Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Obama Paid Another Visit To Texas Today

For the second time this year, President Barack Obama paid a visit to Texas. Obama attended a fundraiser in Dallas before heading to Mesquite for a 2:55 p.m. speech at Eastfield College. President Obama got a warm reception at his campaign stops at both the Sheraton Hotel in Dallas, Texas and again at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas.


-- Obama's concluding remarks at Eastfield College --
Dallas, the next election is 13 months away. I need you all to lift your voice -- not just here in Dallas, but anyone watching, anyone listening, everybody following online. I need you to call and tweet and fax and visit and email your congressperson...

At both stops the President pitched his American Jobs Act legislation to crowds of enthusiastic supporters.

Obama used unusually blunt language to rebut critics who say he's engaged in class warfare quoting Ronald Reagan's argument from 26 years ago that tax loopholes for the rich were unfair.

“Last time I checked, Republicans all thought Reagan made some sense,” he said at his Mesquite stop: Now, when I point this out, some of the Republicans in Congress say, ‘oh you’re engaging in class warfare.’ Let me tell you something. Years ago, one great American had a different view. I’m going to get the quote, just so you know I’m not making this up. A great American said that he thought it was ‘crazy’ that certain tax loopholes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing, while a bus driver was paying ten percent of his salary. Alright. You know who this guy was? It wasn’t a Democrat. It wasn’t some crazy socialist. It was Ronald Reagan. It was Ronald Reagan. Last time I checked, Republicans all thought Reagan made some sense. So next time you hear one of those Republicans in Congress accusing you of class warfare, you just tell them I’m with Ronald Reagan. I agree with Ronald Reagan that it’s crazy that a bus driver pays a higher tax rate than some millionaire because of a loophole in the tax code. And by the way, I don’t mind being called a warrior for the working class. You guys need someone working for you.

At his Sheraton Hotel campaign stop Trade Ambassador Ron Kirk, a former Dallas mayor, introduced Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, who introduced the president.

Smith called Obama "the man of the hour.... I stood behind candidate Obama in 2008 and I have never regretted it." He called the president a team player and also a great coach. "He has a great game plan, but he's not afraid to make in-game or halftime adjustments."

He also called it understandable that Obama hasn't accomplished everything he promised in the 2008 campaign. "It's not easy to gain yards when the ...defensive line is stacked up against you... this is truly what the president has faced when it came down to negotiating things in this Congress." But he said, " I can tell you from experience, if you keep trying you will gain yards."

During his half hour of remarks before the Sheraton Hotel audience the president said, "I've come here today because I need your help ... We can either go back to the same tired worn out ideas that held sway over the last decade - ideas that got us in this mess in the first place ... or we can decide to build the America we talked about in 2008 ... An America where we're thinking how we can get ahead."

Obama noted that Republicans have railed against his health care overhaul, deriding it as "Obamacare."

"Obamacare - that's right. I care. I don't know about you, but I care," Obama said. "It's the right thing to do.... I don't know how the other side goes around running against helping 30m people have health insurance. That's your main agenda? That's your plank, is making sure 30 million people don't have health insurance?"

Linda Magid, Senate District 8 Executive Committee Representative for the Texas Democratic Party, who listened to Pres. Obama's Sheraton speech, said:

"Obama appeared extremely calm, even when he got serious about the problems people are facing in our country and when he got fired up about what we need to do to solve those problems. The only time Obama acted flustered was when he tried to comprehend why the Republicans made it their mission to keep 30 million people from receiving health care by opposing the new health care law. In the end, President Obama said that he is "absolutely confident about our future," and that Americans are 'tougher than the times we live in.' It is easy to see why he is so confident - he believes in our ability to overcome our difficult circumstances. It was inspiring."
At his next stop at Eastfield College in Mesquite, Kimberly Russell, a teacher who had recently been laid off, introduced the president to hundreds of attendees, visibly diverse in age and ethnicity. Nearly 100 educators were selected to sit behind the president as he delivered his remarks.

Obama criticized House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for saying the president's $447 billion jobs bill will not get a vote in its entirety in the Republican-led House. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor declared on Monday that the American Jobs Act in its comprehensive form is “dead on arrival” in their chamber, though they would be willing to vote for parts of it they agree with.

The president charged that it’s Republicans who won’t work with him -“I realize that some Republicans in Washington are resistant, partly because I proposed it. If I took the [Republican] party platform and proposed it, they’d suddenly be against it,” he said.
“I’d like Mr. Cantor to come out here to Dallas and explain what exactly in this jobs bill does he not believe in,” Obama said, amid the sound of booing. “Mr. Cantor should come out to Dallas and look Kim Russell in the eye and tell her why she doesn’t deserve to be back in the classroom.”
Education was a main focus for his Eastfield College speech. Obama said his American Jobs Act would prevent the layoff of up to 280,000 teachers across the country while also allowing states to hire back tens of thousands more and modernizing at least 35,000 public schools and community colleges.

Obama called on the audience to help convince Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, which proposes extending the payroll tax for employees and employers, closing corporate tax loopholes, and increasing taxes on the wealthy to create teaching and public safety jobs and pay for public improvement projects on bridges and schools.

Video of Pres. Obama's remarks at Eastfield College...
Pres. Obama Speaks on the American Jobs Act at
Eastfield College, Mesquite, Tx

Part 1- Now, teachers like Kim are why I came here today. Teachers like Kim and her former students. That’s why I’ve been traveling all across this country for the last few weeks.


Part 2 - Understand, America became an economic super power in part because we had the best infrastructure. We built the transcontinental railroad, the interstate highway system, the Hoover dam, and Grand Central Station...

Part 3 - I don't mind being called a warrior for the working class - you guys need somebody fighting for you...

Part 4 - Dallas, the next election is 13 months away. I need you all to lift your voice...

Transcript of Pres. Obama's speech

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