http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/282197-obama-touts-economic-progress-in-weekly-addressJune 04, 2016, 06:00 am
Obama touts economic progress in weekly address
By Harper Neidig
President Obama touted the economic progress made during his seven years in office and called on Americans to build on that progress by supporting agendas that help the middle class.
Obama delivered his weekly address from the town of Elkhart, Ind., the first town he visited as president and one of the hardest hit by the recession.
“This week, I returned to Elkhart,” he said. “Unemployment there has now fallen to around 4 percent. More families are back on sturdy ground; more are covered by health insurance; more of their kids are graduating from high school. And it’s no accident – it’s because people there worked hard, and sacrificed, and looked out for each other.”
“But it’s also because we made a series of smart decisions early in my presidency,” Obama continued. “To rescue the auto industry. To help families refinance their homes. To invest in things like high-tech manufacturing, clean energy, and the infrastructure that creates good new jobs – not to mention the job training that helps folks earn new skills to fill those jobs."
The president touted the results of those early decisions, noting that 14.5 million jobs have been created in a little over 6 years and that unemployment has been halved. Still, Obama argued that there is more that needs to be done and he took a subtle shot at Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric as harmful to economic efforts.
“Wages, while growing again, need to grow faster,” he said. “The gap between the rich and everyone else is still way too wide. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly blocked investments and initiatives that would have created jobs faster. But the middle class isn’t getting squeezed because of minorities, or immigrants, or moochers, or anyone else we’re told to blame for our problems.”
He also blasted Republicans for what he sees as tax policies that benefit the wealthy.
“That’s the choice you’ll get to make this year,” he said. “Between policies that raise wages, and policies that won’t. Between strengthening Social Security and making it more generous, or making it harder to help people save and retire. Between strengthening the rules we put on Wall Street to prevent another crisis, or dismantling them. Between a tax code that’s fair for working families, or wasteful tax cuts for a fortunate few at the very top.”
