English subtitles for clip: File:2012-06-16 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv

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The President:
Over the last few weeks,
I've been talking a lot about

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America's economic future.

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I've told you how I believe we
should go about creating strong,

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sustained growth.

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How we should pay down
our long-term debt in a

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balanced way.

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And most of all, what we should
do right now to create good,

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middle-class jobs so people
who work hard can get ahead.

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This isn't some abstract debate
or trivial Washington argument.

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I've said that this is the
defining issue of our time and

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I mean it.

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I've said that this is a
make-or-break moment for the

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middle class and I believe it.

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The decisions we make over the
next few years will have an

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enormous impact on the country
we live in and the one we pass

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on to our children.

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Right now, we're still fighting
our way back from the worst

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economic crisis since
the Great Depression.

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The economy's growing again but
it's not growing fast enough.

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Our businesses have created 4.3
million new jobs over the last

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27 months but we're not
creating them fast enough.

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And we're facing some
pretty serious headwinds --

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the effects of the recent spike
in gas prices to the financial

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crisis in Europe.

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But here's the thing: We have
the answers to these problems.

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We have plenty of big ideas and
technical solutions from both

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sides of the aisle.

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That's not what's
holding us back.

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What's holding us back is
a stalemate in Washington.

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Last September, I sent Congress
a jobs bill full of the kinds of

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bipartisan ideas that could put
over a million Americans back to

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work and help bolster our
economy against outside shocks.

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I sent them a plan that
would've reduced our deficit by

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$4 trillion in a balanced way
that pays for the investments we

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need by cutting unnecessary
spending and by asking the

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wealthiest Americans to pay
a little bit more in taxes.

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

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like a tax cut that's allowing
working Americans to keep more

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of your paycheck every week --
but on most of the ideas that

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would create jobs
and grow our economy,

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Republicans in Congress
have not lifted a finger.

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They'd rather wait until after
the election in November.

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Just this past week,
one of them said,

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"Why not wait for
the reinforcements?"

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That's a quote.

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And you can bet plenty of
his colleagues are thinking

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the same thing.

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I think that's wrong.

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This isn't about who wins
or loses in Washington.

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This is about your jobs and
your paychecks and your

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children's future.

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There is no excuse for Congress
to stand by and do nothing while

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so many families are struggling.

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No reason whatsoever.

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And right now, Congress should
pass a bill to help states put

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thousands of teachers and
firefighters and police officers

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back on the job.

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They should've passed a bill a
long time ago to put thousands

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of construction workers back to
work rebuilding our roads and

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bridges and runways.

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And instead of just talking
about job creators,

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they should give small business
owners a tax break for hiring

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more workers and paying
them higher wages.

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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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They should extend tax credits
for clean energy manufacturers

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so we don't walk away
from 40,000 good jobs.

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And instead of giving tax breaks
to companies who ship jobs

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overseas, Congress should take
that money and use it to cover

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moving expenses for companies
that are bringing jobs back

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to America.

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There is no reason to wait.

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So you see, every problem
we face is within our power

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to solve.

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What's lacking is our politics.

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I need you to remind your
Members of Congress why you sent

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them to Washington
in the first place.

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Tell them to stop worrying about
the next election and start

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worrying about the
next generation.

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I'm ready to work
with anyone --

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Republican, Democrat
or Independent --

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who is serious about moving
this country forward.

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And I hope Members of
Congress will join me.

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Thanks, and have
a great weekend.