"What’s lacking is not the capacity to meet our challenges, what is lacking is our politics."

[bigtree]

excerpt from President Obama’s June 14 speech on the economy at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio:




IN our democracy, this remarkable system of government, you, the people, have the final say.

This November is your chance to render a verdict on the debate over how to grow the economy, how to create good jobs, how to pay down our deficit. Your vote will finally determine the path that we take as a nation, not just tomorrow, but for years to come.

When you strip everything else away, that’s really what this election is about. That’s what is at stake right now. Everything else is just noise. Everything else is just a distraction.

From now until then, both sides will spend tons of money on TV commercials. The other side will spend over a billion dollars on ads that tell you the economy is bad, that it’s all my fault...

... that I can’t fix it because I think government is always the answer or because I didn’t make a lot of money in the private sector and don’t understand it or because I’m in over my head or because I think everything and everybody is doing just fine.

That’s what the scary voice in the ads will say.

That’s what Mr. Romney will say.





That’s what the Republicans in Congress will say.

Well, you know, that may be their plan to win the election, but it’s not a plan to create jobs.

It’s not a plan to grow the economy. It’s not a plan to pay down the debt. And it’s sure not a plan to revive the middle class and secure our future. I think you deserve better than that.

At a moment this big, a moment when so many people are still struggling, I think you deserve a real debate about the economic plans we’re promoting. Governor Romney and the Republicans who run Congress believe that if you simply take away regulations and cut taxes by trillions of dollars, the market will solve all of our problems on its own. If you agree with that, you should vote for them. And I promise you, they will take us in that direction.

I believe we need a plan for better education and training and for energy independence and for new research and innovation, for rebuilding our infrastructure, for a tax code that creates jobs in America and pays down our debt in a way that’s balanced.

I have that plan. They don’t. And if you agree with me, if you believe this economy grows best when everybody gets a fair shot, and everybody does their fair share, and everybody plays by the same set of rules, then I ask you stand with me for a second term as president.





In fact -- in fact, I’ll -- I’ll take it a step further. I ask your vote for anyone else, whether they’re Democrats, independents, or Republicans who share your view about how America should grow. I will work with anyone of any party who believes that we’re in this together, who believes that we rise or fall as one nation and as one people.

Because -- because I’m convinced that they’re actually a lot of Republicans out there who may not agree with every one of my policies but who still believe in a balanced, responsible approach to economic growth and who remember the lessons of our history, and who don’t like the direction their leaders are taking them.

And let me -- let me leave you with one last thought: As you consider your choice in November...

Don’t let anybody tell you that the challenges we face right now are beyond our ability to solve.

You know, it’s hard not to get cynical when times are tough. And I’m reminded every day of just how tough things are for too many Americans.

Every day I hear from folks who are out of work or have lost their home. Across this country I meet people who are struggling to pay their bills, or older workers worried about retirement, or young people who are underemployed and burdened with debt.

I hear their voices when I wake up in the morning and those voices ring in my head when I lay down to sleep.





And in those voices I hear the echo of my own family’s struggles as I was growing up and Michelle’s family’s struggles when she was growing up, and the fears and the dashed hopes that -- that our parents and grandparents had to confront.

Well, you know what? In those voices I also hear a stubborn hope and a fierce pride and determination to overcome whatever challenges we face.

And in you the American people I’m reminded of all the things that tilt the future in our favor. We remain the wealthiest nation on Earth. We have the best workers and entrepreneurs, the best scientists and researchers, the best colleges and universities. We are a young country with the greatest diversity of talent and ingenuity drawn from every corner of the globe. So, yes, reforming our schools, rebuilding our infrastructure will take time. Yes, paying down our debt will require some tough choices and shard sacrifice. But it can be done. And we’ll be stronger for it.

And what’s lacking is not the capacity to meet our challenges, what is lacking is our politics. And that’s something entirely within your power to solve. So this November you can remind the world how a strong economy is built, not from the top down, but from a growing, thriving middle class.

This November, you can remind the world how it is that we’ve traveled this far as a country, not by telling everybody to fend for themselves but by coming together as one American family, all of us pitching in, all of us pulling our own weight, this November you can provide a mandate for the change we need right now. You can move this nation forward, and you can remind the world once again why the United States of America is still the greatest nation on Earth.




full transcript of speech: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/full-transcript-of-obamas-speech-on-the-economy-in-cleveland-ohio/2012/06/14/gJQAdY10cV_print.html

[Cary]

1. I disagree only slightly.

There are other things at stake, like what what wars would Republicans drive us into? The biggest concern I have is the Supreme Court. There is potentially a lot at stake there.

[Ghost of Huey Long]

2. What is lacking is common sense, what is getting in the way is politics and personal greed

I contend, my friends, that we have no difficult problem to solve in America, and that is the view of nearly everyone with whom I have discussed the matter here in Washington and elsewhere throughout the United States—that we have no very difficult problem to solve.

It is not the difficulty of the problem which we have; it is the fact that the rich people of this country—and by rich people I mean the super-rich—will not allow us to solve the problems, or rather the one little problem that is afflicting this country, because in order to cure all of our woes it is necessary to scale down the big fortunes, that we may scatter the wealth to be shared by all of the people.