Why Obama Now
-
0:00 - 0:03♫ Music ♫
-
0:05 - 0:07In this country, broad-based
-
0:07 - 0:09prosperity has never trickled down from the
-
0:09 - 0:10success of a wealthy few.
-
0:11 - 0:12It has always
-
0:13 - 0:15come from the success of a strong and growing middle class.
-
0:16 - 0:17That's how a generation
-
0:17 - 0:18who went to college on the G.I. Bill, including my
-
0:19 - 0:20grandfather, helped build the most prosperous
-
0:20 - 0:25economy the world has ever known. That's why a CEO like Henry Ford
-
0:26 - 0:29made it his mission to pay his workers enough
-
0:29 - 0:31so they could buy the cars that they made.
-
0:32 - 0:34And yet for much of the last century, we have
-
0:35 - 0:37been having the same argument with folks
-
0:37 - 0:38who keep peddling
-
0:38 - 0:40some version
-
0:40 - 0:41of trickle-down economics.
-
0:43 - 0:45They keep telling us that if we'd convert
-
0:46 - 0:48more of our investments in education and research and health care
-
0:49 - 0:51into tax cuts, especially for the wealthy,
-
0:51 - 0:54our economy will grow stronger.
-
0:55 - 0:58Now the problem for advocates of this theory
-
0:58 - 0:59is that we've tried their approach.
-
1:00 - 1:02At the beginning of the last decade, the
-
1:02 - 1:04wealthiest Americans received a huge tax cut
-
1:04 - 1:07in 2001, and another huge tax cut
-
1:08 - 1:10in 2003. We were promised that
-
1:10 - 1:12these tax cuts would lead to faster job growth.
-
1:14 - 1:16They did not. The wealthy got wealthier,
-
1:18 - 1:19but prosperity sure didn't trickle down.
-
1:20 - 1:22Instead, during the last decade we had
-
1:22 - 1:24the slowest job growth in half a century.
-
1:26 - 1:28There was a period when insurance companies
-
1:28 - 1:29and mortgage lenders,
-
1:30 - 1:30and financial institutions
-
1:32 - 1:33didn't have to abide by strong enough regulations.
-
1:34 - 1:35And what was the result?
-
1:36 - 1:38Profits for many of these companies soared.
-
1:39 - 1:41But so did people's health insurance premiums.
-
1:42 - 1:45Patients were routinely denied care, often when they needed it most.
-
1:45 - 1:49Families were enticed and sometimes just plain tricked into
-
1:49 - 1:51buying homes they couldn't afford.
-
1:51 - 1:53Huge, reckless bets were made with other
-
1:53 - 1:54people's money on the line.
-
1:54 - 1:58And our entire financial system was nearly destroyed.
-
1:59 - 2:00So we've tried this theory out.
-
2:00 - 2:04And you would think that after the results of this experiment,
-
2:04 - 2:05that the proponents of this theory
-
2:05 - 2:08might show some humility. You'd think they'd say,
-
2:08 - 2:11"You know what? Maybe some rules and regulations
-
2:11 - 2:13are necessary to protect the economy!"
-
2:13 - 2:15"Maybe just maybe, at a time of growing debt
-
2:16 - 2:17and widening inequality,
-
2:18 - 2:20we should hold off on giving the wealthiest Americans
-
2:21 - 2:22another round of big tax cuts!"
-
2:23 - 2:26But that's exactly the opposite of what they've done.
-
2:26 - 2:28Instead of moderating their views even slightly,
-
2:29 - 2:32the Republicans running Congress right now have doubled down.
-
2:34 - 2:35This is what they're running on!
-
2:36 - 2:37(Shouts): Hooray!!
-
2:38 - 2:39This larger debate that we'll be having
-
2:39 - 2:41about the size and role of government;
-
2:41 - 2:44this debate has been with us since our founding days.
-
2:44 - 2:46But no matter what we argue, or where we stand,
-
2:47 - 2:50We have always held certain beliefs as Americans:
-
2:51 - 2:53We believe that in order to preserve our own freedoms
-
2:54 - 2:56and pursue our own happiness, we can't just think about ourselves.
-
2:58 - 2:59We have to think about the country that made
-
2:59 - 3:00those liberties possible.
-
3:02 - 3:03We have to think about our fellow citizens,
-
3:03 - 3:05with whom we share a community.
-
3:05 - 3:07We have to think about what's required
-
3:07 - 3:10to preserve the American dream for future generations.
-
3:13 - 3:15And if we keep that in mind, and uphold our obligations to one another
-
3:17 - 3:20and to this larger enterprise that is America,
-
3:20 - 3:22then I have no doubt that we will continue our
-
3:22 - 3:26long and prosperous journey as the greatest nation on Earth.
-
3:27 - 3:29Thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of America.
-
3:30 - 3:31(Applause/Clapping)
-
3:33 - 3:33Thank you.
-
3:33 - 3:36(Man hammering nails on a table)
- Title:
- Why Obama Now
- Description:
-
An animated short about the big choice in 2012's presidential election, by Simpsons / Family Guy animator Lucas Gray.
http://whyobamanow.org. Get registered and ready at http://gottavote.comClick the "cc" button for captions in English or Spanish.
Donate to the campaign:
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/2012/whyobamanow - Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Captions Requested
- Duration:
- 03:44
erinsiodmak edited English subtitles for Why Obama Now | ||
Dolphin Lover edited English subtitles for Why Obama Now | ||
Dolphin Lover edited English subtitles for Why Obama Now | ||
Amara Bot edited English subtitles for Why Obama Now | ||
Amara Bot added a translation |