bless you. God was about you. bless the United States of America. Thank you. If we do that, if we understand what’s at stake and we step up to the plate and we realize that NOTE: The President spoke at 6:46 p.m. at the change is not a spectator sport and that no, it Roosevelt Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to won’t come easy and you’re not going to get it Rep. Pete Sessions, in his capacity as chairman all in one fell swoop and you won’t even then of the National Republican Congressional get a hundred percent, if you remember that Committee; Gov. Deval L. Patrick of Massa- every bit of progress we’ve made from emanci- chusetts; and musicians Beyonce G. Knowles pation to women’s suffrage to civil rights to So- and Paul D. “Bono” Hewson.

Remarks at a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Dinner in September 22, 2010

Hello, New York! Thank you. Thank you so the finest Speakers of the House, I think, in our much. Everybody, please have a seat. It is won- history, and that’s Nancy Pelosi, here tonight. derful to see so many friends, colleagues, peo- She is doing outstanding work. ple who have done so much for the country and A terrific Senator who has taken on what is so much for New York City. It is wonderful to always a thankless task, and that is being head of be back in the Big Apple. And this is kind of an the DSCC, and doing it with tremendous ener- intimate affair, so I hope you don’t mind, I’m gy, Bob Menendez. I’m grateful for him. I’m going to occasionally go off script. grateful for chairman of the DCCC Chris Van But the first thing I want to do is just say that Hollen, who’s been working tirelessly. And then we truly have the good fortune of having one of the whole New York delegation—Carolyn

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