President Obama: "So I was over at Jason and Ali’s … wonderful, wonderful story"

[bigtree]

During a stop at Kirkwood College in Cedar Rapids, President Obama laid out what's at stake for working families in Iowa and all over the country if Congress doesn't act to extend tax cuts for the middle class:

President Obama: So I was over at Jason and Ali’s … wonderful, wonderful story, really nice family. Jason is the new principal over at Central City High. Ali is an account manager at a document scanning company. They’ve got a very cute 4-year-old, Cooper, and then the yet-to-be-named other cute one. They met at a convenience store where they worked while they were in school. Apparently, Ali was Jason’s boss …

So we were talking about something that nobody looks forward to, and that's paying taxes. Everybody understands it’s something you have to do; you don't love doing it. But we were talking about how over the last four years, because of policies my administration put in place, we’ve been able to offer the McLaughlins about $4,900 in tax relief.





And they’ve said that’s made a real difference in their lives. It’s helped them pay their bills; helped them get day care for Cooper. We were sitting and I was telling them the house they're in now is roughly the same size as the house that Michelle and I lived in for the first 13 years that we were married. We had a little co-op. And when they were talking about the bills, I remembered going through them. You got the mortgage. You got the student loans. You got the electricity bill, car note, gas bill, day care. Everything they were talking about was familiar because Michelle and I went through it. And that $4,900 helped. It made a difference.

Now we’ve got a choice to make, because on January 1st, taxes are scheduled to go up on everybody in America. That's what the law says right now—if we don't do anything, if Congress doesn't do anything, taxes will go up on everybody at the end of this year.

Yesterday I called on Congress to stop any tax hikes for the 98% of Americans who are just like the McLaughlins—just like you. Because if Congress doesn't act, then that tax hike could cost up to $2,200 for a family of four. That wouldn’t just be a big financial hit for Jason and Ali, because as they pointed out—and this is what I love about America and what I love about them—they said, "As tight as things may be for us, we’re a lot better off than a lot of folks we know." So imagine, if it’s tough for them, what it’s going to be for somebody else?





Audience member: Like my mom.

President Obama: Like your mom. (Laughter.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER: That's right.

THE PRESIDENT: It would be not only a huge blow to those families, it would be a big blow to our entire economy at a time when we need all the help we can get.

Now, I believe that we should make sure that taxes on the 98 percent of Americans don't go up, and then we should let the tax cuts expire for folks like me, for the top 2 percent of Americans.





So anybody making over $250,000 a year, including me, we’d go back to the tax rates that we were paying under Bill Clinton, which, by the way, was a time when our economy created nearly 23 million new jobs, the biggest budget surplus in history and created plenty of millionaires to boot.

And by the way, the reason I say that is not because I just love to pay taxes. (Laughter.) It’s because I know I can afford it, and to give me another tax break or to give Warren Buffett another tax break, or to give Mitt Romney another tax break --

AUDIENCE: No!

THE PRESIDENT: -- that would cost about a trillion dollars, and we can’t afford it -- not at a time where we’re trying to bring down our deficit. Not at a time when we’re trying to reduce our debt.

So this has nothing to do with me wanting to punish success. We love folks getting rich. I hope Malia and Sascha go out there and if that’s what they want to do, that’s great. But I do want to make sure that everybody else gets that chance as well. And for us to give a trillion dollars’ worth of tax breaks to folks who don’t need it -- to folks who don’t need it and aren’t even asking for it, that doesn’t make sense . . .




full remarks: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/07/10/remarks-president-campaign-event-cedar-rapids-ia

video: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20120711/NEWS09/307110031/President-tries-to-reignite-Iowa-voters-hope-passion?Frontpage&nclick_check=1

[JNelson6563]

1. Compare and contrast this

with Mittens trying desperately to talk with (and even appear a tiny bit at ease) the NAACP today.

Wow.

Julie

[malaise]

2. No you can't

GObama!

[monmouth]

3. What size crowd did Mitt get there? I just came online..n/t

[JNelson6563]

5. Not sure.

I caught some of the painfully awkward speech on TV and other bits here on the tubes. No idea about crowd size, the speeches though, worlds apart! And the demeanor difference, wow!

Julie

[Scootaloo]

4. What's this?

A president managing to connect with voters on the campaign trail? Speaking with the public, rather than at them? Impossible, I say!

[bigtree]

6. extraordinary, really

. . . in this day and age.

Everything Mittwit says in public is weighed and parsed -- as if he's envisioning Rush Limbaugh sitting somewhere listening and writing his next radio skit around it.

This President is blending current policy and legislative agendas with his campaign-based appeals with an intensity and focus that I've never seen before. His campaign is basically an extension of his domestic day-to day focus as President. It makes for a no-bullshit appeal that's both compelling and informative.

[Frustratedlady]

7. The last photo bothers me...

It looks like he has something heavy on his mind.

[Ship of Fools]

8. R Superpacs would be my guess.

Two, four, six weeks of negative attacks and lies against O
right before the election... His emails are concerning. I've signed
up to give $20 a month, which is absolutely all I can do now. I'd prefer
to give to the downticket, but now I'm more worried about another stolen
election.

Fuck the GOP. Pure, unadulterated evil. May they go down in flames.

[mountain grammy]

9. Whatever any of us can afford...

$5/month, $10/month, whatever we can give to this effort.. I will always consider President Obama a good, decent, moderate Republican. He's sure not a liberal, but he is the only candidate we can trust with the government. Robme will give it all away, and you better believe it. He will privatize government services in the name of the "free market," spend more than ever and run up the debt like every other conservative Republican has done. We will be Chile, Russia, Argentina, all rolled into one.. ruled by the oligarchy.