remarks live. joining me here in new york. kristen welker. first to you chuck, the president hitting this restart button, trying to as we are heading into the august recess. really turned off by washington and by congress. when you see the poll, we see you cover that president and it has done this. when the you know what it hits the fan. when you are getting dragged down into the muck, what do presidents do? they bail. they go out into the country.

and he is trying to pivot to the country something he has tried over and over and over again. they don't get enough credit. they acknowledge that part of the reason is that it is uneven. they are surprised that the poll numbers are as low as they are. when the economy starts picking up people start saying at least the economy is getting better. only two other times has it hit the 70% number. only two other times were massive overturns getting turned out of office. the check bouncing scandal. it didn't change control but it

did start the end of the control and march of 2010. i do think this goes toward the angry electorate and it may not chak up the actual make up of congress but there is the feel that go these guys aren't getting the job done. democrats and independents say one thing. gridlock and the lack of focus on the middle class. republicans say the president's policies and too much regulation. republicans are hearing one set of things and democrats another. it is where the president spoke as a senator. knox college was where one of the lincoln douglas debates was.

this at a time when we are seeing such divisions in our country on the issue of race. the poll was taken after the zimmerman verdict and both before and after the president's speech on race. it is a different attitude towards race by whites and blacks after the simmerman verdict. i think that is right. if you look at the whole, you can see people are skeptical when it comes to the issue of race. there is a lot of symbolism here. president obama spoke here and that was the first time that this politician knocked out the politician for middle class

fairness. he gives the speech today and that speech to some extent a lynchpin on the economy and the middle class. i think you will hear those themes echoed today. there is a tricky background here. the rate here 7.7% that is higher than the national average. tuition here has increased. it is at $38,000 today compared to $28,000 back in 2005. republicans have come out and started to criticize him saying that all he does is give these campaign speeches. i can tell you that today's speech is about mapping out his vision. that is where you are going to see him unveil new policies.

>> we heard those cheers. that was just for the seal. we know there are going to be cheers for the president. while the president is trying to give this speech and turn the page if you will. there has been a number of developments. in wish iashington. you are seeing the white house chief of staff. this is the new john mccain, but this is the new company ligs, we should acknowledge there is a scandalous political story on the front burner which is antho anthony weiner who came out and his wife who was a long time hillary clinton aid not only standing by her man but speaking on behalf of him saying that this latest online sext came

after they had done the reintroduction a year after he left congress. as recently as last summer and this is really setting the political world afire. >> you can't help but note. she is close to hillary clinton and using the same political tactic that hillary clinton did to save her husband ain 1992 and 1998. not just standing by your man and speaking up. saying i've dealt with this don't worry about it. >> this is what he said last night after he had made that admission and she had been at this side. he said i won't stop fighting for you until the last dog dies.

that is a direct speel from bill clinton after the jennifer flowers almost derailed the campaign. he brought it back on the eve of the primary election. weiner spitzer and the laughing stock that new york city politics is turning into. you know, but you look at our poll. i can't help but think that the way that some of these guys, these politicians that can't stop running for office. it has an impact on the fact that the public is losing politicians. this is sort of it feeds this horrible cycle that i think we are in. never before, mama don't let your babies grow up to be

politicians. i think it is all having, eroding at this horrible way that people view the politicians in general. i wish that these guys realized that make they didn't intend to do this damage but they contribute to those having the sex scandals. let's explain, amedin has never spoken that we know of. she appeared in his first campaign video but has never taken a public stance and has been the sigh lent loyal slowsest aid. bill clinton officiated at their wedding and she is family. she has traveled with hillary

and has been with hillary since being an intern in the clinton white house which was a memorable year. we were quick to jump on this. what is the political tactic here? >> they made the decision to run for office knowing that they were going to get this type of attention. but there is a personal narrative. this was a young woman who was pregnant. raised a very religiousous family. there are people judging him. at the end of the day, nobody knows what going on at the end of the day. so i think as much as we want to jump on the politics of this, we have to remember the humanity of this. some of us wish we didn't see oh

much personal life get dragged into this. people should be careful not to judge her too quickly. she has an interesting background. her parents were indian and pakistani. her parents have phd's at the university of pennsylvania. she started in the east wing of the white house with hillary clinton. there is such a close bond there. she was a top official at hillary's side throughout her years and throughout the campaign. this is a bond that cannot be broken and we hear they are playing the song "hail to the chief" the president is coming in. to knox college whereas kristen ke welker, he is going to be outlining the economic agenda. we have been speaking to the

white house. this speech is going to take a little while. republicans are going to jump on him saying he is out of ideas. as the president makes his way up to the podium. i think he has a big highlight for the students. illinois. president obama. [ cheers and applause ] yeah, it is good to be home in illinois. [ cheers and applause ] >> it is good to be back. it is good to be back. thank you. thank you so much everybody. thank you so much. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thank you so much. everybody have a seat. have a seat. well, it is good to be back. i want to first of all thank

knox college. [ applause ] >> i want to thank knox college and your president theresa aymont for having me here today. give her a big round of applause. polluti [ applause ] >> i want to thank your congresswoman sherry bustos. [ 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

mannigan is here. [ applause ] >> i see a bunch of my former colleagues folks i haven't seen in years. one in particular one of my fairrifai favorrities john sullivan is in the house. [ applause ] john, was one of my earliest supporters when i was running for the u.s. sen tate and it ca in handy because he has a big family. they have an entire precinct in the family. and they all look like john the brothers do. he doesn't have to go to the event. he can send one of the brothers out. dick durban couldn't make it today. but he is doing a great job.

and we've got one of my favorite neighbors, the senator from missouri claire mccas kikill ine house. because we are going to missouri later this afternoon. [ applause ] >> and all of you are here and it is great to see you. [ applause ] >> and i hope everybody is having a wonderful summer, the weather is perfect. who ever was in charge of that good job. s so, 8 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 prom ter. in fact, there was a problem in terms of printing out the speech. the printer didn't work and we had to print it out. i was your newest senator and on the way here i was telling sherry and claire how important this area was. i spent the most time here outside of chicago and how much it represented what's best in america and folks who are willing to work hard and do right by their families and i came here to talk about what a changing economy was doing to the middle class and what we as a country needed to do to give every american a chance to get ahead. i had spent a year traveling the state and listening to your

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

swept it's floors, this country offered you a basic bargain. a sense that your hard work would be rewarded with fair wages and descent benefits, a chance to buy a home and save for retirement and most of all, a chance to hand out a better life for your kids. but over time that engine ban to stall and a lot of folks here saw it. that bargain began to fray. technology made some jobs obsolete. global competition sent a lot of jobs overseas. it became harder for unions to hire the middle class. 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. it used to be as companies did better and profits went higher workers also got a better deal. and that started changing. so the income of the top 1%, merely grad rupled from 1979 toe 2007. but the typical family incomes barely budged. towards the end of those three decades, a housing bubble, credit cards, a churning financial sector was keeping the economy juiced up. sometimes it papered over to some of these long-term trends. but by the time that i took

office in 2009 as your president we all know the bubble had burst. and it cost millions of americans their jobs, homes and savings and i know a lot of folks in this area were hurt pretty bad. and the erosion that had been taking place of middle class security was laid bare for everybody to see. today five years after the start of that great recession. america has not our way back. we not our way back. [ applause ] >> together, we saved the auto industry. took on a broken health care system.

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

businesses have created 7.2 million new jobs and this year we are off to our strongest private sector growth since 1999 and since we bet on this company, more of honda's cars are made in america than any other place on earth. [ applause ] >> air bus, the european aircraft company, they are building new planes in alabama. and american companies like forward are replacing outsources with insourcing. they ar are 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 and we are

about to produce more american oil than in 20 years. >> the cost of health care is growing at it's slowest rate in 50 years. and our deficits are falling at the fastest rate in 60 years. [ applause ] >> so, thanks to the grit and resilience and determination of the american people folks like you. we have been able to clear away the rubble from the financial crisis. we started to lay a new foundation for stronger economic growth. and you know it is happening in our own personal lives as well.

a lot of us tighten our belts and shed debt and cut up a couple of credit cards and refocused on the things that really matter. as a country we have recovered faster and gone further than other advanced nations in the world. with manufacturing and health care we are poised to reverse the forces that battled the middle class for so long. but, here is the big but, i'm here to tell you today that we're not there get. we all know that. we are not there yet. we have got more work to do.

even though our businesses are creating big jobs. nearly all of the income gains have continues to throw to the top one per accept. the average american earns less than he or she did in 1999. and 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 untus tainable debt. health care costs are slowing down but working families vpt seen those savings yet. the stock market rebound helped families get back much of what they lost in the 401(k)'s.

the trends that i spoke about here in 2005, 8 years ago, the trend of a winner take all economy where a few are doing better and better and better where everybody else treads water. those have been made worse by the recession. when wealth concentrates at the top it can inflate unstable bubbles and when the rungs on the ladder of opportunity grow farther and farther apart, it

undermines the says sense s th america the idea if you work hard you can make it here. that is why reversing these trends has to be washington's highest priority. it has to be washington's highest priority. [ applause ] >> it is certainly my highest priority. [ applause ] >> unfortunately over the past couple of years, too often,

washington has made it worse. >> i have to say because i'm looking around the room i have friends here who are republicans. and who work -- i worked with in the state legislature and they did great work. we've seen a sizable group of republican lawmakers suggest that they wouldn't vote to pay the bills that congress rang up and that harmed the recovery and we can't afford to repeat that. rather than reduce our deficits with a scalple, maybe are in need of reform making government more efficient, we have folks leaving in place a meat cleaver,

that has cost jobs and gutted investments in education and science and medical research. [ applause ] almost everybody credible economist will tell you it has been a huge drag on his recovery and it means that we are under investing on what it means to make this country a good magnet for jobs. and then over the last six months this gridlock has gotten worse. i didn't think that was possible. the goodness is a growing number of republican senators are looking to join their democratic counter parts and try and get things done in the senate. so that is good news. [ applause ] >> for example they worked together on an immigration bill

that economists say will boost the economy and make the system work. but you have a facts of republicans in the house that won't give that bill a vote and that same group gutted a farm bill that america's farmers depend on but the children depend on. and if you ask some of these folks about their economic agenda, they will shift the topic to out-of-control government spending. despite the fact that we have cut the spending by nearly half since i took office.

[ applause ] >> or they will talk about government assistance for the poor. despite the fact that they have already cutterly education for kids or they will bring up ob obamacare this is tried and true despite the fact that our businesses have created twice as many jobs in this recovery when there was no obamacare. [ inaudible ] >> i appreciate that. that is what that is about. that is what this is about. [ applause ]

that is what we've been fighting more. but with this endless parade of phone any scandals washington has taken it's eye off the ball. and i'm here to say this needs to stop. [ applause ] this moment does not require short-term thinking or having the same old stale debates. our focus has to be having the basic economic issues that matters to you the people we represent. that is what we have to spend our time and energy and focus on. [ applause ]

as washington prepares to enter another budget debate. the stakes for the middle class could not be higher. the countries that are passive in the face of a global economy. they will lose the competition for high living stand arstandar. rebuilding our manufacturing base. educating our work force. upgrading our information network networks. [ applause ] that is 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 about what it takes to be middle class in america. job security. a good education. a home to call your own. affordable health care when you get sick. a secure retirement even if you are not rich. growing opportunity that is what we need. [ applause ] that is what we need. that is what we need right now.

[ applause ] that is what we need to be focused on. >> now some of these ideas i have talked about before. some of the ideas i offer will be new. some will require congress so i will pursue on my own. [ applause ] some ideas will benefit folks right away. some will take years to fully implement. but the key is to break through 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 persist tent effort against the forces that have conspired against the middle class for decades. that has to be our project. now of course we will keep pressing on other key priorities. i want to get the immigration bill done. we want to work on reducing gun violence. we have to continue to end the war in afghanistan and rebalance our fight against al qaeda. we need to combat climate change

and stand up for women's rights. [ applause ] so, all those issues are important. and we will be fighting on everyone of those issues. but if we don't have a growing thriving middle class, then we won't have the resources to solve a lot of problems. we won't have the resolve, the sense of unity that we need to solve the other issues. in this effort i will look to work with republicans as well as democrats where every can. and i sincerely believe that there are members of both parties that understand what is at stake and i will welcome ideas from any party. but i will not allow gridlock to

get in our way. [ applause ] that means whatever executive authority i have to help the middle blclass i will use it. where i can't act on my own and congress isn't operating i will pick up the phone and call ceo,'s labor leaders, i will call anybody that can help an n en list them in our efforts. the choices that we the people make right now will determine whether or not every american has a fightle chance in the 21st

century and it will lay the foundation for our children's future and our grandchildren's future. for all americans. so let me give you a quick preview of what i will be fighting for and what. a strong middle class has to be a economy that generates good jobs and growing industries. that is how this area was built. that is how america prospered. anybody could find themselves a job and built 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 is the good news. [ applause ]

>> but we can do more. so i'm going to push new initiatives to help more manufacturers bring more jobs back to the united states we are going to continue to focus how strategists to make sure our tax code companies creating jobs here in the united states of america. we want to make sure that we are going to create a strategy to make sure that good jobs and wind and solar and natural gas and at the same time reducing dangerous carbon pollution that happened in the united states. [ applause ] and something that sherry and i were talking about. i'm going to push to open more manufacturing innovation

institute. into global centers of cutting edge jobs. let's tell the world that america is open for business. [ applause ] i know there was an old sight over on mon mouth boulevard. let's put some folks to work. maus plaus >> tomorrow i will visit the port of jacksonville, pla pflor which is building things. pat and i were talking before i came back stage. how i came over the don moffit bridge. [ applause ]

but we've got to work to do all across the country. we have ports that aren't ready for the new super tankers. if we don't get that done, those tankers are going to go someplace else. we have more than 100 thousand bridges that are old enough to qualify for medicare. businesses depend on our transportation systems and on our communications networks and rebuilding them creates better paying jobs right now that can't be out sourced. and by the way, this isn't a democratic idea. republicans build a lot of stuff. lincoln was all about building stuff.

first republican president. and yet as a share of a economy we invest less in our infrastructure than we do two decades ago. it is in excusable at a time when so many of the workers who built stuff for a living are sitting at home waiting for a call. the longer we put this off. the more expensive it will be and the less competitive we will be. businesses of tomorrow will not locate near old roads and out dated ports. they will locate to places that move air and auto traffic faster and will get parents home qua quicker from work. we will be eliminating some of

these traffic jams and we can watch that happen in other countries or we can choose to make it happen here in the united states. in an age when jobs know no bord borders. companies are going to seek the countries that boast the most tall lentented citizens and the reward the folks with good pay. the days when the wages for a worker with a high school degree could keep pace with somebody who had a phigher ithcation are over. there are folks here whose dads

or grandpas worked at a plant. if you were willing to work hard you could get two jobs and support your family and have a vacation and own your home. but technology and global competition they are not going away. those old days are not coming back. we can throw up our hands and resign our selves to diminishing living standards or we can fight back and win. that is what we have to do. laws plaus [ applause ] and that bripgs me to the second cornerstone of the strong middle class and everybody here knows it. education that prepares our children and workers for the

global competition they are going to face. if you think education is expensive. wait until you see how much ignorance costs in the 21st entry. if we don't make this investment we are going to put our country at a competitive disadvantage for dedicatck katecadecads that why i'm pushing to make high quality pre-school available for every four-year-old in america. [ applause ] not just because we know it works for our kids but because it provides a vital support system for our parent ares.

i'm going to take action to spur a conversation, as we speak federal agencies are moving on my plan to connect 99% of students to high speed internet. we are making that happen right now. we have already started meeting with business leaders and tech entrepreneurs to identify the best ideas for redesigning our high schools so that they teach the skills required for a high-tech economy. and we are going to train workers for jobs. here the workers that were laid off chose to enroll in training program programs like the one at the

college. and while it didn't pay off for everyone. a lot of the folks who were retained found jobs that suited them more than the ones that they had lost. that is why i have asked congress so that workers can learn the jobs that they demand without leaving their home town. i'm going to challenge ceo's from some of america's best companies to hire more american s for job openings. but have been out of work for so long nobody is giving them an honest look. true that. that too. that is the soaring cost of higher education. [ applause ]

everybody is 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 taxpayor dollar dollars could help kids to help afford college and then i capped loan repayments at ten percent of monthly incomes of borrows. they knew they were never going to have to pay more than ten percent of their income. that is in place right now.

and this week we are working with both parties to reverse the doubling of student loan rates that happened a few weeks ago because of congress in action. [ applause ] >> so this is all a good start. but it isn't enough. families and taxpayers county keep paying more and more and more into an undisciplined system where costs keep going up and up and up. we will never have enough loan money and grant money with costs that are going up five, six, seven percent a year. we have to get more out of what we pay for. some colleges are testing new approaches to shorten a path to a degree. or blending teaching with online learning to help eastern credits

in less time. and some states are testing to see how well do they do? so this afternoon i'll visit the university of central i'll visi university of central missouri to highlight their efforts to deliver more bang for the buck to their students. in the coming months, i'll 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 that college is affordable for every single american who's willing to work for it. [ applause ]

>> so you got a good job. 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 clear ess clearest expression of middle class security. for 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 plummeting. the good news is over the past four years we've helped more responsible homeowners stay in their homes. sales are up, prices are up, and fewer 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 of a solid foundation where buyers and lenders play by the same set of rules. rules that are clear and transparent and fair. 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 wild rates are still low so they can save thousands of dollars a year. [ applause ] 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 fannie mae and freddie mac and build a housing

system that's rock solid for future generations. we have more to do. but the fourth corner stone of what it means to be middle class is a secure retirement. and -- [ applause ] i hear from too many people across the country face to face or in letters 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. now, today a rising stock market has millions of retirement balances going up. some of the losses that have taken place during the financial crisis has been recovered. we still live with an upside down system where those at the top, folks like me, get generous tax incentives to save while

tens of millions of hard working americans who are struggling, they get none of those breaks at all. as we work to reform our tax code, we should find ways to make it easier for workers to put away money and free middle class families from the fear that they won't be able to retire. [ applause ] and if congress is looking for a bipartisan place to get started, i should just say they don't have to look far. we mentioned immigration reform before. economists show that immigration reform makes undocumented workers pay their full share of taxes, and that actually shores up the social security system for years. so we should get that done. [ applause ]

good job, good education for your kids, home of your own, secure retirement. fifth, 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 affordable care act. [ applause ] we're going to implement it. 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. you'll be able to comparison shop online. there will be a marketplace online, just like when you buy a plane ticket or flat-screen tv online. 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 have 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. well, 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 committed to making this law work are finding competition and choice

are actually pushing cost down. 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. [ applause ] 50% lower. so folks' premiums in the individual market will drop by 50%. for them and for the millions of americans who have been able to cover their sick kids for the first time, like this gentleman who just said his daughter has health insurance, who have 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, 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 ] now, finally, as we work to strengthen these corner stones of middle class security, good job with decent wages and benefits, a 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 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.

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 is 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 tt