English subtitles for clip: File:2016-06-04 President Obama's Weekly Address.webm

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The President: Elkhart, Indiana was the

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first town I visited as President.

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I'd been on the job for
three weeks, and we were

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just a few months into the
worst economic crisis of

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our lifetimes.

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Elkhart was hit
harder than most.

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Unemployment there peaked
at nearly twenty percent

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shortly after my visit.

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Nearly one in five people
there were out of work.

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This week, I
returned to Elkhart.

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Unemployment there has
now fallen to around

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four percent.

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More families are back on
sturdy ground; more are

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covered by health insurance;
more of their kids are

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graduating from high school.

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And it's no accident - it's
because people there worked

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hard, and sacrificed, and
looked out for each other.

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But it's also because we
made a series of smart

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decisions early
in my presidency.

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To rescue the auto industry.

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To help families
refinance their homes.

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To invest in things like
high-tech manufacturing,

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clean energy, and the
infrastructure that creates

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good new jobs - not to
mention the job training

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that helps folks earn new
skills to fill those jobs.

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The results are clear.

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America's businesses have
created 14.5 million new

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jobs over 75
straight months.

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We've seen the first
sustained manufacturing

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growth since the nineties.

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We've cut unemployment
by more than half.

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Another 20 million Americans
have health insurance.

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And we've cut our deficits
by nearly 75 percent.

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We haven't fixed everything.

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Wages, while growing again,
need to grow faster.

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The gap between the rich and
everyone else is still way

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too wide.

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Republicans in Congress
have repeatedly blocked

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investments and initiatives
that would have created

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jobs faster.

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But the middle class isn't
getting squeezed because of

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minorities, or immigrants,
or moochers, or anyone else

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we're told to blame
for our problems.

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If we're going to fix what
needs fixing, we can't

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divide ourselves.

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We've got to come together,
around our common

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economic goals.

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We've got to push back
against policies that

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protect powerful special
interests, and push for a

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better deal for all
working Americans.

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That's the choice you'll
get to make this year.

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Between policies that raise
wages, and policies that won't.

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Between strengthening Social
Security and making it more

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generous, or making it
harder to help people save

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and retire.

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Between strengthening the
rules we put on Wall Street

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to prevent another crisis,
or dismantling them.

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Between a tax code that's
fair for working families,

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or wasteful tax cuts for a
fortunate few at the very top.

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Over the past seven years,
we've proven that progress

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is possible.

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But it's not inevitable.

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It depends on us.

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It depends on the
choices we make.

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And if we come together,
around our common values,

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and our belief in
opportunity for everyone who

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puts in the effort - then
we'll deliver on a brighter

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future for all of us.

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Thanks, and have
a great weekend.