![\"\"](\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/whitehouselogo200.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAnd I want to be real clear: She\u2019s a Philly girl. (Applause.) So there\u2019s no way I can stand here today without saying \u201cGo Eagles,\u201d \u201cFly, Eagles, Fly!\u201d (Applause.) None!<\/p>\n
I tell you what: Thank \u2014 thank God \u2014 thank God I\u2019m a Philadelphia professional sports fan, because if I wasn\u2019t a fan, I\u2019d be sleeping alone. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n
And, by the way, let\u2019s give Kamala another round of applause. (Applause.) She\u2019s a great Vice President.<\/p>\n
And I want to say a special thanks to Jaime for his leadership and to all the members of the DNC for your service, for all you\u2019ve done for the party and for the nation, because that\u2019s why we\u2019re in this business: for the nation.<\/p>\n
Standing here, I\u2019m reminded, just a few months ago, we ended the 2022 midterm election with a rally here in Philly. Remember the midterms? <\/p>\n
AUDIENCE: Yeah!<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: Remember how our friends in the press and pundits alike, and even some in our own party, were predicting a giant red wave? Well, guess what? (Laughter.) It never happened. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
Instead, we had a historic performance. We added Democratic governors, we kept the U.S. Senate, and we ranked closer than anyone ever thought possible in the House. And we flipped control of four state legislative chambers, including the state house right here in Pennsylvania. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
And how did we do it? We knew what we were for. And we had great candidates like Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman here in Pennsylvania \u2014 (applause) \u2014 both standing for \u2014 standing up for personal freedoms, the right to choose, standing for democracy, and running on our record.<\/p>\n
You know, as of this month, we\u2019ve created 12 million new jobs. (Applause.) We created more new jobs in two years than any President did in their entire term. (Applause.) And that\u2019s because of you. The strongest two years of growth in history by a longshot \u2014 3.4 percent unemployment, the lowest in 54 years. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
And the last time employment was this low was \u2014 unemployment was this low was in 1969, in May of \u201869. Think about that. <\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, Black and Hispanic unemployment is near record lows. (Applause.) More Americans applied to start small businesses \u2014 more Americans in two years than any year on record. <\/p>\n
The biggest investment in American infrastructure since Eisenhower\u2019s administration, the Interstate Highway System. Our roads, our highways, bridges, ports, airports, clean water systems, high-speed Internet, rail.<\/p>\n
Lower healthcare costs and lower prescription drug prices, not only including that $35 a month for insulin, but come January of next year, what we\u2019ve already passed: No senior will have to pay more than $2,000 a year for their prescription. (Applause.) A month. A month.<\/p>\n
And some of the cancer drugs, as you unfortunately \u2014 many of you know \u2014 is $10-, $12, $14,000 a year. <\/p>\n
The first Black woman on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. (Applause.) Ketanji Brown Jackson! <\/p>\n
And, by the way, more appellate court judges who are Black women than every other President combined. (Applause.) Every other President combined.<\/p>\n
The most significant gun control passed in 30 years. We got more to do, including getting rid of assault weapons and magazines \u2014 (applause) \u2014 (inaudible). <\/p>\n
And as already been mentioned, the biggest investment in tackling the climate crisis in the history of not only this country, but the history of the world. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
So, folks, that\u2019s not even all of it, not even close. In fact, let me say something. We\u2019re just getting started. No, I\u2019m telling you. I don\u2019t think many of you believed when I told you we were going get a lot done after the first year, when we \u2014 all the things we said we were going to do. I don\u2019t think some of you \u2014 although you\u2019ve been good to me, I don\u2019t think you really believed \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 that we were going to do as well as we did in the off-year election.<\/p>\n
But we got a lot more to do. We got a lot more to do. And, by the way \u2014 by the way, we paid for everything we did. (Applause.) And unlike Republicans, we cut the deficit $1.7 trillion in two years. (Applause.) You know how we did it? We said, \u201cYou know, the super-wealthy maybe should pay a little bit.\u201d (Laughter.) And it ain\u2019t even close yet. I intend to get it done \u2014 more done.<\/p>\n
So let me ask you a simple question: Are you with me? (Applause.) I ran for President \u2014<\/p>\n
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years!<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: Well \u2014<\/p>\n
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years!<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: I ran for President \u2014 (laughs) \u2014<\/p>\n
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years!<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you. I ran for President for three reasons, and I made no bones about it.<\/p>\n
The first was to restore the soul of the nation. Honesty, decency, dignity, rooting out racism, treating everyone with respect, giving hate no safe harbor.<\/p>\n
The second reason I said I was running, you remember, is that I said I was going to rebuild the backbone of the nation, the middle class. No more trickle-down economics. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
I lived not far from here, in Claymont, Delaware, and before that, in Scranton. Not a whole lot trickled down to my kitchen table when I was growing up. To give people who built this nation a real shot.<\/p>\n
And the third reason \u2014 which turned out many thought was impossible, and, I must tell you, I was wondering for a little bit there \u2014 was to unite the country. We are a democracy. You cannot govern without consensus. It\u2019s not possible. This is still the hardest thing to get done. But I refuse to give up. We can\u2019t give up. We need to come together as a nation.<\/p>\n
Look, I came to the presidency determined to put an end to trickle-down economics. The view from Park Avenue says: When the wealthy do very well, the big tax breaks are going to enable them to do that; maybe \u2014 maybe it will trickle down to everybody else. <\/p>\n
Well, guess what? There\u2019s another view. Another view \u2014 the one that I hold and I believe a majority of the American people hold, like the folks here in Philly; like where I was born in Scranton; like Claymont, Delaware, just a few miles from here. (Applause.) No, I really mean this.<\/p>\n
The view that American workers are ready to work harder than anyone else; they just need a shot. I really mean it. All they need is a shot. They get up every morning and go to work and bust their necks trying to make an honest living. <\/p>\n
My dad used to say \u2014 and he literally would say this. He said, \u201cJoey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It\u2019s about your dignity. It\u2019s about respect. It\u2019s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, \u2018Honey, it\u2019s going to be okay.\u2019\u201d And he meant it. Not a joke. <\/p>\n
Look, I\u2019ve said it many times. Wall Street, as important as it is, didn\u2019t build this country. The middle class did. (Applause.) And, by the way, unions built the middle class. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
Folks, look, we need \u2014 we need to build our nation. We really do have to build our economy from the bottom up and the middle out and not from the top down. Because when the middle class does well everyone does well. The poor have a shot, the rich still do very well , and the middle class have a little breathing room, as my dad would say.<\/p>\n
For decades, the backbone of America \u2014 the middle class \u2014 have been hollowed out. I mean literally hollowed out. Good-paying manufacturing jobs moved overseas because labor was cheaper, and corporations went overseas. We exported jobs and imported product. Once-thriving cities and towns became shadows of what they used to be.<\/p>\n
When those towns were hollowed out, something else was lost: our pride, a sense of self-esteem, sense of self-worth.<\/p>\n
Those of you who were over 40, did you ever think we\u2019d be in a situation where blue-collar workers would vote Republican? No, no, let\u2019s \u2014 we got to be honest, man. Because they think we forgot them. They think we don\u2019t care. They\u2019re coming back, but they \u2014 that\u2019s what they thought.<\/p>\n
When those jobs left, a lot were left out and left behind. A lot of them came to believe we stopped paying attention to working class the way we used to. A lot of them came to believe that the Democratic Party stopped caring about them. <\/p>\n
And lots of folks feel that way today still, but we\u2019re making inroads. We\u2019re turning it around.<\/p>\n
My first two years in office, we created 750,000 manufacturing jobs. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
And, by the way, where is it written America can\u2019t lead the world again in manufacturing? Where is that written? (Applause.) <\/p>\n
Our economic agenda created a booming manufacturing with semiconductor chips, electric vehicles, advanced batteries that are going to power the vehicles, in addition to building 500,000 charging stations all across America. There have been major private investments, totaling nearly $300 billion. (Applause.) Much of which is in just one industry, semiconductors, generating significant job opportunities in manufacturing in America.<\/p>\n
For decades \u2014 for decades, we imported products and exported jobs. Now America is exporting products and creating jobs, because we\u2019re doing something that for years and years people just talked about: We\u2019re buying American. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
Buying American is not just \u2014 by that I mean, the government is buying American. My administration \u2014 I\u2019m \u2014 there\u2019s a law back in the early \u201830s that we never paid much attention to. It said when the President spends your tax dollars to put a new deck on an aircraft carrier or build a highway, it should be built by Americans and American products. <\/p>\n
Well, guess what? My administration is doing it. (Applause.) Buying American is a reality. <\/p>\n
We just made a lot of progress overseas as well, in the past two years. Jobs are up, wages are up, inflation is down, and COVID no longer controls our lives. <\/p>\n
But now, the extreme MAGA Republicans in the House of Representatives have made it clear they intend to put it all at risk. They intend to destroy it.<\/p>\n
AUDIENCE: Booo \u2014<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: No, I\u2019m \u2014 not a joke. When I \u2014 look, you may remember when, during the off-year election, I started talking about MAGA Republicans and democracy. And a lot of you thought, \u201cWhat the hell is he talking about? Why isn\u2019t he talking about A, B, C, or D specific issue?\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, guess what? They intend to destroy the pri- \u2014 this is not your father\u2019s Republican Party. No, really, think about it. These aren\u2019t conservatives. These aren\u2019t conservatives. These are disruptive people. They intend to destroy the progress we made. <\/p>\n
Folks, as I said, this is not your father\u2019s Republican Party. Just take a look what\u2019s \u2014 they\u2019re doing. They campaigned on fiscal responsibility, but the first bill to pass the House of Representatives added $114 billion to the deficit. The first one.<\/p>\n
They introduced another bill to limit the President\u2019s authority over the Strategic Petroleum Reserve because they\u2019re mad I used that authority to lower gas prices by $1.50 a gallon. Period. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
Look, they introduced a bill \u2014 you think I\u2019m cra- \u2014 when I said this stuff in the off year, people looked at me like I was nuts. They\u2019re nuts. I\u2019m not the one \u2014 (laughter).<\/p>\n
They introduced a bill that will eliminate the IRS and replace it with a 30 percent national sales tax. <\/p>\n
AUDIENCE: Booo \u2014<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, no. You heard me: 30 percent national sales tax. Think about that. That means 30 percent on groceries, gasoline, clothing, school supplies, medicine, big-ticket items like rent and cars. Shifting the entire burden to the working class and middle class of America. It\u2019s not going to happen. I\u2019m going to veto the sucker if it ever got to me. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
I know the Republicans ran on inflation last election. I didn\u2019t know they were trying to make it worse. (Laughter.) <\/p>\n
And, of course, as they always do, they still want to cut taxes on the wealthiest and biggest corporations. <\/p>\n
AUDIENCE: Booo \u2014<\/p>\n
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.) (Laughter.)<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: By the way, you know, the idea \u2014 you got to be kidding me. No billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a schoolteacher or firefighter because that what they \u2014 (applause) \u2014<\/p>\n
By the way, there\u2019s a thousand billionaires, and they pay an average of 3 percent in taxes. Three percent. For God\u2019s name, what is this all about? <\/p>\n
Republicans keep talking about what they\u2019re going to do to Social Security and Medicare. Americans have been pa- \u2014 paying into Medicare since you got your first paycheck when you were 16 years old and Social Security since you started working.<\/p>\n
Well, I got a better idea. I\u2019m going to strengthen Social Security and Medicare, not gut it. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
If people making over $400,000 a year paid at the same rate that everybody making $60-, $70-, $80-, $90-, $139,000 a year \u2014 up to \u2014 guess what? Social Security and Medicare would grow strong without \u2014 without cutting benefits, without raising taxes on a single person making under 400 grand.<\/p>\n
Look, so let\u2019s make it real simple: If Republicans try to cut Social Security \u2014 it\u2019s not going to get by the Senate, in my view \u2014 but I\u2019ll stop them. <\/p>\n
If they tried to cut Medicare, I\u2019ll stop them. I got a veto pen. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
If they try to pass the 30 percent national sales tax, I\u2019ll stop them. And if \u2014 if they send me a national ban on the right to choose, I will stop them. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
Look, folks, now \u2014 now we\u2019re in a situation: If Republicans want to work together to find real solutions to grow manufacturing jobs; to build the strongest economy in the world and keep it that way, which we are now; where Americans are paid a fair wage; make their wealth and begin to pay their share of taxes, I\u2019m ready. I\u2019m ready. <\/p>\n
I\u2019m not going to let anyone use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip \u2014 the so-called national debt. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
The national debt has been accumulated over 220 years. We\u2019re paying interest on that debt that was accumulated over 220 years. And guess \u2014 guess what? We\u2019ve never missed a single payment. The United States is a nation who pays its bills. <\/p>\n
And, folks, for as much as we\u2019ve gotten done over the past two years, we have some unfinished business on our agenda. <\/p>\n
We need to make the cost of insulin 35 bucks a month for every American, including 200,000 kids out there. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
We need to pass childcare and family paid leave. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
We need to restore the expanded Child Tax Credit that cut child poverty nearly in half. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
And we need to ban assault weapons and limit the number of bullets that can be in a magazine. (Applause.) I did it once before as a United States senator, and we\u2019ll do it again. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
And, by the way, yesterday \u2014 just yesterday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a law that bars domestic abusers \u2014 and I wrote the Violence Against Women Act \u2014 bars domestic rebu- \u2014 abusers who are under a restraining order to stay away from the woman or child they abused from possessing a firearm. They struck it down. <\/p>\n
And, by the way \u2014<\/p>\n
AUDIENCE: Booo \u2014<\/p>\n
THE PRESIDENT: \u2014 they\u2019re eight times as likely to get shot if you\u2019re in that situation.<\/p>\n
Look, the Court struck down a commonsense law that\u2019s been on the books for 30 years. They\u2019re saying it\u2019s okay for someone under a restraining order who are threatening their partner or their child to own a firearm. It\u2019s outrageous. It\u2019s literally out- \u2014 it\u2019s dangerous. Abusers are five times more likely to kill his female victim if he\u2019s armed with a gun. <\/p>\n
I respect the right of responsible gun owners. But someone who is threatened or beaten a domestic partner is not a responsible gun owner. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
And the courts should be on the side of the victims of domestic violence not on the side of the abusers. <\/p>\n
Look, it\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s an example of why it\u2019s so important \u2014 we\u2019ve confirmed nearly 100 federal judges in just two years. (Applause.) And we\u2019re committed to keeping up the pace.<\/p>\n
We need to codify Roe v. Wade. (Applause.)<\/p>\n
We need to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights and Advancement Act \u2014 (applause) \u2014 and the Freedom to Vote Act. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
And with the tragic death of Tyre Nichols, we\u2019re reminded once again we have to pass safeguards that were built into the George Floyd Policing Act. This is what I did as your \u2014 on the federal level. I signed the strongest executive order ever to reform federal police practices. I did my job. <\/p>\n
How many more \u2014 how many more horrible tragedies \u2014 how many more ghastly videos do we have \u2014 needless death \u2014 do we have to see before Congress steps up and does its job?<\/p>\n
Folks, I truly believe we\u2019re living in an inflection point in modern history. It comes along every four or five generations, where what happens in a short period of time in a country or a cou- \u2014 or around the world has a fundamental effect for the next three to four decades. <\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s \u2014 we\u2019re talking about dealing with the climate crisis \u2014 look, if we don\u2019t move on the climate crisis, we don\u2019t \u2014 we\u2019re going to see the \u2014 you know, the North Pole, as the kids would say \u2014 we\u2019re going see those glaciers melting. We\u2019re going to see sea levels rising up to three feet. <\/p>\n
That means we carry a heavy responsibility, and it means we have an extraordinary opportunity as well \u2014 an extraordinary opportunity to build the future we want for our children and grandchildren. It hadn\u2019t been available to us in the past.<\/p>\n
An extraordinary opportunity to build America and a world that\u2019s more fair and just and more free. (Applause.) And that \u2014 that fills me with optimism. <\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want to keep you standing much longer. I\u2019ll just say one more thing. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n
You know what? America is back, and we\u2019re leading the world again. (Applause.) We are.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re uniting Europe. We\u2019ve united the \u2014 we\u2019ve united the \u2014 Asia, Japan. We\u2019ve \u2014 Japan is doing more than it\u2019s ever done. We have AUKUS, the \u2014 dealing with everything from Australia to India. We\u2019re uniting the world. <\/p>\n
In fact, I\u2019ve never been more optimistic about America\u2019s future than I am today. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always believed you could define American one word. I spent a lot of time with Xi Jinping when I was Vice President, the last couple of years. And Barack asked me to spend time with him because we knew he was going to be president; it wasn\u2019t appropriate for a president be spending all the time.<\/p>\n
No, I mean it sincerely. So, I traveled 17,000 miles with him. I met with him more than any other world leader, now over 80 hours \u2014 68 of which were in person \u2014 just me, an interpreter, and he had a simultaneous interpreter. <\/p>\n
We were in a Tibetan Plateau. And he looked at me and he said, \u201cCan you define America for me?\u201d I mean this sincerely. I give you my word as a Biden. I said, \u201cYes, in one word: possibilities. Possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why we \u2014 in many cases, we\u2019re viewed as the ugly Americans, because we think anything is possible. No, I really mean it. Think about it. Can you name me one major initiative we united to do as Americans we didn\u2019t get done? Not even one. <\/p>\n
Folks, look, I still believe that today because there\u2019s literally nothing we can\u2019t do if we put our mind to it. Just remember \u2014 remember who in God\u2019s name we are. We\u2019re the United States of America. (Applause.) <\/p>\n
Nothing is beyond our capa- \u2014 no, really \u2014 nothing is beyond our capacity. And we\u2019re the only nation in the world that\u2019s come out of every crisis stronger than before we went in. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing now. <\/p>\n
God bless you all. And may God protect our troops. Thank you, thank you, thank you. (Applause.) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Philadelphia, PA…Hello, Democrats! AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! THE PRESIDENT: Folks \u2014 (applause) \u2014 AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, Joe! THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you. My name \u2014 my name is Joe Biden, and I\u2019m Jill Biden\u2019s husband. (Applause.) And I want to be real clear: She\u2019s a Philly girl. (Applause.) So there\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/whitehouselogo200.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=155381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155382,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155381\/revisions\/155382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=155381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=155381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=155381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}