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Weekly Address: President Obama – Expanding Opportunity for the American People

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From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, President Obama says he will do everything he can to make a difference for the middle class and those working to get into the middle class, so that we can expand opportunity for all and build an economy that works for the American people

Transcript: Expanding Opportunity for the American People

Hi, everybody.  In my State of the Union Address, I talked about the idea of opportunity for all.

Opportunity is the idea at the heart of this country – that no matter who you are or how you started out, with hard work and responsibility, you can get ahead.

I ran for President to restore that idea, and I’m even more passionate about it today.  Because while our economy has been growing for four years, and those at the top are doing better than ever, average wages have barely budged.  Too many Americans are working harder than ever just to get by, let alone get ahead – and that’s been true since long before the recession hit.

We’ve got to reverse those trends.  We’ve got to build an economy that works for everyone, not just a fortunate few.  And the opportunity agenda I laid out last week will help us do that.

It’s an agenda with four parts.  Number one: more new jobs.  Number two: training folks with the skills to fill those jobs.  Number three: guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education.  And number four: making sure that hard work pays off, with wages you can live on, savings you can retire on, and health insurance that’s there when you need it.

I want to work with Congress on this agenda where I can. But in this year of action, whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, I will.  I’ve got a pen and a phone – a pen to take executive action, and a phone to rally citizens and business leaders who are eager to create new jobs and new opportunities.  And we’ve already begun.

In Wisconsin, I ordered an across-the-board reform of our training programs to train folks with the skills employers need, and match them to good jobs that need to be filled right now.

In Pittsburgh, I directed the Treasury to create “my-RA,” a new way for working Americans, even if you’re not wealthy, to start your own retirement savings.

In Maryland, I rallied the leaders of some of America’s biggest tech companies to help us make sure all our kids have access to high-speed internet and up-to-date technology to help them learn the skills they need for the new economy.

And at the White House, I brought together business leaders who’ve committed to helping more unemployed Americans find work, no matter how long they’ve been looking.  And I directed the federal government to make hiring decisions the same way – based on whether applicants can do the job, not when they last had a job.

So when you hear me talk about using my pen and my phone to make a difference for middle class Americans and those working to get into the middle class, that’s what I mean.  And I’m going to keep asking students and parents and business leaders to help – because there are millions of Americans outside Washington who are tired of stale political arguments, ready to move this country forward, and determined to restore the founding vision of opportunity for all.

And so am I.  Thanks, have a great weekend, and to our Olympians in Sochi, go Team USA!

Bolding added.

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Editor’s Note: The President’s Weekly Address diary is also the weekend open news thread. Feel free to leave links to other news items in the comment threads.


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9 comments

  1. JanF

    From the White House The President Signs the Farm Bill: “A Jobs Bill, an Innovation Bill, a Research Bill, and a Conservation Bill”

    President Obama traveled to Michigan State University’s equine performance center in East Lansing to deliver remarks on and sign into law the Agriculture Act of 2014 — also known as the Farm Bill, which Congress passed earlier this week.

    It’s a bill whose reach extends far beyond our farms — it includes smart reforms to reduce our deficit, and the investments it makes in our rural communities will help strengthen our economy across the board.

    In his remarks, the President detailed how the Farm Bill makes key investments in rural communities across the board — from funding for hospitals, schools, and affordable housing to support for businesses working to develop cutting-edge biofuels — all the while cutting down on loopholes that used to allow people to receive benefits year after year, whether they farmed anything or not.

    Besides keeping our rural communities thriving, the President said, the Farm Bill helps vulnerable families keep food on the table by providing funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. In 2012, SNAP kept nearly 5 million people — including more than 2 million children — out of poverty.

  2. JanF

    “Media Malpractice”: Paul Krugman Calls Out Misinformation On CBO Report

    On February 4, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its 10-year economic projections, including an estimate of how the Affordable Care Act will impact the job market, an estimate that set off a storm of reaction. The CBO projected that the Affordable Care Act will allow workers to choose to work less hours because they will be able to maintain health insurance coverage outside of employment. Instead of reporting on the CBO’s actual findings, media outlets seized on this information to falsely claim that the ACA would cost the economy millions of lost jobs.

    Appearing on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, economist Paul Krugman called the misleading reporting “media malpractice”.

    From Krugman’s column in the NY Times this past week:

    Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, quickly posted this on his Twitter account: “Under Obamacare, millions of hardworking Americans will lose their jobs and those who keep them will see their hours and wages reduced.” […]

    So was Mr. Cantor being dishonest? Or was he just ignorant of the policy basics and unwilling to actually read the report before trumpeting his misrepresentation of what it said? It doesn’t matter — because even if it was ignorance, it was willful ignorance. Remember, the campaign against health reform has, at every stage, grabbed hold of any and every argument it could find against insuring the uninsured, with truth and logic never entering into the matter.

    Republicans running on those lies will be in for a surprise in November when they find that they have grabbed onto the new third rail of politics, one that they actually promoted in 2009: “Hands off my health care!!!”.

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