Barack Obama

“ I refuse to pay for another tax cut by kicking children off of Head Start programs; or asking students to pay more for college; or eliminating health insurance for millions of poor and elderly and disabled Americans on Medicaid.
And as long as I’m President of the United States, I will never allow Medicare to be turned into a voucher that would end the program as we know it. We will not go back to the days when our citizens spent their golden years at the mercy of private insurance companies. ”

“ You’ve been working harder than ever. The challenge we face right now, the challenge we faced for over a decade is that harder work hasn’t led to higher incomes. It’s that bigger profits haven’t led to better jobs.
Governor Romney doesn’t seem to get that. He doesn’t seem to understand that maximizing profits by whatever means necessary -- whether through layoffs or outsourcing or tax avoidance or union-busting -- might not always be good for the average American or for the American economy. Why else would he want to spend trillions more on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? ”

“ We will reform Medicare, not by shifting the cost of care to seniors, but by reducing the spending that isn’t making people healthier. That’s what’s at stake in this election. That’s what’s at stake, Ohio.
On issue after issue, we can’t afford to spend the next four years going backward. America doesn’t need to refight the battles we just had over Wall Street reform and health care reform. On health care reform, here is what I know: allowing 2.5-million young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance plan -- that was the right thing to do. ”

“ I’m running to pay down our debt in a way that’s balanced and responsible. After inheriting a trillion-dollar deficit, I signed two-trillion dollars of spending cuts into law. And now I want to finish the job by streamlining government and cutting more waste, and reforming our tax code so that it is simpler and fairer, and asks the wealthiest Americans to pay a little bit more. My opponent won’t tell us how he’d pay for his new, five-trillion-dollar tax cut -- a tax cut that gives an average of $250,000 to every millionaire in this country. ”

“ Look, we want businesses to succeed. We want entrepreneurs and investors rewarded when they take risks, when they create jobs and grow our economy. But the true measure of our prosperity is more than just a running tally of every balance sheet and quarterly profit report. I don’t care how many ways you try to explain it: corporations aren’t people. People are people. ”

“ I want to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs and profits overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in the United States of America. That’s the choice in this election. I’m running so that we can keep moving towards a future where we control our own energy. Our dependence on foreign oil is at its lowest point in sixteen years. By the middle of the next decade, our cars will average nearly 55 miles-per-gallon. Thousands of Americans have jobs, right now, because the production of renewal energy in this country has nearly doubled in just three years. ”

“ Change comes to America. And that’s the spirit we need again. If people ask you what this campaign is about, you tell them it’s still about hope. You tell them it’s still about change. You tell them it’s still about ordinary people who believe that in the face of great odds, we can make a difference in the life of this country. ”

“ America is safer and more respected because of the courage and selflessness of the United States Armed Forces. And as long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, this country will care for our veterans and serve our veterans as well as they’ve served us, because nobody who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their heads when they come home. ”

“ Manufacturing left our shores. A shrinking number of Americans did fantastically well, while most people struggled with falling incomes, rising costs, the slowest job growth in half a century.
It was a house of cards that collapsed in the most destructive crisis since the Great Depression. In the last six months of 2008, even as we were campaigning, nearly three million of our neighbors lost their jobs. Over 800,000 more were lost in the month I took office alone. It was tough. But I tell you what, Ohio: the American people are tougher. All across this country, people like you dug in. ”

“ Whether they can go as far as their dreams and hard work will take them. And we understand that in this country, people succeed when they have a chance to get a decent education and learn new skills -- and, by the way, so do the businesses that hire them or the companies that they start. We know that our economy grows when we support research into medical breakthroughs and new technologies that lead to the next Internet app or life-saving drug.
We know that our country is stronger when we can count on affordable health insurance and Medicare and Social Security. ”

“ I didn’t run, and you didn’t work your hearts out, just to win an election. We came together to reclaim the basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the most prosperous nation on Earth.
We came together because we believe that in America, your success shouldn’t be determined by the circumstances of your birth. If you’re willing to work hard, you should be able to find a good job. ”

“ We have come too far to abandon the change we fought for these past few years. We have to move forward, to the future we imagined in 2008, where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. That’s the choice in this election, and that’s why I’m running for a second term as President of the United States. Governor Romney is a patriotic American who has raised a wonderful family, and he has much to be proud of. ”

“ Why else would he propose cutting his own taxes while raising them on 18-million working families? Why else would he want to slash the investments that have always helped the economy grow, but at the same time, stop regulating the reckless behavior on Wall Street that helped the economy crash? ”

“ But they will be spending more money than we've ever seen before on negative ads, on TV, on radio, in the mail, on the Internet -- ads that exploit people's frustrations for my opponent's political gain. Over and over again, they will tell you that America is down and out, and they'll tell you who to blame, and ask if you’re better off than you were before the worst crisis in our lifetime. ”

“ I still believe that we are not as divided as our politics suggest. I still believe that we have more in common than the pundits tell us; that we're not Democrats or Republicans, but Americans first and foremost. ”

“ Ohio, this election will be even closer than the last. Too many of our friends, too many of our neighbors are still hurting because of this crisis. I've heard from too many people wondering why they haven't been able to get one of the jobs that have been created; why their home is still under water; why their family hasn't yet been touched by the recovery. The other side won't be offering these Americans a real answer to these questions. They won't offer a better vision or a new set of ideas. ”

“ Look, we don’t expect government to solve all our problems, and it shouldn’t try. I learned from my mom that no education policy can take the place of a parent’s love and affection. As a young man, I worked with a group of Catholic churches who taught me that no poverty program can make as much of a difference as the kindness and commitment of a caring soul. ”

“ When a woman in Iowa shared the story of her financial struggles, he responded with economic theory. He told her: "our productivity equals our income." Well, let me tell you something. The problem with our economy isn’t that the American people aren’t productive enough. ”

“ A competitive America. A generous America. A forward-looking America, where everybody has a chance to make of their life what they will. That’s what made us the envy of the world. That’s what makes us great. ”

“ The real question -- the question that will actually make a difference in your life and in the lives of your children -- is not just about how we’re doing today. It’s about how we’ll be doing tomorrow. ”

“ If you’re willing to meet your responsibilities, you should be able to own a home, maybe start a business, give your children the chance to do even better -- no matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you look like, or what your last name is.
We believe the free market is one of the greatest forces for progress in human history; that businesses are the engine of growth ”

“ This should be the last election where multimillion-dollar donations speak louder than the voices of ordinary citizens. We need more checks on lobbyists and special interests, not less. We’re not going to eliminate the EPA. We’re not going to roll back the bargaining rights that generations of workers fought for. It’s time to stop denying citizenship to responsible young people just because they’re the children of undocumented immigrants. This country is at its best when we harness the God-given talents of every individual; when we hear every voice ”

“ When we protect our kids from toxic dumping and mercury pollution. When there are rules to make sure we aren’t taken advantage of by credit card companies and mortgage lenders and financial institutions. ”

“ He’s run a large financial firm, and he’s run a state. But I think he has drawn the wrong lessons from those experiences. He sincerely believes that if CEOs and wealthy investors like him make money, the rest of us will automatically prosper as well. ”