English subtitles for clip: File:2012-06-02 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv

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The President:
Today I'm at one of Honeywell's
manufacturing facilities in

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Golden Valley, Minnesota, where
I just announced a step that

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will make it easier for
companies to hire returning

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service members who have
the skills our country

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needs right now.

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It's another part of our effort
to make sure that no American

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who fights for this country
abroad has to fight for a job

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when they come home.

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That's why businesses like
Honeywell are answering our

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challenge to hire 100,000
post-9/11 veterans and their

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spouses by the end of next year.

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That's why I've directed the
government to hire over 200,000

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veterans so far -- because our
economy needs their tremendous

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talent, and because millions
of Americans are still looking

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for a job.

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Right now, this country is still
fighting our way back from the

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worst economic crisis
since the Great Depression.

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The economy's growing again,
but it's not growing as fast

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as we'd like.

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Our businesses have created
almost 4.3 million new jobs over

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the last 27 months, but as we
learned in this week's jobs

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report, we're not
creating them fast enough.

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And just like last
year at this time,

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our economy faces some
serious headwinds.

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Gas prices are starting
to come down again,

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but when they spiked
over the last few months,

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it hit people's
wallets pretty hard.

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The crisis in Europe's economy
is casting a shadow on our own.

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And all of this makes it even
more challenging to fully

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recover and lay the foundation
for an economy that's

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built to last.

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But from the moment we first
took action to prevent another

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depression, we knew the road
to recovery wouldn't be easy.

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We knew it would take time, that
there would be ups and downs

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along the way.

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But we also knew that if we
were willing to act wisely,

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and boldly, and together; if
we were willing to keep at it,

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and never quit, we'd
come back stronger.

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Nothing has shaken my
faith in that belief.

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We will come back stronger.

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We do have better days ahead.

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And that's because of you.

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I'd place my bet on American
workers and American businesses

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any day of the week.

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You're the reason our auto
industry has come roaring back.

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You're the reason manufacturing
is hiring at its fastest pace

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since the 1990s.

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You work hard.

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You play by the rules.

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And what you deserve are
leaders who will do the same;

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who will do whatever it takes to
fight for the middle-class and

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grow this economy faster.

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Because while we can't fully
control everything that happens

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in other parts of the world,
there are plenty of things we

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can control here at home.

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There are plenty of steps we can
take right now to continue to

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create jobs and
grow this economy.

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I sent Congress a jobs bill last
September full of the kinds of

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bipartisan ideas that would have
put our fellow Americans back to

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work and helped reinforce
our economy against those

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outside shocks.

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I sent them a plan that would
have reduced the deficit by

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$4 trillion in a way
that's balanced --

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that pays for the job-creating
investments we need by cutting

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unnecessary spending and asking
the wealthiest Americans to pay

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a little more in taxes.

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Since then, Congress has only
passed a few parts of that jobs

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bill, like a tax cut that's
allowing working Americans to

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keep more of your
paycheck every week.

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And that's important.

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But Congress hasn't acted on
enough of the other ideas in

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that bill that would make
a difference and help create

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jobs right now.

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There's no excuse for that.

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Not when so many people
are looking for work.

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Not when so many people
are still struggling to

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pay the bills.

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So my message to Congress
is, let's get to work.

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Right now, Congress should pass
a bill to help states prevent

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more layoffs, so we can put
thousands of teachers and

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firefighters and police
officers back on the job.

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Congress should have passed
a bill a long time ago to put

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thousands of construction
workers back on the job

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rebuilding our roads and
our bridges and our runways.

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Instead of just talking a
good game about job creators,

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Congress should give small
business owners a tax break for

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hiring more workers and
paying them higher wages.

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Let's get all that done.

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Right now, Congress should give
every responsible homeowner the

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opportunity to save an average
of $3,000 a year by refinancing

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their mortgage.

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Next week, there's a vote in
Congress on a bill that would

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give working women the tools
they need to demand equal pay

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for equal work.

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Ensuring paycheck fairness for
women should be a no-brainer.

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And they need to pass that bill.

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Right now, Congress also needs
to extend tax credits for clean

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energy manufacturers that are
set to expire at the end of the

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year -- so that we don't walk
away from 40,000 good jobs that

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are being created.

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And it's long past time for
Congress to end the tax breaks

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for companies that
ship jobs overseas,

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and use that money to cover
moving expenses for companies

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that are bringing
jobs back to America.

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It's not lost on anybody
that this is an election year.

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But we've got responsibilities
that are bigger than

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an election.

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We've got
responsibilities to you.

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With so many people
struggling to get by,

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now is not the time
to play politics.

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Now is not the time for
Congress to sit on its hands.

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The American people expect
their leaders to work hard,

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no matter what year it is.

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That's what I intend to do.

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And I expect Democrats and
Republicans to join me.