English subtitles for clip: File:2012-07-28 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv

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The President:
This week, the Senate passed a
plan that I proposed a few weeks

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ago to protect middle class
Americans and virtually every

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small business owner from
getting hit with a big tax hike

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next year -- a tax hike of
$2,200 for the typical family.

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Now it comes down to this: If
218 Members of the House vote

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the right way, 98% of American
families and 97% of small

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business owners will have the
certainty of knowing that their

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income taxes will
not go up next year.

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That certainty means something
to a middle class family who's

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already stretched the
budget as far as it can go.

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It means something to a small
business owner who's trying to

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plan ahead.

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That's security at a time when
folks could use some security.

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And here's the thing: everyone
in Washington says they

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agree on this.

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Everyone says they agree that we
should extend the tax cuts for

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the middle class.

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When Democrats and Republicans
agree on something,

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it should be pretty
easy to get it done.

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But right now,
that's not the case.

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Instead of doing what's right
for middle class families and

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small business owners,
Republicans in Congress are

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holding these tax cuts hostage
until we extend tax cuts for the

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wealthiest Americans.

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You see, Republicans in Congress
and their nominee for President

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believe that the best way to
create prosperity in America is

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to let it trickle
down from the top.

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They believe that if our country
spends trillions more on tax

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cuts for the wealthy, we'll
somehow create jobs --

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even if we have to pay for it
by gutting things like education

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and training and by
raising middle-class taxes.

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They're wrong.

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And I know they're wrong because
we already tried it that way for

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most of the last decade.

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It didn't work.

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We're still paying for trillions
of dollars in tax cuts that

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benefited the wealthiest
Americans more than anyone else;

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tax cuts that didn't lead to
the middle class jobs or higher

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wages we were promised and
that helped take us from record

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surpluses to record deficits.

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We can't afford more
top-down economics.

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What we need are policies that
will grow and strengthen the

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middle class; that
will help create jobs,

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make education and
training more affordable,

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and encourage businesses to
start up and stay right here in

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the United States.

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That's why I've cut middle-class
taxes every year that I've been

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President -- by $3,600
for the typical family.

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That's why I've cut taxes for
small businesses 18 times.

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And that's why I'm calling on
218 Members of the House to do

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their jobs and not raise
taxes on the middle class.

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As soon as they pass that
bill, I'll sign it right away.

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And in the meantime, I'm going
to keep fighting for an economy

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where we're not just
putting folks back to work,

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but making sure that
work pays off --

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an economy where every
American, no matter who you are,

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what you look like, or
where you come from,

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can have the confidence
that if you work hard,

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you can get ahead.

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Thanks, and have
a great weekend.