As long as you’ve got an ounce of fight left in you, I’ll have a ton of fight left in me

On February 29, 2012, in Blog, by Matt Verghese

President Obama spoke to the United Auto Workers  about the choice he made to to bet on American workers and America’s auto industry – and why he knew he couldn’t follow Mitt Romney’s advice and “let Detroit go bankrupt.”

These jobs are worth more than just a paycheck. They’re a source of pride. They’re a ticket to a middle class life. They make it possible to own a home, to raise kids and send them to college, to retire. These companies are worth more than just the cars they build. They’re a symbol of American innovation; the source of our manufacturing might. And if that’s not worth fighting for, what is?

…

I’ve got to admit, it’s been funny to watch some of these politicians completely rewrite history now that you’re back on your feet. These are the folks who said if we went forward with our plan to rescue Detroit, “you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye.” Now they’re saying they were right all along. Or worse, they’re saying that the problem is that you, the workers, made out like bandits in all of this; that saving the American auto industry was just about paying back unions. Really? Even by the standards of this town, that’s a load of you-know-what. About 700,000 retirees saw a reduction in the health care benefits they had earned. Many of you saw hours reduced, or pay and wages scaled back. You gave up some of your rights as workers. Promises were made to you over the years that you gave up for the sake and survival of this industry, its workers, and their families. You want to talk about values? Hard work – that’s a value. Looking out for one another – that’s a value. The idea that we’re all in it together – that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper – that is a value.

But they’re still talking about you as if you’re some greedy special interest that needs to be beaten. Since when are hardworking men and women special interests? Since when is the idea that we look out for each other a bad thing? To borrow a line from our old friend Ted Kennedy: what is it about working men and women they find so offensive?

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We will not settle for a country where a few people do really well, and everyone else struggles to get by. We’re fighting for an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules. We will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt, and phony profits. We’re fighting for an economy that’s built to last – one built on things like education, energy, manufacturing things the rest of the world wants to buy, and restoring the values that made this country great: Hard work. Fair play. The opportunity to make it if you try. And the responsibility to reach back and help someone else make it, too.

That’s who we are. That’s what we believe in.

…

When our assembly lines grind to a halt, we work together and we get them going again. Don’t forget I got my start standing with working folks who’d lost jobs and hope when nearby steel plants closed down, because I didn’t like the idea that they didn’t have anybody to fight for them. That still drives me today. So I’ll promise you this: as long as you’ve got an ounce of fight left in you, I’ll have a ton of fight left in me. And we’re going to keep fighting, right now, to make our economy stronger; to put our friends and neighbors back to work faster; to give our children opportunity even greater than what we knew; to make sure the United States of America remains the greatest nation on Earth.

Read the President’s full remarks here

Posted by: Matt Verghese on February 29, 2012.
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  • john parks

    “We’re fighting for an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules.”

    Mr. President, “Please get real with the rules.” As they are now, the deck is stacked in favor of the banking and monetary system.  

    With the exception of coins, our nation’s money supply is created by a banking cartel made up of commercial banks, twelve regional reserve banks that are owned by the commercial banks and the central Federal Reserve in Washington that is owned by the twelve regional reserve banks.  Using fractional reserve lending formulas, the banking system writes bank credit to itself, lending it to the government and public as the principal of loans, with every dollar on deposit in this system a potential nine dollars increase in debt.  

    Every Federal Reserve note and checkbook dollar in the economy is somebody’s debt, with interest due to the banking system.  The interest payment to the banking system and their corporations are constantly draining money from the economy, because nobody creates the money needed for those payments.

    The total debt is equal to the nation’s money supply. The debt currently stands at $56.7 trillion with annual interest of $3.75 trillion (6.61% APR).  At this rate, the interest payments will transfer the entire U.S. money supply to the banking cartel in fifteen years, one month and fourteen days, leaving the debt unpaid.  

    Reserve currencies are the greatest threat to civil rights, not only in the U.S. but throughout the rest of the world.  

    Financial crises arise when people ignore one simple fact: ISSUING A NATION’S CURRENCY IS THE EXCLUSIVE PREROGATIVE OF A SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENT. Operating in the best interest of the citizens, only sovereign governments can provide all currency and banking services for nations to have stable currencies necessary to grow sustainable economies.



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