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Weekly Address: President Obama – “It’s time for Congress to help the middle class”

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The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

 

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, the President discussed the new monthly jobs report and the fact that our economy created over 200,000 new jobs in July for the sixth straight month – the longest streak since 1997. To ensure this momentum can be sustained, the President is pressing Congress to act to create jobs and expand opportunity from raising the minimum wage, to helping people pay back their student loans, to fair pay and paid leave. These are steps that would continue to make things better for the middle class, which has always been his priority. But Republicans in Congress have repeatedly blocked these important measures.

As Congress is about to go on vacation, the President encouraged Americans to reach out to their elected officials and let them know that they must pass these measures when Congress returns to session. And in their absence, the President will continue to do everything he can, working with all stakeholders who are willing, to create jobs, strengthen our economy, and expand opportunity for all Americans.

Transcript: Weekly Address: It’s Time for Congress to Help the Middle Class

Hi, everybody.  My top priority as President is doing everything I can to create more jobs and more opportunities for hardworking families to get ahead.

On Friday, we learned that our economy created over 200,000 new jobs in July.  That’s on top of about 300,000 new jobs in June.  We’re now in a six-month streak with at least 200,000 new jobs each month.  That hasn’t happened since 1997.  All told, our businesses have created 9.9 million jobs over the past 53 months.  That’s the longest streak of private-sector job creation in our history.

Because of you – because of your hard work and determination – America has recovered faster and come farther than almost any other advanced country on Earth.  The economy is clearly getting stronger.  Things are clearly getting better.  And the decisions we make now can keep things moving in that direction.

That’s what’s at stake right now.  Making sure our economy works for every working American.  Making sure that people who work hard can get ahead.  That’s why I’ve been pushing for common-sense ideas like rebuilding our infrastructure in a way that supports millions of good jobs and helps our businesses compete.  Raising the minimum wage.  Making it easier for working folks to pay off their student loans.  That’s why I’ve been pushing for fair pay and paid leave.

These policies have two things in common.  All of them would help working families feel more stable and secure.  And all of them have been blocked or ignored by Republicans in Congress.

That’s why my administration keeps taking what actions we can on our own to help working families – because Congress is doing so little for working families.  House Republicans actually got together this week and voted to sue me for taking actions on my own.  And then they left town for the month without settling a bunch of unfinished business that matters to working families across America.

The bottom line is this – we’ve come a long way these past five and a half years.  Our challenges are nowhere near as daunting as they were back then.  But imagine how much farther along our economy would be – how much stronger our country would be – if Congress would do its job.

I’ll never stop trying to work with both parties to get things moving faster for the middle class.  And I could use your help.  If you see your Member of Congress around home this month, tell him or her what’s on your mind.  Ask them why they haven’t passed bills to raise the minimum wage or help with student loans or enact fair pay for women.

And when they return from vacation next month, instead of trying to pass partisan bills on party lines, hopefully we can come together with the sense of common purpose that you expect.  And in the meantime, I will never stop doing whatever I can, whenever I can, not only to make sure that our economy succeeds, but that people like you succeed.

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

Bolding added.

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/ 8 Comments

8 comments

  1. JanF

    From Jason Furman, Chairman of Council of Economic Advisors


    Total job growth exceeded 200,000 for the sixth straight month in July, the first time that has happened since 1997. This encouraging trend in the labor market is consistent with other recent economic indicators, including the strong second-quarter GDP growth reported on Wednesday. To ensure this momentum can be sustained, the President is pressing Congress to act to create jobs and expand opportunity, while simultaneously using his own executive authority to encourage investment in the United States, boost the income of working families, and ensure safe and fair treatment of American workers.

  2. Diana in NoVa

    What I will never understand is how hatred of our first and only black president can overcome the knowledge of how awful the Repub-controlled House is. Government shutdown, nothing accomplished, and so on, and they STILL want to vote Rethuglican?

    Glad my head’s screwed on right. Wish all voters enjoyed that attribute.

    One of my acquaintances reads the Tarot for a living. Some years ago she predicted that 2015 would be President Obama’s best, signature year as far as getting things done. Possibly with a new, Democratic-controlled House he could get things done. We can only hope.

  3. princesspat

    And then there were…four?

    Of the 36 Senate seats up for election, up to nine of them have been worth watching closely. These races will determine who controls the Senate. Over the last month a few seem to have dropped out of consideration. Now, with a new burst of polling, the playing field – at least for now – includes as few as four races. These races, plus a few others, will be crushed by attention.

    The new polls, from YouGov/NYT and other organizations, confirm what I’ve said and hinted at: Georgia might be moving out of the competitive range (toward the GOP), and maybe Alaska too (toward the Democrats). That would leave four competitive Senate races. In an election held today, there is an 85% probability that each side would have between 49 and 51 votes; much of that probability is concentrated in a perfect 50-50 split.

    Only four races – Kentucky, Iowa, Louisiana, and Colorado – have no clear leader at the moment. If we assign all the other races, that gives 48 Democrats/Independents and 48 Republicans.

    His analysis is always interesting, his track record is impressive, and his “Jerseyvotes” scale shows how voter support can make the most impact.

  4. JanF

    If you truly care about Americans getting health insurance, you don’t belittle the Affordable Care Act or remind people about the awful rollout. I normally am a fan of  Barney Frank but this comment is stupid … his former colleagues are running for re-election on the ACA, which in case he failed to notice, is also called “Obamacare”. It is the signature piece of legislation from the 110th Congress and the Obama administration.

    Barney Frank ‘Appalled’ By Obama Administration: ‘They Just Lied To People’

    “The rollout was so bad, and I was appalled — I don’t understand how the president could have sat there and not been checking on that on a weekly basis,” Frank told HuffPost during a July interview. “But frankly, he should never have said as much as he did, that if you like your current health care plan, you can keep it. That wasn’t true. And you shouldn’t lie to people. And they just lied to people.”

    Hey, former Rep. Frank! There are times to bite your tongue and be a team player. This is one of them. You can write your memoir and work on getting your Fox News gig after we get through this first critical post-ACA election.

     

  5. JanF

    4 reasons GOP’s new “war for women” is a ridiculous joke

    On Wednesday, a group of GOP lawmakers led by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) unveiled a package of bills directed at improving the economic circumstances of American women. The intended goal of the legislation-which includes tax credits for childcare and a bill that prevents retaliation against employees who ask about equal pay-is to demonstrate that the Republican Party does in fact care about women’s rights. […]

    … here are four of the most egregious Republican attacks on women-and reasons that no one could take their newfound interest in gender equality seriously.

    1. Blocking Access to Contraception

    GOP leaders have puzzling ideas about why women choose to use contraception. Instead of seeing birth control as a medication that helps women protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections, avoid pregnancies they don’t want and can’t afford, and make their own long-term life decisions, Republicans view contraception as a license to have crazy amounts of sex and abuse federal finances to kill unborn children. […]

    2. Demolishing Women’s Right to Choose

    If Republicans hate contraception, don’t even get them started on abortion.[…]

    In case their tendency to privilege the right of the fetus over that of the woman carrying it wasn’t clear enough, the 2012 GOP party platform has a passage that reads, “We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.”

    3. Voting Against Equal Pay for Women

    It is the height of irony that the new package proposed by McMorris Rodgers et. al. includes a bill that prevents retaliation against employees who inquire about equal pay. […] Republicans have consistently voted against fair pay measures, most recently in April when they blocked Democrat’s third attempt in recent years to pass wage equality legislation. The Paycheck Fairness Act would have made it illegal for employers to retaliate against workers who talk about their salaries with their coworkers

    4. Compounding the Burden on Working Moms

    Several other key parts of the bill package are direct rip-offs of Democratic legislation and focus on issues that the GOP has long seen fit to ignore.

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