president obama's remarks at knox college

7/27/2019 President Obama's Remarks at Knox College

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THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press Secretary

EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERYJuly 24, 2013

Remarks of President Barack Obama - As Prepared for DeliveryA Better Bargain for the Middle Class

Galesburg, Illinois

July 24, 2013

Eight years ago, I came here to deliver the commencement address for the class of 2005. Things

were a little different back then. I didnt have any gray hair, for example. Or a motorcade. I

didnt even have a teleprompter. It was my first big speech as your newest senator, and I spent

my time talking about what a changing economy was doing to the middle classand what we, asa country, needed to do to give every American a chance to get ahead in the 21

stcentury.

You see, Id just spent a year traveling this state and listening to your storiesof proud Maytag

workers losing their jobs when their plant moved down to Mexico; of teachers whose salarieswerent keeping up with the rising cost of groceries; of young people who had the drive but not

the money to afford a college education.

They were the stories of families who worked hard and believed in the American Dream, but felt

that the odds were increasingly stacked against them. And they were right.

In the period after World War II, a growing middle class was the engine of ourprosperity. Whether you owned a company, swept its floors, or worked anywhere in between,

this country offered you a basic bargaina sense that your hard work would be rewarded withfair wages and benefits, the chance to buy a home, to save for retirement, and, above all, to handdown a better life for your kids.

But over time, that engine began to stall. That bargain began to fray. Technology made somejobs obsolete. Global competition sent others overseas. It became harder for unions to fight for

the middle class. Washington doled out bigger tax cuts to the rich and smaller minimum wage

increases for the working poor. The link between higher productivity and peoples wages and

salaries was severedthe income of the top 1% nearly quadrupled from 1979 to 2007, while thetypical familys barely budged.

Towards the end of those three decades, a housing bubble, credit cards, and a churning financialsector kept the economy artificially juiced up. But by the time I took office in 2009, the bubblehad burst, costing millions of Americans their jobs, their homes, and their savings. The decades-

long erosion of middle-class security was laid bare for all to see and feel.

Today, five years after the start of that Great Recession, America has fought its way back.


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Together, we saved the auto industry, took on a broken health care system, and invested in new

American technologies to reverse our addiction to foreign oil and double wind and solar power.

Together, we put in place tough new rules on big banks, and protections that cracked down on

the worst practices of mortgage lenders and credit card companies. We changed a tax code too

skewed in favor of the wealthiest at the expense of working families, locking in tax cuts for 98%of Americans, and asking those at the top to pay a little more.

Add it all up, and over the past 40 months, our businesses have created 7.2 million new

jobs. This year, we are off to our strongest private-sector job growth since 1999. And becausewe bet on this country, foreign companies are, too. Right now, more of Hondas cars are made

in America than anywhere else. Airbus will build new planes in Alabama. Companies like Ford

are replacing outsourcing with insourcing and bringing more jobs home. We sell more products

made in America to the rest of the world than ever before. We now produce more natural gasthan any country on Earth. Were about to produce more of our own oil than we buy from

abroad for the first time in nearly 20 years. The cost of health care is growing at its slowest rate

in 50 years. And our deficits are falling at the fastest rate in 60 years.

Thanks to the grit and resilience of the American people, weve cleared away the rubble from the

financial crisis and begun to lay a new foundation for stronger, more durable economic

growth. In our personal lives, we tightened our belts, shed debt, and refocused on the things thatreally matter. As a country, weve recovered faster and gone further than most other advanced

nations in the world. With new American revolutions in energy, technology, manufacturing, and

health care, we are actually poised to reverse the forces that have battered the middle class for solong, and rebuild an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead.

But Im here today to tell you what you already know were not there yet. Even though our

businesses are creating new jobs and have broken record profits, nearly all the income gains ofthe past ten years have continued to flow to the top 1%. The average CEO has gotten a raise of

nearly 40% since 2009, but the average American earns less than he or she did in 1999. And

companies continue to hold back on hiring those who have been out of work for some time.

Today, more students are earning their degree, but soaring costs saddle them with unsustainable

debt. Health care costs are slowing, but many working families havent seen the savingsyet. And while the stock market rebound has helped families get back much of what they lost in

their 401ks, millions of Americans still have no idea how theyll ever be able to retire. In many

ways, the trends that I spoke of here in 2005of a winner-take-all economy where a few do

better and better, while everybody else just treads waterhave been made worse by therecession.

This growing inequality isnt just morally wrong; its bad economics. When middle-class

families have less to spend, businesses have fewer customers. When wealth concentrates at thevery top, it can inflate unstable bubbles that threaten the economy. When the rungs on the ladder

of opportunity grow farther apart, it undermines the very essence of this country.


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Thats why reversing these trends must be Washingtons highest priority. Its certainly my

highest priority. Unfortunately, over the past couple of years in particular, Washington hasnt

just ignored the problem; too often, its made things worse.

Weve seen a sizable group of Republican lawmakers suggest they wouldnt vote to pay the very

bills that Congress rang upa fiasco that harmed a fragile recovery in 2011, and one we cantafford to repeat. Then, rather than reduce our deficits with a scalpelby cutting programs wedont need, fixing ones we do, and making government more efficient this same group has

insisted on leaving in place a meat cleaver called the sequester that has cost jobs, harmed growth,

hurt our military, and gutted investments in American education and scientific and medicalresearch that we need to make this country a magnet for good jobs.

Over the last six months, this gridlock has gotten worse. A growing number of Republican

Senators are trying to get things done, like an immigration bill that economists say will boost oureconomy by more than a trillion dollars. But a faction ofRepublicans in the House wont even

give that bill a vote, and gutted a farm bill that Americas farmers and most vulnerable children

depend on.

If you ask some of these Republicans about their economic agenda, or how theyd strengthen the

middle class, theyll shift the topic to out-of-control government spending despite the fact

that we have cut the deficit by nearly half as a share of the economy since I took office. Ortheyll talk about government assistance for the poor, despite the fact that theyve already cut

early education for vulnerable kids and insurance for people whove lost their jobs through no

fault of their own. Or theyll bring up Obamacare, despite the fact that our businesses havecreated nearly twice as many jobs in this recovery as they had at the same point in the last

recovery, when there was no Obamacare.

With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington hastaken its eye off the ball. And I am here to say this needs to stop. Short-term thinking and stale

debates are not what this moment requires. Our focus must be on the basic economic issues that

the matter most to youthe people we represent. And as Washington prepares to enter anotherbudget debate, the stakes for our middle class could not be higher. The countries that are passive

in the face of a global economy will lose the competition for good jobs and high living

standards. Thats why America has to make the investments necessary to promote long-termgrowth and shared prosperity. Rebuilding our manufacturing base. Educating our

workforce. Upgrading our transportation and information networks. Thats what we need to be

talking about. Thats what Washington needs to be focused on.

And thats why, over the next several weeks, in towns across this country, I will engage the

American people in this debate. I will lay out my ideas for how we build on the cornerstones of

what it means to be middle class in America, and what it takes to work your way into the middle

class in America. Job security, with good wages and durable industries. A good education. Ahome to call your own. Affordable health care when you get sick. A secure retirement even if

youre not rich. Reducing poverty and inequality. Growing prosperity and opportunity.


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Some of these ideas Ive talked about before, and some will be new. Some will require

Congress, and some I will pursue on my own. Some will benefit folks right away; some will

take years to fully implement. But the key is to break through the tendency in Washington tocareen from crisis to crisis. What we need isnt a three-month plan, or even a three-year plan,

but a long-term American strategy, based on steady, persistent effort, to reverse the forces that

have conspired against the middle class for decades.

Of course, well keep pressing on other key priorities, like reducing gun violence, rebalancing

our fight against al Qaeda, combating climate change, and standing up for civil rights and

womens rights. But if we dont have a growing, thriving middle class, we wont have theresources or the resolve; the optimism or sense of unity that we need to solve these other issues.

In this effort, I will look to work with Republicans as well as Democrats wherever I can. I

believe there are members of both parties who understand whats at stake, and I will welcomeideas from anyone, from across the political spectrum. But I will not allow gridlock, inaction, or

willful indifference to get in our way. Whatever executive authority I have to help the middle

class, Ill use it. Where I cant act on my own, Ill pick up the phone and call CEOs, andphilanthropists, and college presidentsanybody who can helpand enlist them in our

efforts. Because the choices that we, the people, make now will determine whether or not every

American will have a fighting chance in the 21st

century.

Let me give you a quick preview of what Ill be fighting for and why.

The first cornerstone of a strong and growing middle class has to be an economy that generatesmore good jobs in durable, growing industries. Over the past four years, for the first time since

the 1990s, the number of American manufacturing jobs hasnt gone down; theyve gone up. But

we can do more. So Ill push new initiatives to help more manufacturers bring more jobs back to

America. Well continue to focus on strategies to create good jobs in wind, solar, and natural gasthat are lowering energy costs and dangerous carbon pollution. And Ill push to open more

manufacturing innovation institutes that turn regions left behind by global competition into

global centers of cutting-edge jobs. Lets tell the world that America is open for business including an old site right here in Galesburg, over on Monmouth Boulevard.

Tomorrow, Ill also visit the port of Jacksonville, Florida to offer new ideas for doing whatAmerica has always done best: building things. Weve got ports that arent ready for the new

supertankers that will begin passing through the new Panama Canal in two years time. Weve

got more than 100,000 bridges that are old enough to qualify for Medicare. Businesses depend

on our transportation systems, our power grids, our communications networksand rebuildingthem creates good-paying jobs that cant be outsourced. And yet, as a share of our economy, we

invest less in our infrastructure than we did two decades ago. Thats inefficient at a time when

its as cheap as its been since the 1950s. Its inexcusable at a time when so many of the workers

who do this for a living sit idle. The longer we put this off, the more expensive it will be, and theless competitive we will be. The businesses of tomorrow wont locate near old roads and

outdated ports; theyll relocate to places with high-speed internet; high-tech schools; systems that

move air and auto traffic faster, not to mention get parents home to their kids faster. We canwatch that happen in other countries, or we can choose to make it happen right here, in America.


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In an age when jobs know no borders, companies will also seek out the country that boasts the

most talented citizens, and reward them with good pay. The days when the wages for a workerwith a high-school degree could keep pace with the earnings of someone who got some higher

education are over. Technology and global competition arent going away. So we can either

throw up our hands and resign ourselves to diminished living standards, or we can do whatAmerica has always done: adapt, pull together, fight back and win.

Which brings me to the second cornerstone of a strong middle class: an education that prepares

our children and our workers for the global competition theyll face.

If you think education is expensive, wait until you see how much ignorance costs in the 21st

century. If we dont make this investment, well put our kids, our workers, and our country at a

competitive disadvantage for decades. So we must begin in the earliest years. Thats why Illkeep pushing to make high-quality preschool available to every four year-old in Americanot

just because we know it works for our kids, but because it provides a vital support system for

working parents. Ill also take action to spur innovation in our schools that dont requireCongress. Today, for example, federal agencies are moving on my plan to connect 99% of

Americas students to high-speed internet over the next five years. And weve begun meeting

with business leaders, tech entrepreneurs, and innovative educators to identify the best ideas for

redesigning our high schools so that they teach the skills required for a high-tech economy.

Well also keep pushing new efforts to train workers for changing jobs. Here in Galesburg, many

of the workers laid off at Maytag chose to enroll in retraining programs like the ones at CarlSandburg College. And while it didnt pay off for everyone, many who retrained found jobs that

suited them even better and paid even more. Thats why I asked Congress to start a Community

College to Career initiative, so that workers can earn the skills that high-tech jobs demand

without leaving their hometown. And Im challenging CEOs from some of Americas bestcompanies to hire more Americans whove got what it takes to fill that job opening, but have

been laid off so long no one will give their resume an honest look.

Im also going to use the power of my office over the next few months to highlight a topic thats

straining the budgets of just about every American familythe soaring cost of higher education.

Three years ago, I worked with Democrats to reform the student loan system so that taxpayer

dollars stopped padding the pockets of big banks, and instead helped more kids afford college. I

capped loan repayments at 10% of monthly income for responsible borrowers. And this week,

were working with both parties to reverse the doubling of student loan rates that occurred a fewweeks ago because of Congressional inaction.

Its all a good start but it isnt enough. Families and taxpayers cant just keep paying more and

more into an undisciplined system; weve got to get more out of what we pay for. Some collegesare testing new approaches to shorten the path to a degree, or blending teaching with online

learning to help students master material and earn credits in less time. Some states are testing

new ways to fund college based not just on how many students enroll, but how well they do. Thisafternoon, Ill visit the University of Central Missouri to highlight their efforts to deliver more


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bang for the buck. And in the coming months, I will lay out an aggressive strategy to shake up

the system, tackle rising costs, and improve value for middle-class students and their families.

Now, if a good job and a good education have always been key stepping stones into the middle

class, a home of your own has been the clearest expression of middle-class security. That

changed during the crisis, when millions of middle-class families saw their home valuesplummet. Over the past four years, weve helped more responsible homeowners stay in theirhomes, and today, sales are up, prices are up, and fewer Americans see their homes underwater.

But were not done yet. The key now is to encourage homeownership that isnt based onbubbles, but is instead based on a solid foundation, where buyers and lenders play by the same

set of rules, rules that are clear, transparent, and fair. Already, Ive asked Congress to pass a

good, bipartisan ideaone that was championed by Mitt Romneys economic advisor to give

every homeowner the chance to refinance their mortgage and save thousands of dollars ayear. Im also acting on my own to cut red tape for responsible families who want to get a

mortgage, but the bank says no. And well work with both parties to turn the page on Fannie and

Freddie, and build a housing finance system thats rock-solid for future generations.

Along with homeownership, the fourth cornerstone of what it means to be middle class in this

country is a secure retirement. Unfortunately, over the past decade, too many families watched

their retirement recede from their grasp. Today, a rising stock market has millions of retirementbalances rising. But we still live with an upside-down system where those at the top get

generous tax incentives to save, while tens of millions of hardworking Americans get none at all.

As we work to reform our tax code, we should find new ways to make it easier for workers to putmoney away, and free middle-class families from the fear that theyll never be able to

retire. And if Congress is looking for a bipartisanplace to get started, they dont have to look

far: economists show that immigration reform that makes undocumented workers pay their full

share of taxes would actually shore up Social Security for years.

Fifth, I will keep focusing on health care, because middle-class families and small business

owners deserve the security of knowing that neither illness nor accident should threaten thedreams youve worked a lifetime to build.

As we speak, we are well on our way to fully implementing the Affordable Care Act. If youreone of the 85% of Americans who already have health insurance, youve got new benefits and

better protections you didnt have before, like free checkups and mammograms and discounted

medicine on Medicare. If you dont have health insurance, starting October 1st, private plans will

actually compete for your business. You can comparison shop in an online marketplace, just likeyou would for TVs or plane tickets, and buy the one that fits your budget and is right for

you. And if youre in the up to half of all Americans whove been sick or have a preexisting

condition, this law means that that beginning January 1st, insurance companies finally have to

cover you, and at the same rates they charge everybody else.

Now, I know there are folks out there who are actively working to make this law fail. But

despite a politically-motivated misinformation campaign, the states that have committedthemselves to making this law work are finding that competition and choice are actually pushing


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costs down. Just last week, New York announced that premiums for consumers who buy their

insurance in these online marketplaces will be at least 50% less than what they pay today. Thats

rightfolks premiums in the individual market will drop by 50%. For them, and for themillions of Americans who have been able to cover their sick kids for the first time, or have been

able to cover their employees more cheaply, or who will be getting tax breaks to afford insurance

for the first timeyou will have the security of knowing that everything youve worked hard foris no longer one illness away from being wiped out.

Finally, as we work to strengthen these cornerstones of middle-class security, Im going to make

the case for why we need to rebuild ladders of opportunity for all those Americans still trappedin poverty. Here in America, weve never guaranteed success. More than some other countries,

we expect people to be self-reliant, and weve tolerated a little more inequality for the sake of a

more dynamic, more adaptable economy. But thats always been combined with a commitment

to upward mobilitythe idea that no matter how poor you started, you can make it with hardwork and discipline.

Unfortunately, opportunities for upward mobility in America have gotten harder to find over thepast 30 years. Thats a betrayal of the American idea. And thats why we have to do a lot more

to give every American the chance to work their way into the middle class.

The best defense against all of these forcesglobal competition and economic polarizationisthe strength of community. We need a new push to rebuild run-down neighborhoods. We need

new partnerships with some of the hardest-hit towns in America to get them back on their

feet. And because no one who works full-time in America should have to live in poverty, I willkeep making the case that we need to raise a minimum wage that in real terms is lower than it

was when Ronald Reagan took office. We are not a people who allow chance of birth to decide

lifes big winners and losers; and after years in which weve seen how easy it can be for any of

us to fall on hard times, we cannot turn our backs when bad breaks hit any of our fellow citizens.

Good jobs. A better bargain for the middle class and folks working to join it. An economy that

grows from the middle-out. This is where I will focus my energiesnot just over the next fewmonths, but for the remainder of my presidency. These are the plans that I will lay out across

this country. But I wontbe able to do it alone, and Ill be calling on all of us to take up this

cause.

Well need our businesses, the best in the world, to pressure Congress to invest in our future, and

set an example by providing decent wages and salaries to their own employees. And Ill

highlight the ones that do just thatcompanies like Costco, which pays good wages and offersgood benefits; or the Container Store, which prides itself on training its workers and on

employee satisfactionbecause these companies prove that this isnt just good for their

business, its good for America.

Well need Democrats to question old assumptions, be willing to redesign or get rid of programs

that no longer work, and embrace changes to cherished priorities so that they work better in this

new age. For if we believe that government can give the middle class a fair shot in this newcentury, we have an obligation to prove it.


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And well need Republicans in Congress to set aside short-term politics and work with me to

find common ground. The fact is, there are Republicans in Congress right now who privatelyagree with me on many of the ideas Ill be proposing, but worry theyll face swift political

retaliation for saying so. Others will dismiss every idea I put forward either because theyre

playing to their most strident supporters, or because they have a fundamentally different visionfor Americaone that says inequality is both inevitable and just; one that says an unfettered freemarket without any restraints inevitably produces the best outcomes, regardless of the pain and

uncertainty imposed on ordinary families.

In either case, I say to these members of Congress: I am laying out my ideas to give the middle

class a better shot. Now its time for you to lay out yours. If youre willing to work with me to

strengthen American manufacturing and rebuild this countrys infrastructure, lets go. If you

have better ideas to bring down the cost of college for working families, lets hear them. If youthink you have a better plan for making sure every American has the security of quality,

affordable health care, stop taking meaningless repeal votes and share your concrete ideas with

the country. If you are serious about a balanced, long-term fiscal plan that replaces the mindlesscuts currently in place, or tax reform that closes corporate loopholes and gives working families

a better deal, Im ready to work but know that I will not accept deals that do not meet the test

of strengthening the prospects of hard-working families.

Weve come a long way since I first took office. As a country, were older and were

wiser. And as long as Congress doesnt manufacture another crisis as long as we dont shut

down the government just as the economy is getting traction, or risk a U.S. default over payingbills weve already racked up we can probably muddle along without taking bold action. Our

economy will grow, though slower than it should; new businesses will form, and unemployment

will keep ticking down. Just by virtue of our size and our natural resources and the talent of our

people, America will remain a world power, and the majority of us will figure out how to get by.

But if thats our choice if we just stand by and do nothing in the face of immense change

understand that an essential part of our character will be lost. Our founding precept about wide-open opportunity and each generation doing better than the last will be a myth, not reality. The

position of the middle class will erode further. Inequality will continue to increase, and moneys

power will distort our politics even more. Social tensions will rise, as various groups fight tohold on to what they have, and the fundamental optimism that has always propelled us forward

will give way to cynicism or nostalgia.

Thats not the vision I have for this country. Thats not the vision you have for thiscountry. That is not the America we know. Thats not a vision we should settle for, or pass on

to our children. I have now run my last campaign. I do not intend to wait until the next one

before tackling the issues that matter. I care about one thing and one thing only, and thats how

to use every minute of the 1,276 days remaining in my term to make this country work forworking Americans again. Because I believe this is where America needs to go. I believe this is

where the American people want to go. It may seem hard today, but if we are willing to take a

few bold stepsif Washington will just shake off its complacency and set aside the kind ofslash-and-burn partisanship weve seen these past few years our economy will be stronger a


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year from now. And five years from now. And ten years from now. More Americans will

know the pride of that first paycheck; the satisfaction of flipping the sign to Open on their own

business; the joy of etching a childs height into the door of their brand new home.

After all, what makes us special has never been our ability to generate incredible wealth for the

few, but our ability to give everyone a chance to pursue their own true measure of happiness. Wehavent just wanted success for ourselves weve wanted it for our neighbors, too. Thats whywe dont call it Johns dream or Susies dream or Baracks dream we call it the American

Dream. Thats what makes this country specialthe idea that no matter who you are, what you

look like, where you come from or who you loveyou can make it if you try.

One of Americas greatest writers, Carl Sandburg, was born right here in Galesburg over a

century ago. He saw the railroad bring the world to the prairie, and the prairie send its bounty to

the world. He saw the advent of bustling new industries and technologies; he watchedpopulations shift; he saw fortunes made and lost. He saw how change could be painfulhow a

new age could unsettle long-settled customs and ways of life. But possessed with a frontier

optimism, he saw something more on the horizon. I speak of new cities and new people, hewrote. The past is a bucket of ashesyesterday is a wind gone down, a sun dropped in the

westthere isonly an ocean of tomorrows, a sky of tomorrows.

America, we have made it through the worst of yesterdays winds. And if we find the courage tokeep moving forward; if we set our eyes on the horizon, we too will find an ocean of tomorrows,

a sky of tomorrowsfor Americas people, and for this great country that we love.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

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