President Obama's
Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEFICIT REDUCTION
Rose Garden
The White House
September 19, 2011
10:56 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning,
everybody. Please have a seat.
A
week ago today, I sent Congress the American Jobs Act. It’s a
plan
that will lead to new jobs for teachers, for construction workers, for
veterans, and for the unemployed. It will cut taxes for every
small
business owner and virtually every working man and woman in
America.
And the proposals in this jobs bill are the kinds that have been
supported by Democrats and Republicans in the past. So there
shouldn’t
be any reason for Congress to drag its feet. They should pass it
right
away. I'm ready to sign a bill. I've got the pens all ready.
Now,
as I said before, Congress should pass this bill knowing that every
proposal is fully paid for. The American Jobs Act will not add to
our
nation’s debt. And today, I’m releasing a plan that details how
to pay
for the jobs bill while also paying down our debt over time.
And
this is important, because the health of our economy depends in part on
what we do right now to create the conditions where businesses can hire
and middle-class families can feel a basic measure of economic
security. But in the long run, our prosperity also depends on our
ability to pay down the massive debt we’ve accumulated over the past
decade in a way that allows us to meet our responsibilities to each
other and to the future.
During
this past decade, profligate spending in Washington, tax cuts for
multi-millionaires and billionaires, the cost of two wars, and the
recession turned a record surplus into a yawning deficit, and that left
us with a big pile of IOUs. If we don’t act, that burden will
ultimately fall on our children’s shoulders. If we don’t act, the
growing debt will eventually crowd out everything else, preventing us
from investing in things like education, or sustaining programs like
Medicare.
So
Washington has to live within its means. The government has to do
what
families across this country have been doing for years. We have
to cut
what we can’t afford to pay for what really matters. We need to
invest
in what will promote hiring and economic growth now while still
providing the confidence that will come with a plan that reduces our
deficits over the long-term.
These
principles were at the heart of the deficit framework that I put
forward in April. It was an approach to shrink the deficit as a
share
of the economy, but not to do so so abruptly with spending cuts that
would hamper growth or prevent us from helping small businesses and
middle-class families get back on their feet.
It was an approach that said we need to go through the budget
line-by-line looking for waste, without shortchanging education and
basic scientific research and road construction, because those things
are essential to our future. And it was an approach that said we
shouldn't balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the middle
class; that for us to solve this problem, everybody, including the
wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations, have to pay their fair
share.
Now, during the debt ceiling debate, I had hoped to negotiate a
compromise with the Speaker of the House that fulfilled these
principles and achieved the $4 trillion in deficit reduction that
leaders in both parties have agreed we need -- a grand bargain that
would have strengthened our economy, instead of weakened it.
Unfortunately, the Speaker walked away from a balanced package.
What
we agreed to instead wasn’t all that grand. But it was a start --
roughly $1 trillion in cuts to domestic spending and defense spending.
Everyone knows we have to do more, and a special joint committee of
Congress is assigned to find more deficit reduction. So, today, I’m
laying out a set of specific proposals to finish what we started this
summer -- proposals that live up to the principles I’ve talked about
from the beginning. It’s a plan that reduces our debt by more
than $4
trillion, and achieves these savings in a way that is fair -- by asking
everybody to do their part so that no one has to bear too much of the
burden on their own.
All told, this plan cuts $2 in spending for every dollar in new
revenues. In addition to the $1 trillion in spending that we’ve
already cut from the budget, our plan makes additional spending cuts
that need to happen if we’re to solve this problem. We reform
agricultural subsidies -- subsidies that a lot of times pay large farms
for crops that they don't grow. We make modest adjustments to
federal
retirement programs. We reduce by tens of billions of dollars the
tax
money that goes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We also ask the
largest
financial firms -- companies saved by tax dollars during the financial
crisis -- to repay the American people for every dime that we
spent.
And we save an additional $1 trillion as we end the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
These
savings are not only counted as part of our plan, but as part of the
budget plan that nearly every Republican on the House voted for.
Finally,
this plan includes structural reforms to reduce the cost of health care
in programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Keep in mind we've
already
included a number of reforms in the health care law, which will go a
long way towards controlling these costs. But we're going to have
to
do a little more. This plan reduces wasteful subsidies and
erroneous
payments while changing some incentives that often lead to excessive
health care costs. It makes prescriptions more affordable through
faster approval of generic drugs. We’ll work with governors to
make
Medicaid more efficient and more accountable. And we’ll change
the way
we pay for health care. Instead of just paying for procedures,
providers will be paid more when they improve results -- and such steps
will save money and improve care.
These
changes are phased in slowly to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid over
time. Because while we do need to reduce health care costs, I’m
not
going to allow that to be an excuse for turning Medicare into a voucher
program that leaves seniors at the mercy of the insurance
industry.
And I'm not going to stand for balancing the budget by denying or
reducing health care for poor children or those with
disabilities. So
we will reform Medicare and Medicaid, but we will not abandon the
fundamental commitment that this country has kept for
generations.
And
by the way, that includes our commitment to Social Security. I've
said
before, Social Security is not the primary cause of our deficits, but
it does face long-term challenges as our country grows older. And
both
parties are going to need to work together on a separate track to
strengthen Social Security for our children and our grandchildren.
So
this is how we can reduce spending: by scouring the budget for
every
dime of waste and inefficiency, by reforming government spending, and
by making modest adjustments to Medicare and Medicaid. But all
these
reductions in spending, by themselves, will not solve our fiscal
problems. We can’t just cut our way out of this hole. It’s
going to
take a balanced approach. If we’re going to make spending cuts --
many
of which we wouldn’t make if we weren’t facing such large budget
deficits -- then it’s only right that we ask everyone to pay their fair
share.
You
know, last week, Speaker of the House John Boehner gave a speech about
the economy. And to his credit, he made the point that we can’t
afford
the kind of politics that says it’s “my way or the highway.” I
was
encouraged by that. Here’s the problem: In that same speech, he
also
came out against any plan to cut the deficit that includes any
additional revenues whatsoever. He said -- I'm quoting him --
there is
“only one option.” And that option and only option relies
entirely on
cuts. That means slashing education, surrendering the research
necessary to keep America’s technological edge in the 21st century, and
allowing our critical public assets like highways and bridges and
airports to get worse. It would cripple our competiveness and our
ability to win the jobs of the future. And it would also mean
asking
sacrifice of seniors and the middle class and the poor, while asking
nothing of the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations.
So
the Speaker says we can’t have it "my way or the highway," and then
basically says, my way -- or the highway. (Laughter.)
That’s not
smart. It’s not right. If we’re going to meet our
responsibilities,
we have to do it together.
Now,
I’m proposing real, serious cuts in spending. When you include
the $1
trillion in cuts I’ve already signed into law, these would be among the
biggest cuts in spending in our history. But they’ve got to be part of
a larger plan that’s balanced –- a plan that asks the most fortunate
among us to pay their fair share, just like everybody else.
And
that’s why this plan eliminates tax loopholes that primarily go to the
wealthiest taxpayers and biggest corporations –- tax breaks that small
businesses and middle-class families don’t get. And if tax reform
doesn't get done, this plan asks the wealthiest Americans to go back to
paying the same rates that they paid during the 1990s, before the Bush
tax cuts.
I
promise it’s not because anybody looks forward to the prospects of
raising taxes or paying more taxes. I don’t. In fact, I’ve
cut taxes
for the middle class and for small businesses, and through the American
Jobs Act, we’d cut taxes again to promote hiring and put more money
into the pockets of people. But we can’t afford these special
lower
rates for the wealthy -– rates, by the way, that were meant to be
temporary. Back when these first -- these tax cuts, back in 2001,
2003, were being talked about, they were talked about temporary
measures. We can’t afford them when we’re running these big
deficits.
Now,
I am also ready to work with Democrats and Republicans to reform our
entire tax code, to get rid of the decades of accumulated loopholes,
special interest carve-outs, and other tax expenditures that stack the
deck against small business owners and ordinary families who can’t
afford Washington lobbyists or fancy accountants. Our tax code is
more
than 10,000 pages long. If you stack up all the volumes, they’re almost
five feet tall. That means that how much you pay often depends
less on
what you make and more on how well you can game the system, and that's
especially true of the corporate tax code.
We’ve got one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, but it’s
riddled with exceptions and special interest loopholes. So some
companies get out paying a lot of taxes, while the rest of them end up
having to foot the bill. And this makes our entire economy less
competitive and our country a less desirable place to do
business.
That
has to change. Our tax code shouldn’t give an advantage to
companies
with the best-connected lobbyists. It should give an advantage to
companies that invest in the United States of America and create jobs
in the United States of America. And we can lower the corporate
rate
if we get rid of all these special deals.
So
I am ready, I am eager, to work with Democrats and Republicans to
reform the tax code to make it simpler, make it fairer, and make
America more competitive. But any reform plan will have to raise
revenue to help close our deficit. That has to be part of the
formula. And any reform should follow another simple
principle:
Middle-class families shouldn’t pay higher taxes than millionaires and
billionaires. That’s pretty straightforward. It’s hard to
argue
against that. Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher
tax
rate than Warren Buffett. There is no justification for it.
It
is wrong that in the United States of America, a teacher or a nurse or
a construction worker who earns $50,000 should pay higher tax rates
than somebody pulling in $50 million. Anybody who says we can’t
change
the tax code to correct that, anyone who has signed some pledge to
protect every single tax loophole so long as they live, they should be
called out. They should have to defend that unfairness -- explain
why
somebody who's making $50 million a year in the financial markets
should be paying 15 percent on their taxes, when a teacher making
$50,000 a year is paying more than that -- paying a higher rate.
They
ought to have to answer for it. And if they’re pledged to keep
that
kind of unfairness in place, they should remember, the last time I
checked the only pledge that really matters is the pledge we take to
uphold the Constitution.
Now,
we’re already hearing the usual defenders of these kinds of loopholes
saying this is just “class warfare.” I reject the idea that
asking a
hedge fund manager to pay the same tax rate as a plumber or a teacher
is class warfare. I think it’s just the right the thing to
do. I
believe the American middle class, who've been pressured relentlessly
for decades, believe it’s time that they were fought for as hard as the
lobbyists and some lawmakers have fought to protect special treatment
for billionaires and big corporations.
Nobody
wants to punish success in America. What’s great about this
country is
our belief that anyone can make it and everybody should be able to try
-– the idea that any one of us can open a business or have an idea and
make us millionaires or billionaires. This is the land of
opportunity. That’s great. All I’m saying is that those who
have done
well, including me, should pay our fair share in taxes to contribute to
the nation that made our success possible. We shouldn’t get a
better
deal than ordinary families get. And I think most wealthy
Americans
would agree if they knew this would help us grow the economy and deal
with the debt that threatens our future.
It
comes down to this: We have to prioritize. Both parties
agree that we
need to reduce the deficit by the same amount -- by $4 trillion.
So
what choices are we going to make to reach that goal? Either we
ask
the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes, or we’re
going to have to ask seniors to pay more for Medicare. We can’t
afford
to do both.
Either
we gut education and medical research, or we’ve got to reform the tax
code so that the most profitable corporations have to give up tax
loopholes that other companies don’t get. We can’t afford to do
both.
This
is not class warfare. It’s math. (Laughter.) The
money is going to
have to come from someplace. And if we’re not willing to ask
those
who've done extraordinarily well to help America close the deficit and
we are trying to reach that same target of $4 trillion, then the logic,
the math says everybody else has to do a whole lot more: We’ve
got to
put the entire burden on the middle class and the poor. We’ve got
to
scale back on the investments that have always helped our economy
grow. We’ve got to settle for second-rate roads and second-rate
bridges and second-rate airports, and schools that are crumbling.
That’s
unacceptable to me. That’s unacceptable to the American
people. And
it will not happen on my watch. I will not support -- I will not
support -- any plan that puts all the burden for closing our deficit on
ordinary Americans. And I will veto any bill that changes
benefits for
those who rely on Medicare but does not raise serious revenues by
asking the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations to pay their
fair share. We are not going to have a one-sided deal that hurts
the
folks who are most vulnerable.
None
of the changes I’m proposing are easy or politically convenient.
It’s
always more popular to promise the moon and leave the bill for after
the next election or the election after that. That’s been true
since
our founding. George Washington grappled with this problem.
He said,
“Towards the payment of debts, there must be revenue; that to have
revenue there must be taxes; [and] no taxes can be devised which are
not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant.” He understood that
dealing with the debt is -- these are his words -- “always a choice of
difficulties.” But he also knew that public servants weren’t
elected
to do what was easy; they weren’t elected to do what was politically
advantageous. It’s our responsibility to put country before
party.
It’s our responsibility to do what’s right for the future.
And
that’s what this debate is about. It’s not about numbers on a
ledger;
it’s not about figures on a spreadsheet. It’s about the economic
future of this country, and it’s about whether we will do what it takes
to create jobs and growth and opportunity while facing up to the legacy
of debt that threatens everything we’ve built over generations.
And
it’s also about fairness. It’s about whether we are, in fact, in
this
together, and we’re looking out for one another. We know what’s
right. It’s time to do what’s right.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
END
11:16 A.M. EDT
Fact Sheet: Living Within Our Means and
Investing in the Future -
The President’s Plan for Economic Growth and
Deficit Reduction
Overview
The
health of our economy depends on what we do right now to create the
conditions where businesses can hire and middle-class families can feel
a basic measure of economic security. In the long run, our prosperity
also depends on our ability to pay down the massive debt the federal
government has accumulated over the past decade. Today, the President
sent to the Joint Committee his plan to jumpstart economic growth and
job creation now – and to lay the foundation for it continue for years
to come.
The
President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction lives up to
a simple idea: as a Nation, we can live within our means while still
making the investments we need to prosper – from a jobs bill that is
needed right now to long-term investments in education, innovation, and
infrastructure. It follows a balanced approach: asking everyone to do
their part, so no one has to bear all the burden. And it says
that
everyone – including millionaires and billionaires – has to pay their
fair share. Overall, it pays for the President’s jobs bill and produces
net savings of more than $3 trillion over the next decade, on top of
the roughly $1 trillion in spending cuts that the President already
signed into law in the Budget Control Act – for a total savings of more
than $4 trillion over the next decade. This would bring the country to
a place, by 2017, where current spending is no longer adding to our
debt, debt is falling as a share of the economy, and deficits are at a
sustainable level.
The
American Jobs Act
- Tax cuts
to help businesses hire and grow
- Cutting
the payroll tax in half on the first $5 million in payroll, targeting
the benefit to the 98 percent of firms with payroll below this
threshold.
- A
complete payroll tax holiday for added workers or increased wages up to
$50 million
- Extending
100 percent expensing into 2012
- Reforms
and regulatory reductions to help entrepreneurs and small businesses
access capital
- Putting
workers back on the job while rebuilding and modernizing America
- A
“Returning Heroes” hiring tax credit for veterans
- Preventing
up to 280,000 teacher layoffs, while keeping cops and firefighters on
the job
- Immediate
investments
in infrastructure, school buildings, and neighborhoods as
well as a bipartisan National Infrastructure Bank
- Pathways
back to work for Americans looking for jobs
- The
most innovative reform to the unemployment insurance program in 40
years and extension of emergency unemployment insurance
preventing 6
million Americans looking for work from losing benefits
- A $4,000
tax credit to employers for hiring the long-term unemployed
- Prohibiting
employers from discriminating against unemployed workers when hiring
- Expanding
job opportunities for low-income youth and adults
- Tax
relief for every American worker and family
- Cutting
payroll taxes in half for 160 million workers next year
- Allowing
more Americans to refinance their mortgages
- Fully
paid for as part of the President’s long-term deficit reduction plan
Paying
for Our Investments and Reducing the Deficit
- The plan
produces approximately $4.4 trillion in deficit reduction net the cost
of the American Jobs Act.
o
$1.2
trillion from the discretionary cuts enacted in the Budget Control Act.
o
$580
billion in cuts and reforms to a wide range of mandatory programs;
o
$1.1
trillion from the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan and transition from
a military to a civilian-led mission in Iraq
o
$1.5
trillion from tax reform
o
$430
billion in additional interest savings
- To
spur economic growth and job creation, the plan includes one-time
investment and relief in the American Jobs Act. That adds to the
deficit in 2012 but is fully paid for over 10 years, and deficit
reduction phases in starting in 2013, as the economy grows stronger.
- Deficit
reduction is achieved in a balanced approach, with a spending cut to
revenue ratio for the entire plan (including discretionary cuts) of 2
to 1.
Deficits
and Debt
- The
Joint Committee plan significantly reduces deficits and puts the
country on a fiscally sustainable path by 2017.
- The
deficit is projected to fall to 2.3 percent of GDP in 2021. By
comparison, if we did nothing, the deficit would be 5.5 percent of GDP
in 2021.
- Reaches
“primary balance”-- where our current spending is no longer adding to
our debt -- in 2017. At that point, current spending is no longer
adding to our debt, debt is falling as a share of the economy, and
deficits are at a sustainable level.
- The
President’s plan would reduce the national debt as a share of economy.
- Stable
or falling debt as a share of the economy is a key metric of fiscal
sustainability.
- If
we did nothing, the national debt would rise to 90.7 percent of GDP in
2021. By contrast, under the President’s plan, the national debt
would
fall to 73.0 percent of GDP in 2021 -- or an improvement of almost 18
percentage points.
Health
Savings
- The
plan includes $320 billion in health savings that build on the
Affordable Care Act to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid by reducing
wasteful spending and erroneous payments, and supporting reforms that
boost the quality of care. It accomplishes this in a way that does not
shift significant risks onto the individuals they serve; slash
benefits; or undermine the fundamental compact they represent to our
Nation’s seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families.
- The plan
includes $248 billion in savings from Medicare.
- Within
this total, 90 percent of the savings, or $224 billion, comes from
reducing overpayments in Medicare.
- Any
savings that affect beneficiaries do not begin until 2017.
- The plan
does not propose to change the eligibility age for Medicare benefits.
- Other
health and Medicaid savings amount to $72 billion.
- Because
of the structural nature of these reforms, health savings grow to over
$1 trillion in the second decade.
- The
President will veto any bill that takes one dime from the Medicare
benefits seniors rely on without asking the wealthiest Americans and
biggest corporations to pay their fair share.
Other
Mandatory
- The plan
includes $250 billion in savings from other mandatory programs.
- Included
within these savings are:
- $33
billion in savings from
agriculture subsidies, payments, and programs
- $42.5
billion in reforms to Federal employee benefit programs, including
programs for civilian employees and military personnel.
- $4.1
billion from the disposal of unused government assets.
- $92.2
billion from restructuring government operations and reducing
government liabilities.
- $77.6
billion from improving Federal program management and reducing waste
and abuse.
Revenues
- The
President calls on the Committee to undertake comprehensive tax reform,
and lays out five principles for it to follow: 1) lower tax rates; 2)
cut wasteful loopholes and tax breaks; 3) reduce the deficit by $1.5
trillion; 4) boost job creation and growth; and 5) comport with the
“Buffett Rule” that people making more than $1 million a year should
not pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than middle-class
families pay.
- Tax
reform should draw on the specific proposals the President has put
forward, together with elimination of additional inefficient tax
breaks. If the Joint Committee is unable to undertake comprehensive tax
reform, the President believes the discrete measures he has proposed
should be enacted on a standalone basis. Their enactment as a
standalone package still would significantly improve the country’s
fiscal standing, represent an important step toward more fundamentally
transforming our tax code, and serve as a strong foundation for
economic growth and job creation.
- To
advance this debate, the President is offering a detailed set of
specific tax loophole closers and measures to broaden the tax base
that, together with the expiration of the high-income tax cuts, would
be more than sufficient to hit the $1.5 trillion target. These include:
- Allowing
the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for upper income earners to expire ($866
billion)
- Limiting
deductions and exclusions for those making more than $250,000 a year
($410 billion)
- Closing
loopholes and eliminating special interest tax breaks (approximately
$300 billion)
###
from THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release September 19, 2011
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
This continues to be a time of challenge for our country. We face an
economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a
political crisis that has made things worse. Millions of Americans are
looking for work. Across our country, families are doing their best
just to scrape by -- giving up nights out with the family to save on
gas or make the mortgage, or postponing retirement to send a child to
college.
These men and women grew up with faith in an America where hard work
and responsibility paid off. They believed in a country where everyone
gets a fair shake and does their fair share; they believed that if you
worked hard and played by the rules, you would be rewarded with a
decent salary and good benefits. If you did the right thing, you could
make it in America.
For decades now, Americans have watched that compact erode. They have
seen the decks too often stacked against them. And they know that
Washington has not always put their interests first. Too often, our
Nation's capital has been consumed by partisanship. Too often, the
needs of special interests or politics have been put ahead of what is
best for the country.
That is what must change. The American people work hard to meet their
responsibilities. Now, as the Nation faces an economy that is not
growing and creating jobs as it should, so must its leaders. While the
continued recovery of our economy will be driven by the businesses and
workers across our land, policymakers in Washington can take steps to
help Americans right now and set the most favorable conditions we can
for growth and job creation for years to come. We can live within our
means and invest for the future.
That is why last week I presented to the Congress and the American
people the American Jobs Act, to provide a jolt to the economy and give
companies confidence that if they invest and hire, there will be
customers for their products and services. This jobs bill will put more
people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are
working. It will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs
for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for the long-term
unemployed. It will provide a tax break for companies that hire new
workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working
American and every small business. It will create jobs for people to
rebuild our aging infrastructure and repair and modernize at least
35,000 schools. Moreover, the proposals in the American Jobs Act are
the kind of proposals that have been supported by Democrats and
Republicans in the past.
I am committed to paying for this jobs bill. The Budget Control Act
that I signed into law last month will cut annual Government spending
by about $1 trillion over the next 10 years. It also charges the Joint
Select Committee on Deficit Reduction with finding an additional $1.5
trillion in savings. As part of this jobs bill, I am asking the
Congress to increase that amount so that it covers the full cost of the
American Jobs Act. In addition, I believe that the Congress should
seize the opportunity that this new Committee presents and do much more
so that we can put the country on a sustainable fiscal path, which is
critical for our long-term economic growth and competitiveness.
For this reason, I am sending to the Congress this detailed plan to pay
for this jobs bill and realize more than $3 trillion in net deficit
reduction over the next 10 years. Combined with the approximately $1
trillion in savings from the first part of the Budget Control Act, this
would generate more than $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next
decade. This would bring the Nation to the point where current spending
is no longer adding to our debt and where our debt is no longer
increasing as a share of our economy -- an important milestone on the
way to restoring fiscal discipline and moving us toward balance.
This plan is a balanced one that asks everyone to do their part. It
includes nearly $580 billion in cuts and reforms to mandatory programs
of which $320 billion is savings from Federal health programs such as
Medicare and Medicaid. These changes are necessary to maintain the
promise of Medicare as we know it.
The plan also realizes more than $1 trillion in savings over the next
10 years from our drawdowns in Afghanistan and Iraq. And the plan calls
for the Congress to undertake comprehensive tax reform that lowers tax
rates, closes loopholes, boosts job creation here at home, cuts the
deficit by $1.5 trillion, and observes the Buffett Rule -- that people
making more than $1 million a year should not pay a smaller share of
their income in taxes than middle-class families pay.
To assist the Committee in its work, I also included specific tax
loophole closers and measures to broaden the tax base. Together with
the expiration of the high-income tax cuts from 2001 and 2003, these
measures would be more than enough to reach this $1.5 trillion target.
They include cutting tax preferences for high-income households,
eliminating tax breaks for oil and gas companies, closing the carried
interest loophole for investment fund managers, and eliminating
benefits for those who use corporate jets.
In sum, the plan I am sending to the Congress today is a blueprint for
how we can reduce this deficit, pay down our debt, and pay for the
American Jobs Act in the process. I have little doubt that some of
these proposals will not be popular with those who benefit from these
affected programs. And some of these changes are ones that we would not
make if it were not for our fiscal situation. But we are all in this
together, and all of us must contribute to getting our economy moving
again and on a firm fiscal footing.
After all, we are all connected. No single individual built America on
his or her own. We built it together. We have been, and always will be,
"one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
We have always been a people with responsibilities to ourselves and
with responsibilities to one another. This means that as Americans work
hard to find a job, keep their businesses afloat and grow, and provide
for their kids, their representatives in Washington must meet their
responsibilities and make the tough choices needed to get our economy
back on track.
This plan lives up to a simple idea: as a Nation, we can live within
our means while still making the investments we need to prosper. It
follows a balanced approach: asking everyone to do their part, so no
one has to bear all the burden. And it says that everyone -- including
millionaires and billionaires -- has to pay their fair share.
These may be tough times for our country, but I have a deep faith in
the American spirit, and we are tougher than the times we live in and
bigger than the politics we have recently seen. If we all put
partisanship aside and roll up our sleeves, I have no doubt that we can
meet the challenges of the moment and show the world once again why the
United States of America remains the greatest country on Earth.
THE WHITE HOUSE, September 19, 2011.
BARACK OBAMA
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