President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

• William W. Fox, Jr. –  United States Commissioner, Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
• Donald K. Hansen –  United States Commissioner, Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission 
• Earl A. Powell III – Member, Commission of Fine Arts

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 8/16/2012

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

11:47 A.M. EDT

MR. CARNEY:  Welcome, everyone, to the White House for what has become a less frequent briefing here from the podium, as we spend a lot of time on the road.  Glad you are all here -- very nice to see you.  I do not have any announcements to make, so why don't we just go right to questions?
 
Ben.
 
Q    Thanks, Jay.  Two topics.  I know Jen Psaki yesterday addressed the question about Governor Romney's comments on anger and hate and the type of campaign that he was accusing the President of running.  But I wanted to ask, follow up on that with you, and just get your thoughts more broadly from your conversation with the President about whether he thinks the tone of the debate is the right one, whether it's befitting a race for the White House and if it's helpful to voters.
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, sure, let me say a couple of things.  For those of you who were out with us the last few days, I think you hear the President speak frequently about incredibly important, substantive issues -- substantive issues on which we have policy differences with the Republicans.  We talked about drought relief and the need for Congress to take action on a comprehensive long-term farm bill, something that Republicans have blocked.  We talked about the vitally important need to extend the wind energy tax credit that has bipartisan support, that the industry has made clear if not extended could threaten up to 37,000 jobs in the United States, and that is part of an overall vision for an all-of-the above energy future that the President has put forward at a substantive policy level again and again.  And thirdly, he spoke about Medicare and the competing visions on a policy and a program that affects tens of millions of American seniors.  That's what the President talked about these past few days. 
 
I took this question in a different way yesterday and I noted that having covered a number of presidential campaigns myself and other campaigns, that there is often a point at which one side begins to distract attention from the policy debates by suggesting, sometimes without foundation, that there's another story that you all ought to pay attention to, and that is invariably because that side is losing the policy debates.
 
We are focused on, the President is focused on the issues that matter to the American economy and the American people.  I think Medicare is a perfect example.  What we have seen since late last week, early this week, when the ticket for the other side was filled out, was this initial announcement that there was a desire for a substantive policy debate, and once that substantive policy debate focused on the critical issue of Medicare, there's been, obviously, a desire on the other side to change the subject.
 
Q    Let's talk about Medicare as well.
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, I think that Medicare is a very important issue.  The President thinks it's a very important issue.  The President's Affordable Care Act, according to the AARP, an independent voice that seniors value and take seriously, strengthens and protects Medicare.  According to the AARP, the Republican plan, the Ryan plan, the Romney plan, undermines Medicare.
 
We think that’s incredibly important.  The President believes strongly that we cannot, we must not, for the sake of our seniors, turn Medicare into a voucher program, because the Congressional Budget Office has said that if you do that, seniors, on average, will see costs rise by $6,400 per year.  Not the right policy.
 
Those are the kinds of issues that the President is out there talking about, and that’s what this campaign ultimately is about and will be about.  And there are always going to be distractions, both inadvertent and deliberate, but in the end, the American people are focused on the economic issues, principally, that affect their daily lives.  And that’s what this President is talking about.
 
Q    Thanks.  The other topic I want to ask you about that’s not getting as much attention this campaign season is the violence in Afghanistan.  A Black Hawk was shot down today, seven American troops, four Afghans killed.  We’ve seen more cases recently of Afghan troops firing on American servicemen.  More than 220 Americans have been killed this year in Afghanistan.  Does any of this give the President concern about the stability of the Afghan government, of the country there?  And does it affect his thoughts about the American presence?  Even though the war is winding down, troops will still be there for another two years.  Does it affect his thinking about our posture there?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, let me start with the helicopter.  ISAF did announce that an ISAF helicopter crashed today in southern Afghanistan, killing seven American servicemembers, three Afghan security forces and one Afghan civilian interpreter.  Based on my information, as of this time, the cause of that crash is still under investigation.  But, of course, our thoughts and prayers are with those American and Afghan families who lost loved ones in that incident.
 
More broadly, on the matter of what's called green on blue incidents, there's no question that these incidents are deeply concerning, and our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones in those incidents.  You've heard General Dempsey and Secretary Panetta speak in some detail this week about the steps ISAF is taking in Afghanistan to ensure our military servicemembers are as safe as possible.  And ISAF is continuously assessing and refining procedures and force protection so that we can both meet mission requirements and ensure the safety of our forces.
 
As I have also said, Ben, it's important to remember that -- well, first of all, that our relationship with our Afghan partners is strong, and that every day our forces fight alongside Afghan forces.  There are now about 350,000 Afghan forces, and we partner with those Afghan forces on 90 percent of operations.  And while whenever there is a so-called green-on-blue incident, it is concerning and the fact that there have been the number of incidents that you mentioned is deeply concerning, it is also important to put it in perspective.
 
And then, more broadly, the President's policy in Afghanistan was, after his review, predicated on the principle that our goal, our principle goal for being there is to go after al Qaeda, to eliminate al Qaeda and those who threaten the United States from the AfPak region.  In the service of that overarching goal, we have helped build up Afghan security forces, helped stabilize portions of the country, and we are in the process of drawing down our forces as we turn over more and more responsibility to Afghan security forces.
 
Reuters.
 
Q    I wanted to ask you about the situation in Lebanon where there has been violence this morning -- as seen as a spillover from Syria.  Is the President concerned about the more regional upheaval at the moment?  And has it affected his vision or plan over how to proceed in confronting Assad?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, as we have said for some time, the longer that President Assad stays in power and the longer he continues his assault on his own people, the more likely it becomes that we will witness a broader sectarian conflict that can spill over Syria's borders. 
 
We have repeatedly said that we're concerned about this conflict spilling over into other countries in the region and destabilizing other countries in the region.  And that's why the way to prevent it from happening is to bring about the political transition that the Syrian people so deserve and desire.
 
As for -- I think in terms of the President's view and his policy, I think this development reinforces what he's been saying, that we cannot -- that those people and organizations and states that continue to support Assad need to recognize that they are on the wrong side of history.  It is unquestionable that the momentum in Syria is with opposition forces and that -- and with the Syrian people, and that Assad will not be a part of the future in Syria.  We've seen a series of high-level defections, another indicator of the fact that Assad's hold on Syria is loosening.  And we are taking action with our international partners to further isolate Assad, to starve his regime of the resources it needs to continue to perpetuate this violence against the Syrian people.  And at the same time, we are providing substantial humanitarian aid to the Syrian people as well as non-lethal assistance to the opposition.
 
Nancy. 
 
Q    Jay, going back to the anger and hate accusation for a moment.  When we asked the Romney campaign why he would make that charge, they cited not so much the things that the President has said on the stump but things that have happened by the campaign and from the White House -- things like you and the campaign refusing to condemn this outside ad about the steelworker's wife and his connection to Mitt Romney, the fact that someone on the campaign suggested that Mitt Romney might be a felon for the way that he ran Bain Capital, and also the Vice President's "chains" comments.  Are you ready to condemn any of those things?
 
MR. CARNEY:  First of all, let's go back to the obvious attempt to distract attention by focusing so much of your attention on an ad that never ran, as I understood it -- understand it. 
 
Q    It did end up running in some places.
 
MR. CARNEY:  Inadvertently -- according to a press report and a station error.  That stands in stark, stark contrast to an advertising campaign behind which there is millions of dollars, endorsed by and paid for by the Romney campaign, that is built entirely on a fiction about the President's policy, and that's his policy on the work requirement necessary in welfare reform. 

You know and everybody in this room knows that every outside expert on this issue has declared that the advertising campaign on welfare reform is false.  Just false.  Factually false.  And yet there's all this attention on an outside ad that, again, has barely run.  I think that you know that there are plenty of third-party ads out there that -- in support of Governor Romney that allege certain things that are ridiculous, including suggesting that the President is not an American citizen.
 
What this President is doing is focusing on the issues that matter to the American people -- okay?
 
Q    What are you saying to Republicans who say that the Vice President's comments about putting people back in chains is an example of why he should be replaced on the ticket?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, I'd say a couple of things.  One is, they know that what they're saying about this is ridiculous.  The Vice President was clearly making, as he repeated later, a statement about the Republican insistence that if they are able to by taking control of the White House, they will immediately repeal Wall Street reform -- Wall Street reform that was put in place and fought for by this President because we cannot afford to have happen what happened in the financial sector to this country just a few short years ago.  We need to make it impossible for the taxpayers to be holding the bag when big institutions fail, if they fail.
 
We need to make sure that we have the consumer protections in place that are part of Wall Street reform that were fought tooth and nail by Wall Street and by Republicans on the Hill.  And the point was obvious to, I know, everyone in this room, to every one in that room, and to every Republican who is making this charge that that's what the Vice President was talking about.
 
So I understand -- going back to my other point -- that there's an attempt to distract attention from the actual substance of the discussion, which is should we or should we not have Wall Street reform.  They don't want to talk about that because they know that most Americans answer that question, "Absolutely, definitely yes."  But they're opposed to it. 
 
Should we or should we not turn Medicare into a voucher system that costs seniors an extra $6,400 per person, per year?  Overwhelmingly, the American people say no.  But Republicans don't want to debate that because they know that's the answer.
 
So, look, we're going to keep talking about the issues.  And there's going to be along the road here, as there always is, an attempt to distract attention from the issues when one side is losing the debate over the issues.  And that's what we're seeing right now.
 
Q    But does he just regret the choice of words?  Because some took it as a reference to slavery.  And he had a chance to go back --
 
MR. CARNEY:  Nobody took it as a reference to --
 
Q    -- and he said, I always say exactly what I mean.
   
MR. CARNEY:  -- anything, except for those who are trying to make something out of nothing here and distract attention from the policy debates.  This is -- you know that's not what this is about.  You know he was talking, if you look at what he said, about Wall Street reform, about the desire of some to put banks and Wall Street back in charge of your financial transactions and life.  That's not what this President believes is the right policy. 
 
We understand that there's going to be efforts to distract attention from the policy debates because the other side is losing these policy debates pretty overwhelmingly.  But we're going to keep talking about the policy issues.
 
Q    Can I follow on that question?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Jake.  I said I'd call on Jake next.  I'll get to you.
 
Q    The President the other day made three allusions to Mitt Romney putting his dog on his roof.  Is that part of this important policy debate? 
 
MR. CARNEY:  I think he made one allusion in three different speeches that was a joke -- just like I think the Romney campaign and others have joked about the fact that in the President's memoir he talked about as a boy eating dog meat in Indonesia, because that is something that's done there.  I think a little levity is a lot different from the kind of ridiculous charges that are being made here.   
 
But that's an interesting case in point.  The President on that day spent a great deal of time talking about the importance of the wind energy tax credit, the importance to the renewable energy sector in this country, which has doubled its output, its production under this President because of the historic investments that this administration has made in that sector -- and about the fact that extension of that tax credit is supported by both Democrats and Republicans -- Republicans in the states that are principally affected, including governors and senators, but is opposed by Congress, Washington Republicans.  That's an issue that affects the jobs and livelihood of up to 7,000 people in Iowa.  It affects the jobs and livelihood of up to 37,000 people around the country, in an industry that employs roughly 75,000 people in this country.  And it's an industry that has been growing and will continue to grow if we make the kinds of wise investments that will ensure that as we move forward in this century, we rely less and less on foreign imports of energy and more and more on American energy. 
 
And that is a substantive policy issue.  And one joke, as an aside, should not become the focus of the campaign or the coverage of the campaign.  I understand that Republicans don't want to talk about the wind energy tax credit, but -- 
 
Q    I don't think you guys are so naïve as to think that the President talking about Mitt Romney putting his dog on his roof isn't going to elevate that and become what Chuck Todd might refer to as "cable catnip," and that will step on the President's own message on wind energy.  I mean, especially considering it was obviously in his prepared remarks.
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, let me make clear that the President's message that day was on wind energy.  It was not on a joke.  And maybe I am naïve to think that a one-line joke about a dog would not then become the principal focus of the coverage of the President for the day.  I know it wasn't in Iowa the principle focus of the coverage.  The focus was on the importance of the wind energy tax credit.  But I take your point and I'll be less naïve in the future.  (Laughter.)   
 
Q    All right, I appreciate that.  Can we talk about Medicare for a second?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Please.
 
Q    Does the President believe that Medicare is on a sustainable path right now?
 
MR. CARNEY:  The President believes and knows -- and others have judged it so -- that the Affordable Care Act that he fought hard for and that Congress passed and he signed into law extends the life of --
 
Q    Right, but --
 
MR. CARNEY:  -- no, wait, I'll answer your question more fully -- extends the life of Medicare by eight years.  He knows that, as outside experts have made clear, if the Affordable Care Act is repealed, as Republican leaders, the Republican nominee have ardently expressed their desire to do, Medicare’s insolvency will come eight years sooner.  That’s an irrefutable fact. 
 
He knows that, as he said in the discussions and debates and the proposals about the steps we need to take to get our fiscal house in order through a balanced approach to reducing our deficit, that we need to make additional reforms that protect beneficiaries, but ensure that Medicare remains in place as Medicare -- not a voucher system -- for future generations.
 
Q    Okay.  So the fact is he has, through his actions and despite great resistance from Republicans, extended the life of Medicare, but he knows that much more needs to be done to keep it sustainable.
 
MR. CARNEY:  There’s no question that we have serious fiscal challenges that we need to address, and we need to address them in a balanced way.  We don’t need to do it in a way -- I mean, one of the marvels of the marvelous, exciting Ryan budget is that, despite claims to deficit hawkishness, is that that budget makes no claims to balancing deficits -- or eliminating deficits until something like 30 years from now -- because it’s so preoccupied with giving, and dominated by giving tax cuts to wealthy Americans.
 
Q    So, about a year ago when the grand bargain talks were going on, I believe right before they fell apart, the President came into this room, and I asked him what was one thing he was willing to concede on Medicare in doing all this negotiation -- and he said that he would be -- he wouldn’t talk about the retirement age, he wouldn’t touch it, but he did talk about how maybe further means-testing would be something that he’d be willing to consider.  But since then, we haven’t really seen any serious proposal to help the sustainability of Medicare.  And say what you will about the Ryan plan, it does look forward.  It does -- it is a plan -- or the Romney plan -- there is an outline there for trying to change the system to preserve it.
 
Again, I understand you disagree with that.  Where is the President’s plan?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, I think the President, what he said to you in this briefing room remains true today.  And it’s reflected in the budget proposal he put forward both for the super committee and again this year -- has additional reforms and savings from out of federal health care spending.  But what it does not do is attempt to get our fiscal house in order by placing the entire burden on seniors and families with disabled children, or other low-income Americans who depend on these health care programs literally for, in some cases, for their survival.
 
That’s just not -- and you know what, the thing is we don’t have to do that.  The President’s plan, other balanced plans that have been put forward demonstrate that you do not have to do that.  You do not have to voucherize Medicare, basically eliminate Medicare and turn it into a voucher system, if you’re willing to, on the other side, make some compromises on the principle that everyone ought to pay their fair share, that we need revenue to be part of the package when we address our fiscal challenge.
 
It’s a complete inside-baseball, inside-the-beltway conversation, but I am constantly amazed at the willingness of Republicans, who in one breath will say absolutely no revenue, absolutely no defense cuts, in fact, I want defense increases, but I love the Simpson-Bowles plan.  And you know, because you know what’s in the Simpson-Bowles plan, that they don’t know what they’re talking about.  Maybe they haven’t read it.  Maybe they deliberately put their fingers in their ears when there are reports on it, but the Simpson-Bowles plan has more tax revenue than what the President called for, has far deeper defense cuts than what the President has called for, but it has similar discretionary cuts that the President has already signed into law and pledged.
 
So there has to be -- and I’ll end here -- I know I’m testing your patience -- but there has to be some -- you can’t blithely say, as Governor Romney has, and Lindsey Graham and others -- my plan, says Romney, is very similar to Simpson-Bowles.  Well, I think Erskine Bowles made clear that that’s laughable.  It’s simply not.  Because if you stand up on stage and say, I won’t ask the wealthiest -- I won’t ask for $1 of revenue for every $10 in spending cuts, you don't know what you're talking about when you say your plan is very similar to Simpson-Bowles.
 
Q    Just to summarize, you're saying the President's Medicare plan is contained within his budget.
 
MR. CARNEY:  The President has put forward in his budget proposal additional savings in our health care programs, not through -- not by cuts in benefits, but by savings from providers and insurance companies, which is the kinds of savings he achieved in the Affordable Care Act --
 
Q    It's not really in itself a solution for Medicare.
 
MR. CARNEY:  But I'm not saying that ends the discussion about the kinds of further challenges we face in our fiscal future, but it does achieve the $4 trillion in deficit reduction that we need and it does achieve it in a balanced way that includes savings --
 
Q    I'm just talking about Medicare.
 
MR. CARNEY:  No, but it achieves it in a balanced way that includes savings in health care reform -- I mean, savings in health care -- which, by the way, demonstrates the approach he took during deficit reduction talks and the debt ceiling talks, which was one of a willingness to compromise and make tough choices, sometimes against the wishes of some of his fellow Democrats, because he knew that in order to achieve this you needed to do it in a bipartisan way and you needed to reach a compromise.
 
But instead, there was an absolute refusal to accept the notion that we needed revenue.  And there was a role played in the failure of those discussions, the failure of Simpson-Bowles and the failure of the grand bargain talks, by the guy who's now running for vice president.
 
Brianna.
 
Q    You and Jen were asked about this yesterday, but you didn’t have an answer at the time, so I just want to circle back. Has the President actually spoken to Vice President Biden about the "chains" comments, or does he plan to do so?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I don't know if the President has had -- I mean, he speaks with the Vice President all the time.  I don't know if they -- I know you can see -- I think the President was asked about this and it was put out in one of his interviews yesterday that he absolutely understands and knows what the Vice President was talking about, as does everybody in this room -- I'm sure there are some exceptions who pretend otherwise -- but he was talking about Wall Street reform.  And you know that the President is one hundred percent with the Vice President in his commitment to ensuring that Wall Street reform stays in place.
 
Q    I understand that he defended the Vice President, but was he frustrated at all that this took attention away from what he was trying to do in Iowa?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Not that I saw.  I mean, look, I think that he understands what I was talking about earlier, that there are going to be confected distractions from the important issues of the day.  That's part of every campaign, and it's often the result of one side trying to change the subject when they're losing the debate on the substantive policy issues that matter most to the American people.  And there is no question that when it comes to protecting seniors on Medicare, when it comes to protecting businesses, small and large, that are part of our renewable energy sector, especially wind energy, that this President has been making very strong policy arguments, and that at a substantive level as well as at a level of support from the American people, he's winning those arguments.
 
Q    Does he have any concern that the Vice President will make these types of verbal missteps moving forward?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I understand this unbelievable obsession about trivia, as I've been trying to discuss.  The fact of the matter is that the Vice President was talking about a policy issue, which there is an attempt to turn into an insubstantial campaign issue that's divorced from policy because Republicans don't want to talk about the fact that they are ardently in favor of repealing Wall Street reform because they know that the American people are determined to see that Wall Street reforms stay in place.
 
Q    Also, Jay, does the President have a reaction to the case in Pennsylvania, the voter I.D. laws that were upheld -- does he see that in any way as a blow to his reelection effort, or his effort in Pennsylvania at least?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, I'd say a couple of things about that.  I know the campaign has addressed this and I would point you to the campaign's statements.  The broader principle here is one that I think I've talked about, which is that this President is committed to, and I know the Department of Justice is committed to, ensuring that Americans enjoy and get to take advantage of that most basic and fundamental right, which is the right to vote. 
 
But in terms of the specific cases, I would refer you to the Department of Justice or to the campaign.
 
Q    Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has issued an executive order ordering state agencies to deny driver's licenses and other public benefits to young illegal immigrants who get work authorization under this new Obama administration policy.  Do you have a reaction to that?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I don't.  It looks like you just pulled it up online, so I haven't seen that.
 
Q    I'm just reading it off my work document -- (laughter.) Let's go to the Vice President's comments.
 
MR. CARNEY:  You know, you guys are -- you're almost -- you're -- well, go ahead.  (Laughter.) 
 
Q    Former Virginia governor, Douglas Wilder, a Democrat, he basically called it inappropriate, the comments.  He said you can't defend it.  Do you think that the first African American governor since Reconstruction is, as you put it, trying to make something out of nothing and distracting policy debates, or does he have a point?
 
MR. CARNEY:  He doesn’t have a point.  The Vice President was talking about Wall Street reform.  As everyone who speaks publicly for a living, or as part of what they do in this arena  -- and I include myself -- every day that you go out there and give a speech or answer questions, there is always the possibility that something you say and the way you say it can be misunderstood or taken out of context and made a big deal of, when everyone knows -- and I know you know and everyone who watched the tape, who knows the Vice President, knows that he was talking about Wall Street reform.
 
Q    Don't you think it speaks to the sensitivity in using words like that?
 
MR. CARNEY:  There's no question that there are -- there are sensitivities around words.  But again, as I just said, the Vice President, the President, Governor Romney, Congressman Ryan, others in the arena go out there and speak all the time; they answer questions all the time.  And I think that it's important to acknowledge in the remarkable amount of air time for something that is so weightless that is being devoted to this subject, that you also make clear that you know that the Vice President was talking about Wall Street reform.
 
Q    But you don't understand why Wilder would be offended by the comments?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I understand that one person has expressed his opinion that he's offended by it --
 
Q    This isn't one person.  This is the first African American governor since Reconstruction.
 
MR. CARNEY:  Brianna, the Vice President's intention was clear.  What he was talking about is clear.
 
Q    Obviously not.  It was obviously not clear.
 
MR. CARNEY:  Was he not clear to you?  Was he not talking about Wall Street --
 
Q    I thought that personally I think when you use the word "chains" in a crowd with many African Americans, you better be careful of what you're talking about.
 
MR. CARNEY:  I think the Vice President, at a later event, made clear that his word choice was off, that he had been using similar phrases -- saying similar things with slightly different phrasing.  But the purpose of that section of his comments was to talk about the absolute need to ensure that Wall Street reform is not repealed.  And you know that that's not -- that this is not what the campaign is about. 
 
The campaign is about do we repeal Wall Street reform or do we continue to implement it?  Do we turn Medicare into a voucher system, or do we ensure that we take steps to strengthen it and preserve it for America’s seniors? 
 
Do we pass $5 trillion in tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthy -- think about the size of that -- $5 trillion.  That’s $500 billion a year.  I mean, that’s real money, and do we do that -- doing incredible damage to our deficits, devastating investments in education, innovation, research and development, infrastructure spending, roads, bridges, highways schools -- or do we take a balanced approach to our fiscal challenges that, in addition to the substantial spending cuts the President has signed into law, the substantial savings he has put forward in his budget proposal, we ask millionaires and billionaires to pay a little bit more -- to go back to, when it comes to the Bush tax cuts, the top marginal rate that was in place when Bill Clinton was President.
 
And I never cease to marvel at the rhetoric about the doom and gloom that Republicans promise if this rate was reinstated, because it’s eerily similar to the doom and gloom that they promised would occur in this country the first time around when the Clinton budget passed in the spring of 1993.  And what we saw instead was the opposite of what was predicted and promised by Republican leaders, including the current Speaker of the House.  We saw record economic growth, record expansion and record job creation.
 
April.  Oh, Ed.  No, I said Ed, then April.
 
Q    I want to follow on that, though.
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, you will.
 
Q    On the Vice President, one short question.  I'm not going to get -- I hear exactly what you're saying, I’m not going to repeat the same stuff, but since the President has given the vote of confidence and you’ve defended the Vice President repeatedly, does this settle it once and for all, all the speculation, this is the ticket?  Obama-Biden?  (Laughter.)  That’s a yes or no, it’s not --
 
MR. CARNEY:  Yes.  And that was settled a long, long time ago.  And while I appreciate -- I have great admiration for and respect for and a long relationship with Senator John McCain, but one place I would not go for advice on vice presidential running mates is to Senator McCain.  
 
Q    Okay -- on that --
 
MR. CARNEY:  You said you had one question.  (Laughter.)
 
Q    One question on that, and I wasn’t going to belabor it.  You answered it, thank you.  On Medicare -- a substantive issue.  In the answers to Jake, you said at the end of it you acknowledged that the President had not put all the details on the table.  You acknowledged that more --
 
MR. CARNEY:  No, no, I didn't say that.
 
Q    You said more savings could be achieved.
 
MR. CARNEY:  I said there’s no question that as we go forward as a country we’re going to have to continue to deal with -- and that includes this President and future Presidents -- with our fiscal challenges.
 
But the President has put forward a budget proposal that creates $4 trillion in deficit reduction -- more than $4 trillion -- does it through a balanced approach of cuts in discretionary spending -- non-defense and defense -- cuts in savings out of health care and --
 
Q    -- he said his budget plan then is where the Medicare details are.  And you said, well, that’s a start, but there needs to be more.  So my question --
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, it’s a process where the Affordable Care Act, in addition to extending insurance to 30 million people who didn't have it, in addition to providing seniors with millions and millions of dollars in savings on their prescription drugs by closing the doughnut hole, in addition to allowing young Americans 26 and under to remain on their parent’s health insurance, in addition to making sure that those with preexisting conditions can get insurance and that Americans who develop an illness can’t be thrown off their insurance policies -- in addition to all that, it extends the life of Medicare by an additional eight years. 
 
And this is obviously a project that we have to continue to address.  There are additional savings put forward in the President’s budget, and I’m certainly accepting the supposition that we will, as a country, continue to need to address our fiscal challenges and the growth of spending in our federal health care programs.
 
What we cannot do is eliminate Medicare.  What we cannot do is turn Medicare into a voucher system and basically tell seniors, you know what, the way we’re going to deal with this problem is not find savings within the system, not reduce the cost of health care, but just basically shift it to you, so that your elderly relatives are going to have to -- would have to pay, or you when you get older would have to pay $6,400 extra per year for your health care.  There are a lot of seniors out there who will not be able to afford that.
 
Q    But my question is, Ryan has put his details out there; you’re hitting them.  When does the President put his details out, those extra details -- before the election or after the election?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Look, the President --
 
Q    -- that we still have to continue to confront our fiscal challenges, what’s on the table now?  An extra eight years to Medicare only kicks it down eight more years.  Everyone acknowledges you’ve got to do more.
 
MR. CARNEY:  But I think you need to focus a little more attention on what’s in the Ryan budget proposal.  Again, it does not even --
 
Q    Yes, but where’s the proposal that is the counter to that, I guess? 
 
MR. CARNEY:  The President’s budget --
 
Q    -- in the budget.  That’s all he’s --
 
MR. CARNEY:  Paul Ryan has put forward a proposal that I think claims to achieve something like $5 trillion in deficit reduction, I believe it is.  And the President put forward a proposal that achieves over $4 trillion.  The Romney/Ryan plan, if you will, has to cut drastically discretionary spending -- investments in education, innovation, infrastructure, Department of Transportation -- everything that people think of as federal investments dramatically.  And it also has to turn Medicare into a voucher program -- in order, largely, to pay for not reducing our deficit, not building the economic foundation of this country, but to give tax cuts. 
 
Now, I understand that they believe in their hearts that that’s good for the economy; that, as the President says, that the fairy dust will be sprinkled across the country and everyone will benefit.
 
Q    He said snake oil yesterday. 
 
MR. CARNEY:  Or snake oil.  (Laughter.)  I think I’d rather be sprinkled with fairy dust than snake oil.  (Laughter.) 
 
Q    So last question -- as part of this serious discussion of policy issues, the President sat down with Entertainment Tonight yesterday and said that he -- nobody could say that he’s dividing the country, we’ve always tried to bring the country together.  So you were asked before about the cancer ad again.  Why, then, won’t the President say, in that interview or anywhere -- that since he wants to focus on these serious issues, why doesn’t he tell any of his advisors out there, this does not fit with that, this does not fit with this --
 
MR. CARNEY:  Well, of course, we do not -- he doesn’t dictate to or coordinate with third-party groups.
 
Q    I disagree with that.  That’s not what --
 
MR. CARNEY:  And I know you’re out there with us often.  You hear his tone when he speaks.  You hear the issues that he talks about.  And there’s no question that these -- we have tough debates about the issues, and as you know, there has been a relentless critical evaluation by the Republican side of the President’s record, of his proposals, paid for in hundreds of millions of dollars of advertising over the past several years, and specifically by the Romney campaign.
 
And on the issues, the President is obviously going to engage and has engaged because he thinks the stakes are so very high for the American people.  He will continue to focus on the issues, continue to talk about his very optimistic vision for the American economy and the American people, because he knows that that’s what this is all about, for him and for the country -- and that those issues, to go back to my earlier point, are what the American people want to decide this election.  And those are the issues that will decide this election. 
 
So a third-party ad that essentially had no money behind it, never appeared except accidentally on one station once, versus a focus on the issues that’s backed up by the President’s campaign and all the efforts that it’s engaged in, on the one hand, and to compare apples to apples, as opposed to apples to oranges or pears or pomegranates, the Romney campaign has as a matter of policy, invested tens of millions of dollars in an advertising campaign that's based on a blatantly false assertion about the President's policy.  I think you know my feelings on that. 
 
April.
 
Q    I have a couple of questions on a couple of subjects.  And thanks to Mark Knoller's great pool report, Vice President Biden and the President are having a lunch right now.  What should we anticipate?  Yes, Mark said it.  He was just with the President. 
 
MR. CARNEY:  Mark, I know you're an intrepid reporter, but you probably got that from the published schedule, right?
 
Q    I did.  (Laughter.)
 
Q    Yes, okay.  But either way --
 
Q    I didn't say otherwise.
 
Q    Right, right -- but he just left the President saying that he walked -- in the pool report if you follow Mark's pool report --
 
MR. CARNEY:  You guys know that since you've been covering this, the President and the Vice President have as a standing proposition, lunch every week -- right?  Every week, when they're in town.  Obviously, they're both traveling a lot, so it may not be every week, but this is something that happens every week -- as do the President's weekly meetings with Secretary Clinton and Secretary Geithner, which the Vice President, when he's in town, always participates in.  This is routine stuff. 
 
Q    So what's the stuff that's not routine, that's going to be on the plate?
 
MR. CARNEY:  Nothing.  It's all routine.
 
Q    They're not going to talk about the "chains" at all, by any chance?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I think the focus on this is pretty much entirely yours and not ours.  This is a, as I said before, non-issue.  The Vice President was talking about Wall Street reform, the absolute urgent need to ensure that it remains in place, the opposition to that principle by the Republican Party and the Republican candidates for president and vice president.  And as I said before, there's always an attempt during campaigns to distract attention from the substantive policy issues when you're losing the substantive policy issues and debates. 
 
Q    I understand the dynamic power habits -- it started with Ryan, then with Biden, and then, you had other people chime in.  But have you ever heard of the word "pun", a play on words? 
MR. CARNEY:  No.  (Laughter.)
 
Q    Understanding what happened -- and listening to Jake, Jake was right, and going back to what Brianna said about Governor Wilder.  Governor Wilder said that race was interjected -- and he even says, understanding as a grandson of slaves.
 
MR. CARNEY:  April, I think you heard or saw that the Vice President said in his next appearance, or soon thereafter, explained the use of his words, his language and how he had meant to phrase it.  And I think I made the point that we all -- all of us who are out there every day giving speeches, taking questions, talking about the issues, sometimes don't use the exact language that we thought we were going to use or wanted to use.  But you know what he was talking about.  You know that he was talking about a substantive issue.  And it certainly was not his intention --
 
Q    So he was not using a pun at all, is that what you're trying to say?
 
MR. CARNEY:  No, he wasn't. 
 
Q    Okay, wait a minute -- I'm not finished.  Just one second.  Do you think race ever needs to be interjected in this campaign, as many African Americans -- the day that Ryan was announced, many African Americans, particularly black ministers, bombarded this White House with concerns because of the Ryan budget, how it cut into middle and low-income programs, support for those programs.  Do you think race will ever have to be injected in this campaign?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I think the issue with the Republican budget proposals, the Romney/Ryan plans, is that they harm Americans across the board -- middle-class Americans, low-income Americans, seniors.  They're just not the right economic prescription.  As the President says, the vice presidential nominee on the other side is an articulate spokesman for Governor Romney's economic vision.  He just happens to disagree with that vision.  And that's the debate we're having.  That's the debate in many ways we've been having for the last couple of years. 
 
And the President looks forward to continuing to talk about why we cannot pursue -- we cannot afford as a country a $5 trillion tax cut.  We cannot afford as a country the decimation of our investments in education and innovation and infrastructure.  We can't attempt to get our fiscal house in order by asking seniors to accept vouchers instead of Medicare and to shoulder the burden of an extra, on average, $6,400 per year in costs for their health care.  That's just not the right economic policy vision this President believes for this country. 
Q    Governor Romney just held a news conference and you may want to respond to this.  Using a whiteboard, he sketched out the difference between his Medicare and Congressman Ryan's Medicare plan and the President's.  And one of the points he makes is that under President Obama's approach, those approaching retirement -- 55 and over -- would indeed see changes, and under his plan they would not.  Would you remind us whether the President would change benefits to the plan of Social Security for those who are 55 and over?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I'm sorry, you mean Medicare?
 
Q    Excuse me, Medicare.
 
MR. CARNEY:  The President's plan protects benefits.  The AARP has said -- let's be clear -- has said that the President's Affordable Care Act strengthens and protects Medicare benefits and beneficiaries.  The Ryan budget -- the Romney/Ryan proposal, which, by the way -- I didn't see this press conference, but just because it's constantly unclear every day, the answer to this question -- that Governor Romney said -- actually, this is in an interview I believe last night in Wisconsin, Romney -- "Actually Paul Ryan's and my plan for Medicare I think is the same.  It is probably close to identical."
 
So we know what that plan is.  I mean, we've been debating it.  It's passed the House.  It voucherizes Medicare.  It shifts costs to seniors.  The President's plan does none of that.  The President's plan extends the life of Medicare.  It has already bequeathed millions of dollars in savings to seniors by closing the doughnut hole.  It has given millions of seniors the opportunity for free preventive services like mammograms and cancer screenings.  This is just a different vision.
 
Look, this is exactly what we want to be talking about.  These are the substantive issues that will be decided for this country and that will have a huge impact on this country and on America's seniors and others for years to come. 
 
Q    Is he correct that those 55 and over under the Obama plan would have a change in their Medicare benefits?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I don't know what change you're talking about.  The President protects Medicare beneficiaries and Medicare benefits.  The savings he achieved through the Affordable Care Act have extended the life of the Medicare program by eight years.  And they come not from Medicare beneficiaries, not from benefits, but from providers and insurance companies through savings in waste and fraud.  
 
This is a very important debate and the President looks forward to engaging in it.
 
Q    Hey, Jay, one other thing from that press conference -- Romney said he has never --
 
MR. CARNEY:  We should have had it up here, so I could -- (laughter) --
 
Q    No, you’ll probably want to respond.  He’s never paid less than 13 percent of an income tax over the past 10 years.  Any reaction?
 
Q    I don’t have a reaction.  I think my statement to that would simply be that this President believes that the tradition of a -- for presidential candidates to put forward multiple years of their tax returns is a useful and valuable one, not always a comfortable one, but one that he has certainly abided by, and he thinks is one that the American people believe is right and expect their candidates to abide by.
 
Q    Does the new immigration order potentially leave all these young people in a state of limbo because it doesn’t confer legal status?  And then also, following up on Brianna’s question earlier about Governor Brewer, since she did -- the Governor issued this executive order last night.  And it would basically be denying driver’s licenses to these same people who are applying.  It’s obviously very hard to get to work if you don’t have a driver’s license.  So is there concern about how some states are trying to skirt this rule?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I simply -- and I appreciate that it was last night and that Brianna didn’t just call it up on her screen -- but I have not seen it and I simply don’t know enough about it to give you a comment on it.
 
The answer to your first question is, yes, this is not a long-term solution.  The President believes and fought hard for the DREAM Act and believes that Congress ought to pass it.  And the administrative action taken by this administration, led by DHS, is to make sure that we’re using prosecutorial discretion in a way that focuses our resources on criminals and not on so-called DREAM Act kids, who, as the President said, got here -- arrived in this country when they were very young, grew up in the United States, consider themselves Americans, and who are or can contribute mightily to this country.
 
Q    I would imagine that the President would not be pleased seeing what Governor Brewer --
 
MR. CARNEY:  Again, I just hesitate to offer an assessment since I have not seen that story.
 
Q    And then keeping -- any surprise on the turnout?  We’re seeing so many people around the country coming out applying for this.  Is the administration surprised by this number?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I don’t know how to judge that because I’m not sure what numbers were expected.
 
Q    Thank you.
 
MR. CARNEY:  Thank you very much, guys.
 
Q    Do you have any comment on the Family Research Council shooting, Jay?  Can you talk about that?
 
MR. CARNEY:  I made a statement about it yesterday.  The President was informed about it by his Homeland Security Advisor, John Brennan, and he was very concerned about the victim -- the person who was shot -- and made clear to me, and I conveyed this to the pool, that he firmly believes that violence of that kind has no place in our society.  And this goes to the greater discussion we’ve had about violence in America and the need to tackle it on multiple fronts.
 
Q    Does he consider it a hate crime or an act of --
 
MR. CARNEY:  Those kinds of determinations are made by the FBI, and I know the FBI is part of this investigation.
 
Thank you.
 
END  
12:40 P.M. EDT

We Can’t Wait: Obama Administration Announces New Public-Private Partnership to Support

Consortium of Businesses, Universities, and Community Colleges from Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania Co-Invest with Federal Government in a Manufacturing Innovation Institute

 WASHINGTON, DC – Following through on our We Can’t Wait efforts, the Obama Administration today announced the launch of a new public-private institute for manufacturing innovation in Youngstown, Ohio as part of its ongoing efforts to help revitalize American manufacturing and encourage companies to invest in the United States.  This new partnership, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII), was selected through a competitive process, led by the Department of Defense, to award an initial $30 million in federal funding, matched by $40 million from the winning consortium, which includes manufacturing firms, universities, community colleges, and non-profit organizations from the Ohio-Pennsylvania-West Virginia ‘Tech Belt.’ 

 In order to create an economy built to last, America needs to make more things the rest of the world wants to buy.  After losing millions of good manufacturing jobs in the years before and during the deep recession, the economy has added over 530,000 manufacturing jobs since February 2010 —the strongest growth for any 30 month period since 1989.Companies are also increasingly choosing to invest in the U.S. and bring jobs back.  While there’s more work to be done, steps like today’s announcement build on this momentum.

 “I’m pleased that we are taking steps to strengthen American manufacturing by launching a new manufacturing institute in Ohio,” said President Obama. “This institute will help make sure that the manufacturing jobs of tomorrow take root not in places like China or India, but right here in the United States of America.  That’s how we’ll put more people back to work and build an economy that lasts.” 

 On March 9, 2012, President Obama announced his plan to invest $1 billion to catalyze a national network of up to 15 manufacturing innovation institutes around the country that would serve as regional hubs of manufacturing excellence that will help to make our manufacturers more competitive and encourage investment in the United States.  The President called on Congress to act on this proposal and create the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). 

 As part of his Administration’s We Can’t Wait initiative, President Obama also announced immediate steps to launch a pilot institute to serve as a proof-of concept for the NNMI.  Five federal agencies - the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Commerce, the National Science Foundation, and NASA – jointly committed to invest $45 million in a pilot institute on additive manufacturing.  Today's announcement of an initial $30 million award under existing authorities is matched by $40 million from the winning consortium.

Youngstown, Ohio and the surrounding region knows what happens when manufacturing production declines. But in this area once known as the ‘rust belt’, investments like this new pilot institute demonstrate the potential within a region to bring together the capabilities of America’s companies and universities, in partnership with the federal government, to invest in the cutting-edge technologies and skills our manufacturers need to compete. With this initiative, Youngstown is poised to become the epicenter of burgeoning new industries from its leadership in additive manufacturing or 3-D printing. 

Director of the National Economic Council Gene B. Sperling,  Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca M. Blank and Under Secretary of Defense Frank Kendall along with other Administration and local officials, will announce the award at M7 Technologies in Youngstown, Ohio.  The winning consortium is led by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining and consists of leading research universities like Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve University, world-class companies like Honeywell, Boeing, and IBM, innovative small manufacturers like M7 and ExOne, and community colleges spread across Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania (see full list below).

The President’s proposal for a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation was endorsed by his Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee. The AMP’s final recommendations, released last month in the report Capturing Domestic Competitive Advantage in Advanced Manufacturing, outlined a set of actions to enable innovation, strengthen our workforce, and accelerate investment in America. 

The President’s proposal for a NNMI is part of his comprehensive plan to revitalize American manufacturing, which includes providing tax incentives to encourage manufacturers to invest in America, eliminating of tax breaks for manufacturing firms that ship jobs abroad, investing in community colleges and workforce training, supporting innovation in cross-cutting manufacturing technologies, investing in the 21^st century infrastructure our manufacturers need, and leveling the playing field so American workers can compete on the merit of their hard work.

 Background on the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute:

The NAMII will provide the innovation infrastructure needed to support new additive manufacturing technology and products in order to become a global center of excellence for additive manufacturing.  This pilot institute will bridge the gap between basic research and product development for additive manufacturing, provide shared assets to help companies, particularly small manufacturers, access cutting-edge capabilities and equipment, and create an environment to educate and train workers in advanced additive manufacturing skills. 

Additive manufacturing, often referred to as 3D printing, is a new way of making products and components from a digital model, and will have implications in a wide range of industries including defense, aerospace, automotive, and metals manufacturing. Like an office printer that puts 2D digital files on a piece of paper, a 3D printer creates components by depositing thin layers of material one after another using a digital blueprint until the exact component required has been created.  The Department of Defense envisions customizing parts on site for operational systems that would otherwise be expensive to make or ship.  The Department of Energy anticipates that additive processes would be able to save more than 50% energy use compared to today’s ‘subtractive’ manufacturing processes.

NAMII is led by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, and includes:

40 Companies:  Allegheny Technologies, AlphaMicron, Applied Systems and Technology Transfer, Autodesk, Boeing, Catalyst Connection, Energy Industries of Ohio, ExOne, FMW Composites, General Dynamics, General Electric, Honeywell, IBM, Johnson Controls, Kennametal, Kent Displays, Laser Technology Assts, Lockheed Martin, Lubrizol, M-7 Technologies, MicroFab Technologies, Morris, Northrop Grumman, nScrypt, OSRAM Sylvania, Optomec, Oxford Performance Materials, Paramount Industries / 3D Systems, Parker Hannifin, Plextronix, POM, RTI, Ruger, Sciaky, Stratasys, Stratonics, Timken, Touchstone Research Lab, Westinghouse Nuclear, Wohlers Associates

9 Research Universities: Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, Kent State University, Lehigh University, Penn State University, Robert Morris University, University of Akron, University of Pittsburgh, Youngstown State University

5 Community Colleges: Eastern Gateway Community College, Lorain County Community College, Northampton Community College, Penn College of Technology, Westmoreland County Community College

11 Non-Profit Organizations: Association for Manufacturing Technology, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, JumpStart Ohio, Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, MT Connect, NorTech, National Digital Engineering and Manufacturing Consortium, Ohio Aerospace Institute, Robert C. Byrd Institute, the Youngstown Business Incubator, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. 

Remarks by the President and First Lady at a Campaign Event -- Davenport, Iowa

Davenport, Iowa

5:47 P.M. CDT

MRS. OBAMA:  I decided to bring someone out with me.  You may know this guy.  (Applause.)

I want to start by thanking Amanda for that very kind introduction.  We are so proud of her.  And we are so grateful for her service.  So let's give Amanda another round of applause. (Applause.)  And thank you, Amanda, for getting the President to eat some fruit this morning.  That's good.  (Laughter.) 

Well, you guys, this looks amazing.  You all sound really   fired up.  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  Fired up!

MRS. OBAMA:  And you definitely sound ready to go.  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  Ready to go!

MRS. OBAMA:  And let me tell you, I'm glad to hear it because --

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Four more years!

MRS. OBAMA:  Yes, indeed, with your help!  (Applause.)  With your help.

Let me just say this.  I shared this with the folks earlier today, but being back in the great state of Iowa -- (applause) -- yes, indeed!  (Applause.)  Where it all began for us.  (Applause.)  I have to say I'm feeling pretty fired up and ready to go myself. 

Our family has so many great memories of our time here in Iowa.  As I mentioned earlier, I remember when we went to Pella, and an entire neighborhood sang "Happy Birthday" to Malia on the Fourth of July.  (Applause.)  Yes.  It was so sweet.  I remember, on the big day at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, we danced with about a thousand folks across the street with the Isiserettes.  It's a marching band.  We've had them back to the White House since.  But that was exciting. 

And our girls still talk about our visit to the State Fair. That was like I think the first big State Fair we ever went to.  (Applause.)  And it was so much fun.  We did everything.  We rode the bumper cars, and we slid down this big slide.  I mentioned how Barack almost dropped Sasha -- (laughter) -- off of the slide.  (Applause.)  She flew up and he barely -- I wasn’t very happy about that.  (Laughter.) 

And, that is where, yes, we experienced our very first fried Twinkie on a stick.  (Applause.)  It was here.  And it was also pretty funny because he was a senator at the time and he had a lot of press, and they were everywhere.  And the girls were holding baby chicks, and the cameras were flashing.  So when it was time for him to leave -- he left early -- the girls actually turned around to me and said, "Whew, I'm so glad Daddy is gone." (Laughter.)  Now we can really have some fun.  (Laughter.)   

We essentially shut the State Fair down.  So we had a great time.  And I'll have to say that I'm a little bit jealous that Barack got to go to the State Fair this week without me.

AUDIENCE:  Awww --

MRS. OBAMA:  Oh, it's so sad.

THE PRESIDENT:  It was good.  (Laughter.) 

MRS. OBAMA:  So today I want to start by saying thank you, truly, thank you.  I want to thank everybody in the state for the kindness and generosity and love that you all have shown our family.  Regardless of what party you're from, regardless of how you felt about us, you have shown us so much love.  (Applause.)  And you don't understand how important that was for me because Iowa was my very first experience with a national campaign.  And because of you all, this state, the people in this state, our girls still think campaigning is fun.  (Laughter.)  They really do.  

More importantly, because of all of you, Barack and I will always remember what this process can be at its very best.  Truly, every election, the folks here in Iowa, you all remind us what democracy is all about.  And it's really about getting to know the issues and discussing the issue with your neighbors.  It's about meeting your candidates and getting to know them and their families really up close and personal in a way that very few states get to do.

And I will never forget my very first visit here back in 2007, and I remember it well because we were in the backyard of someone's home.  It was just such a simple gathering.  And I have to admit that I was a little nervous because I hadn’t done much campaigning.  And back then, people barely even knew who Barack was, let alone who I was. 

So I didn’t know how it would be.  But the folks in that backyard welcomed me like I was an old friend.  And within minutes I was so comfortable that I kicked off my high heels and I was standing in the lawn, in the grass, with bare feet, talking and laughing and listening to people’s stories.  And that’s when I learned that that’s what campaigning is about -- hearing about what’s going on in people’s lives, about the jobs that they’re juggling and the businesses they’re trying to keep afloat; the kids they hope to send to college if they can find a way to afford it.
 
And the more we talked, the more I felt at home -- because in their stories, I saw my story.  I saw Barack’s story.  And you all know my story.  My father worked at the city water plant his entire life; that was pretty much the only job he had.  And neither of my parents had the chance to get a college degree.  But as I tell people everywhere I go, what I appreciate about my parents was that they saved and they sacrificed, and they poured everything they had into me and my brother so that we could have the kind of educational opportunities they could only dream of.  (Applause.) 

And like Barack, pretty much all of our college tuition came from student loans and grants.  Yes, we can relate to how a lot of folks go to college.  But my dad still had to pay a small portion of that tuition himself.  And let me tell you, every semester, my father was determined to pay his little portion right on time, because he was so proud to play a small part in sending his kids to college that he couldn’t bear the thought of us missing a registration deadline because his check was late.

And really, more than anything else, that’s what I try to remind people when I go out and campaign -- that’s what's at stake in this election.  (Applause.)  It’s that fundamental promise that no matter who you are or how you started out, if you work hard, in America, you can build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids.  (Applause.)  That’s why we're here. 

And whether it's equal pay for women or health care for our families, whether it's supporting our veterans or saving our auto industry, that is what this man, my husband, has been fighting for every single day as President.  (Applause.)

And let me just share something with you -- because over the last three and a half years, as First Lady, I have had the chance to see up close and personal what being President is like.  And I have seen how the issues that come across a President's desk are always the hard ones -- the problems with no clear solutions, the judgment calls where the stakes are so high and there's no margin for error.

And I have seen that as President, you are going to get all kinds of advice and guidance from all kinds of people.  But at the end of the day, when it’s time to make that decision, all you have to guide you are your values and your vision and your life experiences.  And what I’ve learned is that, in the end, it all boils down to who you are and what you stand for. 

And we all know who my husband is, don’t we?  (Applause.)  And we all know what he stands for.  And I remind people, your President is the son of a single mother who struggled to put herself through school and pay the bills.  He’s the grandson of a woman who woke up before dawn every day to catch a bus to her job at a bank.  And even though Barack’s grandmother was good at her job and worked hard to support his family, like so many women, she hit that glass ceiling and watched men no more qualified than she was -- men she'd actually trained -- climb that ladder ahead of her.

So I remind people that Barack knows what it means when a family struggles.  And he knows what it means to want something better for your kids and your grandkids.  (Applause.)  And that’s why I love him, and that’s why I will have his back forever.  (Applause.) 

And that is also what I think about when I kiss our girls goodnight.  I think about the world I want to leave for them and for all our sons and daughters.  I think about how I want to give our kids a foundation for their dreams and opportunities worthy of their promise -- because all of our kids in this country are worthy.  (Applause.)  We want give them that sense of limitless possibility, the belief that here in America, the greatest country on the planet, there is always something better out there if you’re willing to work for it.  (Applause.) 

So I know that we cannot turn back now -- not now.  We have come so far, but we have so much more to do.  And if we keep on moving forward, then we need to work our hearts out for this man that I have the pleasure of introducing here today -- my husband and our President, President Barack Obama.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you!  (Applause.)  Hello, Davenport!  (Applause.)  It is good to be back in the Quads.  (Applause.) I see a lot of familiar faces, a lot of good friends.

First of all, let me just say that I, too, could not be prouder of Amanda Irish -- her service to this country, everything that she’s done.  She wants to go back to medical school.  She is going to be a great doctor, and she’s going to help a lot of people.  Give her a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

Your Mayor and a great friend of mine for a long, long time, Bill Gluba is here.  (Applause.) 

There is another friend of mine who’s here that isn’t going to come up on stage, but I want to make a special mention to him. He’s from the other side of the river.  He’s an Illinoisan.  (Applause.)  But I tell you what, this is a guy who served his country, looked after veterans, was a fighter for working families, and was the first guy outside of Chicago to endorse me and support me when I ran for the United States Senate back in 2004.  And if had not been for his support, I wouldn’t be standing here today.  He has shown even more courage in battling Parkinson’s, and is somebody who I will always think of when I think of integrity and public service.  So I just want everybody to give a big round of applause to former Congressman Lane Evans -- a great friend of mine.  (Applause.)  Lane is right there.

And finally, let me say something about my wife.  I don’t usually like to follow her speaking -- (laughter) -- because, let’s face it, on the charisma rankings in my household, you’ve got her, the girls, Bo -- (laughter) -- and then my mother-in-law and then me.  Actually, my mother-in-law is before Bo, obviously. (Laughter.)  I love my mother-in-law, too -- that’s where Michelle got her looks from.  So when other Obamas are participating I tend to kind of not shine quite as much.

But I’ve called her the “rock” of our family.  That may sell it short.  I don’t know anybody who is more honest, who is stronger, who knows who she is, knows what’s important, remembers where she came from, is the best mom in the world, keeps me in line, keeps me straight, keeps me humble -- and she’s cute.  (Applause.)  So I told people back in 2008, I won’t be a perfect President, and I’m not a perfect man, but we do have a perfect First Lady.  Please give it up for Michelle Obama.  (Applause.)

Now, as Michelle mentioned, this is our third day in Iowa.  I started out in Council Bluffs and we drove here, all the way to the Quads -- west to east.  And we’ve stopped all across the state -- everywhere we've gone we have had fun.  It is true, I have eaten a lot.  (Laughter.)  At the State Fair I had a pork chop and a beer.  (Applause.)  And it was very good. 

But we met farmers who have been hurt badly by the drought, and talked to them about the importance of Congress getting its act together and passing a farm bill.  (Applause.)  That’s not an issue that’s been partisan in the past, there's no reason it should be now -- especially when farmers and ranchers are hurting.

We met folks who have helped Iowa become a leader in wind energy -- (applause) -- and talked about how we need to keep investing in clean, renewable energy.  This morning I had breakfast with Amanda and a number of other veterans, and listened to their stories about not only the pride they took in service to their country, but also they were pretty honest about some of the difficulties when they came home.  And I reminded them that as Commander-In-Chief, one promise I guarantee I'll keep -- we are going to make sure we serve our veterans as well as they served us.  (Applause.)

And everywhere I went, I was reminded -- because I'd see folks who I hadn't seen in a couple of years; friends, neighbors, hit spots we had gone to in 2007-2008 -- I was reminded of how this movement for changed started in folks' backyards and in school gyms, and in VFW halls and in diners all across this state.  And this may be the last stop on our particular trip here this week, but that journey that we started back in 2008, it's not finished. 

We've got a lot more work to do.  We've got unfinished business to attend to.  I've come here to ask you to stand with me and help me finish the job.  (Applause.)  I'm asking you to help finish what we started, to bring about the change that is going to make America live up to its promise -- not just for this generation but for generations to come.  That is why I am running for a second term as President of the United States of America.  (Applause.)   

Three months -- less than three months from now, less than three months -- not that I'm counting -- (laughter) -- you will face a choice.  And that choice could not be bigger.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  It's a choice that you face this November that is not just about two candidates or two political parties -- it's a choice between two fundamentally different visions of where to take America.  And the direction that you choose when you walk into that voting booth is not going to have a direct -- not just going to have a direct impact on your lives, it's going to have an impact on your kids' lives and your grandchildren's lives. 

When we came together in 2007-2008 -- Democrats, independents and, yes, some Republicans -- we came together to restore that basic bargain that built this country -- Michelle talked about it.  Simple idea:  Here in this country, if you work hard you can get ahead.  Here in this country, if you take responsibility and you put in the effort, you should be able to find a job that supports a family, you should be able to find a home you can call your own, you shouldn’t go bankrupt when you get sick, you should be able to retire with dignity and respect -- (applause) -- and, most of all, you should be able to give your kids the kind of education and opportunity that allows them to dream even bigger and do even better than we ever did.  (Applause.)  That is the basic American promise, and that promise was being broken. 

We had seen a decade where jobs were being shipped overseas, and where wages and incomes were going down except for a few at the very top, even while the cost of everything from health care to college were skyrocketing.  We saw 2 wars fought on a credit card, surplus going into deficit, all culminating in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

So we knew that restoring that basic American idea that if you work hard you can get ahead, that it wouldn’t be easy; that it was going to take more than one year or one term or even one President.  And that was all before we saw how badly this financial crisis hammered middle-class families -- folks losing their homes and losing their jobs, losing their savings, all pushing that American Dream a little further out of reach. 

And I told you in -- four years ago, I said, don’t look for quick fixes; we didn’t get into this overnight, we're not going to solve it overnight.  But what I said, and what is still true is we've got all the things we need, all the ingredients.  We've got the capacity to meet our challenges.  We've still got the best workers in the world.  (Applause.)  We've got the best farmers in the world.  We've got the best small businesspeople in the world.  We've got the best scientists and researchers and colleges and universities in the world.  (Applause.) 

We're a young nation, and we've got the greatest diversity of talent and ingenuity.  People want to come here from every corner of the globe.  No matter what the naysayers may say, there is not another country on Earth that would not trade places with the United States of America.  (Applause.)  People around the world understand this is still a place where no matter what you look like or where you come from or what your last name is, you can make it.  And that’s the idea we're trying to rebuild.  (Applause.)  That’s why we're -- that’s what this campaign is about.  That’s what the last three and a half years have been about.

Every day, I've woken up thinking about you.  That’s what we thought about when we put in place the Recovery Act to help make sure that everybody who needed it got a tax cut; to make sure that teachers could stay on the job, and firefighters and cops.  (Applause.)  That’s what I was thinking about when we saved the auto industry that was about to go under.  (Applause.)  That’s how we've worked with businesses to help create 4.5 million new jobs -- half a million in manufacturing.

But we've got a long way to go.  We've got more work to do.  We know that.  And the big challenge we have right now is not a lack of big ideas, it's not a lack of solutions.  Our problem is politics in Washington.  (Applause.)  We've got folks on the other side who think "compromise" is a dirty word, and basically have only 2 ideas to grow the economy. 

One is to get rid of regulations that we put in place to make sure that we don't have another tax-funded bailout -- taxpayer-funded bailout when the banks make reckless decisions, or make sure that polluters aren’t polluting, or make sure insurance companies aren’t taking advantage of you.  So they want to strip away those regulations. And the other big idea they've got is the same kind of top-down economics that got us into this mess in the first place. 

Governor Romney's big idea is a $5 trillion tax cut, on top of the Bush tax cuts -- a lot of which would be going to the wealthiest Americans who've already been doing very well.

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Romney Hood!

THE PRESIDENT:  And here's the kicker:  He's expecting you to pay for it. 

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  Because $5 trillion is a lot of money.  That's 10 times our defense budget, so that would be the equivalent of our defense budget in tax cuts every single year.  And his basic idea is that middle-class families with children would see their tax bill go up an average $2,000.  This is not my analysis.  This is an analysis that was done by independent economists. 

And they're asking you to pay more in your taxes not to reduce the deficit, or grow jobs, or invest in education, but to give another $250,000 tax cut to people making $3 million a year or more.

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  Now, his allies in Congress have the same view.  You heard that he announced Congressman Ryan as his running mate -- and look, Congressman Ryan, I know him, he's a good man, a family man.  But he is the ideological leader of this Republican Congress.  And he's a very articulate spokesperson for Governor Romney's vision.  The problem is the vision is wrong.  (Applause.)  We don't agree with it. 

They have tried to sell us this top-down, trickle-down economics before.  (Laughter.)  We just tried it right before I took office.  And guess what, it did not work.  It didn’t work then, and it won't work now.  It’s not a plan to create jobs.  It’s not a plan to reduce the deficit.  It’s not a plan to move our economy forward.  Now, secretly, I think they know this.  They understand their economic plan isn't very popular -- because they started making all kinds of stuff up about my plan. 

I'll give you an example.  Lately, they’ve been talking about Medicare.  Now, keep in mind these are -- both Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan in the past have said they want to voucherize the Medicare system.

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  Here's what I've done.  I’ve strengthened Medicare.  I've made reforms that save millions of seniors with Medicare hundreds of dollars on their prescription drugs.  (Applause.)  We're closing the doughnut hole.  I've proposed reforms that will save Medicare money by getting rid of wasteful spending in the health care system.  (Applause.)  Reforms that will not touch your Medicare benefits.

And Governor Romney and his running mate have a different plan.  They want to turn Medicare into a voucher system.  That means seniors would no longer have the guarantee of Medicare -- they’d get a voucher to buy private insurance.  And if it doesn’t keep up with costs, well, that’s the seniors' problem. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  It was estimated that Governor Romney's running mate, his original plan would force seniors to pay an extra $6,400 a year.

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  My plan has extended Medicare by nearly a decade.  Their plan ends Medicare as we know it.  My plan reduces the cost of Medicare by cracking down on fraud and waste and subsidies to insurance companies.  Their plan makes seniors pay more to help finance another tax cut for folks who don’t need it.

That’s an example of the difference between our two philosophies.  That’s the choice in this election.  And that is why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  You know, when it comes to taxes, four years ago I promised to cut middle-class taxes -- I did it.  If anybody tells you democrats are all big tax-and-spend, you tell them, well, my taxes are lower than they were before President Obama took office by about $3,600 for a typical family.  (Applause.)

So now, I want to keep taxes right where they are for the first $250,000 of everybody’s income.  (Applause.)  If your family makes under $250,000 -- like 98 percent of Americans, and 97 percent of small businesses -- you won’t see your income taxes increase by a single dime next year.  (Applause.) 

Now, if you’re fortunate enough to be in the other 2 percent you will still keep the tax cut on the first $250,000 you make.  But if you're making more than that, we’re going to ask you to contribute just a little bit more to help pay down the deficit and allow us to still invest in things like education that help the economy grow.  (Applause.)  

That won't solve the whole deficit problem.  We've still got to make some smart cuts.  I've already cut a trillion dollars of spending -- we can do more.  But we can't just balance our budget on the backs of middle-class families -- 

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  -- not just on the backs of the poor. 

So what I said is, look, I know folks like me are in a position to do a little bit more, go back to the rates we paid under Bill Clinton -- a time when we created 23 million new jobs, we had a budget surplus instead of a deficit.  (Applause.)  And guess what, you know what, millionaires did good too.  (Laughter.)  Businesses and corporations did well too.  And here's the reason -- when a teacher or a firefighter or a receptionist or a construction worker, when they've got a little more money in their pockets, when you've got a little more money in your pockets, what do you do?

AUDIENCE:  Spend it!

THE PRESIDENT:  You spend it.  Because times are tough.  You maybe haven't bought a new car in 10 years.  Maybe you've got an old broken appliance that’s just been sitting there, doesn’t work.  Maybe your kid is going to college and you want to make sure they've got a computer to help them with their studies.

So you go out, and now businesses have more customers.  And when businesses have more customers, they make more profit.  And when they make more profit, they hire more workers.  And then those workers have a little more money and they go out and spend some more.  (Applause.) 

See, when you look at the history of this country, we didn’t grow through top-down economics, we grew through middle class-out economics.  We grew from bottom-up economics.  We grew together, where everybody got a fair shot, and everybody is doing their fair share, and everybody is playing by the same set of rules.  That’s the choice in this election.  And that’s why I'm running for a second term as President of the United States of America.  (Applause.) 

So on almost every issue, you're going to have a choice.  When the auto industry was on the brink of collapse, Governor Romney said let's "let Detroit go bankrupt."  I said that’s a million workers at stake, and I believe in American workers.  And three years later, the American auto industry has come roaring back. 

So now I want to make sure American manufacturing is taking root here.  Let's change this tax code once and for all -- stop giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas.  Let's give them to companies that are investing here in the United States of America.  (Applause.)

Governor Romney wants to keep those tax breaks.  He likes to talk about his private sector experience, but a lot of it was investing in companies that have been called "pioneers" of outsourcing.  We don't need more outsourcing, we need more insourcing.  (Applause.)  That’s a difference in this election.  That’s a choice in this election.

I want to make sure we've got the best education system in the world.  (Applause.)  I want to make sure that local school districts can hire more teachers, especially in math and science.  I want to make sure that 2 million more people can go to community colleges so they can get trained for the jobs that businesses are hiring for right now.  And I want to keep pushing on colleges on universities to lower tuition so every young person can afford to get a higher education.  That’s a choice in this election.  (Applause.) 

Governor Romney wants to end the tax credits for wind energy. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  Wind energy creates 7,000 jobs in Iowa -- 7,000 jobs.  Governor Romney said these new sources of energy are "imaginary."  Congressman Ryan said they're a "fad".  Those 7,000 jobs aren't a fad, they're our future. 

We should stop giving $4 billion a year in taxpayer subsidies to the big oil companies that are already making money, and help create homegrown sources of energy that put Americans back to work and help free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil.  That’s the choice in this election.  (Applause.)

In 2008, I said I'd end the war in Iraq -- and I did.  (Applause.)  I said we would refocus attention on al Qaeda and bin Laden -- and we did.  (Applause.)  We've set a timeline to end the war in Afghanistan.  All this was possible because of incredible men and women in uniform like Amanda.  (Applause.)  So now we've got an obligation to make sure that our VA and all our services are doing what we need to do for our veterans now that they're coming home. 

But part of that is also taking some of the savings after a decade of war and using them to put folks back to work doing some nation-building here at home.  (Applause.)  Let's rebuild some roads and some bridges.  Let's create a Veteran's Jobs Corps so they can get jobs as firefighters and cops in communities that need them.  (Applause.)  That’s the America I want to build.  That’s a choice in this election.  (Applause.) 

And let me just tell you one more choice -- Governor Romney said one of the first things he's going to do on day one is he's going to kill Obamacare. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  Now, I've got to say, I've grown kind of fond of the term Obamacare.  (Applause.)  Because I do care.  (Applause.)  I care about all the families in Iowa and Illinois and all across the country that I've met who have preexisting conditions and now they know they're going to be able to get health care coverage.  (Applause.)  I care about 6.5 million young people who can now stay on their parent's plan because of Obamacare.  (Applause.)  I care about the seniors who are getting discounts on their prescription drugs because of Obamacare.  (Applause.) 

So maybe Governor Romney wants to have another three years' worth of argument about health care.  I want to move forward.  The Supreme Court has spoken.  We are implementing it.  It is helping families all across this nation.  We are moving forward, not backward.  That’s a difference in this election.  (Applause.)  
So on all these issues -- whether it's health care security, making sure Medicare is there for future generations, making sure that we're rebuilding America, making sure our kids are getting the best education possible -- these are all ingredients of what we know to be a middle-class life.  It's what Michelle talked about.  It's what helped Michelle and me have the opportunities to do things that our parents could not have imagined. 

And now, we want to make sure the next generation has it.  And I know you guys feel the same way because you've got that same story.  Your parents, your grandparents, your great-grandparents -- the struggles they went through to give us a shot.  We've got an obligation now to make sure our children have that same shot, that same opportunity.  That’s why this election is so important.  That’s what we're fighting for.  (Applause.)

And you know, over the next three months the other side will spend more money than we have ever seen on ads telling you one thing -- that the economy is not so good and it's Obama's fault.  And you know, their economic theory doesn’t sell, so that’s going to be their message.  And it may be a plan to win the election, but it's not a plan to create jobs or reduce the deficit or grow the economy.  They don’t have a plan to revive the middle class, but I do. 

And so I tell you what, we've come too far to turn back now.  (Applause.)  We've got too many jobs we've got to create.  We've got too many teachers we've got to hire.  We've got too many students who need to afford to be able to go to college.  (Applause.)  We've got more energy we've got to generate and more troops we've got to bring home.  (Applause.)  We've got more doors of opportunity that we've got to open to everybody who is willing to work hard to walk through them.  (Applause.) 

So if you're willing to work with me one more time, and stand with me one more time, and knock on some doors one more time, and make some phone calls one more time; if you're willing to vote for me this November, we'll win Davenport, we'll win Iowa, we'll win this election.  We'll finish what we started.  And we'll remind the world why the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

END 
6:27 P.M. CDT