That's the American legacy.
Sadly, for the first time in our history,
we are on a path which will undo that legacy.
...It is our duty to save the American Dream for our children, and theirs.
...we find ourselves in a nation facing debt, doubt and despair.
This is the worst economic recovery in 70 years.
Unemployment has been above 8 percent for more than three years,
the longest run since the Great Depression.
Families are hurting.
We have the largest deficits and the biggest federal government since WWII.
Nearly 1 out of 6 Americans are in poverty--the worst rate in a generation.
Moms and dads are struggling to make ends meet.
Household incomes have dropped by more than $4,000 over the past four years.
[The leaders of both political parties have] refused to make difficult decisions
because they are more worried about their next election
than they are about the next generation.
We might have been able to get away with that before, but not now.
We’re in a different, and dangerous, moment.
We're running out of time...
Politicians from both parties have made empty promises
which will soon become broken promises--with painful consequences
--if we fail to act now.
...what I have heard lately troubles me the most.
...lowered expectations, uncertain futures.
...High unemployment, declining incomes and crushing debt is not a new normal.
It's the result of misguided policies.
Like Congress stealing the Social Security Trust fund
since 1983?
...America is on the wrong track...
...America is more than just a place...it's an idea.
It's the only country founded on an idea.
...We promise equal opportunity, not equal outcomes.
Do we have equal opportunity,
if a few can purchase Congress and the President
with unlimited amounts of campaign contribution cash?
This idea is founded on the principles of liberty, freedom, free enterprise, self-determination
and government by consent of the governed.
This idea is under assault.
...We are on an unsustainable path that is robbing America
of our freedom and security.
It doesn't have to be this way.
...We can turn this thing around. But, it will take leadership.
And the courage to tell you the truth.
Thank you.
