and make them the bogeymen, even when they are willing to engage in the shared sacrifice that public employees engaged in almost every day. it shows what the other side is about and pains that contrast. i will say one final thing on the contras. the first thing the republicans did was not about jobs. they wanted to repeal health care. the wanted to take away from 7 million small businesses the tax credit that small-business is or getting to help them afford health care. they were going to make it more expensive to be a small business. that was against jobs, but they wanted to do it. i heard somebody say this, does anybody else find it odd that the way they really go after this is, they call it obamacare. like care is a bad word? it is wrong to care? we are against care?

we are going to fight against care? i am glad obama cares. i am glad democrats care. [applause] look, if it is not democrats who are caring about somebody getting kicked around because they have a pre-existing illness, who is going to care? if democrats don't care about small businesses who cannot afford health care, who is going to care? if democrats are not the ones caring about the cost of college, who is going to care? we do care. that is one of the great things about being a democrat, a we should be very proud of that approach worked president. in that battle between focusing on the future and the other party fighting the battles of the past, we are wrong to see more of this over the next two

years and it will make it easier to make that choice plane to the american people. but the time when our next together, the reelection will be up and running and will likely begin in the second quarter of the year. the president has announced in an unusual way, the reelection will not be in the washington d.c. area. he said it worked in chicago the first time, let me go back, get outside of some of the beltway machinations that can take your eye off the ball. the re-election is going to start up and i know will all be deeply engaged in it at every level. there is also the exciting announcement about the people's convention in charlotte. it was a tough choice, we had four great cities. cleveland, minneapolis, st. louis, and charlotte. every city had their checks in the plus column and the minus column, but what we love about

charlotte is, north carolina was the state that we won by the narrowest margin of any state that we won in 2008. i wanted to send a message that we are not playing defense in 2012. and after winning 370 electoral votes, we are not going to play to just get it into the end zone. we are going to play for the big win. we will play in every corner of this country. we are montego -- we are going to go into territory that other guys think is theirs. if we play strong in north carolina, we will play strong in virginia, florida, in the south, and everywhere. that is what is so exciting about it. this convention will be a little bit different. in keeping with the spirit of the president's campaign and in keeping with the spirit of the way we have raised funds into this organization, we have already made an important

decision. will not take any corporate cash. we will cap contributions and prohibit corporations -- contributions from federally registered lobbyists. we are not doing that because these are bad folks. i know a lot of folks who are federally registered lobbyists who are my friends. but this is a natural extension of the dnc standing pledge to not accept these contributions. we do that because there is a belief and the fear among so many americans that all the seats at the table are bought up and that regular folks cannot be the ones financing conventions and campaigns, achieving the victories. when the president ran the campaign, he said this will be tough to try to win an election doing this, but i want to make sure everyone knows that if you are an individual, you are welcome. we are not letting the institutional players buy up all the seats at the table. the bar is one that says this

will be the most diverse convention have ever held. it will set the standard for later conventions. what the set the standard for diversity and it is going to be very exciting to work on. it is a time of transition. there have been some announcements already about some staff changes in the white house and in the forthcoming re- election. not that kind of transition. [applause] that is the virginia aisle over there. two staffers i want to knowledge, where is clyde williams, our political director. stand-up, clyde. clyde williams [applause] .

most of you have worked with clyde in his political shop. they have long wanted to go back to you in new york where they are from and that will be moving back to new york. i said the other day, it is bittersweet, except we will not really miss clyde because we will be fighting the same values in doing the same work. he will not be on south capitol in washington, he will be in new york and beyond and abroad and doing great things. we know you have so much public service left in you. we thank you for your wonderful contribution to this organization and we look forward to working for the with you down the road. please give him a round of applause. [applause]

the second staff transition i want to announce is the executive director. jan has done a superb job. in 2008, she was a battleground states director for the obama campaign. she came into the dnc and it has been announced -- she will be leaving. she is the one who is right next door to me and we worked on all these issues together. she has been a remarkable leader, and for someone who is as young as she is, she has tremendous talent and will do a lot of good work. i wanted to give her little memento. out of her window, she gets to see the capital. out of her window in chicago, she will see frozen lake michigan and 11.5 months of the year.

i am sorry. and now she has left that capital view, and wanted to give her something to take so she could hang on her wall and still have that view. if you could come up, we just want to present you with something. [applause] this was the capital before everybody signed all over it. [applause] and then, a great announcement. some of you know, and we had him with us on thursday. we have a new executive director. we celebrate the one going out and a one coming in. that is the way life works. gaspard, he has a great

background in political campaigns and political work. a great background in labor movement. an organizer by heart and by conviction. he put that organizing work in the organizing talent to work at the obama campaign. he reaches deep into the constituencies that make up the broad democratic family. next week he will be on board as our new executive director. please give patrick around of applause. [applause] you know that i always close with a truman line. virginia, you always have to close with the jefferson line. i was at the rural caucus this morning. one of my favorite truman lines is, every american former think

she is margaret that president of the united states, and that former would be right. americanism is not embodied in any one person. is a distillation of all the spirits of the heroes who have labored and fought and died for the common good. our party is not embodied in any one person. we are the party of jefferson, roosevelt, kennedy, clinton, obama. we are the party and held a solis -- hill but solis. we are the party of young americans studying for college degrees and older americans who are training in new fields. we are party of wage workers, entrepreneurs and small-business owners, hard working mothers and fathers all across this country. that is to we are. we are the some of america's strength, and the sun is always greater than the parts. together we are going to win in 2012 and we are going to win the

future. thanks very much. [applause] >> we will look now at the weekly addresses. , first obama urges congress to find common ground to avoid a shutdown. center rob portman talks about the need for economic growth and job creation. he also criticizes the president's budget request. this is 10 minutes. >> over the last month, have been traveling the country, talking to americans about how we can out educate, innovate, and out build the rest of the world. doing that were will acquire a government that lives within it means and cut whatever spending we can do without. it will also require investing in our nation's future. strength in educating our workers, increasing our commitment to research and technology, building new roads and bridges, high-speed rail, high-speed internet.

in cities and towns throughout america, i have seen the benefits of these investments. the schools and colleges of oregon are providing intel with a steady stream of highly educated workers and engineers. engineering is the most popular subject thanks to the outstanding teachers who are inspiring students to focus on math and science skills. in wisconsin, a company is putting hundreds of people to work manufacturing energy- efficient lights in a once shuttered plant. in michigan, widely accessible high-speed internet has allowed students an entrepreneur is to connect to the global economy. one small business, a third generation family owned business is selling their products on line, which is help them double their work force and make them one of america's 5000 fastest- growing companies in a recent listing.

each of these places reminds us that investments in education, innovation, and infrastructure are an essential down payment on our future. they also remind us that the only way we can afford these investments is by getting our fiscal house in order. just like any family, we have to live within our means to make room for the things we absolutely need. that is why i have called for a freeze on annual domestic spending over the next five years, a freeze that would cut the deficit by more than 400 billion dollars over the next decade, bring this kind of spending to its lows share of our economy since dwight eisenhower was president. that is lower than it was of the past three administrations and lower than it was under ronald reagan. putting his budget freeze in place will require tough choices. that is why have frozen salaries for hardworking civil servants for three years and frozen programs that i care deeply about. i am not taking these steps

lightly, but i am taking them because our economic future demands it. still, a freeze in annual domestic spending is just a start. if we are serious about tackling our long term fiscal challenges, we need to cut excess spending wherever we find it. defense spending, spending in medicare and medicaid, and spending through tax breaks and loopholes. i am willing to consider any serious ideas to help us reduce the deficit, no matter what party is proposing them. instead of cutting the investments in education and innovation, we need to out compete the rest of the world. we need a balanced approach to deficit reduction. we all need to be willing to sacrifice, but we cannot sacrifice our future. next week, congress will focus on short-term measure for the sake of our people and our economy. but cannot allow the grid lock to prevail. both democrat and republican leaders in house and senate have said they believe it is important to keep the government running all work together on a plan to reduce our long-term

deficit. given that, i urge and expect