US President Barack Obama. Photo credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
In his third State of the Union address, President Barack Obama moved to flag up his achievements as US leader, to wrestle the political headlines away from the Republican party and to shift focus on to the issues he wants to dominate the November presidential election. Plenty of opinion pieces rating the effectiveness of the address has flooded in. Here are the five key Obama quotes, as selected by The Periscope Post editorial team:
On fairness: “We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by”, said Obama, “or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”
On inequality: “Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same. It’s time to apply the same rules from top to bottom: no bailouts, no handouts, and no cop-outs. An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody.”
On common sense. “Now, you can call this class warfare all you want”, said Obama in reference to his proposals that anyone earning $1 million or more a year should pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes. “But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.”
On the assassination of Osama bin Laden. “All that mattered that day was the mission. No one thought about politics. No one thought about themselves.”
On partisan politics: “The greatest blow to confidence in our economy last year didn’t come from events beyond our control“, he said. “It came from a debate in Washington over whether the United States would pay its bills or not. Who benefited from that fiasco?”