President Obama called out the current Congress for being unwilling
to move forward legislation that would help average Americans. …
We can’t have nice things because repugicans in
Congress refuse to move on things that used to be nonpartisan. And by
nice things, I mean a decent wage, infrastructure, a measure of
equality, and affordable education. Since Democrats historically don’t
vote in midterms, repugicans get to obstruct laws that would help
everyone.
Speaking to a crowd of an estimated 200 supporters
at a sold out DNC event held at the San Francisco W Hotel Friday night,
President Obama called out the current Congress for being unwilling to
move forward legislation that would help average Americans.
The President reminded the audience that their
vision was shared by the majority of Americans, but “we don’t have a
Congress right now that is willing to move to them forward.”
President Obama explained that while “there’s almost
no economic measure by which we’re not doing better than we were six
years ago… People are still worried … because for about 20, 30 years
now, the trend has been that gains in the economy go to folks at the
very top, and ordinary folks — the middle class, people working to get
into the middle class — their income and wages have not gone up.”
The President acknowledged that some of this pain is
from globalization and trends that we can’t control with policy, but
“some of it is that we’re not taking the steps that would grow the
economy even faster and give workers a stronger position to be able to
get wages that are higher, and incomes that are higher, and more
stability and security in their lives.”
Guess why we’re not doing this? It’s not because the
majority of Americans don’t agree. They do. It’s “not because I haven’t
proposed them. It’s not because I haven’t fought for them.”
“It’s because we don’t have a Congress right now that is willing to move to them forward,” the President told the crowd.
Obama laid down some more facts about the minimum
wage, equal pay for women, infrastructure and making education
affordable and accessible. He pointed out that these ideas used to be
nonpartisan, “And all these ideas historically have not been partisan
ideas. And yet, we’ve got a House of Representatives in particular, and
a small faction within the other party, that simply says no to every
single step that could be taken to help working families.”
Someone yelled, “Yes sir!” at this point, clearly feeling impatient with Republican obstruction.
The President challenged the crowd, “(T)he question
now is, what are we going to do about it? I heard, when I mentioned the
other party, I heard a few “boos.”
“And I always say, don’t boo, vote. Vote.”
These specific Democratic policies are supported by
the majority of Americans. Obama said, “The fact is that our vision is
shared by the majority of Americans. The majority of Americans believe
in raising the minimum wage. A majority of Americans believe in
investing in early childhood education. A majority of Americans think
we should rebuild our infrastructure. A majority of Americans think we
should be investing in the research and technology and innovation that’s
always been the hallmark of the American economy. A majority of
Americans believe in equal pay for equal work. So on the issues, the
public is on our side.”
So why can’t we have nice things?
Because Democrats don’t vote in midterms.
“But there’s a congenital problem that we have as
Democrats, and that is, in non-presidential elections, in midterm
elections, we don’t vote. We don’t vote,” The President charged. “So
my main argument today is that it’s nice that you all came here to hear
Maxwell – or look at Maxwell. It’s nice that some of you took a picture
with me. I’m glad to do it. But the main thing that I need right now
is votes.”
The President tasked his supporters, “We’ve got to
mobilize, we’ve got to organize. We’ve got to knock on doors. We’ve
got to make phone calls. If our people vote, if our — if young people
vote, if women vote, if people of color vote, if people who care about
the environment vote, if people who care about LGBT rights vote — that’s
a majority. That’s a majority.”
President Obama is fighting hard for policies to
help the working class of America. But many of his policies are
gathering dust because of the deliberate choice of repugicans to
obstruct everything Obama is for. The problem with this is not that
Obama is a good person who doesn’t deserve this; the problem is that
President Obama’s policies would have helped and could help millions of
Americans. They are suffering because of repugican obstruction.
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