Campaign Event Remarks by the Vice President on Seniors

Wynmoor Village
Coconut Creek, Florida

12:51 P.M. EDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Howard, thank you very much and my colleagues, Ted and Debbie.  And I understand State Senator Jeremy Ring is here, and I understand that State Representative Jim Waldman is here.  (Applause.)  It’s kind of a busman’s holiday for you all, but thank you very much for being here.

Folks, this is the second of four speeches that I’ll be making this spring on what’s at stake from our perspective, what’s at stake for the middle class in this election.  The issue I’m going to focus on today with your permission is retirement security.  But I have to tell you, I come at this issue of retirement security from a slightly different angle, a slightly different perspective than it’s usually talked about.

My dad used to have an expression.  He’d say, Joe -- when someone would say, this is what I value and my dad would look at him and say, don’t tell me what you value.  Show me your budget and I will tell you what you value.  Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget and I will tell you what you really value.

Like many of you here, I had the privilege of having my mom and dad live with me in their -- my dad’s final months and my mom’s final years.  Neither my siblings nor I -- just like when you had your parents and were helping them, neither my siblings nor I could separate the security of my mom and dad from our own well being.  Neither my siblings nor I could separate the needs of our parents from the needs of our children.  This is all family.  This is all about -- it’s not just seniors or just the young.  We talk about it like it’s an either/or proposition.  This is about who we are as a people.  This is about what we value.

That’s how our parents lived their lives and how we lived ours.  I was raised in my mom and dad’s house.  And I can say, with the single exception of a two-year period through my entire youth, there was never a time in our three-bedroom home one of my parents’ relatives did not live with us, like many of you as you grew up, because there was no alternative.  And I think that’s what’s really missing in this debate today, how connected -- the connective tissue here, the notion that we’re all in this together, every generation -- every generation.
 
There is no question that the baby boom generation, which I was at the front end of, puts incredible pressure on Medicare and Social Security.  The number of seniors will be doubling by the year 2040.  So the question is are we going to strengthen and sustain these programs of Medicare and [Medicaid] now and for the future or are we going to use these challenges -- it’s a real challenge, are we going to use these challenges as a pretense to do what so many have been trying to do from the beginning, dismantle both of these programs?

I said to the overflow room, which were kind enough to come -- and I went to see them before I came to see you.  At the end of the day -- we’re all old enough, we’ve been around enough to know that it’s not just what you hear, it’s not just what you see, but what you feel, what you taste, what your heart tells you -- what your heart tells you about whether or not someone speaking to you means what they say.  The one good aspect of growing older is that mechanism in this gets more acute.  We understand better.

The President and I believe that every American, after a lifetime of hard work, should be able to look forward to the security and dignity that Social Security and Medicare provide.  (Applause.)  And you know, folks, it’s about dignity.  It’s not just about health.  It’s about dignity.  It’s about our dignity.

If we had any doubt about the clarity of the choice, just how high the stakes are with regard to both these programs, we got a reminder a couple of days ago from a good man -- he is a decent, smart guy, a guy named Congressman Ryan, a Republican in the House of Representatives.  No, no -- I disagree fundamentally with him.  But this is not a -- this is a smart, decent guy.  But they have a totally different view than the President and I have.

He is the Republican leader on what the budget should look like.  This week, Congressman Ryan reintroduced what was called the Republican budget, embraced by every Republican candidate for President and passed overwhelmingly by the Republicans in the Congress.  They voted for it.  He and they made a clear choice.  The choice they made was in order to save “the programs,” they lowered the standard of living for those on Medicare rather than asking the wealthiest among us to help deal with the problem.

You may remember the first Ryan budget -- nothing subtle about it, nothing subtle about it.  It dismantled Medicare, within 10 years it was a voucher system.  It dismantled the system and meant that the average senior would be paying another $6,000 a year out of pocket for the Medicare benefits they now receive.  And the reaction of the nation wasn’t very subtle either.

So after an overwhelming rejection of the last year Ryan Republican budget plan, they went to work to draw up a new one.  But if you take a look at it, they really didn’t change anything they’re trying to do.  And so, if you don’t change much on the substance, well, what changed?  What’s the difference between these two budgets that have been introduced?  Well, it’s the way they talk about it, literally the way they talk about.

And don’t take my word for this.  All of you are adept with computers.  Go online to an outfit called politico.com -- an extremely well respected publication that all the major papers look to.  Go on politico.com and read an article that’s in yesterdays or the day before -- it says how Paul Ryan sold his budget plan.  He sold it to all of his Republican colleagues by telling them there’s a new way to talk about what they’re going to do without getting hurt politically.
 
He told them, he told his colleagues, that they could win this debate this time with essentially the same plan if you use “the right poll-tested words.”  If you use “the right poll” -- now, again, don’t take my word for it.  Go look at the article.  He said, if you use words like bipartisan, if you use phrases like fix Medicare, if you use phrases like choice, the American people will not punish you for being for this plan.  The American people, though, especially us -- where we are in our lives -- we’re not about to be fooled.

I have more faith in the American people than I think our Republican colleagues do of being able to cut the wheat from the chaff here and see what’s going on.  (Applause.)
 
Look, folks, the vast majority of the American people -- whether they’re Democrats, Republicans, or independents -- know there is a fundamental difference between us and the Republicans on this issue.  We believe in strengthening Medicare, they don’t.  Make no mistake about it, if the Republicans in Congress -- and their amen corner of Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich -- if any one of them gets their hands on the White House, the keys of the White House, I promise you will see Medicare ended as you know it.
 
And it’s not just about what they want to do to Medicare.  It’s about the other benefits for seniors that they want to undo.  We passed a law that has been referenced already to close the donut hole -- a significant portion closed already, but it will be totally closed when this law comes fully into effect in 2014, saving the average senior with high drug costs $600 just this last year alone.  And that will increase.  They want to repeal it.  They simply say they want to repeal it.

We passed a law that provides for preventative services -- Debbie talked about it.  I can remember sitting there -- and thank God my mother had at least one -- two financially successful children, not me.  (Laughter.)  Well, when my mom lived with me, my mom -- we’d go up and get my mom’s prescriptions.  And we had to literally lie to mom and tell her, no, all her savings covered everything, because my mom, my mom, she did not want her children having to make sacrifices.  But we all chipped in about $6,000 a month all told among us for not only that, but at the very end when my mom needed some care.  My mom needed somebody there just to help her with her lunch when she wasn’t -- as it got toward the end.

But my mom, it was all about her pride.  Joey, show me my checkbook.  Show me my checkbook.  And my brother would quickly run and deposit more money in my mom’s checkbook -- (laughter) -- because she had dignity that she wanted to preserve.  (Applause.)  This is about what these guys don’t get.  It’s more than whether or not my mother and father got the care they needed.  It was how they got the care they needed.  (Applause.)

I built a new house.  When my kids went off to school, we sold the big house we had and we built another house.  And on the ground floor, we put in -- it was sort of on a hill, I built a whole suite for my mom and dad.  They would not move in.  Joey, my whole life I had someone living with me, which is a great asset for her kids -- my whole life, but I’m not going to do that to my kids.  You all know the deal.  You know it.  You feel it.  You taste it.  Every one of you feels that way.

And what do they want to do?  They want to go in and the ability of my mom just to say, I don’t feel well, I’m going to get a checkup, she knew it would cost 20 percent she would have to pay to get that checkup, for the cost of the checkup.  And she didn’t want to ask her kids.  Obviously, if we knew, we’d work out something with the doctor beforehand.  But she didn’t want to ask her kids.

How many times do any one of you feel that pain and you’re not sure what it means?  How many of you wonder whether or not that thing that just happened to you, is it a harbinger of something more serious?  You just want to go ask the doc.
 
Folks, these guys want to repeal all that and, in the process, I would argue they’ll be repealing that sense of dignity, which is an incredible part of what this is all about.  They want to repeal all.  They want to repeal all of the things that I’ve mentioned.  The end result is you’re going to have to pay at least $600 more a year for your drugs, 20 more percent for your visits to the doctor.  You’re going to see traditional Medicare change as you know it.

Look, we’d be so much better off as a country if we spent a lot less time and energy fighting off these efforts to dismantle Medicare, and I mean dismantle it.  If we just spent a little more time -- a little more time together, Democrats who are working to figure out how to preserve and strengthen Medicare.  We can make Medicare solvent again.  We don’t have to gut it to make it last.
 
Look, in our health care law we’ve already extended the life of Medicare and its solvency to the year 2024 just by one thing.  We’ve uncovered or recovered over $10.7 billion just since we’ve been in -- in waste, fraud, and abuse that we put back into the system.  If our Republican colleagues would join us, we could reduce the cost of Medicare by $100 billion just by doing one thing, saying drug companies cannot charge Medicare any more than they charge for any other federal program.  (Applause.)  Saying they can’t charge our elderly any more than they charge our veterans -- that’s $100 billion.

We could save another $20 billion by asking the very wealthy of us, those who could easily afford health care if they have retirement incomes that are significant to pay a little more.  That would add another $20 billion.  Look, there’s a lot more we can do to save this program, but it requires someone on the other side who wants to preserve the system, really cares about preserving it and not gutting it.
 
Look, we’re prepared to sit down -- the President and I -- and already have; it was blown up -- sit down and work with our Republican colleagues.  You may remember all this talk about the Biden budget talks with the Republicans.  We talked about all these things, but not one single thing was able to get done.  But if you don’t start from the premise that this program, Medicare, must be preserved in its current form.

Look, folks, Social Security is in better shape.  But here again, Republicans have come up with an approach on Social Security that they say “saves Social Security for the next 75 years.”  And they do it by cutting the benefits -- some salvation.

A plan like the one that Governor Romney has introduced would cut Social Security benefits for your kids and your grandkids -- it would cut by $2,400 a year the typical worker in their 40s would get by the time they get it, and it would cut by $4,700 a year the Social Security coverage anyone working in their 20s would get by the time they retire.
 
And here’s the thing -- here’s another thing, nobody has really noticed.  Governor Romney and the rest have supported also a thing that the Republican leaders call “cut, cap, and balance.”  They call it “cut, cap, and balance.”  Now, that’s another one of those new Republican Party plans which would --probably are the right tested words.  Who can be against cut, cap, and balance?  Except nobody knows what it really means.  Nobody knows exactly what they intend, because like so many of the most damaging things, it looks and sounds innocuous.
 
So let me cut through -- no pun intended -- and tell you what it means in plain English.  The cut are significant cuts in Social Security benefits.  They’ll tell you, don’t worry, you won’t be cut -- you won’t be cut, as if all you care about is yourself.  See, the thing that I get angry about -- they look at people like you and me, and they think all we care about -- after all you’ve done for the nation is that all we care about is ourselves after a lifetime -- a lifetime -- of you not only caring for yourselves, but caring for all those people you love, caring for your community.  (Applause.) 

And they turn around and say, no, no -- as long as we tell you, you won’t be cut, you won’t mind if your children, you won’t mind if your grandchildren, you won’t mind if your younger neighbors and friends end up having to pay.
 
They don’t understand us.  Look, the cap they talk about is the cap on what we ask of the wealthiest Americans, the top percentage of Americans and what they pay to make this country work.
 
And the balance they talk about is they balance the budgets on the backs of seniors and middle-class Americans.  Why?  So that they can preserve -- this is not your father’s Republican Party, guys, so that they can preserve a trillion dollar tax cut, a new trillion dollar tax cut for the wealthiest Americans.  And that’s not hyperbole, folks.  That is not hyperbole.  That’s what this is about.

Governor Romney supports cut, cap, and balance, which is yet another demonstration that there is no daylight between Governor Romney and the Republican leaders on the most important issues facing this country.  And not even Romney’s Etch A Sketch can change that.  (Laughter and applause.)  You’re not going to be able to do that.  I mean, he may buy a new one but he can’t do it.
 
Folks, we can resolve the challenges Social Security faces and we can do it in good faith.  We did it before.  I was there.  In 1983, it looked like Social Security was going to run out of money.  Remember?  It was coming to an end.  In 1983, I sat down in a room as one of the junior guys with leaders like Republican Bob Dole, Bill Roth, Chairman of the Finance Committee, President Ronald Reagan, Democrats like Pat Moynihan and Tip O’Neill.  And we shook hands.  We shook hands.  Everybody gave something.  And we preserved the system through 2028.  Together we solved it for generations at that time.

Look, folks, you know in your gut -- you know in your gut what I know, it’s about willing -- being willing to put politics aside just for a moment, just put it aside for a moment to preserve the single most, significant and consequential government initiative in American history, Social Security.

Look, some of you remember, I remember -- these two guys won’t remember.  (Laughter.)  But some of you and I remember, we don't remember a day when we didn't have Social Security, but we remember a day when our grandparents didn't have Medicare.  And remember what it meant?  Remember what it meant?  We remember.

Look, what we need today is just a temporary, like they say in grade school, a timeout, just a timeout.  And so, okay, what are we going to do to deal with preserving both these programs?  And that's what’s missing this time, folks.  It was there in 1981 and ’82 and ’85 and ’89.  Because today’s new Republican Party is fixed on one thing:  additional tax cuts for the very wealthy. 

When we tried to put 400,000 teachers back to work and 18,000 cops back to work because the city budgets are being crunched, we said, okay, we’ll have a .5 of 1 percent tax on every dollar after the first million you make.  That would have paid for the whole thing.  No Republican would vote for that.  Millionaires were calling me saying they were for it.  I come from the wealthy state of Delaware.  The people up there, the people who have the money knew they should be paying just a little more to preserve that.

Folks, these guys won’t budge a single inch on a trillion dollar problem.  Look, we know we have to bring our budget back into balance.  It was a Democratic President who last balanced the budget, I’ll remind you all of.  (Applause.)

And, folks, the day that President Obama and I were sworn in -- the day we were sworn in, that magnificent day on January 20th, looking out a million people on the mall, watching, we were handed that day a gigantic deficit and an economy that was in free fall, and we moved ahead.  We moved ahead to get the economy moving again, but we also moved ahead to begin to cut the deficit.

Last year with the help of my two colleagues, we cut spending by $1 trillion.  We also made a deal -- we also made a deal with our Republican friends to cut it by another $1.2 trillion and set up that super committee, remember?  What did they come up with?  Nothing.

And we were on our way, on the cusp of negotiating -- I was doing most of the negotiation for an agreement that would have cut the overall deficit by $4 trillion.  But the Republicans, they walked away from it.  Why?  Because they wanted to maintain every major tax cut for the very wealthiest and have them move in perpetuity.

Look, they wanted an additional trillion dollars in tax cuts.  And I want to explain to you -- when you say that, it’s like, a trillion, that doesn't -- I mean a trillion, I can't even -- you can't even calculate that. 

Let me put it this way, of that trillion dollars, $813 million of that trillion dollar tax cut will go to households making over $1 million a year.  Three hundred and fifty -- 315,000 of the wealthiest families in America, average income $3.1 million a year, would get a $100,000 tax break per year for the next 10 years through that.

Look, we’re not asking anybody very wealthy to change their standard of living.  We’re not -- no serious.  We’re not asking them to do anything they can't do now.  On $3.1 million, you don't need another $100,000 to maintain your home, to drive the vehicle you drive, to vacation where you want to vacation.  But when we ask you to take a 20 percent cut or a 30 percent cut in your Medicare or your Social Security or your children, that changes the standard of living.

Ladies and gentlemen, we don't think it’s fair, and we don't think it’s right.  And more importantly, we don't think it’s in the interest of the economic growth of this country.  Folks, it’s simple math, either preserve Medicare and fix Social Security and draw down the deficit, or you spend another trillion dollars on tax cuts for the wealthiest.  You can't do both of these things.  You can't do both, and we refuse -- we refuse to shift the burden and responsibility of putting America’s fiscal house in order on the backs of those who will have to change their standard of living, who have played by the rules, who have worked hard all their life and have earned the retirement benefits they're getting.  (Applause.)

Ladies and gentlemen, like so many of you I came from a family where Medicare and Social Security made the difference in the lives of the people I love the most.  I’m not sure, as I said, that these guys remember what it was like when folks didn't have Medicare.  But I can remember -- a lot of you can remember it, as I said, and it wasn’t an era -- it’s not an era that we want to go back to again.  Without Social Security, nearly half of American seniors, 17 million men and women would be struggling in poverty, just that -- just that alone.

Before Medicare, nearly half of all Americans, age 65, lacked health care, one-half of all Americans lacked health care.  These programs have afforded the elderly a sense -- and I don't like the world elderly anymore, man.  (Laughter.)  I’m not big on that word, are you?  I don't like that elderly.

I mean for years I used to rip up the AARP bulletins I got.  (Laughter.)  But I’m not ripping up my Social Security checks, you know what I mean?  (Laughter.)  But I don't like elderly -- those of us who are more mature.  Those of us who are more mature.  (Applause.)

But I tell you what, it’s about -- it’s about our independence.  It’s about the dignity everybody craves.  They argue that cutting now is the only way to save programs for the next generation -- I read an article in the paper today here about that.  That's not how I see it.  Retirement is multigenerational.  It’s a matter -- it matters to your children if you have a decent retirement.  Every one of you -- it matters to your children.  Because if you don't, your children feel obliged to step up.  Caring for a parent is a privilege and one that any honorable child will try to undertake.  But for some families it would come at an incredibly high cost because they're struggling so badly themselves. 

The cost for my family was de minimis because of the circumstance my mom’s four children were in.  But there’s a lot of families you know that can't get their kid to college, they're having trouble paying the mortgage, they're out of a job, and the added burden of looking at mom and dad and knowing they don't have the health care they need or having to make these choices that you talked about when you go into the drugstore.  That's something that is multigenerational.

When families are stretched thin, it forces very hard choices.  And I say families -- not when we are stretched thin, when our children as well are stretched thin.  So, folks, this is about more than the monthly payment or access to health care, it’s about who we are.

The last thing my mother and father wanted to do was be a burden to me, my brothers or my sister or to our children.  Social Security and Medicare helped them live independently right to the very end, preserve their dignity, and most importantly from my dad’s perspective, his pride.

So when these guys in the name of saving the next generation choose to cut Social Security and voucherize Medicare rather than asking for shared responsibility from all, they're not saving the next generation, they're thrusting an incredible burden on the next generation.  And they're thrusting it on them right now.  (Applause.)

They're making it even harder for the middle class at a time when we know if we were -- if we want our economy to be strong, the middle class has to be strong.  They're tearing the bonds that connect us, generation to generation at the very moment we should be strengthening those bonds.

Ladies and gentlemen, this year you’re going to make some choices about what you want -- who you want to lead this country and who will speak up for you and speak in the way you want on this and many other issues. 

On this issue, I ask you to do one thing, as I said in the beginning, when you look at Barack and me, when you look at our opponents, take our measure.  I used to say when I ran as a kid, look me over.   If you like what you see, vote for me.  If not, vote for the other guy.  (Laughter.)  But look us over, and look into your heart.  Look into your heart, and ask yourself the question after all the speeches are done:  Who do you believe?  Who do you believe is genuinely committed to preserving the dignity of people in terms of their health care and their basic, basic ability to live?

Thank you all, very, very much.  (Applause.)   I love you.  Thanks for having me.

END
1:21 P.M. EDT

Remarks by the President on the Nomination of Dr. Jim Kim for World Bank President

The Rose Garden

10:09 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody. 

In February, Bob Zoellick, the current President of the World Bank, announced that he would be stepping down at the end of his term in June.  Bob has been a strong and effective leader at the bank for the last five years, and when he told me about his plans, I immediately began to search for someone to fill his shoes.

Now, despite its name, the World Bank is more than just a bank.  It’s one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce poverty and raise standards of living in some of the poorest countries on the planet.  And in a world that is growing smaller and more connected every day, that’s a critical mission -– not just for those who are struggling, but for all of us.

When we reduce hunger in the world, or help a farmer recover from a flood or a drought, it strengthens the entire world economy.  When we put an end to a preventable disease, all of us are safer because of it.  When an entrepreneur can start a new business, it creates jobs in their country, but also opens up new markets for our country.  And ultimately, when a nation goes from poverty to prosperity, it makes the world stronger and more secure for everybody.

That’s why the World Bank is so important.  And that’s why the leader of the World Bank should have a deep understanding of both the role that development plays in the world, and the importance of creating conditions where assistance is no longer needed.

I believe that nobody is more qualified to carry out that mission than Dr. Jim Kim.  It’s time for a development professional to lead the world’s largest development agency.  And that’s why today, after a careful and thorough search, I am nominating Dr. Jim Kim to be the next president of the World Bank.

Jim has spent more than two decades working to improve conditions in developing countries around the world.  As a physician and an anthropologist, he co-founded Partners in Health, and led a World Health Organization campaign to treat 3 million patients with HIV/AIDS.  I have made HIV/AIDS and the fight against that dreaded disease and the promotion of public health a cornerstone of my development agenda, building on some of the outstanding work that was done by President Bush.

We pursue these efforts around the globe because it’s the right thing to do, and also because healthy populations enable growth and prosperity.  And I'm pleased that Jim brings this particular experience with him to his new job.

Jim was also the chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.  He has earned a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship.  And for the last three years, he has served as the president of Dartmouth College. 

I should also mention that, after immigrating to this country from Korea at age five, Jim went on to become the president of his high school class, the quarterback of the football team, the point guard of the basketball team.  I just found out he is a five handicap in golf.  I’m a little resentful about that last item.  (Laughter.)  But he does it all. 

Jim has truly global experience.  He’s worked from Asia to Africa to the Americas -- from capitals to small villages.  His personal story exemplifies the great diversity of our country and the fact that anyone can make it as far as he has as long as they're willing to work hard and look out for others.  And his experience makes him ideally suited to forge partnerships all around the world.

So I could not be more pleased to nominate Jim for this job, and I think I can speak for Secretary Clinton and Secretary Geithner when I say that we are looking forward to working with him. 

And I also want to take a minute to thank Bob Zoellick once again for all his hard work.  Over the last five years, Bob has made the bank more transparent, he has helped shore up progress made in places like Afghanistan.  He’s raised billions of dollars to help some of the world’s poorest communities. 

Jim is the right person to carry on that legacy, and I know his unique set of skills and years of experience will serve him well.  So I’m grateful to Jim for his willingness to serve.  I do not think that the World Bank could have a better leader.  So, thank you.

DR. KIM:  Mr. President, thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

DR. KIM:  Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT:  You’re going to do great.  Thank you.  All right?

Q    Mr. President, may I ask you about this current case in Florida, very controversial, allegations of lingering racism within our society -- the so-called do not -- I'm sorry -- Stand Your Ground law and the justice in that?  Can you comment on the Trayvon Martin case, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’m the head of the executive branch, and the Attorney General reports to me so I’ve got to be careful about my statements to make sure that we’re not impairing any investigation that’s taking place right now.

But obviously, this is a tragedy.  I can only imagine what these parents are going through.  And when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids.  And I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this, and that everybody pulls together -- federal, state and local -- to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened.

So I'm glad that not only is the Justice Department looking into it, I understand now that the governor of the state of Florida has formed a task force to investigate what's taking place.  I think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen.  And that means that examine the laws and the context for what happened, as well as the specifics of the incident.

But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin.  If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.  And I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves, and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. 

Thank you.

END
10:15 A.M. EDT

Remarks by the President on American-Made Energy

The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

4:27 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Buckeyes!  (Applause.)  Yes.  It is good to be back at The Ohio State University.  (Applause.)  I want to thank --

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  I love you!

THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back.  (Applause.)  I am thrilled to be here.  I want to thank a couple of people.  First of all, the outstanding Mayor of Columbus, Michael Coleman, is here.  (Applause.)  I want to thank OSU Provost Joe Alutto.  (Applause.)

And I just got this extraordinary tour from Giorgio Rizzoni, who's the director of the Center for Automotive Research.  So give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

Now, let's face it, a presidential visit isn’t even close to being the biggest thing this weekend on campus.  (Laughter.)  And despite what Vijay said, I did have the Buckeyes heading to the Final Four.  (Applause.)  I'm just saying.  I think Selinger is going to have a big game tonight.  (Applause.)  And I promise you I didn’t do it because I knew I was coming here -- because I am cold-blooded when it comes to filling out my brackets.  (Laughter.)  So I genuinely think you guys are looking good. 

And by the way, I just read somewhere that one in every four teams in the Sweet 16 is from Ohio.  (Applause.)  You've got Ohio State, Ohio University, Xavier -- (applause) -- Xavier is in -- Cincinnati.

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  I'm not going to get in the middle of this. (Laughter.)  I do want to just say no state has ever done this before.  So it's a testimony to Ohio basketball.  (Applause.)

And I want to thank Vijay for the outstanding introduction  -- very much appreciate that. 

Now, this is our last stop on a trip where we’ve been talking about an all-of-the-above energy strategy for America -- a strategy where we produce more oil, produce more gas, but also produce more American biofuels and more fuel-efficient cars, more solar power, more wind power, more power from the oceans, more clean and renewable energy.  (Applause.)  More clean and renewable energy.

You know what I’m talking about here, because this school is a national leader in developing new sources of energy and advanced vehicles that use a lot less energy. 

I just had a chance to take a tour of the Center for Automotive Research.  Now, I admit the best part of it was seeing the Buckeye Bullet, which has gone over 300 miles an hour and is now shooting for 400 miles an hour.  (Applause.)  And I asked the guys who were helping to design this whether mom was going to let them actually test-drive this thing, and the answer was no.  (Laughter.)  Only professional drivers are permitted.

But for anybody who’s not familiar with this, the Buckeye Bullet is the fastest electric car in the world.  (Applause.)  The fastest in the world.  I don't know who’s going to need to go that fast.  (Laughter.)  But it is a testament to the ingenuity here at Ohio State and what is essential to American leadership when it comes to energy -- our brain power.

I will say, though, when Malia gets her license in a few years, she will not be allowed to go 300 miles an hour.  (Laughter.)

Now, one of the reasons that I’ve been talking so much about fuel-efficient cars and new sources of energy is obviously because we’re seeing another spike in gas prices right now.  And that’s tough on folks.  I remember when I was a student, filling up was always tough.  And gas prices are putting pressure not just on students but on a lot of families all across Ohio, all across the country.  Whether you’re trying to get to school, go to work, go grocery shopping, dropping off your kids, you’ve got to be able to fill up that gas tank.  Right now, for most people you don't have a choice. 

So when prices spike, that tax hike feels like a -- or that gas spike feels like a tax hike coming right out of your pocket. That’s part of the reason that we passed a payroll tax cut at the beginning of this year –- so that the average American would get an extra $40 in every paycheck to help offset the price of gas.  (Applause.)  So that’s going to offer some relief. 

But the bigger question is how do we make sure that these spikes in gas prices don’t keep on happening -- because we’ve seen this movie before.  This happens just about every year.  This happened this time last year.  Gas prices were even higher in the spring and summer of 2008.  It has been going on for years, for decades. 

And every time prices start to go up -- especially during an election year -- politicians, they start dusting off their 3-point plan for $2.00 gas.  (Laughter.)  Although this year, they decided it was going to be $2.50.  (Laughter.)  This year they decided it was going to be $2.50.  Now, I don't know where they pick that number, $2.50.  Because it could have been $2.40, I guess.  They could have said $2.10.  They could have said 50 cents a gallon.  But they all make the same promise.  They head down to the gas station and they make sure a few cameras are following them, and then they tell you how we’re going to have cheap gas forever if you just vote for them.  And it has been the same script for 30 years -- the same thing.  It has been like a bad rerun.  

And when you ask them, what specifically is your -- (audience interruption.)

Sir, I’m here to speak to these folks.  You can hold your own rally.  (Applause.)  You’re being rude.  Sir, we're trying to talk to these people.  (Applause.)  I’ll be happy to read your book -- if you want to give me your book, I’ll be happy to read it.  But don’t interrupt my conversation with these folks, all right?  (Applause.)  Show me some courtesy.  (Applause.)  Show me some courtesy.  I’ll be happy to take your book.  But don’t interrupt everybody else.  All right?  Okay.

Now, where was I?  (Laughter.)  Go ahead and get that book from him, guys.  He wants to give me a book.  Please feel free to grab it.  You’re touting this book -- make sure that you’ve given it to us. 

All right, now that we’ve gotten that settled.  (Laughter.) Now, the question is, why is it that every year we hear the same story about how we’re going to have $2 gas, or $1.50 gas, or whatever price they come up with, if we would just drill for more oil?  That’s the solution that you always here.  Prices will immediately come down and all our problems will go away -- like magic. 

There are two problems with that.  First of all, we have been drilling.  We’re drilling right now.  Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years -- at any time.  (Applause.)  That's a fact.  Over the last three years, we’ve opened millions of acres of land in 23 different states for oil and gas exploration. That’s a fact.  (Applause.)  Offshore, I’ve directed my administration to open up more than 75 percent of potential oil resources.  We’ve quadrupled the number of operating oil rigs to a record high. 

I just visited New Mexico.  Their big problem is they don’t have enough truck drivers to transport all the oil that they are producing.  We’ve added enough oil and gas pipeline to circle the entire Earth and then some.  I just visited one of those new pipelines in Oklahoma, and today I directed my administration to make sure that we cut the red tape in terms of reducing some of these bottlenecks.

So the problem is not that we're not drilling, or that we're not producing more oil.  We are producing more oil than any time in the last eight years.  That’s not the problem.  There are probably a few spots where we're not drilling, it's true.  I'm not drilling in the South Lawn.  (Laughter.)  We're not drilling next to the Washington Monument.  We’re not drilling in Ohio Stadium.  

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  So there are some spots out there that we are not drilling.  But we're doing so in a way that protects the health and safety of the American people, and protects America's incredible bounty that God gave us -- our resources.  (Applause.)

So that’s point number one.  But the second issue, which, because we got a lot of young people, you guys understand, is that a strategy that relies only on drilling defies the fact that America uses 20 percent of the world's oil, but we only have 2 percent of the world's known oil reserves.  So we use 20 percent; we have 2 percent.  Who's a math major here?  (Laughter.)  All right.  If I'm not mistaken, that leaves us about 18 percent short.  (Laughter.) 

We can't simply drill our way out of the problem.  Even if we drilled every square inch of this country right now, we're going to be relying on other countries for oil.  (Applause.)  Does anybody here think that's a good strategy?

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  Of course, it isn't.  We shouldn't have to pay more at the pump every time there's instability in the Middle East, which is the main reason gas prices are going up right now. (Applause.)  We should not be held hostage to events on the other side of the world.  This is America.  We control our own destiny. We forge our own future.  And I will not accept an energy strategy that traps us in the past.  (Applause.)  We're not going to do it.

So as long as I'm President, America is going to be pursuing an all-of-the-above energy strategy.  Yes, we'll develop as much oil and gas as we can, in a safe way, but we're also going to develop wind power, and solar power, and advanced biofuels.  (Applause.)  We can build the next-generation nuclear reactors that are smaller and safer and cleaner and cheaper, but we've got to also look at renewable energy as the key to our future.  And we've got to build cars and trucks that get more miles to the gallon.  (Applause.)  We've got to build homes and businesses that waste less energy, and put consumers in control of their energy bills.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)  (Laughter.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  And we'll do it by harnessing the same type of American ingenuity and imagination that's on display right here at Ohio State.  (Applause.)  Right here at Ohio State. 

So already we've made progress.  After decades of inaction, we raised fuel-economy standards, so that by the middle of the next decade, our cars will average nearly 55 miles per gallon, almost double what we get today.  (Applause.)  That means you'll be able to fill up your car every two weeks instead of every week.  (Applause.)  You like that? 

AUDIENCE:  Yes!

THE PRESIDENT:  That will save the average family about $8,000 at the pump over the life of a car, which is real money.  To use even less oil, we're going to have to keep investing in clean, renewable, homegrown biofuels.  And already we're using these biofuels to power everything from city buses to UPS trucks, even to Navy ships.  And the more we rely on these homegrown fuels, the less oil we buy from other countries and the more jobs we create right here in America.  (Applause.)

We also need to keep investing in clean energy like wind power and solar power.  I just visited the biggest American solar plant of its kind, in Boulder City, Nevada.  It's powering thousands of homes.  It put hundreds of local people at work.  There are thousands of companies like that all across America.  And today, thousands of Americans have jobs because of public investments that have nearly doubled the use of clean energy in this country. 

And as long as I’m President, we are going to keep on making those investments.  I am not going to cede the wind and solar and advanced battery industries to countries like China and Germany that are making those investments.  I want those technologies developed and manufactured here in Ohio, here in the Midwest, here in America.  (Applause.)  By American workers.  That's the future we want.

So all these steps, all these steps have put us on a path of greater energy independence.   Here's a statistic I want everybody to remember.  Since I took office, America’s dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year.  (Applause.)  In 2010, our oil dependence was under 50 percent for the first time in 13 years.  (Applause.)  Even as the economy was growing, we’ve made progress in reducing the amount of oil that we have to import because we’re being smarter; we’re doing things better. 

But now we’ve got a choice.  We can keep moving in that direction -- we can keep developing new energy and new technology that uses less oil -- or we can listen to these folks who actually believe that the only thing we can do is drill our way out of this problem.  In fact, they make fun of clean energy.  They call the jobs produced by them "phony" jobs.  They make jokes about them at their rallies. 

Lately, we’ve heard a lot of politicians, a lot of folks who are running for a certain office –- (laughter) -- they shall go unnamed -- (laughter) -- they dismiss wind power.  They dismiss solar power.  They make jokes about biofuels.  I guess they like gas-guzzlers because they’re against raising fuel standards.  Imagine if these guys had been around when Columbus set sail.  They'd be charter members of the Flat Earth Society.  (Laughter and applause.)  They don’t ask what we can do; they explain what we can't do, and why we can't do it. 

And the point is there will always be cynics and naysayers who just want to keep on doing the same things the same way that we’ve always done them. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Then we wouldn’t have a black President, but we do!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, that’s true.  (Applause.) 

They want to double down on the same ideas that got us exactly into this mess that we’ve been in and we've been digging our way out of.  That's not who we are as Americans. 

We've always succeeded because we refused to stand still.  We put faith in the future.  We are inventors.  We are builders.  We're makers of things.  We're Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers and Steve Jobs.  By the way, the Wright Brothers were from Ohio.  (Applause.)  Just want to point that out.  But that’s who we are.  That’s who we need to be right now.  We can't be afraid of the future.  (Applause.)  

The flat Earth crowd, they've got a different view.  They would rather give $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies to oil companies this year than to invest in clean energy.  Four billion dollars to an industry that’s making record profits because of what you're paying at the gas station.  Does anybody think that they need help, that they don’t have enough incentive to drill for oil?  Does anybody think that’s a wise use of your tax dollars?

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  We have been subsidizing oil companies for a century.  That’s long enough.  (Applause.)  It is time to stop a taxpayer giveaway to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and start making investments in a clean energy industry that has never been more promising. 

And when Congress votes on this, you guys should put some pressure on to tell them, do the right thing.  Bet on our future, not on our past.  (Applause.)  Put them on record:  They can either stand with the oil industry, or they can stand with the American people.  They can place their bets on the energy of the past, or place their bets on America's future -- on American workers, American technology, American ingenuity, American-made energy.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Our children.  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  Our children.  (Applause.)  That's the choice we face.  That's what's at stake right now. 

And, Ohio, we know the direction that we've got to go in.  Ending these oil subsidies won't bring gas prices down tomorrow. Even if we drilled every inch of America, that won't bring gas prices down tomorrow.  But if we're tired of watching gas prices spike every single year, if we're tired of being caught in this position, knowing that China and India are growing -- China had 10 million cars purchased in 2010 alone.  You've got a billion people, two billion people out there, who are interested in buying cars -- which means that unless we develop alternatives, oil prices are going to keep on going up.

I don't want folks in the Middle East taking your money out of your pocket because we did not develop the kind of strategies that will sustain our future and our independence.  (Applause.) 
    
So I need all of you guys to make your voices heard.  Get on the phone.  Write and email.  Send a tweet.  Let your members of Congress know where you stand.  Tell them to do the right thing. Tell them that we can win this fight.  Tell them:  Yes, we can.  (Applause.)  We can build an economy that lasts.  We can make this another American Century.  We can remind the entire world just why it is the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth. 

Thank you.  God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

END
4:46 P.M. EDT

Remarks by the President on Energy

Maljamar, New Mexico

6:16 P.M. MDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, New Mexico!  (Applause.)  It's great to be here!  Everybody have a seat.  I know it's a little windy out here, but you guys are used to it.  It is wonderful to be back in New Mexico.

I want to acknowledge a couple of folks who are here -- well, first, mainly I want to thank Concho Resources and the Southwest New Mexico ConocoPhillips team for helping to set this up.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Good job, everybody.  (Applause.) 

It was a wonderful trip over here.  We took the helicopter. We landed in Roswell.  I announced to people when I landed that I had come in peace.  (Laughter.)  Let me tell you, there are more 9- and 10-year-old boys around the country -- when I meet them, they ask me, "Have you been to Roswell, and is it true what they say?"  (Laughter.)  And I tell them, "If I told you I'd have to kill you."  So -- and their eyes get all big.  (Laughter.)  So we're going to keep our secrets here.   

I’m here to talk about what we’re calling an all-of-the-above energy strategy -- a strategy that relies on producing more oil and gas here in America, but also producing more biofuels in America, more fuel-efficient cars in America, more wind power in America, and more solar power in America.  I believe this all-of-the-above approach is the only way we can continue to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and ultimately put an end to some of these gas spikes that we’re going through right now and that obviously hurt a lot of families all across the country.

Now, you wouldn’t know it from listening to some of these folks who are running for office -- I won't mention their names, you know who they are -- but producing more oil here in our own country has been, and will continue to be, a key part of my energy strategy.  Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years.  That’s a fact.  That is a fact.  (Applause.)  We’ve approved dozens of new oil and gas pipelines, and we've announced our support for more -- including one that I'm going to be visiting tomorrow in Oklahoma. 

And we’ve quadrupled the number of operating oil rigs to a record high.  More than 70 of those rigs are right here in this area.  And I had a chance to see them all, I think, as I was flying over here.  (Laughter.)  In fact, business is so good that today the biggest problem is finding enough qualified truck drivers to move all the oil that's coming out of these wells down to the refinery.  Too much oil -- that’s a good problem to have. 
Now, this is public land that’s been leased to the oil companies by the federal government.  And over the last three years, I’ve directed my administration to open up millions of acres just like this for oil and gas exploration in 23 different states.  Let me repeat that -- millions of acres in 23 different states.  That’s just onshore.  Offshore, I’ve directed my administration to open up more than 75 percent of our potential oil resources.  And that includes an area in the Gulf of Mexico that we opened up a few months ago that could produce more than 400 million barrels of oil -- about 38 million acres in the Gulf.

And I want to thank my Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, who is here, because he helped make it happen.  Where did Ken go?  He’s right over here.  (Applause.)

Now, I make this point so that if you hear anybody on TV saying that somehow we’re somehow against drilling for oil then you’ll know that they either don’t know what they’re talking about or they’re not telling you the truth.  We’re drilling all over the place.  That’s one of the reasons we’ve been able to reduce our dependence on foreign oil every year since I took office.  In 2010, it was under 50 percent for the first time in 13 years.  And you have my word that we will keep drilling everywhere we can -- and we’ll do it while protecting the health and safety of the American people.  That’s a commitment that I’m making.  (Applause.) 

Now, there’s no contradiction to say that we’re going to keep on producing American oil and American gas, and also saying drilling can’t be the only part of our energy strategy.  A recent independent analysis showed that over the last 36 years, there has been no connection between the amount of oil that we drill in this country and the price of gasoline.  There’s no connection.  And the reason is that we’ve got a worldwide oil market.  And so even if we produce more, the fact of the matter is we use 20 percent of the world’s oil.  And even if drilled But even if we drilled every square inch of this country, we’d still only have 2 or 3 or 4 percent of the world’s known oil reserves. 

So what ends up happening is the price is impacted not just by us, but by everybody, in the amount of oil that’s used worldwide.  And that means if we don’t develop new sources of energy along with oil and gas, and if we don’t develop technologies to use less energy for the same amount of output, we're always going to depend on other countries for our energy needs. 

If we do nothing, every time there’s instability in the Middle East, we will feel it at the pump even if we're drilling nonstop here in New Mexico and across the country.  If we only drill for our 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, the price of gas will continue to rise.  Part of the reason is because China and India, they're growing.  China added 10 million cars in 2010 -- 10 million cars just in this one country.  And they're just going to keep on going, which means they're going to use more and more oil.  That’s not a future I want for America. 

In this country, we control our own destiny.  We control our own resources.  We control our own economy.  We chart our own course.  I don’t want to be subject to the whim of somebody somewhere else.  And that’s why we need an all-of-the-above energy strategy.  (Applause.) 

So we're going to develop every possible source of American-made energy.  Oil and gas, wind power, solar power, biofuels, fuel-efficient cars and trucks that get more miles to the gallon -- that’s our future.  And the good news is we're already seeing progress.

I just came from Boulder City, Nevada, which is home to the nation’s largest solar plant -– a plant that was built by hundreds of American workers and that’s now powering tens of thousands of homes.  I've been visiting universities and factories where American workers are building cars that get more miles per gallon because after 30 years of not doing anything, we put in place some of the toughest fuel economy standards in our history.  And now, by the middle of the next decade, our cars will average nearly 55 miles per gallon, which is going to save the average family about $8,000 during the life of that car.  I know you can use $8,000.  (Applause.)  Absolutely.  (Laughter.)  I don’t know anybody who can't.  (Applause.) 

We've got to continue down this path.  And that means we've got to make some important choices for our future.  The oil companies that are drilling here in New Mexico and all over the country are making record profits.  And like I said, as long as we drill safely and responsibly, I’m committed to making sure that we open more acres to gas and oil exploration.  I want American oil companies to do well.  I have said, though, it doesn’t make sense for us be providing a $4 billion subsidy when oil and gas are doing plenty well on their own.  Oil companies are making record profits, and that's good.  But we don't need to subsidize them.  Four billion dollars is a lot of money, and we've been subsidizing them for a hundred years.

So my attitude is, let's make sure that we use that money in smarter ways to develop a whole range of new energy sources, since the oil industry is mature and has already taken off.  Instead of investing tax dollars in profitable companies, let's invest in our future.  Let's tell Congress to get their act together, let's allocate these subsidies in a smart kind of way. (Applause.)
 
Because if we're going to end our dependence on foreign oil and bring gas prices down once and for all, we've got to develop every single source of American energy.  We've got to develop new technologies that help use less energy in our cars, our homes, our buildings, our businesses.  That's where we need to go.  That's what's at stake right now.  And with your help, we're going to build that future. 

So we're going to keep on seeing this incredible part of America's legacy, this incredible natural resource that we have, but we're also going to use our ingenuity and our brainpower to develop new sources of energy.  That's going to be the key to our future.  That's how we're going to build an economy that lasts.  And I'm going to need your help, New Mexico, to make it happen.

Thank you very much, everybody.  Appreciate you.  God bless you.  God bless New Mexico and the United States of America.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END
6:26 P.M. MDT