ride a few miles outside of amsterdam. >> you can see it going down the lake. definitely not the plan. 11 people in the basket at the time. two went to the hospital with minor injuries. it's not known what caused that balloon to come down into the water like that. >> you're driving on the road and a balloon drapes itself out. that's a good excuse for being late to work. that will do it for me but not you. thanks for watching "around the world." "cnn newsroom" starts rite now. >> you're watching cnn. i'm suzanne malveaux. president obama tries to turn the country's attention back to the economy. we'll hear from the president shortly from the campus of knox college. we'll bring you his remarks live. you're looking at live pictures there. this is a first of a series of

speeches on the economy. i want to bring in our team following this. jessica, we don't expect any new policy initiatives here. what do we expect to hear from the president today? >> you can expect the president to talk about first briefly what he's accomplished since he came into office bringing the united states out of the financial crisis. you can think of this as a legacy defining speech. a legacy setting speech with the president trying to pitch forward and prod congress into action in part by taking a two by four to republicans and saying if there's no action it's because congress is gridlocked and he's taking his case to the american people. i think you'll hear a very

strong defense of obama care with the expectation that he knows house republicans will try to repeal obama care as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling and the president drawing a bright line saying that's a no go. >> we'll talk about that in just a minute. i want to bring kristin into the conversation. we're in a recovery. there are still people who are not feeling this. how does the president reach them and tell them, make them understand he gets this? >> that's a really fine line the president has to walk. you want to have confidence and tell people records again and again in the stock market. the stock market is putting 401(k)'s into the homes of we wealthy americans. 200,000 jobs created so far this

year. the middle class knows that those jobs are being created. not all of them are the same quality of job that we lost especially when talking about right there where maytag used to be an important employer there. those jobs went other seas and many of those workers are making much less money when fully employed a decade ago. he has to be so careful about that. some people are still under water. first time home buyers are only 30% of the market. first time home buyers are not able to get in at the price they want or can't get a mortgage. he's got to be confidence but not overly confident because republicans will hammer him on that. >> gloria, let's talk about the president's agenda. he's going to be talking about obama care but also been pushing for immigration reform really trying to get that through congress. do you think he'll try to tie that into the economy saying

legalize 11 million folk, allow them to become citizens. perhaps that will be a boost to the economy. >> he'll say it will make your health care cheaper because you'll have more people buying into these insurance pools. i think he's going to relate everything back to the economy. most of all reminding people that a lot of progress has been made because right now he's confronting an american public where only a third believe we're on the right economic path. he has to sort of remind people things are getting better. if you stick with me on my expect plan heading into the fights in the fall over the budget, raising the debt ceiling, if you stick with me things will continue to get beater for you. >> wolf, break it down for us. obviously he's going to be fighting again the issue of the debt ceiling. the budget, they're fill far apart. he's looking to his economic legacy as well. what does he need to say or do

in the next couple of years to make that happen? >> he's got to remind the american people. we'll see that today in his speech. he's got to remind them where the country was during the great recession back in 2008, 2009 right when he took office. he's going to remind people of the progress but say there's still a long, long way to go. a lot of these jobs, these jobs that have been created pay so much less than the folks used to make. somebody making 85 or $90,000 a year may accept a job for 45 or $50,000 because they have to put food on the table and pay the bills. they're not where they were but it's better than being unemployed. there's a lot of people in that category. he's going to try to give a

balanced assessment. there's an enormous amount of work. he's going to go after those republicans especially in the house of representatives who he says are going to block him every step of the way. >> jessica, you talked about implemented obama care. also he deals with this argument, the debt and the debt ceiling debate. the last go around that happened in 2011 it was a disaster. you had the credit rating downgraded. he's likely to face that same debate in october or november. is he going to address anything here that sets him up in a position where he's stronger to face the republicans over that critical issue? >> the broad themes of the speech are designed to create discussion that will do exactly

that. he will be speaking at various locations to audiences about what he thinks the priorities on the economy should be. that's all about him laying out the priorities, laying out what his vision is for america's future. for example, should the american public be -- should congress be investing in infrastructure or jobs program or hot jobs with high wages as opposed to a fight over debt and spending. he's trying to reorient the discussion over economic priorities before everybody starts focusing on the debt ceiling fight. he has a little more wind in his sails this time than in the 2011 summer because the deficits have improved. >> let's talk about the spending

cuts because a big deal is made about the automatic spending cuts that went into effect this year. that's going to happen next year as well. we're talking about some $19 billion more needed to be cut. how will we feel that? who is going to be impacted by that? >> they have to fix this. they have to find a better way for making spending priorities. this is no way for the biggest business in the world, the united states economy to be run. we don't have a budget. we're lurching from fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis. they can't keep doing it like this. the question is how is the president going to change that game plan in washington. he's probably going to be need it wi ling house republicans in this speech. how is he going to change that conversation and get it so that we're not doing this over and over again. we're not fighting about the

debt ceiling again and again. the fed chief in his testimony last week said the economy is slowly healing. it's moving add a moderate space despite washington, despite it's in a mess. the fed chief saying we could be doing better. something has to change. it can't be like it was last year and the year before. >> wolf, i want to bring you back into the conversation. we're keeping a close eye on the pictures there. clearly the president wants to focus on the economy. how does the white house deal with that in how do they balance that with the other issues that people want to talk about.

you have the zimmerman trial, trayvon martin, the issue with race. the irs controversy. how do they get back on message? >> there's so many foreign policy national security crisises out there. the whole middle east seems to be in turmoil right now. he's got the edward snowden issue as well. this president has a full agenerajegenda of problems out there. i think he'll address some of them. i think they feel at the white house not enough has been focused on the economy especially the middle class. how the middle class is doing. what the government can do to help the middle class. i think the president is going to say some things he needs congress to help with and others i'll do with executive order. >> very familiar call. let's listen in as the president arrives.

>> hello. it's good to be home in illinois. it is good to be back. it's good to be back. thank you. thank you so much, everybody. thank you so much. thank you. thank you. thank you so much. thank you. everybody have a seat. have a seat. well, it's good to be back. i want to first of all thank

knox college. i want to thank your president teresa amott for having me here today. give her a big round of applause. [ applause ] i want to thank your congresswoman who's here. [ applause ] we've got governor quinn here. [ applause ] i'm told we've got your lieutenant governor, sheila simon is here. there she is [ applause ] attorney general lisa matting is

here. i see a bunch of my former colleagues. some folks who i haven't seen in years and i'm looking forward to saying hi to. one in particular, john sullivan is in the house. [ applause ] john was one of my earliest supporters when i was running for the u.s. senate and it's came in handy because he's got ten brothers and his wife and sisters and his wife has got ten brothers and sisters so they have this entire precinct in their family and they all look like john. he doesn't have to go to every event. he can send one of his brothers out. it's good to see them. dick durbin couldn't make it today but he sends his best. we love him.

he's doing a great job. [ applause ] we've got one of my favorite neighbors. the senator from missouri. we're going to missouri later this afternoon. all you have are here and it's great to see you. [ applause ] i hope everybody's having a wonderful summer. the weather is perfect. whoever was in charge of that good job. eight years ago i came here to deliver the commencement address for the class of 2005. things were a little different back then. for example, i had no gray hair or a motorcade.

didn't even have a prompter. in fact, there was a problem in terms of printing out the speech because the printer didn't work here and we had to drive it in from somewhere. it was my first big speech as your newest senator and on the way here i was telling sherry and claire about how important this area was. it was one of the areas i spent the most time in outside of chicago and how much it represented what's best in america and folks who were willing to work hard and do right by their families. i came here to talk about what a changing economy was doing to the middle class and what we as a kun country needed to do to give american a chance to get ahead in the 21st century. i just spent a year traveling the state and listening to your

stories of proud maytag workers losing their jobs when the plant moved down to mexico. a lot of folks here remember that. [ applause ] of teachers whose salaries weren't keeping up with the rising cost of groceries. of young people who had the drive and the energy but not the money to afford a college education. [ applause ] these were stories of families who had worked hard, believed in the american dream, but they felt like the odds were increasingly stacked against them. they were right. the things had changed. in the period after world war ii a growing middle class was the engine of our prosperity. whether you owned company or swept its floors or worked

anywhere in between, this country offered you a basic bargain. a sense that your hard work would be rewarded with fair wages and decent benefits. the chance to buy a home and save for retirement and most of all a chance to hand out a better life for your kids. overtime that engine began to stall and a lot of folks here saw it. that bargain began to fray. technology made some jobs obsolete. global competition sends a lot of jobs overseas. it became harder for unions to fight for the middle class. washington doled out bigger tax cuts to the very wealthy and smaller minimum wage increases for the working poor.

and, so, what happened was that the link between higher productivity and people's wages and salaries was broken. used to be as companies did better, as profits went higher, workers also got a better deal. that started changing. the income of the top 1% nearly quadrupled from 1979 to 2007 but the typical family's incomes barely budged. towards the end of those three decades the housing bubble, credit cards, a churning financial sector was keeping the economy artificially juiced up till sometimes it papered over some of these long term trends. by the time i took office in

2009 as your president, we all know the bubble has burst. it cost millions of americans their jobs and their homes and their savings. i know a lot of folks in this area were hurt pretty bad. the decades long erosion that had been taking place, the erosion of middle class security was suddenly laid bare for everybody to see. now, today, five years after the start of that great recession, america had fought its way back. [ applause ] we fought our way back. together we saved the auto industry. took on a broken health care system.

[ applause ] we invested in new american technologies to reverse our addiction to foreign oil. we doubled wind and solar power. [ applause ] together we put in place tough new rules on the big banks and protections to crack down on the worst practices of mortgage lenders and credit card companies. we changed the tax code to skewed in favor of the wealthiest at the expense of working families. we changed that and locked in tax cuts for 98% of americans and we asked those at the top to pay a little bit more. you add it all up and over the past 40 months our businesses

have created 7.2 million new jobs. this year we're off to our stronge strongest private sector job growth since 1999. since we bet on this country more foreign companies are too. more honda cars are made in america than any other place on earth. [ applause ] air bus, the european aircraft company are building new planes in alabama. american companies like ford are replacing out sourcing with insourcing. they're bringing jobs back home. we sell more products made in america to the rest of the world than ever before. we produce more natural gas than any country on earth. we're about to produce more of

our own oil that we buy from abroad for the first time in nearly 20 years. [ applause ] the cost of health care is growing at its slowest rate in 50 years. [ applause ] our deficits are falling at the fastest rate in 60 years. thanks to the grit and resilience and determination of the american people. folks like you. we've been able to clear away the rubble from the financial crisis. we started to lay a new foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth. you know, it's happening in our own personal lives as well, right. a lot of us tighten our belts,

shed debt, maybe cut up a couple of credit cards, refocused on those things that really matter. as a country we've recovered faster and gone further than most other advanced nations in the world with new american revolutions in energy and technology and manufacturing and health care. we're actually poised to reverse the forces that batter the middle class for so long and start building an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead, but and here's the big but. i'm here to tell you today that we're not there yet. we a all know that. we're not there yet. we've got more work to do.

even though our businesses are creating new jobs and have broken record profits. nearly all the income gains of the past ten years have continued to flow to the top 1%. the average ceo has gotten a raise of nearly 40% since 2009. the average american earns less than he or she did in 1999. companies continue to hold back on hiring those who have been out of work for some time. today more students are earning their degree but soaring costs saddle them with unsustainable debt. the health care costs are slowing down, but a lot of working families haven't seen any of those savings yet. the stock market rebound, helped a lot of families get back much of what they lost in their

401(k 401(k)s but millions of americans have no idea how they will retire. many of the trends i spoke about in 2005, eight years ago, the trend of a win or take off economy where a few are doing better and better and better while everybody else just treads water, those trends have been made worse by the recession, and that's a problem. this growing inequality, not just a result, inequality of opportunity, this growing inequality is not just morally wrong, it's bad economics because when middle class families have less to spend. guess what, businesses have fewer consumers. when wealth concentrates at the very top it can inflate unstable bubbles that threaten the economy. when the wrungs on the ladder of

opportunity grow farther and farther apart it undermines the very essence of america. that idea that if you work hard you can make it here. that's why reversing these trends has to be washington's highest priority. [ applause ] it has to be washington's highest priority. it's certainly my highest priority. [ applause ] unfortunately, over the past couple of years in particular, washington has just ignored this problem, too often washington has made things worse.

[ applause ] i have to say that as i'm looking around the room, i've got some friends here not just who are democrats but some friends who are republicans and i worked with in the state legislature and they did great work. right now what we've got in washington we've seen a sizable group of republican lawmakers suggest they wouldn't vote to pay the very bills that congress rang up and that fiasco harmed the fragile recovery in 2011, and we can't afford to repeat that. then rather than reduce our deficits with a scalpel by cutting out programs we don't need, fixing ones that we need that are in need of reform, instead of doing that we've got folks who have insisted on leaving in place a meat cleaver

called the sequester, it's hurt jobs, harmed growth, gutting education in science and medical research. [ applause ] almost every credible economist will say it's been a huge drag on this recovery. it means we're under investing in the things the country needs to make it a magnet for good jobs. then over the last six months this gridlock's gotten worse. i didn't think that was possible. the good news is a growing number of republican senators are looking to join their democratic counter parts and try to get things done in the senate. that's good news. [ applause ] for example, they worked

together on an immigration bill that economists say will boost our economy by more than a trillion dollars, strengthen border security, make the system work. you have a faction of republicans in the house who won't give that bill a vote and that same group gutted farm bill that america's farmers depend on but also america's most vulnerable children depend on. if you ask some of these folks mostly in the house about their economic agenda how it is they'll strengthen the middle class, they'll shift the topic to how to control government spending. despite the fact we have cut the deficit by nearly half as a share of the economy since i took office. [ applause ]

or they'll talk about government assistance for the poor. despite the fact that they've already cut early education for vulnerable kids. they've already cut insurance for people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. or they'll bring up obama care. this is tried and true. despite the fact that our businesses have created nearly twice as many jobs in this recovery as businesses had at the same point in the last recovery when there was no obama care. [ applause ] i appreciate that. that's what that's about. that's what this is about.

[ applause ] that's what we've been fighting for. with this endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals, washington's taken its eye off the ball. i'm here to say this needs to stop. this needs to stop. [ applause ] this moment does not require short term thinking. it does not require having the same old debates. our focus has to be on the basic economic issues that matter most to you, the people we represent. that's what we have to spend our time on and our energy on and our focus on. [ applause ]

as washington prepares to enter into the budget debate the stakes for our middle class and everybody that is fighting to get in the middle class could not be lihired. the country's that are fighting, those countries will lose the competition for good job. they will lose the competition for high living standards. that's why america has to make investments necessary to promote long term growth and shared prosperity, educating our work force, upgrading our transportation systems, upgrading our information networks. that's what we need to be talking about. that's what washington needs to be focused on. that's why over the next several weeks in towns across this

country, i will be engaging the american people in this debate. [ applause ] i'll lay out my ideas for how we build on the corner stones of what it means to be middle class in america and what it takes to work your way into the middle class in america. job security with good wages and durable industries, a good education, a home to call your own, affordable health care when you get sick. a secure retirement even if you're not rich, reducing poverty, reducing inequality, growing opportunity. that's what we need. [ applause ] that's what we need. that's what we need right now.

a that's what we need to be focused on. [ applause ] some of these ideas i've talked about before. some of the ideas i offer will be new. some will require congress. some i will pursue on my own. [ applause ] some ideas will benefit folks right away. some will take years to fully implement. the key is to breakthrough the tendency in washington to bounce

from crisis to crisis. what we need is not a three-month plan or even a three-year plan. we need a long-term american strategy based on steady effort to reverse the forces that have conspired against the middle class for decades. that has to be our project. [ applause ] of course, we'll keep pressing on other key priorities. i want to get this immigration bill done. we still need to work on reducing gun violence. we've got to continue to end the war in afghanistan, rebalance our fight against al qaeda. [ applause ] we have to stand up for civil

rights. we've got to stand up for women's rights. [ applause ] all those issues are important. we'll be fighting on every one of those issues. if we don't have a growing, thriving middle class then we won't have the resources to solve a lot of these problems. we won't have the resolve, the optimism, the sense of unity that we need to solve many of these other issues. in this effort i will look to work with republicans as well as democrats where ever i can. i sincerely believe there's members of both parties who understand this moment and understand what's at stake and i will welcome ideas from anybody across the political spectrum, but i will not allow gridlock or

inaction or willful indifference to get in our way. that means whatever executive authority i have to help to middle class, i'll use it. where i can't octobact on my ow congress can't cooperating, i'll pick up the phone and call ceos, labor leaders. i'll call anybody who can help and enlist them in our efforts. [ applause ] the choices that we, the people, make right now will determine whether or not every american has a fighting chance in the

21st century. it will lay the foundation for our children's future, our grand children's future, for all americans. let me give you a quick preview of what i'll be fighting for and why. the nirs corner stone is a strong growing middle class. it has to be an economy that generates more good jobs in durable growing industries. that's how this area was built. that's how america prosper because anybody who is willing to work they could go out there and find themselves a job. they can build a life for themselves and their family. over the past four years for the first time since the 1990s the number of american manufacturing jobs has gone up instead of down. that's the good news.

[ applause ] we can do more. i'm going to push new initiatives to help more manufacturers bring more jobs back to the united states. we're going to continue to focus on strategies to make sure our tax code rewards companies that are not shipping jobs overseas but creating jobs right here in the united states of america. we want to make sure that we're going to create a strategy to make sure good jobs in wind and solar and natural gas that are lowering costs and at the same time reducing dangerous carbon pollution happen right here in the united states. something that sherry and i were talking about i'm going to be pushing to open more

manufacturing innovation instituted into global centers of cutting edge jobs. let's tell the world that america is open for business. [ applause ] i know there's an old sight here, let's put some folks to work. [ applause ] tomorrow i'll also visit the port of jacksonville, florida to offer new ideas for doing what america's always done best which is building things. pat and i were talking before i came backstage. he was talking about how i came over the don moffitt bridge.

[ applause ] we've got work to do all across the country. we have ports that aren't ready for the new super tankers that will pass through the panama canal in two years time. if we don't get that done those tankers will go someplace else. we have more than 100,000 bridges that are old enough to qualify for medicare. [ applause ] businesses depend on our transportation systems, on our power grids, on our communications network and rebuilding them creates good paying jobs right now that can't be outsourced. by the way, this isn't a democratic idea. republicans built a lot of stuff. this is the land of lincoln. lincoln was all about building

stuff. first republican president. yet as a sharer of our economy we invest less in our infrastructure than we did two decades ago. that's inefficient in a time it's as cheap as the 1950s to build things. it's inexcusable at a time when so many of the workers who built stuff for a living are sitting at home waiting for call. the longer we put this off, the more expensive it will be and the less competitive we'll be. businesses of tomorrow will not locate near old roads and out dated ports. they'll relocate to places with high speed internet and high-tech schools and systems that move air and auto traffic fast faster and not to mention get parents home quicker from work

because we'll be eliminating some of these traffic jams. we can watch all that happen in other countries and start falling behind or we can choose to make it happen right here in the united states. [ applause ] in an age when jobs no no borders, companies will seek out places that boast the most talented citizens. they'll reward folks who have the skills and the talents they need. they'll reward those folks with good pay. the days when the wages for a worker with a high school degree could keep pace with earnings of somebody who has higher education, those days are over. everybody knows that. there's a whole bunch of folks here whose dads or grandpas worked at a plant, might didn't

need a high school education. you could just go there. you might be able to get two jobs. you could support your family, have a vacation, own your home. technology and global competition are not going away. those old days aren't coming back. we can either throw up our hands and resign ourselves to diminishing living standards or we can do what america's always done which is adapt and pull together and fight back and win. that's what we have to do. that brings me to the second corner stone of the strong middle class. everybody here knows it. an education that prepares our children and our workers for the global competition that they're going to face.

[ applause ] if you think education is expensive, wait until you see how much ignorance costs in the 21st century. [ applause ] if we don't make this investment, we're going to put our kids, our workers and our country at a competitive disadvantage for decades. we have to begin in the earliest years. that's why i'm going to keep pushing to make high quality preschool available for every 4-year-old in america. [ applause ] not just because we know it works for our kids because it provides a vital support system for working parents. i'm going the take action in the

education area to spur innovation that don't require congress. today, for example, as we speak, as we speak federal agencies are moving on my plan to connect 99% of america's students to high speed internet over the next five years. we're making that happen right now. we've already begun meeting with business leaders and tech entrepreneurs and innovative educators for redesigning our high schools so they teach the skills required for a high-tech economy. we're going to keep pushing efforts to train workers for jobs. a lot of the workers that were laid off at maytag chose to enroll in retraining programs like the one at carl sanburg

college. [ applause ] while it didn't pay off for everyone, a lot of folks who were retrained found jobs that suited them even better and paid more than the ones they lost. that's why i've asked congress to start a community college for career initiatives so workers can learn skills without leaving their hometowns. [ applause ] i'm going to challenge ceos from some of america's best companies to hire more americans who have what it takes to fill that job opening but have been laid off for so long that nobody is giving their resume an honest look. that too. i'm also going to use the power of my office over the next few months to highlight a topic that's straining the budgets of every american family and that's the cost of soaring higher

education. [ applause ] everybody's touched by this including your president who had a whole bunch of loans he had to pay off. three years ago i worked with democrats to reform the student loan system so that taxpayer dollars stopped padding the pockets of big banks and instead help more kids afford college. then i capped loan repayments at 10% of monthly incomes for responsible borrowers. if somebody graduated and decided to take a teaching job that doesn't pay a lot of money they knew they would never have to pay more than 10% of their income and could afford to go into a profession they like. that's in place right now. this week we're working with

both parties to reverse the doubling of student loan rates that happened a few weeks ago. [ applause ] this is all a good start, but it isn't enough. families and taxpayers can't just keep paying more and more and more into an undisciplined system where costs keep going up and up. we'll never have enough grant money to keep up with costs that are going up 5, 6, 7% a year. wefr g we've got to get more out of what we pay for. some colleges are testing new approaches to getting a degree or blending material.

some states are testing new ways so this afternoon i'll visit the university of central missouri to highlight their efforts to deliver more bang for the buck to their students. in the coming months i will lay out an aggressive strategy to shake up the system, tackle rising costs and improve value for middle class students and their families. it is critical that we make sure college is affordable for every single american who's willing to work for it. [ applause ]

now, so you've got a good job. you get a good education. those have always been the key steppingstones into the middle class. but a home of your own has always been the clearest expression of middle class security. for most families, there's your biggest asset. most families, that's where, you know, your life's work has been invested. that changed during the crisis when we saw millions of middle class families experience their home values plummet. the good news is, over the past four years, we've helped more responsible homeowners stay in their homes and today sales are up and prices are up and few americans see their homes under water. but we're not done yet. the key now is to encourage homeownership that isn't based

on unrealistic bubbles, but instead is based on a solid foundation where buyers and lenders play by the same set of rules. rules that are clear and transparent and fair. so already i've asked congress to pass a really good bipartisan idea. one that was championed, by the way, by mitt romney's economic adviser. and this is the idea to give every homeowner the chance to refinance their mortgage while rates are still low so they can save thousands of dollars a year. it'll be like a tax cut for families who can refinance. i'm also acting on my own to cut red tape for responsible families who want to get a mortgage, but the bank's saying no. we'll work with both parties to turn the page on fanny may and freddy mack. build a housing system that's rock solid for future

generations. we've got more work to do to strengthen homeownership in this country. along with homeownership the fourth corner stone of what it means to be middle class in this country is a secure retirement. and -- [ applause ] -- i hear from too many people across the country, face to face or in letters that they send me, that they feel as if retirement is just receding from their grasp. it's getting farther and farther away. they can't see it. today a rising stock market has millions of

retirement. i'm going to keep focusing on health care. because middle class families and small business owners deserve the security of knowing that neither an accident or an illness is going to threaten the dreams you've worked a lifetime to build. as we speak, we're well on our way to fully implementing the afford care act. we're going to implement it. now, if you're one of the 85% of americans who already have health insurance, either through the job or medicare or medicaid, you don't have to do anything. but you do have new benefits and better protections than you did before. you may not know it. but you do. free checkups, mammograms, discounted medicines if you're on medicare. that's what the affordable care

act means. you're already getting a better deal. no lifetime limits. if you don't have health insurance, then starting on october 1st, private plans will actually compete for your business. and you'll be able to comparison shop online. there'll be a marketplace online just like you'd buy a flat screen tv or plane tickets or anything else you're doing online, and you'll be able to buy an insurance package that fits your budget and is right for you. and if you're one of the up to half of all americans who've been sick or have a pre-existing condition, if you look at this auditorium, about half of you probably have a pre-existing condition that insurance companies could use to not give you insurance if you lost your job or lost your insurance. this law means that beginning january 1st, insurance companies will finally have to cover you and charge you the same rates as everybody else even if you have a pre-existing condition.

that's what the affordable care act does. [ applause ] that's what it does. now, look, i know, because i've been living it, that there are folks out there who are actively working to make this law fail. and i don't always understand exactly what their logic is here. why they think giving insurance to folks who don't have it and making folks with insurance a little more secure, why they think that's a bad thing. but despite the politically motivated misinformation campaign, the states that have committed themselves to making this all work are finding the competition and choice are actually pushing costs down. so just last week new york

announced that premiums for consumers who buy their insurance in these online marketplaces will be at least 50% lower than what they're paying today. 50% lower. [ applause ] so folks' premiums in the individual market will drop by 50%. and for them and for the millions of americans who've been able to cover their sick kids for the first time like this gentleman who just said his daughter's got health insurance, or been able to cover their employees more cheaply, or are able to have their kids who are younger than -- who are 25 or 26 stay on their parents' plan, for all those folks -- for all those folks, you'll have the security of knowing that everything

you've worked hard for is no longer one illness away from being wiped out. [ applause ] finally, as we work to strengthen these corner stones of middle class security -- good job with decent wages and benefit, good education, home of your own, retirement security, health care security -- i'm going to make the case for why we've got to rebuild ladders of opportunity for all those americans who haven't quite made it yet. who are working hard but are still suffering poverty wages. who are struggling to get full-time work. there are a lot of folks who are still struggling out here. too many people in poverty. now, here in america we've never

guaranteed success. that's not what we do. more than some other countries, we expect people to be self-reliant. nobody's going to do something for you. we've tolerated a little more inequality for the sake of a more dynamic, more adaptable economy. that's all for the good. but that idea has always been combined with a commitment to equality of opportunity to upward mobility. the idea that no matter how poor you started, if you're willing to work hard and discipline yourself and defer gratification, you can make it, too. that's the american idea. [ applause ] unfortunately opportunities for upward mobility in america have gotten harder to find over