Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event - Private Residence, Owings Mills, MD

Private Residence
Owings Mills, Maryland

1:23 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  (Applause.)  Everybody, please have a seat.  Well, it is wonderful to be with all of you.  Let me begin by thanking our hosts, Josh and Genine. Thank you so much for opening up this extraordinary home -- (applause) -- and their gorgeous daughters who are doing all wonderful things.  (Applause.)  I was telling Josh, you cannot beat daughters.  No offense, sons, but -- (laughter) -- I'm just saying, when you've got wonderful daughters it puts a smile on your face.  But thank you so much for your hospitality.

You guys benefit from having one of the best governors in the country.  Please give Martin O'Malley a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  Absolutely.  An outstanding Lieutenant Governor, classmate of mine at Harvard, although he was a little younger than me -- Anthony Brown.  (Applause.)  Two wonderful allies, great friends, great champions on behalf of working people not just here in Maryland, but all across the country -- Barbara Mikulski is here, the senior Senator -- (applause) -- and Ben Cardin in the house.  (Applause.)  We've got the wonderful Congressman -- I loved his dad.  He's doing just a great job following in his footsteps -- John Sarbanes is here.  (Applause.) And the outstanding Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is in the house.  (Applause.)

And of course, all of you are here, and we're very pleased with that.  I'm going to be very brief, because usually what I want to do in a setting like this is to take questions and provide comments or get advice. 

But let me just say briefly, building on what Martin said, we've gone through the toughest economy and the toughest financial crisis in our lifetimes.  What we've seen not just here in the United States but worldwide is something that we haven't seen since the '30s.  And we've still got a long way to go.  There are a lot of folks out there who are hurting; a lot of folks who are looking for work or are underemployed; a lot of folks whose homes are underwater -- and we've been reading over the last several days about because of the plunge in housing prices, the loss of that wealth that a lot of families are experiencing -- it’s put enormous strains on people all across the country, including here in Maryland.

But what we have been able to do over the last three and a half years, after a decade in which we had been moving in the wrong direction, is to begin to point towards a trajectory where here in this country everybody is getting a fair shot, everybody is doing their fair share, everybody is playing by the same set of rules -- trying to restore those core values here in America where if you work hard, you can make it; regardless of where you come from, what you look like, you have a chance if you act responsibly and you’re willing to put in some sweat equity to make it here in America. 

That’s what the rescue of the auto industry was all about -- recognizing that if you place a bet on American workers and American ingenuity, and people start cooperating, that we could once again be number one.  And we’re seeing GM now the number-one automaker in the work and the U.S. auto industry not only back on its feet, but producing cars that people want to buy all around the world.

It’s what we’re seeing in clean energy, where we’ve now doubled clean energy production since I came into office.  The progress that we’ve been able to make with respect to making sure that businesses have markets all around the world so that we’re not just known as a country that buys things, but we’re also a country that’s selling stuff.  And we’re well on track to double our exports since I came into office -- because I want once again for products made in the United States to be known around the world as the best products that are available.

So we’ve been able to right the ship a little bit.  We’re moving in the right direction, but this election in many ways is going to be more consequential than 2008, because for all the changes that we’ve been able to achieve -- equal pay for equal work legislation, reversing "don’t ask, don’t tell," health care legislation that gives 2.5 million young people the ability to stay on their parent’s health care plans and gives 30 million people the opportunity to get affordable insurance for the first time, Wall Street reforms that are able to make sure that we don't go through another taxpayer bailout of our banking system like we did that last time -- despite all that work, we’re going to need another term to make sure that we consolidate these gains and we lock in the kind of progress that we need to ensure that America’s middle class is growing again. 

And the reason this election is so important is because you’ll never see a sharper contrast between the two parties in the vision that they have for where this country needs to go.

You’ve got a party that at this point its only recipe for success is another $5 trillion worth of tax cuts on top of the Bush tax cuts that -- by every independent analyst who's looked at it -- would actually make a our debt and our deficits much worse, or alternatively, would lead to us slashing the kinds of investments that are required for us to grow over the long term  -- investments in basic science, and research and development, that have been made us an economic superpower; investments in education because we know that in the 21st century those countries that have the best-trained workers are going to be the most successful; investments we make in our basic infrastructure -- our roads, our bridges, broadband lines, wireless networks; investments we make in ensuring that people who’ve worked all their lives can retire with dignity and respect, things like Medicare and Social Security.

And so there’s going to be a very stark choice in terms of how we deal with our debt and our deficits, how we grow an economy, how we invest in our people to make sure that the next generations succeeds.

And the good news is, is that the American people generally agree with our vision.  I mean, if you just put in front of them issue after issue and you present the Democratic approach and the Republican approach, we win.  The challenge is because folks are still hurting right now, the other side feels that it’s enough for them to just sit back and say things aren’t as good as they should be, and it’s Obama’s fault.  I mean, you can pretty much put their campaign on a tweet and have some characters to spare. (Laughter.)

And that's why your involvement, your contributions, your investment in this election, your willingness to talk to your friends and your neighbors and your coworkers, and to help mobilize the same kind of energy on the ground that we had last time is going to be so important.  And it’s going to be important not just for this presidential election but it’s going to be important to make sure that we retain control of the Senate.  It’s going to be important for us to be able to take the House.  (Applause.)

But the one last thought I want to leave you with is a sense of optimism about how solvable our problems are.  It’s become fashionable to talk about how America can't recover from these kinds of challenges.  You know what, that's what they’ve said throughout our history.  They’ve always underestimated the resilience and the strength of the American people.  And we’ve been through tougher times before. 

And I, as you might imagine, spend a lot of time traveling all around the world -- there’s not a country that wouldn’t trade places with us.  (Applause.)  If you look at as tough as things have been, the pace at which we’ve grown, the accessibility of solutions to our fiscal problems relative to what’s happening in Europe, for example -- what’s required is not out of reach. 

It will require some tough choices.  Most of all, it requires those on Capitol Hill to work across party lines to achieve some basic solutions.  But we are poised to make sure that the 21st century is the American Century, just like the 20th century was.  It’s going to require some work, though, and this election is going to help determine it.

So I hope you guys are ready to go.  I hope you are still fired up.  I am just as determined as I’ve ever been, and I’m looking forward to this campaign.  (Applause.) 

So thank you.   Thank you.  Thank you so much.

END  
1:37 P.M. EDT

Remarks by President Obama and President Aquino of the Philippines after Bilateral Meeting

Oval Office

2:48 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  It is a great pleasure to welcome President Aquino to the Oval Office and to the White House. 

I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with him, most recently during my Asia trip, when we met most recently in Bali. And at that time, we discussed how important the U.S.-Philippine relationship was, the historic ties, the 60 years of a mutual defense treaty, the extraordinary links between Filipino-Americans that have brought our two countries so closely together.  And we pledged to work on a whole host of issues that would continue to strengthen and deepen the relationship for the 21st century.

We talked about how we could work on security issues, on economic issues, on people-to-people exchanges, and on a whole host of regional issues.  And I just want to thank President Aquino for his excellent cooperation, because we've made a great deal of progress since that time.

On economic issues, the Philippines is the recipient of a Millennium Challenge grant that is helping to foster greater development and opportunity within the Philippines.  We have a partnership for growth that is working on how we can make sure that we are structuring a relationship of expanding trade and commerce between our two countries. 

I want to congratulate President Aquino for the work that he's done on the Open Government Partnership that is consistent with his campaign to root out corruption that can facilitate greater economic development within the Philippines. 

And on security and military issues, we had discussions about how we can continue to consult closely together, to engage in training together, work on a range of regional issues together -- all of which is consistent with the announced pivot by the United States back to Asia, and reminding everybody that, in fact, the United States considers itself, and is, a Pacific power.

Throughout all these exchanges and all the work that we've done I've always found President Aquino to be a thoughtful and very helpful partner.  And I think that as a consequence of the meeting today in which we discussed not only military and economic issues, but also regional issues -- for example, trying to make sure that we have a strong set of international norms and rules governing maritime disputes in the region -- that I'm very confident that we're going to see continued friendship and strong cooperation between our two countries.  

So, Mr. President, thank you for visiting.  We are very proud of the friendship between our two countries, and we look forward to continuing in the future.

PRESIDENT AQUINO:  I would like to thank President Obama for all the support that the U.S. has given us in our quest to really transform our society.  Ours is a shared history, shared values, and that's why America is just one of two that we have strategic partnerships with.

Today's meeting has really even deepened and strengthened a very long relationship we have, especially as we face the challenges that are before both our countries in the current situation.

And again, we'd like to thank them for all the expressions of support that even now has led to the resolution of situations within our territory.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  All right.  Thank you, everybody.

Q    Mr. President, Mitt Romney says you're out of touch for saying the private sector is doing fine.  What's your response?

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Listen, it is absolutely clear that the economy is not doing fine.  That's the reason I had the press conference.  That's why I spent yesterday, the day before yesterday, this past week, this past month, and this past year talking about how we can make the economy stronger. 

The economy is not doing fine.  There are too many people out of work.  The housing market is still weak and too many homes underwater.  And that's precisely why I asked Congress to start taking some steps that can make a difference.

Now, I think if you look at what I said this morning and what I've been saying consistently over the last year, we've actually seen some good momentum in the private sector.  We've seen 4.3 million jobs created -- 800,000 this year alone -- record corporate profits.  And so that has not been the biggest drag on the economy. 

The folks who are hurting, where we have problems and where we can do even better, is small businesses that are having a tough time getting financing; we've seen teachers and police officers and firefighters who've been laid off -- all of which, by the way, when they get laid off spend less money buying goods and going to restaurants and contributing to additional economic growth.  The construction industry is still very weak, and that's one of the areas where we've still seen job losses instead of job gains. 

So if we take the steps that I laid out to make sure that we're not seeing teacher layoffs and we're not seeing police officer layoffs, and we're providing small businesses with additional financing and tax breaks for when they hire or if they're giving raises to their employees; if we refinance housing -- or allow homeowners to refinance so they've got an extra $3,000 in their pocket so that they can spend money and contribute to further economic growth; if we're making sure that we're rebuilding, work that has to be done anyway, deferred maintenance on roads and bridges that could put construction workers back to work -- all those things will strengthen the economy, and independent economists estimate it would create an additional million jobs.  

Now, you can't give me a good reason as to why Congress would not act on these items other than politics -- because these are traditionally ideas that Democrats and Republicans have supported.  So let me be as clear as I can be.  The economy needs to be strengthened.  That's why I had a press conference.

I believe that there are a lot of Americans who are hurting right now, which is what I've been saying for the last year, two years, three years, what I've been saying since I came into office.  And the question then is what are we going to do about it?  And one of the things that people get so frustrated about is that instead of actually talking about what would help, we get wrapped up in these political games.  That's what we need to put an end to.

So the key right now is for folks -- what I'm interested in hearing from Congress and Mr. Romney is what steps are they willing to take right now that are going to make an actual difference.  And so far, all we've heard are additional tax cuts to the folks who are doing fine, as opposed to taking steps that would actually help deal with the weaknesses in the economy and promote the kind of economic growth that we would all like to see.

All right.  Thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.  Thanks.  Thank you, guys.

END
2:58 P.M. EDT

Remarks by the President

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

10:40 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.  I just want to say a few words about the economy, and then I will take some of your questions.

Today, we’re fighting back from the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression.  After losing jobs for 25 months in a row, our businesses have now created jobs for 27 months in a row -- 4.3 million new jobs in all.  The fact is job growth in this recovery has been stronger than in the one following the last recession a decade ago.  But the hole we have to fill is much deeper and the global aftershocks are much greater.  That’s why we've got to keep on pressing with actions that further strengthen the economy.

Right now, one concern is Europe, which faces a threat of renewed recession as countries deal with a financial crisis.  Obviously this matters to us because Europe is our largest economic trading partner.  If there’s less demand for our products in places like Paris or Madrid it could mean less businesses -- or less business for manufacturers in places like Pittsburgh or Milwaukee. 

The good news is there is a path out of this challenge.  These decisions are fundamentally in the hands of Europe’s leaders, and fortunately, they understand the seriousness of the situation and the urgent need to act.  I’ve been in frequent contact with them over the past several weeks, and we know that there are specific steps they can take right now to prevent the situation there from getting worse.

In the short term, they’ve got to stabilize their financial system.  And part of that is taking clear action as soon as possible to inject capital into weak banks.  Just as important, leaders can lay out a framework and a vision for a stronger eurozone, including deeper collaboration on budgets and banking policy.  Getting there is going to take some time, but showing the political commitment to share the benefits and responsibilities of a integrated Europe will be a strong step. 

With respect to Greece, which has important elections next weekend, we’ve said that it is in everybody’s interest for Greece to remain in the eurozone while respecting its commitments to reform.  We recognize the sacrifices that the Greek people have made, and European leaders understand the need to provide support if the Greek people choose to remain in the eurozone.  But the Greek people also need to recognize that their hardships will likely be worse if they choose to exit from the eurozone. 

Over the longer term, even as European countries with large debt burdens carry out necessary fiscal reforms, they’ve also got to promote economic growth and job creation.  As some countries have discovered, it’s a lot harder to rein in deficits and debt if your economy isn’t growing.  So it’s a positive thing that the conversation has moved in that direction, and leaders like Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande are working to put in place a growth agenda alongside responsible fiscal plans. 

The bottom line is the solutions to these problems are hard, but there are solutions.  The decisions required are tough, but Europe has the capacity to make them.  And they have America’s support.  Their success is good for us.  And the sooner that they act, and the more decisive and concrete their actions, the sooner people and markets will regain some confidence and the cheaper the costs of cleanup will be down the road.

In the meantime, given the signs of weakness in the world economy, not just in Europe but also some softening in Asia, it's critical that we take the actions we can to strengthen the American economy right now.

Last September, I sent Congress a detailed jobs plan full of the kind of bipartisan ideas that would have put more Americans back to work.  It had broad support from the American people.    It was fully paid for.  If Congress had passed it in full, we’d be on track to have a million more Americans working this year.  The unemployment rate would be lower.  Our economy would be stronger.

Of course, Congress refused to pass this jobs plan in full. They did act on a few parts of the bill -- most significantly the payroll tax cut that’s putting more money in every working person’s paycheck right now.  And I appreciate them taking that action.  But they left most of the jobs plan just sitting there. And in light of the headwinds that we’re facing right now, I urge them to reconsider.  Because there's steps we can take right now to put more people back to work.  They’re not just my ideas; they're not just Democratic ideas -- they’re ideas that independent, nonpartisan economists believe would make a real difference in our economy.  

Keep in mind that the private sector has been hiring at a solid pace over the last 27 months.  But one of the biggest weaknesses has been state and local governments, which have laid off 450,000 Americans.  These are teachers and cops and firefighters.  Congress should pass a bill putting them back to work right now, giving help to the states so that those layoffs are not occurring.

In addition, since the housing bubble burst, we’ve got more than a million construction workers out of work.  There’s nothing fiscally responsible about waiting to fix your roof until it caves in.  We've got a lot of deferred maintenance in this country.  We could be putting a lot of people back to work rebuilding our roads, our bridges, some of our schools.  There's work to be done; there are workers to do it.  Let’s put them back to work right now.

The housing market is stabilizing and beginning to come back in many parts of the country.  But there are still millions of responsible homeowners who've done everything right but still struggle to make ends meet.  So, as I talked about just a few weeks ago, let’s pass a bill that gives them a chance to save an average of $3,000 a year by refinancing their mortgage and taking advantage of these historically low rates.  That's something we can do right now.  It would make a difference.

Instead of just talking a good game about job creators, Congress should give the small business owners that actually create most of the new jobs in America a tax break for hiring more workers.

These are ideas that, again, have gotten strong validation from independent, nonpartisan economists.  It would make a difference in our economy.  And there's no excuse for not passing these ideas.  We know they can work.

Now, if Congress decides, despite all that, that they aren’t going to do anything about this simply because it’s an election year, then they should explain to the American people why.  There’s going to be plenty of time to debate our respective plans for the future.  That’s a debate I’m eager to have.  But right now, people in this town should be focused on doing everything we can to keep our recovery going and keeping our country strong.  And that requires some action on the part of Congress.  So I would urge them to take another look at some of the ideas that have already been put forward.

And with that, I'm going to take a couple of questions.  And I'm going to start with Caren Bohan -- who is with Reuters, but as we all know, is about to go get a fancy job with National Journal.  (Laughter.)  And we're very proud of her.  So congratulations to you, Caren.  You get the first crack at me.

Q    Thank you very much, Mr. President.  Could you tell the American people what role the United States is playing in the European debt crisis?  And also, do you think European leaders have a handle on what’s needed to stem the crisis?  And finally, you talked about a number of ideas that you’ve already put forth to shield the American economy.  Do you plan to give a speech or lay out additional ideas now that the crisis is really escalating?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, a couple of things.  First of all, the situation in Europe is not simply a debt crisis.  You’ve got some countries like Greece that genuinely have spent more than they’re bringing in, and they’ve got problems.  There are other countries that actually were running a surplus and had fairly responsible fiscal policies but had weaknesses similar to what happened here with respect to their housing market or the real estate markets, and that has weakened their financial system.  So there are a bunch of different issues going on in Europe.  It’s not simply a debt crisis.

What is true is, is that the markets getting nervous have started making it much more expensive for them to borrow, and that then gets them on a downward spiral. 

We have been in constant contact with Europe over the last  -- European leaders over the last two years, and we have consulted with them both at the head of government and head of state level.  I frequently speak to the leaders not only at formal settings like the G8 but also on the telephone or via videoconference.  And our economic teams have gone over there to consult.

As I said in my opening remarks, the challenges they face are solvable.  Right now, their focus has to be on strengthening their overall banking system -- much in the same way that we did back in 2009 and 2010 -- making a series of decisive actions that give people confidence that the banking system is solid, that capital requirements are being met, that various stresses that may be out there can be absorbed by the system.  And I think that European leaders are in discussions about that and they’re moving in the right direction.

In addition, they’re going to have to look at how do they achieve growth at the same time as they’re carrying out structural reforms that may take two or three or five years to fully accomplish.  So countries like Spain and Italy, for example, have embarked on some smart structural reforms that everybody thinks are necessary -- everything from tax collection to labor markets to a whole host of different issues.  But they've got to have the time and the space for those steps to succeed.  And if they are just cutting and cutting and cutting, and their unemployment rate is going up and up and up, and people are pulling back further from spending money because they're feeling a lot of pressure -- ironically, that can actually make it harder for them to carry out some of these reforms over the long term.

So I think there's discussion now about, in addition to sensible ways to deal with debt and government finances, there's a parallel discussion that's taking place among European leaders to figure out how do we also encourage growth and show some flexibility to allow some of these reforms to really take root.

Now, keep in mind that this obviously can have a potential impact on us because Europe is our largest trading partner.  The good news is, is that a lot of the work we did back in 2009 and 2010 have put our financial system on a much more solid footing. Our insistence of increasing capital requirements for banks means that they can absorb some of the shocks that might come from across the Atlantic.  Folks in the financial sector have been monitoring this carefully and I think are prepared for a range of contingencies.

But even if we weren't directly hit in the sense that our financial system still stayed solid, if Europe goes into a recession that means we're selling fewer goods, fewer services, and that is going to have some impact on the pace of our recovery.  So we want to do everything we can to make sure that we are supportive of what European leaders are talking about.  Ultimately, it is a decision that they've got to make in terms of how they move forward towards more integration, how they move forward in terms of accommodating the needs for both reform and growth.

And the most important thing I think we can do is make sure that we continue to have a strong, robust recovery.  So the steps that I've outlined are the ones that are needed.  We've got a couple of sectors in our economy that are still weak.  Overall, the private sector has been doing a good job creating jobs.  We've seen record profits in the corporate sector. 

The big challenge we have in our economy right now is state and local government hiring has been going in the wrong direction.  You've seen teacher layoffs, police officers, cops, firefighters being laid off.  And the other sector that's still weak has been the construction industry.  Those two areas we've directly addressed with our jobs plan.  The problem is that it requires Congress to take action, and we're going to keep pushing them to see if they can move in that direction.

Jackie Calmes.  Where did Jackie go?  There she is.

Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  I'd like to ask you a couple -- about what a couple of other people have said about Europe.  And one is that I'd like to know if you agree with former President Bill Clinton, who said in the past week that the European's policies that you've described here today are much like those of the Republicans in this country -- politics of austerity that would take us in the same direction as Europe -- if you agree with that.  The Republicans, for their part, have said that you're simply blaming the Europeans for problems that have been caused by your own policies.  So I'd like you to respond to both of those.  And also, tell us precisely how much time you personally spend on the European situation.

THE PRESIDENT:  Any other aspects to the question?  (Laughter.)

Q    I do have more questions.  (Laughter.)

Q    Is she going to National Journal?  (Laughter.)  

THE PRESIDENT:  First of all, in terms of the amount of time I spend -- look, I think it's fair to say that over the last two years I'm in consistent discussions with European leadership and consistent discussions with my economic team.

This is one of the things that's changed in the world economy over the last two or three decades, is that this is a global economy now, and what happens anywhere in the world can have an impact here in the United States.  Certainly that's true after the kind of trauma that we saw in 2008 and 2009.

And if you think about the situation in Europe, they're going through a lot of the things that we went through back in 2009, 2010, where we took some very decisive action.  The challenge they have is they’ve got 17 governments that have to coordinate -- 27 if you count the entire European Union, not just the eurozone.  So imagine dealing with 17 Congresses instead of just one.  That makes things more challenging.

But what we’ve tried to do is to be constructive, to not frame this as us scolding them or telling them what to do, but to give them advice, in part based on our experiences here in having stabilized a financial situation effectively.  And ultimately, though, they're going to have to make a lot of these decisions, and so what we can do is to prod, advise, suggest.  But ultimately, they're going to have to make these decisions.

Now, in terms of characterizing the situation over there, what is absolutely true -- this is true in Europe and it’s true here in the United States -- is that we’ve got short-term problems and long-term problems.  And the short-term problems are:  How do we put people back to work?  How do we make the economy grow as rapidly as possible?  How do we ensure that the recovery gains momentum?

Because if we do those things, not only is it good for the people who find work, not only is it good for families who are able to pay the bills, but it actually is one of the most important things we can do to reduce deficits and debt.  It’s a lot easier to deal with deficits and debt if you’re growing, because you’re bringing in more revenue and you’re not spending as much because people don't need unemployment insurance as much; they don't need other programs that are providing support to people in need because things are going pretty good. 

Now, that's true here in the United States, and that's true in Europe.  So the problem I think President Clinton identified is that if, when an economy is still weak and a recovery is still fragile, that you resort to a strategy of "let’s cut more" -- so that you’re seeing government layoffs, reductions in government spending, severe cutbacks in major investments that help the economy grow over the long term -- if you’re doing all those things at the same time as consumers are pulling back because they're still trying to pay off credit card debt, and there’s generally weak demand in the economy as a whole, then you can get on a downward spiral where everybody is pulling back at the same time.  That weakens demand and that further crimps the desire of companies to hire more people.  And that's the pattern that Europe is in danger of getting into.

Some countries in Europe right now have an unemployment rate of 15, 20 percent.  If you are engaging in too much austerity too quickly, and that unemployment rate goes up to 20 or 25 percent, then that actually makes it harder to then pay off your debts.  And the markets, by the way, respond in -- when they see this kind of downward spiral happening, they start making a calculation, well, if you’re not growing at all, if you’re contracting, you may end up having more trouble paying us off, so we’re going to charge you even more.  Your interest rates will go up.  And it makes it that much tougher.

So I think that -- what we want both for ourselves, but what we’ve advised in Europe as well is a strategy that says let’s do everything can to grow now, even as we lock in a long-term plan to stabilize our debt and our deficits, and start bringing them down in a steady, sensible way. 

And by the way, that’s what we proposed last year; that’s what’s proposed in my budget.  What I’ve said is, let’s make long-term spending cuts; let’s initiate long-term reforms; let’s reduce our health care spending; let’s make sure that we’ve got a pathway, a glide-path to fiscal responsibility, but at the same time, let’s not underinvest in the things that we need to do right now to grow.  And that recipe of short-term investments in growth and jobs with a long-term path of fiscal responsibility is the right approach to take for, I think, not only the United States but also for Europe.

Q    What about the Republicans saying that you’re blaming the Europeans for the failures of your own policies?

THE PRESIDENT:  The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we’ve created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone.  The private sector is doing fine. Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government -- oftentimes, cuts initiated by governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don’t have the same kind of flexibility as the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in. 

And so, if Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is, how do we help state and local governments and how do we help the construction industry.  Because the recipes that they’re promoting are basically the kinds of policies that would add weakness to the economy, would result in further layoffs, would not provide relief in the housing market, and would result, I think most economists estimate, in lower growth and fewer jobs, not more. 

All right.  David Jackson.

Q    Thank you, sir.  There are a couple of books out with, essentially, details about national security issues.  There are reports of terrorist kill lists that you supervise and there are reports of cyber-attacks on the Iranian nuclear program that you ordered.  Two things.  First of all, what’s your reaction of this information getting out in public?  And secondly, what’s your reaction to lawmakers who accuse your team of leaking these details in order to promote your reelection bid?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, first of all, I’m not going to comment on the details of what are supposed to be classified items.  Second, as Commander-in-Chief, the issues that you have mentioned touch on our national security, touch on critical issues of war and peace, and they're classified for a reason -- because they're sensitive and because the people involved may, in some cases, be in danger if they're carrying out some of these missions.  And when this information, or reports, whether true or false, surface on the front page of newspapers, that makes the job of folks on the front lines tougher and it makes my job tougher -- which is why since I've been in office, my attitude has been zero tolerance for these kinds of leaks and speculation. 

Now, we have mechanisms in place where if we can root out folks who have leaked, they will suffer consequences.  In some cases, it's criminal -- these are criminal acts when they release information like this.  And we will conduct thorough investigations, as we have in the past.

The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive.  It's wrong.  And people I think need to have a better sense of how I approach this office and how the people around me here approach this office. 

We're dealing with issues that can touch on the safety and security of the American people, our families, or our military personnel, or our allies.  And so we don’t play with that.  And it is a source of consistent frustration, not just for my administration but for previous administrations, when this stuff happens.  And we will continue to let everybody know in government, or after they leave government, that they have certain obligations that they should carry out. 

But as I think has been indicated from these articles, whether or not the information they've received is true, the writers of these articles have all stated unequivocally that they didn't come from this White House.  And that's not how we operate. 

Q    Are there leak investigations going on now -- is that what you're saying?

THE PRESIDENT:  What I'm saying is, is that we consistently, whenever there is classified information that is put out into the public, we try to find out where that came from. 

Okay?  Thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.

END
11:09 A.M. EDT

Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event

Private Residence
Los Angeles, California

10:18 A.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  (Applause.) Everybody sit down, make yourselves comfortable.  In fact, it's warm out here -- gentlemen, feel free to take off your jackets.  (Laughter.)  I'm going to -- there you go.  That's what's called an executive order.  (Laughter.) 

I want to thank JoAnn and Charles for hosting us in their extraordinary home.  You can give them a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  I want to thank our event co-chairs, Nicole and Clarence Avant -- (applause) -- Lorna Johnson, Kerman Maddox, Candace and Steve McKeever, Cookie Parker, and Danielle Smith.  (Applause.) 

I want to thank all of you for being here on this spectacular Los Angeles day.  I'm glad some of you brought your children, your young people, which is great to see -- although it doesn’t seem like they were arguing that much about getting out of one of the last days of school.  (Laughter.)  I don't know how many excuse notes I'm going to have to write.  (Laughter.) 

Michelle says hi.  (Applause.)  The girls, they're in the mindset that school is almost done.  We're trying to keep them focused, telling them to run through the tape, don't start slacking off too early.  And Bo says hi as well.  (Laughter.) 

Now, I'm here not just because I need your help, but I'm here because the country needs your help.  When we came together -- and so many of you were supporters back in 2008, and a lot of you got on this bandwagon before people could even pronounce my name properly -- we came together not just to support me, not just to support an individual.  The idea was that we were making a commitment to each other, that there were a set of values and ideals, there were a set of principles that we believed in as Americans that date back to the founding of this country. 

This did not begin as a perfect union, but the charter of this country -- our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution -- spoke to the possibility of perfecting the union.  There were those who were excluded, there were those who were not considered full citizens, but there was this idea at the core of America that can be expressed very simply, which is in this country you should be able to make it if you try; if you're willing to work hard, if you're willing to take responsibility, that everybody can make it, regardless of what they look like, or where they come from, what faith they hold, or who they love -- that everybody should be able to make it in this country if they try.

Now, there were a lot of struggles to fulfill that promise. There was a war fought, and the civil rights movement and the women's rights movement and a workers' movement.  But the trajectory of this country has always been we're going to expand more and more opportunity to more and more people, and promote dignity and respect and justice and equality and fairness for more and more people.  That's been the trajectory of this country.  That's the reason I can stand here today as President of the United States, because of the extraordinary work that was done in the past.

And what we recognized in 2008 was, as much progress as had been made, it seemed like we were taking a wrong turn, that we were not being true to those ideals that everybody can make it.  So we had a surplus turned into a deficit because of tax cuts for folks who didn’t need them and weren’t even asking for them.  We had two wars fought on a credit card.  A few people were doing really well, but more and more folks were struggling to get by as costs of everything from health care to sending your kid to college were skyrocketing, and people's incomes and wages were flat-lining, and job growth was stagnant, and manufacturing was moving offshore.

And so we came together to affirm and assert that we were going to restore that basic sense that in America, everybody gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules.

Now, we didn’t know at the time that I started running that we would end up experiencing the worst financial crisis in our lifetimes.  We didn’t know that we were losing 4 million jobs even as I was still campaigning, lose 800,000 the month that I took office.  But we understood that we were going to have to try to work as hard as we could to bring about change that was desperately needed to fulfill this country's promise.

And so, yes, we've gone through three and a half years of very difficult times.  I had to make a bunch of decisions that weren’t always popular.  But we made the right decisions.  Because it turns out that the American people are tougher than tough times.  So when some folks said we should let Detroit go bankrupt we said we're not going to let that happen; we're going to save more than a million jobs.  And right now, GM is the number-one automaker in the world once again and Detroit is coming back better than ever.  (Applause.)

All across the country we put people back to work rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our infrastructure, and made sure that teachers and firefighters and police officers could stay on the job.  We stabilized the financial system.  We made sure that loans were starting to flow again to small businesses, and businesses started getting back to basics.  And as a consequence, we’ve now created over 4 million jobs over the last couple of years -- more than 800,000 this year alone -- more jobs in the manufacturing sector than any time since the 1990s. 

Because of the resilience and the grit of the American people all across this country, we’re starting to see progress again.  We’re starting to move in the right direction again.
But -- and here’s the reason I’m here today -- we’re not finished.  We’ve got more work to do.  (Applause.)  This journey is not over. 

There are still too many folks out there who are hurting, who are desperate for a job but can’t find one.  Folks who have seen their homes lose value -- $100,000 underwater, don’t know what it will mean for themselves, for their future.  Too many young people who still are trying to go to college and having a tough time affording it.  So despite all the work that we’ve done, we’ve still got more work to do. 

And we’ve got an election that in some ways is going to be more critical than 2008, because the other party has gone in a direction that is contrary to those values that we fought for in 2008.  You know, Governor Romney is a patriotic American and he’s got a beautiful family, and he’s been very successful.  But along with this Republican Congress, they’ve got a vision that doesn’t say, we work together; it says, everybody is on their own.  It says if you don’t have health care, tough luck, you’re on your own, figure it out.  It says if you were a child born into poverty, pull pull yourself up by your own bootstraps -- even if you don’t have boots.  (Laughter.)  You’re on your own. 

It’s a vision that basically believes that the answer to every question are more tax cuts for the wealthiest, the most powerful; the fewest regulations that protect consumers, or keep our air and water clean, or make sure that workers are treated fairly; and that somehow, if government isn’t doing anything then the country is automatically going to be better.

Now, it would be one thing if we hadn’t tried this.  (Laughter.)  But we tried it.  Remember there was a previous administration.  We tried this whole recipe and it didn’t work. And the idea that we -- after all the progress we fought for, everything that we’ve done over the last three and a half years  -- that we’d go back to the very same policies that got us into this mess in the first place -- I don’t think so.  (Applause.)   We are not going to let it happen.  And that’s the reason why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States of America.  (Applause.)  We’re not going backwards.  We’re going forwards.  We are going forward.  We’re moving forward.  (Applause.)

And everything that we’ve accomplished -- everything that we’ve accomplished with outstanding members of Congress like Karen Bass, who’s here today, by the way -- give Karen a big round of applause.  We love Karen.  (Applause.)  Everything that we’ve accomplished should give us confidence not only that we can win this election but that we can keep progress going.

I keep a checklist in my desk of stuff I said I was going to do -- a little to-do list.  This is separate from Michelle’s to-do list.  (Laughter.)  She’s got her own to-do list.  I check both of them every day.  Said that we would make sure that 30 million Americans get health care -- check, we got that done -- (applause) -- 2.5 million young people who are on their parent’s health insurance plans right now -- I had a gentleman, while we were taking photos, come up and say, boy, that’s really helping me because my daughter, she needed health care.  And think about if somebody who can afford to come here today got helped, imagine what that means for a whole bunch of families all across the country.  Imagine what that means.  (Applause.) 

Doubled fuel-efficiency standards on cars so that by the next -- by the middle of the next decade, you’re going to see cars getting 55 miles per gallon.  (Applause.)  That’s not only good for your pocketbook; it’s helping reduce our dependence on foreign oil and it’s saving the environment in the process.  (Applause.)

We took tens of billions of dollars that were going to banks, subsidizing them through the student loan program, we said, let’s take that money, let’s give it directly to students. And as a consequence, we’ve gotten millions of people who are now getting opportunities for Pell grants and reducing their loan burden -- as a consequence of the work that we did.  (Applause.)  
We said, in a country that is constantly expanding opportunity, it does not make sense for patriotic Americans doing outstanding work not to be able to serve the country they love just because of who they love.  And so we ended "don’t ask, don’t tell."  (Applause.)  An expression of our values and our ideals.

War in Iraq -- over.  (Applause.)  Afghanistan -- in transition.  (Applause.)  Al Qaeda -- on the ropes.  Bin Laden -- gone.  (Applause.)

All that progress that we’ve made, it shouldn’t make us complacent, but it should give us confidence that if we’re willing to work hard, we can bring about more changes, more things that help ordinary families, so that if you're working hard out there, you can find a job, you can pay a mortgage, send your kids to college, retire with some dignity and some respect. That's what folks are looking for.

The American people, they're not -- they don't have wild expectations.  They understand that government can't solve every problem, and it shouldn’t try.  They recognize that they’ve got to take responsibility for making sure their children are instilled with a love of knowledge and taking school seriously.  They understand that not everybody can be helped if they don't want to be helped.  They're not looking for a handout, but they are looking for a hand up.  They are looking for a shot, an opportunity.  And so we’ve got more work to do on a whole range of fronts.

We’ve got more work to do to make sure that manufacturing and good jobs continue to come back onshore.  Instead of giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, we want to give companies tax breaks that are investing here in the United States of America and creating jobs for our folks back home.  (Applause.)

We’ve got more work to do.  For all the work we’ve done improving our schools -- and we have made historic transformations -- 40 states have initiated, because of our Race to the Top program, major reforms that focus on learning K through 12, improving teacher performance.  We’ve still got more work to do.  There are still schools right here in Los Angeles and all across the country where half the kids are dropping out before they graduate.  One out of 10 are reading at grade level. So we’ve got to make investments, not just investments in money  -- although it does involve money -- but also investments in reform, to make sure that there is not a child in America who is not equipped when they graduate to compete in this global economy.

And it also means making sure that they can afford to go to college -- and if they're not going to a four-year college or university, they can go to a two-year college or university -- but get the skills that they need.  And there are programs out there that work.  We know they work.  The question is if we can scale them up to make sure that everybody has access to them.

We’ve got to implement health care reform.  We’ve got to implement Wall Street reform to make sure we don't see another taxpayer-funded bailout.  I don't want to have to go through that again.  (Applause.)

And we’ve got to balance our fiscal situation in a responsible way.  And this is going to be a major debate that comes up next year.  The other side, they're always talking about debt and deficits, which I find interesting since they're always the ones who run up the debt and the deficits, say we don't care about deficits -- until Democrats get into office and suddenly they see religion.  (Laughter.)

But now you’ve got a presidential candidate on the other side and a Republican Congress that says not only do we want to renew the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, we want to double down with $5 trillion more worth of tax cuts.  And when they do try to explain how it would be paid for, when you do the math, what it comes down to is they would eliminate investments in science and technology that have made us an economic superpower; investments in our infrastructure that allow us to move goods and services and people around the world and make us competitive.  They want to eliminate investments in education at the precise time when we've got to be investing in our young people's education. 

If you implemented their budget, you could not afford anything outside of defense, Social Security, interest on the national debt and Medicare.  Everything else would be fundamentally wiped out.  Now, we think deficits and debt are important.  But we think that the way to do it is, yes, eliminate programs that don't work, reform our health system not by shifting cost to seniors, but by reducing costs and improving quality of care, but also, let's ask those of us who can do a little bit more to do a little bit more. 

For us to go back to the tax rates under Bill Clinton for folks who are millionaires or billionaires, that's not asking too much.  That's consistent with the idea that everybody does their fair share.  (Applause.)  That is something that has made this country great and is something that we still believe.

So there are a lot of reasons why this election is important.  There are probably going to be some additional Supreme Court appointments.  We've got the other side saying that they'd defund Planned Parenthood.  I believe that women's health should be in the control of women.  (Applause.)  I think a program like Medicaid, we can't just slash it in ways that make children and the disabled and our seniors more vulnerable.  I'm not going to allow them to roll back progress that we've made on health care.  We're going to have to make sure that we keep the gains that we've made on things like student loans. 

So there are all kinds of reasons why this election is important.  But I want to tell you, this election is also going to be close, though.  And the reason it's going to be close is not because the other side has good ideas.  They don't.  (Laughter.)  It's not because they've got new ideas, because as Bill Clinton said the other day, this is the just the same old thing they've been peddling for the last 20 years -- it's just on steroids.  (Laughter.)

The reason it's going to be close is because there are still folks out there who are hurting.  There are still folks out there who are having a tough time.  And that means that as frustrated as they are, if they're receiving $500 million worth of negative ads from these super PACs, then people start wondering, well, maybe nothing can work in Washington.  Maybe that "change we can believe in," maybe it couldn't happen. 

The other side is not going to provide new ideas, but they will try to tap into people's frustrations about a very difficult period in our history.  And so we're going to have to work through the cynicism and the negativity and the just plain nonsense that we've become accustomed to during political campaigns.  It will just be funded at a higher level than we've ever seen before. 

Here is the thing that makes me confident, though -- what you taught me in 2008 was that when folks get together, when citizens get together, when ordinary people get together, and decide it's time for change to happen, you know what, change happens.  Change happens when you make a commitment and you're talking to your friends and your neighbors, and suddenly young people are getting engaged and involved again in the life of this country -- and people are knocking on doors and making phone calls, and talking about the issues and getting informed.  When that happens, it can't be stopped.  It doesn't matter how much money the other side spends.  It doesn’t matter how much misinformation is out there -- the truth shall out. 

And I expect that's going to happen this time.  I understand some people -- when they take pictures with me, they show me -- pictures that we took four years ago together, they want me to sign them.  And it's generally just a reminder of how old I'm getting.  (Laughter.)  I'm all gray and dinged up -- (laughter)
-- bruised and battered.  But I want everybody here to know that I am more determined now than I have ever been.  (Applause.)  I have more confidence in the American people than ever before.  (Applause.)  Because when I travel around the country -- when I travel around the country and I meet a single mom who has raised some wonderful child who has now gone to college and she never got more than a high school education, and she is seeing him graduate, and she tells us, that's what all that work was for; or I meet a small business owner who didn't lay off his workers even during really tough times and didn't take a salary himself because he understood a lot of families were being supported at that time; when I meet our troops who just serve us with such professionalism and dignity and patriotism, and never complain -- all across the country you travel and you're just reminded how decent the American people are, how good they are, how right their instincts are. 

I still believe in the American people.  And so I hope you still believe in me.  (Applause.)  I told you when I was running in 2008, I'm not a perfect man and I am not a perfect President. But I told you, I'd always tell you what I thought, I'd always tell you where I stood, and I'd always every day wake up working as hard as I knew how to make your lives a little bit better.  And you know what, I have kept that promise.  (Applause.)  I have kept that promise. 

And so if you're willing to stick with me on this, and knock on some more doors and make some more phone calls, and work even harder this time than you did the last time, then we won't just win an election, but we will finish what we started.  (Applause.) Everybody will have a shot in this country.  And we'll remind the world just why it is that the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth. 

Thank you, everybody.  God bless you.  God bless America.  (Applause.)

END
10:43 A.M. PDT