Weekly
Address: Focusing on the Economic Priorities for the Middle Class Nationwide
The White House
June 28, 2014
Hi, everybody. This week, I spent a couple days in
Minneapolis, talking with people about their lives – their concerns, their
successes, and their hopes for the future.
I went because of a letter I
received from a working mother named Rebekah, who shared with me the hardships
her young family has faced since the financial crisis. She and her husband Ben were just newlyweds
expecting their first child, Jack, when the housing crash dried up his
contracting business. He took what jobs
he could, and Rebekah took out student loans and retrained for a new
career. They sacrificed – for their
kids, and for each other. And five years
later, they’ve paid off debt, bought their first home, and had their second
son, Henry.
In her letter to me, she wrote,
“We are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very
hard times.” And in many ways, that’s
America’s story these past five years.
We are a strong, tight-knit family that’s made it through some very
tough times.
Today, over the past 51 months,
our businesses have created 9.4 million new jobs. By measure after measure, our economy is
doing better than it was five years ago.
But as Rebekah also wrote in her
letter, there are still too many middle-class families like hers who do
everything right – who work hard and who sacrifice – but can’t seem to get
ahead. It feels like the odds are
stacked against them. And with just a
small change in our priorities, we could fix that.
The problem is, Republicans in
Congress keep blocking or voting down almost every serious idea to strengthen
the middle class. This year alone,
they’ve said no to raising the minimum wage, no to fair pay, no to student loan
reform, no to extending unemployment insurance.
And rather than invest in education that helps working families get
ahead, they actually voted to give another massive tax cut to the wealthiest
Americans.
This obstruction keeps the system
rigged for those at the top, and rigged against the middle class. And as long as they insist on doing it, I’ll
keep taking actions on my own – like the actions I’ve taken already to attract
new jobs, lift workers’ wages, and help students pay off their loans. I’ll do my job. And if it makes Republicans in Congress mad
that I’m trying to help people out, they can join me, and we’ll do it together.
The point is, we could do so much
more as a country – as a strong, tight-knit family – if Republicans in Congress
were less interested in stacking the deck for those at the top, and more
interested in growing the economy for everybody.
So rather than more tax breaks
for millionaires, let’s give more tax breaks to help working families pay for
child care or college. Rather than
protect tax loopholes that let big corporations set up tax shelters overseas,
let’s put people to work rebuilding roads and bridges right here in
America. Rather than stack the decks in
favor of those who’ve already succeeded, let’s realize that we are stronger as
a nation when we offer a fair shot to every American.
I’m going to spend some time
talking about these very choices in the week ahead. That’s because we know from our history that
our economy doesn’t grow from the top-down, it grows from the middle-out. We do better when the middle class does
better. That’s the American way. That’s what I believe in. And that’s what I’ll keep fighting for.
Have a great Fourth of July,
everybody – and good luck to Team USA down in Brazil.
Thanks. |
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