1 00:00:00,437 --> 00:00:02,598 ♫ Music ♫ 2 00:00:04,974 --> 00:00:06,885 In this country, broad-based 3 00:00:06,885 --> 00:00:08,721 prosperity has never trickled down from the 4 00:00:09,269 --> 00:00:10,427 success of a wealthy few. 5 00:00:11,392 --> 00:00:12,077 It has always 6 00:00:12,577 --> 00:00:15,097 come from the success of a strong and growing middle class. 7 00:00:16,156 --> 00:00:16,637 That's how a generation 8 00:00:17,028 --> 00:00:18,318 who went to college on the G.I. Bill, including my 9 00:00:18,719 --> 00:00:20,229 grandfather, helped build the most prosperous 10 00:00:20,229 --> 00:00:25,400 economy the world has ever known. That's why a CEO like Henry Ford 11 00:00:26,095 --> 00:00:28,586 made it his mission to pay his workers enough 12 00:00:29,029 --> 00:00:31,372 so they could buy the cars that they made. 13 00:00:32,263 --> 00:00:34,005 And yet for much of the last century, we have 14 00:00:34,505 --> 00:00:37,138 been having the same argument with folks 15 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:37,980 who keep peddling 16 00:00:38,068 --> 00:00:39,841 some version 17 00:00:39,842 --> 00:00:40,924 of trickle-down economics. 18 00:00:42,643 --> 00:00:45,361 They keep telling us that if we'd convert 19 00:00:45,773 --> 00:00:48,088 more of our investments in education and research and health care 20 00:00:48,588 --> 00:00:50,869 into tax cuts, especially for the wealthy, 21 00:00:51,137 --> 00:00:54,078 our economy will grow stronger. 22 00:00:55,027 --> 00:00:57,628 Now the problem for advocates of this theory 23 00:00:58,054 --> 00:00:58,502 is that we've tried their approach. 24 00:01:00,408 --> 00:01:01,854 At the beginning of the last decade, the 25 00:01:01,854 --> 00:01:04,436 wealthiest Americans received a huge tax cut 26 00:01:04,436 --> 00:01:07,198 in 2001, and another huge tax cut 27 00:01:07,513 --> 00:01:10,340 in 2003. We were promised that 28 00:01:10,340 --> 00:01:12,251 these tax cuts would lead to faster job growth. 29 00:01:13,885 --> 00:01:16,266 They did not. The wealthy got wealthier, 30 00:01:17,913 --> 00:01:19,129 but prosperity sure didn't trickle down. 31 00:01:20,197 --> 00:01:22,233 Instead, during the last decade we had 32 00:01:22,388 --> 00:01:23,877 the slowest job growth in half a century. 33 00:01:25,904 --> 00:01:28,044 There was a period when insurance companies 34 00:01:28,047 --> 00:01:29,112 and mortgage lenders, 35 00:01:29,690 --> 00:01:30,157 and financial institutions 36 00:01:31,609 --> 00:01:33,194 didn't have to abide by strong enough regulations. 37 00:01:34,095 --> 00:01:35,415 And what was the result? 38 00:01:35,898 --> 00:01:38,119 Profits for many of these companies soared. 39 00:01:38,754 --> 00:01:41,138 But so did people's health insurance premiums. 40 00:01:41,508 --> 00:01:45,032 Patients were routinely denied care, often when they needed it most. 41 00:01:45,394 --> 00:01:49,106 Families were enticed and sometimes just plain tricked into 42 00:01:49,210 --> 00:01:50,870 buying homes they couldn't afford. 43 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:52,957 Huge, reckless bets were made with other 44 00:01:52,977 --> 00:01:54,406 people's money on the line. 45 00:01:54,437 --> 00:01:57,845 And our entire financial system was nearly destroyed. 46 00:01:58,957 --> 00:02:00,290 So we've tried this theory out. 47 00:02:00,448 --> 00:02:03,630 And you would think that after the results of this experiment, 48 00:02:04,047 --> 00:02:05,377 that the proponents of this theory 49 00:02:05,392 --> 00:02:07,740 might show some humility. You'd think they'd say, 50 00:02:08,175 --> 00:02:11,098 "You know what? Maybe some rules and regulations 51 00:02:11,133 --> 00:02:12,638 are necessary to protect the economy!" 52 00:02:12,990 --> 00:02:14,968 "Maybe just maybe, at a time of growing debt 53 00:02:15,603 --> 00:02:17,002 and widening inequality, 54 00:02:17,823 --> 00:02:19,992 we should hold off on giving the wealthiest Americans 55 00:02:20,634 --> 00:02:22,034 another round of big tax cuts!" 56 00:02:22,699 --> 00:02:25,601 But that's exactly the opposite of what they've done. 57 00:02:25,836 --> 00:02:27,936 Instead of moderating their views even slightly, 58 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,588 the Republicans running Congress right now have doubled down. 59 00:02:34,004 --> 00:02:35,156 This is what they're running on! 60 00:02:35,887 --> 00:02:36,966 (Shouts): Hooray!! 61 00:02:37,858 --> 00:02:38,952 This larger debate that we'll be having 62 00:02:39,344 --> 00:02:40,610 about the size and role of government; 63 00:02:41,125 --> 00:02:43,600 this debate has been with us since our founding days. 64 00:02:44,334 --> 00:02:45,875 But no matter what we argue, or where we stand, 65 00:02:47,235 --> 00:02:50,086 We have always held certain beliefs as Americans: 66 00:02:50,648 --> 00:02:52,564 We believe that in order to preserve our own freedoms 67 00:02:53,643 --> 00:02:56,480 and pursue our own happiness, we can't just think about ourselves. 68 00:02:57,918 --> 00:02:59,126 We have to think about the country that made 69 00:02:59,126 --> 00:03:00,220 those liberties possible. 70 00:03:01,872 --> 00:03:02,694 We have to think about our fellow citizens, 71 00:03:02,694 --> 00:03:04,593 with whom we share a community. 72 00:03:05,042 --> 00:03:06,934 We have to think about what's required 73 00:03:07,445 --> 00:03:09,548 to preserve the American dream for future generations. 74 00:03:12,547 --> 00:03:15,270 And if we keep that in mind, and uphold our obligations to one another 75 00:03:16,552 --> 00:03:19,734 and to this larger enterprise that is America, 76 00:03:20,105 --> 00:03:21,958 then I have no doubt that we will continue our 77 00:03:21,958 --> 00:03:25,600 long and prosperous journey as the greatest nation on Earth. 78 00:03:26,883 --> 00:03:29,232 Thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. 79 00:03:30,260 --> 00:03:31,227 (Applause/Clapping) 80 00:03:32,516 --> 00:03:33,099 Thank you. 81 00:03:33,460 --> 00:03:35,883 (Man hammering nails on a table)