But what I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. It won’t happen right away, and we won’t agree on everything. And too many still aren’t working at all.
The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by – let alone get ahead. Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. Over more than three decades, even before the Great Recession hit, massive shifts in technology and global competition had eliminated a lot of good, middle-class jobs, and weakened the economic foundations that families depend on. Let’s face it: that belief has suffered some serious blows. And what I believe unites the people of this nation, regardless of race or region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all – the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead. That’s what most Americans want – for all of us in this chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes, their aspirations. In the coming months, let’s see where else we can make progress together. But the budget compromise should leave us freer to focus on creating new jobs, not creating new crises. Nobody got everything they wanted, and we can still do more to invest in this country’s future while bringing down our deficit in a balanced way. Last month, thanks to the work of Democrats and Republicans, this Congress finally produced a budget that undoes some of last year’s severe cuts to priorities like education.
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But when that debate prevents us from carrying out even the most basic functions of our democracy – when our differences shut down government or threaten the full faith and credit of the United States – then we are not doing right by the American people.Īs President, I’m committed to making Washington work better, and rebuilding the trust of the people who sent us here. It’s an important debate – one that dates back to our very founding. For several years now, this town has been consumed by a rancorous argument over the proper size of the federal government. The question for everyone in this chamber, running through every decision we make this year, is whether we are going to help or hinder this progress. After five years of grit and determined effort, the United States is better-positioned for the 21st century than any other nation on Earth. That’s why I believe this can be a breakthrough year for America. And for the first time in over a decade, business leaders around the world have declared that China is no longer the world’s number one place to invest America is. More oil produced at home than we buy from the rest of the world – the first time that’s happened in nearly twenty years.
A manufacturing sector that’s adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s. Here are the results of your efforts: The lowest unemployment rate in over five years. Tonight, this chamber speaks with one voice to the people we represent: it is you, our citizens, who make the state of our union strong. And in tight-knit communities across America, fathers and mothers will tuck in their kids, put an arm around their spouse, remember fallen comrades, and give thanks for being home from a war that, after twelve long years, is finally coming to an end. A man took the bus home from the graveyard shift, bone-tired but dreaming big dreams for his son. A rural doctor gave a young child the first prescription to treat asthma that his mother could afford. Today in America, a teacher spent extra time with a student who needed it, and did her part to lift America’s graduation rate to its highest level in more than three decades.Īn entrepreneur flipped on the lights in her tech startup, and did her part to add to the more than eight million new jobs our businesses have created over the past four years.Īn autoworker fine-tuned some of the best, most fuel-efficient cars in the world, and did his part to help America wean itself off foreign oil.Ī farmer prepared for the spring after the strongest five-year stretch of farm exports in our history. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans:
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