State of the Union Addresses of Barack Obama, 2009-2016Obama, Barack
General
State of the Union Addresses of Barack Obama, 2009-2016
Obama, Barack
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
But there are some areas where--we just have to be honest--it has been
difficult to find agreement over the last 7 years. And a lot of them
fall under the category of what role the Government should play in
making sure the system's not rigged in favor of the wealthiest and
biggest corporations. And it's an honest disagreement, and the American
people have a choice to make.
I believe a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of our economy. I
think there are outdated regulations that need to be changed. There is
redtape that needs to be cut. [Applause] There you go! Yes! See? But
after years now of record corporate profits, working families won't get
more opportunity or bigger paychecks just by letting big banks or big
oil or hedge funds make their own rules at everybody else's expense.
Middle class families are not going to feel more secure because we
allowed attacks on collective bargaining to go unanswered. Food stamp
recipients did not cause the financial crisis; recklessness on Wall
Street did. Immigrants aren't the principal reason wages haven't gone
up; those decisions are made in the boardrooms that all too often put
quarterly earnings over long-term returns. It's sure not the average
family watching tonight that avoids paying taxes through offshore
accounts. [Laughter]
The point is, I believe that in this new economy, workers and startups
and small businesses need more of a voice, not less. The rules should
work for them. And I'm not alone in this. This year, I plan to lift up
the many businesses who have figured out that doing right by their
workers or their customers or their communities ends up being good for
their shareholders. And I want to spread those best practices across
America. That's part of a brighter future.
In fact, it turns, out many of our best corporate citizens are also our
most creative. And this brings me to the second big question we as a
country have to answer: How do we reignite that spirit of innovation to
meet our biggest challenges?
Sixty years ago, when the Russians beat us into space, we didn't deny
Sputnik was up there. [Laughter] We didn't argue about the science or
shrink our research and development budget. We built a space program
almost overnight. And 12 years later, we were walking on the Moon.
Now, that spirit of discovery is in our DNA. America is Thomas Edison
and the Wright Brothers and George Washington Carver. America is Grace
Hopper and Katherine Johnson and Sally Ride. America is every immigrant
and entrepreneur from Boston to Austin to Silicon Valley, racing to
shape a better future. That's who we are.
And over the past 7 years, we've nurtured that spirit. We've protected
an open Internet and taken bold new steps to get more students and low-
income Americans online. We've launched next-generation manufacturing
hubs and online tools that give an entrepreneur everything he or she
needs to start a business in a single day. But we can do so much more.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account