On June 4, 2009, President Barack Obama spoke at Cairo University and laid out his vision for international cooperation and America’s role in the world.
A true leader advocates for world peace, not constant war, seeks change through diplomacy not bombs, and looks to the future and the advancement of common goals rather than redress for past slights.
“A New Beginning”
The President gives a speech in Cairo, Egypt, outlining his personal commitment to engagement with the Muslim world, based upon mutual interests and mutual respect, and discusses how the United States and Muslim communities around the world can bridge some of the differences that have divided them. June 4, 2009
PRESIDENT OBAMA: It’s easier to start wars than to end them. It’s easier to blame others than to look inward. It’s easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path.
I am returning herewith without my approval S. 1, the “Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act.” Through this bill, the United States Congress attempts to circumvent longstanding and proven processes for determining whether or not building and operating a cross-border pipeline serves the national interest.
The Presidential power to veto legislation is one I take seriously. But I also take seriously my responsibility to the American people. And because this act of Congress conflicts with established executive branch procedures and cuts short thorough consideration of issues that could bear on our national interest — including our security, safety, and environment — it has earned my veto.
A new report from the President’s Council of Economic Advisers shows that that the current, broken regulatory environment creates misaligned incentives that cost working and middle class families billions of dollars a year-with some individual families losing tens of thousands of dollars of their retirement savings. These incentives cause some Wall Street brokers to encourage working and middle class families to move from low-cost employer plans to IRA accounts that typically entail higher fees-and to steer working and middle class families into higher-cost products within the IRA market. Many advisers currently act as fiduciaries and provide advice in their clients’ best interest, but many others do not. […]
Today, the President called on the Department of Labor to crack down on Wall Street and protect families from conflicted and bad retirement advice. DOL will move forward with a proposed rulemaking that would require retirement advisers to abide by a “fiduciary” standard-putting their clients’ best interest before their own profits.
… while we’ve come a long way, we’ve got a lot more work to do to make sure that the recovery reaches every single American out there and not just those at the top. That’s what I’ve been calling middle-class economics — the idea that this country does best when everybody does their fair share, and everybody gets a fair shot and everybody is playing by the same set of rules.
And that last part — everybody playing by the same set of rules — is why we passed historic Wall Street reform that put in place smarter, tougher, common-sense rules of the road to protect consumers and to end taxpayer-funded bailouts. […]
Today, we’re going to build on these consumer protections for the middle class by taking a new action to protect hardworking families’ retirement security. Because, in America, after a lifetime of hard work, you should be able to retire with dignity and a sense of security.
And in today’s economy, that’s gotten tougher. Most workers don’t have a traditional pension. A Social Security check often isn’t enough on its own. […]
… the challenge we’ve got is right now, there are no uniform rules of the road that require retirement advisors to act in the best interests of their clients — and that’s hurting millions of working and middle-class families.
In this week’s address, the President underscored the importance of continuing to grow our economy and support good-paying jobs for our workers by opening up new markets for American goods and services.
While America’s businesses, ranchers, and farmers are already exporting goods at record levels, there’s more room for growth with 95 percent of the world’s customers living outside our borders. In order to pursue new trade agreements, the President called on Congress to pass trade promotion authority so that the U.S. — not China — can play a leading role in negotiating 21st century trade deals that protect our workers, support good wages, and help grow the middle class.
As part of President Obama’s commitment to protect our Nation’s unique outdoor spaces and ensure that every American has the opportunity to visit and enjoy them, today he will launch an “Every Kid in a Park” initiative that will provide all fourth grade students and their families with free admission to National Parks and other federal lands and waters for a full year. He will also announce the creation of three new National Monuments across the country.
The President will make the announcements near the site of the historic Pullman town in Chicago, a location iconic for its history of labor unrest and civil rights advances, which will be the City’s first National Park Service (NPS) unit. He also will announce that he will designate Honouliuli National Monument in Hawaii, the site of an internment camp where Japanese American citizens, resident immigrants, and prisoners of war were held captive during World War II, and Browns Canyon National Monument in Colorado, an historic site of extraordinary beauty with world-class recreational opportunities that attract visitors from around the globe. Together, these monuments will help tell the story of significant events in American history and protect unique natural resources for the benefit of all Americans.
PRESIDENT OBAMA (from Chicago): It’s always been a dream of mine to be the first President to designate a national monument in subzero conditions. […]
For a century, rangers, and interpreters, and volunteers and visitors have kept alive what the writer Wallace Stegner once called “the best idea we ever had” — our belief that the country’s most special places should belong not just to the rich, not just to the powerful, but belong to everybody — not just now, but for all time. […]
… starting this fall, we’re going to help a new generation of Americans experience our God-given grandeur by giving every fourth-grader in America what we’re calling an “Every Kid in a Park” pass — a pass good for free admission to all public lands, for you and your family, for an entire year. We want every fourth-grader to have the experience of getting out and discovering America.
On the significance of Pullman and the porter strike:
And 12 years to the day after A. Philip Randolph spoke in that hall in Harlem [founding the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters], they won, and Pullman became the first large company in America to recognize a union of black workers. […]
[It] was A. Philip Randolph who was the first to speak at that March on Washington. “We are the advanced guard,” he said, “of a massive, moral revolution for jobs and freedom.”
“A massive, moral revolution for jobs and freedom.” And that’s not just the story of a movement, that’s the story of America. Because as Americans, we believe that workers’ rights are civil rights. That dignity and opportunity aren’t just gifts to be handed down by a generous government or by a generous employer; they are rights given by God, as undeniable and worth protecting as the Grand Canyon or the Great Smoky Mountains. …
… throughout our history, we’ve marched not only for jobs, but also for justice; not just for the absence of oppression, but for the presence of opportunity. And ultimately, that wasn’t just for African Americans any more than the original Pullman union was just for white workers. Eventually, that principle would be embraced on behalf of women, and Latinos, and Native Americans; for Catholics and Jews and Muslims; for LGBT Americans; for Americans with mental and physical disabilities.
In this week’s address, the President laid out his plan to ensure more children graduate from school fully prepared for college and a career.
Our elementary and secondary schools are doing better, as demonstrated by the news this past week that our high school graduation rate has hit an all-time high, but there is still more that can be done to ensure every child receives a quality education. That’s why the President wants to replace No Child Left Behind with a new law that addresses the overuse of standardized tests, makes a real investment in preschool, and gives every kid a fair shot at success.
He reminded everyone that when educating our kids, the future of our nation, we shouldn’t accept anything less than the best.
In this week’s address, President Obama highlighted the progress our economy has made, with more than 3.1 million jobs created in 2014 – the best year for job growth since the late 1990s. America has come a long way, and with the right policies, we can continue to grow our economy into one where those who work hard can get ahead.
That’s why earlier this week the President released a budget proposal focused on middle-class economics – the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, does their fair share, and plays by the same set of rules. The President said he looks forward to working with anyone, Republican or Democrat, who is willing to fight for commonsense policies that will help the middle class succeed.
The White House has released its Fiscal Year 2016 Budget. The president spoke at the Department of Homeland Security about the budget in general and the importance of a fully funded DHS in particular:
[This budget is] a broader blueprint for America’s success in this new global economy. Because after a breakthrough year for America — at a time when our economy is growing and our businesses are creating jobs at the fastest pace since the 1990s, and wages are starting to rise again — we’ve got some fundamental choices to make about the kind of country we want to be.
Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or are we going to build an economy where everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead? […]
The budget I’ve sent to Congress today is fully paid for, through a combination of smart spending cuts and tax reforms. […]
I’m going to keep fighting to make sure that every American has the chance not just to share in America’s success but to contribute to America’s success. That’s what this budget is about.
In this week’s address, the President described the progress our economy has made, laying a foundation for a future that prioritizes middle-class economics.
This week, the President will send a budget to Congress centered on the idea that everyone who works hard should have the chance to get ahead. His plan will reverse harmful sequestration cuts and instead make paychecks go further, create good jobs here in the United States, and prepare hardworking Americans to earn higher wages. The President made the case for his budget, and affirmed his commitment to doing everything he can to ensure more Americans can get ahead in this new economy.
On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed his very first piece of legislation: the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The law, named after a woman who discovered her employer was paying her less than men doing the same job, makes it easier for Mrs. Ledbetter and others like her to effectively challenge unequal pay.
Lilly Ledbetter took her pay discrimination complaint all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2007 that claims like hers had to be filed within 180 days of an employer’s decision to pay a worker less-even if the worker didn’t learn about the unfair pay until much later, as was the case for Mrs. Ledbetter .
To make sure that people can effectively challenge unequal pay, the law President Obama signed shortly after taking office amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so that unfair pay complaints can be filed within 180 days of a discriminatory paycheck-and that 180 days resets after each paycheck is issued.
Since then, the Roberts Supreme Court has succeeded in undermining many other rights, including the right to vote and the right to fair elections – elections free of the corrupting influence of dark money. The difference was that in 2009, the president had partners in Congress who were willing to do the people’s work and fix the mistakes of the court. So much has changed, so much work that will not be done until we can elect a Congress that reflects the values of the majority of our people. That will not happen with the 114th Congress, dubbed “America’s New Congress ™” by the Republican majority – dubbed “America’s Nightmare Come True ™” by the majority of Americans.
We can fix this, we must fix this.
Between now and November 2016, tell everyone you know of the enormous power each and every citizen has: the power to choose our government. Talk it up, pump them up … so that when we all exercise that “most basic human right”, we can once again have a government creating laws like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act.
