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So We Have A Choice To Make. We Can Once Again Let Washington's Bad Habits Stand In The Way Of Progress. Or We Can Pull Together And Say That In America, Our Destiny Isn't Written For Us But By Us. We Can Place Good Ideas Ahead Of Old Ideological Battles, And A Sense Of Purpose Above The Same Narrow Partisanship. We Can Act Boldly To Turn Crisis Into Opportunity And, Together, Write The Next Great Chapter In Our History And Meet The Test Of Our Time.

-Barack Obama

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So We Have A

Barack Obama

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So We Have A Choice To Make. We Can Once Again Let Washington's Bad Habits Stand In The Way Of Progress. Or We Can Pull Together And Say That In America, Our Destiny Isn't Written For Us But By Us. We Can Place Good Ideas Ahead Of Old Ideological Battles, And A Sense Of Purpose Above The Same Narrow Partisanship. We Can Act Boldly To Turn Crisis Into Opportunity And, Together, Write The Next Great Chapter In Our History And Meet The Test Of Our Time.

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The American People Want To Make Sure That The Rules Of The Game Are Fair. And What That Means Is That If You Look At Surveys Around Americans' Attitudes On Trade, The Majority Of The American People Still Support Trade. But They're Concerned About Whether Or Not Trade Is Fair, And Whether We Get The Same Access To Other Countries' Markets That They Have With Us. Is There Just A Race To The Bottom When It Comes To Wages, And So Forth.

Since I've Been In The Senate, Is That My Work With People Like Tom Coburn On Opening Up Transparency In Government, Making Sure That Every Dollar The Federal Government Spends That's Out There - That That's All Posted On A Searchable Database On The Internet.

America Is A Nation Of Immigrants. And So The Question Is, How Do We Make Legal Immigration Faster, Less Bureaucratic, Cut The Red Tape?

I Believe That The Starting Point Of Faith Is Some Doubt, Not Bein' So Full Of Yourself And So Confident That You Are Right And That God Speaks Only To Us And Doesn't Speak To Others, That God Only Cares About Us And Doesn't Care About Others.

The Walls Between Old Allies On Either Side Of The Atlantic Cannot Stand. The Walls Between The Countries With The Most And Those With The Least Cannot Stand. The Walls Between Races And Tribes; Natives And Immigrants; Christian And Muslim And Jew Cannot Stand. These Now Are The Walls We Must Tear Down. We Know They Have Fallen Before.

What Is Required Of Us Now Is A New Era Of Responsibility - A Recognition, On The Part Of Every American, That We Have Duties To Ourselves, Our Nation, And The World, Duties That We Do Not Grudgingly Accept But Rather Seize Gladly, Firm In The Knowledge That There Is Nothing So Satisfying To The Spirit, So Defining Of Our Character, Than Giving Our All To A Difficult Task. This Is The Price And The Promise Of Citizenship.

Usually, I'm Pretty Good About Sorting Through The Options And Then Making Decisions That I'm Confident Are The Best Decisions In That Moment, Given The Information We Have. But There Are Times Where I Think I Wish I Could Have Imagined A Different Level Of Insight.

Thanksgiving Reminds Us That No Matter Our Differences, We're Still One People, Part Of Something Bigger Than Ourselves.

I Don't Believe That The American People Want Us To Focus On Our Job Security. They Want Us To Focus On Their Job Security. I Don't Think They Want More Gridlock. I Don't Think They Want More Partisanship. I Don't Think They Want More Obstruction. They Didn't Send Us To Washington To Fight Each Other In Some Sort Of Political Steel-cage Match To See Who Comes Out Alive. That's Not What They Want. They Sent Us To Washington To Work Together, To Get Things Done, And To Solve The Problems That They're Grappling With Every Single Day.

I Don't Want To Jump The Gun, [but] I Will Tell You, Though, That My Goal Is To Have The Best Possible Government.

I Continue To Believe That She Has Not Jeopardized America's National Security. Now, What I've Also Said Is That, And She's Acknowledged, That There's A Carelessness In Terms Of Managing Emails That She Has Owned And She Recognizes. But I Also Think It Is Important To Keep This In Perspective. This Is Somebody Who Has Served Her Country For Four Years As Secretary Of State And Did An Outstanding Job, And No One Has Suggested That In Some Ways, As A Consequence Of How She Handled Emails, That That Detracted From Her Excellent Ability To Carry Out Her Duties.

But Do I Think That Our Actions In Anyway Violate The War Powers Resolution, The Answer Is No.

Global Warming Is Not Just The Greatest Environmental Challenge Facing Our Planet - It Is One Of Our Greatest Challenges Of Any Kind.

You Can't Entirely Compare Between The United States And Greece For A Range Of Reasons, Not Just Because Of The Size Of The Economy.

We Do Not Believe That In This Country, Freedom Is Reserved For The Lucky, Or Happiness For The Few.

State Visits Are Often An Opportunity For The United States To Reaffirm Our Ties And Friendship With Our Closest Partners Around The World.

I Am Somebody Who Usually Writes Out The Rough Draft In Longhand. Then I Type It Into The Computer, And That Is Where I Do My Editing. I Find That If I Write It On The Computer, I Go Too Quick. So I Like Getting That First Draft Out And Then Typing It In; You Are Less Self-conscious About It.

My Fellow Americans, We Are And Always Will Be A Nation Of Immigrants. We Were Strangers Once, Too.

Undocumented Workers

My Faith Reminds Me That We All Are Sinners.

Peace Depends Upon Compromise Among Peoples Who Must Live Together Long After Our Speeches Are Over, Long After Our Votes Have Been Tallied.

My Relationship With Silicon Valley And The Tech Community Historically Has Been Really Good. Many Of These Folks Are My Friends.

What Drags Down Our Entire Economy Is When There's An Ever-widening Chasm Between The Ultra-rich And Everybody Else.

Number One, It Is Absolutely Critical That We Tone Down The Rhetoric When It Comes To The Immigration Debate, Because There Has Been An Undertone That Has Been Ugly. Oftentimes, It Has Been Directed At The Hispanic Community. We Have Seen Hate Crimes Skyrocket In The Wake Of The Immigration Debate As It Has Been Conducted In Washington, And That Is Unacceptable.

I'm Named Barack Hussein Obama. I'm African-american.

African American

The Silence Killed Your Faith.

There Are So Many Errors And Misstatements In That List That I Won't Even Begin To Name Them. Obama Was Right About One Thing, Though - Islam Has Always Been A Part Of America's Story.

In The Absence Of Sound Oversight,responsible Businesses Are Forced To Compete Against Unscrupulous And Underhanded Businesses, Who Are Unencumbered By Any Restrictions On Activities That Might Harm The Environment, Or Take Advantage Of Middle-class Families, Or Threaten To Bring Down The Entire Financial System.

Responsible Business

So We Have A Choice To Make. We Can Once Again Let Washington's Bad Habits Stand In The Way Of Progress. Or We Can Pull Together And Say That In America, Our Destiny Isn't Written For Us But By Us. We Can Place Good Ideas Ahead Of Old Ideological Battles, And A Sense Of Purpose Above The Same Narrow Partisanship. We Can Act Boldly To Turn Crisis Into Opportunity And, Together, Write The Next Great Chapter In Our History And Meet The Test Of Our Time.

I Think I'm The Best President I've Ever Been Right Now. And I Think The Team That Is Operating Right Now Functions As Well As Any Team That I've Had. And So, You Know, There Is A Part Of You That Thinks, "man, We're Pretty Good At This Stuff Right Now." And You Hate To See That Talent Disperse.

As We Keep Up The Pressure, Our Air Campaign Will Continue To Hit Isil Harder Than Ever.

We Are Reaching A Tipping Where The Pace Of Settlements, During The Course Of My Presidency Has Gotten So Substantial That It's Getting Harder And Harder To Imagine An Effective, Contiguous Palestinian State. And I Think It Would Have Long-term Consequences For Peace And Security In The Region, And The United States, Because Of Our Investment In The Region, And Because We Care So Deeply About Israel, I Think Has A Legitimate Interest In Saying To A Friend, "this Is A Problem."

I Think When You Spread The Wealth Around It's Good For Everybody.

There Is A Word In South Africa - Ubuntu - That Describes His Greatest Gift: His Recognition That We Are All Bound Together In Ways That Can Be Invisible To The Eye; That There Is A Oneness To Humanity; That We Achieve Ourselves By Sharing Ourselves With Others, And Caring For Those Around Us.

A Low-carbon, Clean Energy Economy Can Be An Engine Of Growth For Decades To Come.

Families Across America Are Feeling The Pinch As They Watch Debts Mount, Bills Pile Up And Savings Disappear.

I Might Have Arguments With The Size Of Reagan's Military Buildup, But Given The Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan, Staying Ahead Of The Soviets Militarily Seemed A Sensible Thing To Do. Pride In Our Country, Respect For Our Armed Services, A Healthy Appreciation For The Dangers Beyond Our Borders, An Insistence That There Was No Easy Equivalence Between East And West--in All This I Had No Quarrel With Reagan. And When The Berlin Wall Came Tumbling Down, I Had To Give The Old Man His Due, Even If I Never Gave Him My Vote.

Most People Who Meet My Wife Quickly Conclude That She Is Remarkable. They Are Right About This. She Is Smart, Funny And Thoroughly Charming... Often, After Hearing Her Speak At Some Function Or Working With Her On A Project, People Will Approach Me And Say Something To The Effect Of "you Know, I Think The World Of You, Barack, But Your Wife... Wow!"

I Think That There Is A Particular Mindset That Was On Display In The Run-up To The Iraq War That Continues To This Day. Some Of The Folks Who Were Involved In That Decision Either Don't Remember What They Said Or Are Entirely Unapologetic About The Results, But That Views The Middle East As A Place Where Force And Intimidation Will Deliver On The Security Interests That We Have, And That It Is Not Possible For Us To At Least Test The Possibility Of Diplomacy.

We Are One Nation Under God, And We May Call That God Different Names But We Remain One Nation.

In The Fight Against Isil, We Cannot Rely On An Assad Regime That Terrorizes Its People; A Regime That Will Never Regain The Legitimacy It Has Lost. Instead, We Must Strengthen The Opposition As The Best Counterweight To Extremists Like Isil, While Pursuing The Political Solution Necessary To Solve Syria's Crisis Once And For All.

I Will Never Forget Who This Victory Truly Belongs To. It Belongs To You.

Lobbyist Influence Comes From Access, Not Money.

The Easiest Way To Get 15 Minutes Of Fame Is To Be Rude To Somebody.

I'm Never Surprised By Controversies That Are Whipped Up In Washington.

What Is True Is [bashar] Assad Got Rid Of His Chemical Weapons.

Chemical Weapons

If John Mccain Wants To Have A Debate About Who Has The Temperament, And Judgment, To Serve As The Next Commander-in-chief, That's A Debate I'm Ready To Have.

We Are Not Going To Keep The Window Open Forever.

Part Of What's Changed In Politics Is Social Media And How People Are Receiving Information.

The American People Intuitively Understand This, Which Is Why The Majority Of Catholics Practice Birth Control And Some Of Those Opposed To Gay Marriage Nevertheless Are Opposed To A Constitutional Amendment To Ban It. Religious Leadership Need Not Accept Such Wisdom In Counseling Their Flocks, But They Should Recognize This Wisdom In Their Politics.

I Will Never Apologize For Saying That The Future Of Humanity And The Future Of The World Is Going To Be Defined By What We Have In Common As Opposed To Those Things That Separate Us And Ultimately Lead Us Into Conflict.

Despite All The Noise And Hullabaloo - Military Cooperation, Intelligence Cooperation, All Of That Has Continued. We Have Defended Them Consistently In Every Imaginable Way. But I Also Believe That Both For Our National Interests And Israel's National Interests That Allowing An Ongoing Conflict Between Israelis And Palestinians That Could Get Worse And Worse Over Time Is A Problem. And That Settlements Contribute.

When It Comes To The Budget, We Know That We Shouldn't Be Cutting More On Core Investments, Like Education, That Are Going To Help Us Grow In The Future. And We've Already Seen The Deficit Cut In Half. It's Going Down Faster Than Any Time In The Last 60 Years. So Why Would We Make More Cuts In Education, More Cuts In Basic Research? Nobody Thinks That's A Good Idea.

There's Been A Lot Of Talk About Body Cameras As A Silver Bullet Or A Solution. I Think The Task Force Concluded That There Is A Role For Technology To Play In Building Additional Trust And Accountability, But It's Not A Panacea, It Has To Be Embedded In A Broader Change In Culture And A Legal Framework That Ensures That People's Privacy Is Respected And That Not Only Police Officers But The Community Themselves Feel Comfortable With How Technologies Are Being Used.

For We, The People, Understand That Our Country Cannot Succeed When A Shrinking Few Do Very Well And A Growing Many Barely Make It.

Those Who Are Already Feeling The Effects Of Climate Change Don't Have Time To Deny It - They're Busy Dealing With It.

If We Have The Kinds Of Confirmation That We Need, We Will Once Again Work With The International Community And The Organization Charged With Monitoring Compliance By The Syrian Government, And We Will Reach Out To Patrons Of Assad Like Russia To Put A Stop To It.

I Found During The Course Of My Political Career On The National Scene There's A Point Where The Vanity Burns Away And You've Had Your Fill Of Your Name In The Papers, Or Big Adoring Crowds, Or The Exercise Of Power. And For Me That Happened Fairly Quickly. And Then You Are Really Focused On: What Am I Going To Get Done With This Strange Privilege That's Been Granted To Me? How Do I Make Myself Worthy Of It?

I Learned To Slip Back And Forth Between My Black And White Worlds. One Of Those Tricks I Had Learned: People Were Satisfied So Long As You Were Courteous And Smiled And Made No Sudden Moves. They Were More Than Satisfied; They Were Relieved -- Such A Pleasant Surprise To Find A Well-mannered Young Black Man Who Didn't Seem Angry All The Time.

Black And White

I Can't Even Get A Credit Card Without Three Credit Bureaus Saying I'm Good Enough.

With Respect To Some Of The Specific Legislation Or Initiatives That I've Made, It's True That Republicans Often Opposed These Things. Sometimes They Opposed Them Because I Proposed Them. Now That They Are Responsible For Governing, I Think They'll Find That Reversing Them Would Be Counterproductive.

My Job Is To Keep My Eye On The Ball And To Stay Focused On What Can We Get Done Every Single Day To Advance The Vision And Values That Brought Me Here.

I Think Sometimes Europe May Take For Granted The Extraordinary Progress That's Been Made Over The Last 40, 50 Years. I Recognize That Sometimes There Is Great Frustration That Arises Out Of The Euro Zone Or Out Of The Eu.

People Are Less Certain Of Their National Identities Or Their Place In The World. It Starts Looking Different And Disorienting. And There Is No Doubt That That Has Produced Populist Movements Both From The Left And From The Right In Many Countries In Europe.

What The American People Understand Is That I Look At What We Need To Get Done To Keep The American People Safe And To Move Our Interests Forward, And I Make Those Decisions.

We Are Running Out Of Time

Running Out Of Time

I Believe Marriage Is Between A Man And A Woman. I Am Not In Favor Of Gay Marriage. But When You Start Playing Around With Constitutions, Just To Prohibit Somebody Who Cares About Another Person, It Just Seems To Me That's Not What America's About. Usually, Our Constitutions Expand Liberties, They Don't Contract Them.

Each Wave Of Immigrants That Have Come In Have Been Able To Assimilate, Integrate And Then Rise Up And Become Part Of This Great American Dream.

At The Constitutional Level, What We Of Course Have Assured Is That Women Have The Ability To Make These Reproductive Decisions Up To The Point Of Viability.

We've Had Every Official In Hawaii, Democrat And Republican, Every News Outlet That Has Investigated This, Confirm That, Yes, In Fact, I Was Born In Hawaii, Aug. 4, 1961, In Kapiolani Hospital.

It's Useful For Activists Just To Be Out There To Keep You Mindful And Not Get Complacent, Even If Ultimately You Think Some Of Their Criticism Is Misguided.

I Think That Sometimes The Democrats Have To Run Upstream Or Swim Upstream Because We've Got The Republicans Making It Out As If We Don't Care About These Things, And We Should Be Able To Engage And Be Willing To Engage In The Discussion About Morality And Values.

Now, Today, Some Children Are Enrolled In Excellent Programs. Some Children Are Enrolled In Mediocre Programs. And Some Are Wasting Away Their Most Formative Years In Bad Programs....that's Why I'm Issuing A Challenge To Our States: Develop A Cutting-edge Plan To Raise The Quality Of Your Early Learning Programs; Show Us How You'll Work To Ensure That Children Are Better Prepared For Success By The Time They Enter Kindergarten. If You Do, We Will Support You With An Early Learning Challenge Grant That I Call On Congress To Enact.

I Am Not In Favor Of Concealed Weapons. I Think That Creates A Potential Atmosphere Where More Innocent People Could (get Shot During) Altercations.

I Am Looking Forward To Getting Out Of The Bubble. I Am Glad That I'm Leaving This Place At A Relatively Young Age, At 55. So I Have The Opportunity For A Second Maybe Even A Third Act In A Way That I Think Would Be Tougher If I Were, You Know, The Age Of Some Presidents When They Left.

If It Is Orderly And Lawful, Immigration Is Good For Our Economy.

I Believe Marriage Is Between A Man And A Woman. I Am Not In Favor Of Gay Marriage.

The Most Important Thing We Can Do Is To Make Sure That We've Got Very High Standards, We Expect A Lot Out Of All Of Our Young People, And We Make Sure That We Have The Best Teachers Possible In Every Classroom.

Essentially, Iran Was Sanctioned Because Of What Had Happened At Fordow, Its Unwillingness To Comply With Previous U.n. Security Resolutions About Their Nuclear Program, And As Part Of The Package Of Sanctions That Was Slapped On Them, The Issue Of Arms And Ballistic Missiles Were Included.

The Issue Of Climate Change Is One That We Ignore At Our Own Peril

One Of The Proudest Things Of My Three Years In Office Is Helping To Restore A Sense Of Respect For America Around The World.

Everybody Potentially Can Make The Claim That We Should All Be Treated Fairly.

As Long As I'm President Of The United States Iran Will Not Get A Nuclear Weapon. I Made That Clear When I Came Into Office.

Of Course We [with Angela Merkel] Discussed Our Commitment To Meeting Shared Security Challenges From Countering Cyber Threats To Ensuring That Iran Continues To Live Up To The Terms Of The Iran Nuclear Deal.

Peace Is Not Just The Absence Of War. True Peace Depends Upon Creating The Opportunity That Makes Life Worth Living. And To Do That, We Must Confront The Common Enemies Of Human Beings: Nuclear Weapons And Poverty; Ignorance And Disease.

Of All The Rocks Upon Which We Build Our Lives, We Are Reminded Today That Family Is The Most Important. And We Are Called To Recognize And Honor How Critical Every Father Is To That Foundation. They Are Teachers And Coaches. They Are Mentors And Role Models. They Are Examples Of Success And The Men Who Constantly Push Us Toward It.

We Cannot Tolerate A Nuclear Iran. It Would Be A Game Changer. Not Only Would It Threaten Israel, A Country That Is Our Stalwart Ally, But It Would Also Create An Environment In Which You Could Set Off An Arms Race In This Middle East.

I'm Always Suspicious Of Politics Dividing People Instead Of Bringing Them Together.

The Government Can't Solve Every Problem, But An Enlightened Government Can Make Sure That People Can Work Hard For Their Dreams And Achieve Them.

[the Generation Engaged, Inspired, Worked For Change] That Generation, It's Coming. They're Not The Majority Yet But They're Gonna Be The Majority Soon.

As Has Been Well Documented, I Smoked Pot As A Kid, And I View It As A Bad Habit And A Vice, Not Very Different From The Cigarettes That I Smoked As A Young Person Up Through A Big Chunk Of My Adult Life. I Don't Think It Is More Dangerous Than Alcohol.

Globalization Is A Fact, Because Of Technology, Because Of An Integrated Global Supply Chain, Because Of Changes In Transportation. And We're Not Going To Be Able To Build A Wall Around That.

We All Want The Greek People To Prosper, To Be Able To Provide A Good Life For Their Families And Their Children. That Would Be Good For Greece, That Would Be Good For The European Union, Good For The United States, And Ultimately, Good For The World.

What Is True, And I Think That We Can't Deny It, Is That Some Of The Same Concerns About Globalization, About Technology, Rapid Social Change That Were Reflected In Brexit, That's Been Reflected In Some Of The Debates In Germany And France And Other Places, That Those Exist In The United States As Well. My View Is That Over The Long Term, Over The Next 10, 15, 20 Years, If We Are Able To Address The Legitimate Economic Concerns Of Those Who Feel Left Behind By Globalization, Then Many Of These Tensions Will Be Reduced. And We Will See A World That Is Less Divided.

You Don't Take It Personally. You Understand That If People Are Angry That Somehow The Government Is Failing, Then They Are Going To Look To The Guy Who Represents Government.

We Cannot Stop Every Act Of Senseless Violence. We Cannot Know Every Evil That Lurks In Troubled Minds. But If We Can Prevent Even One Tragedy Like This, Save Even One Life, Spare Other Families What These Families Are Going Through, Surely We've Got An Obligation To Try.

Like Joe Biden And So Many Other Americans, I've Lost People I Love Deeply To Cancer. I've Heard Often From Those Whose Loved Ones Are Suffering From Alzheimer's, Addiction, And Other Debilitating Diseases. Their Heartbreak Is Real, And So We Have A Responsibility To Respond With Real Solutions.

I Was Pretty Realistic To People About What We Could Get Done, And The Situation We Were In, And Trying To Tamp Down Expectations. If You Listen To My Stump Speeches, If You Listen To What I Said At Grant Park, I Kept On Saying, "look, This Is Not Just About Me, This Is Not Going To Happen In One Year, Or One Term, Or Even One Presidency." And We Tried To Layer Into Everything We Were Saying A Sense Of Hope, But Also Realism.

That's The True Genius Of America: That America Can Change. Our Union Can Be Perfected. What We've Already Achieved Gives Us Hope For What We Can And Must Achieve Tomorrow.

We, The People, Still Believe That Every Citizen Deserves A Basic Measure Of Security And Dignity.

Like No Other Illness, Aids Tests Our Ability To Put Ourselves In Someone Else's Shoes - To Empathize With The Plight Of Our Fellow Man. While Most Would Agree That The Aids Orphan Or The Transfusion Victim Or The Wronged Wife Contracted The Disease Through No Fault Of Their Own, It Has Too Often Been Easy For Some To Point To The Unfaithful Husband Or The Promiscuous Youth Or The Gay Man And Say This Is Your Fault. You Have Sinned. I Don't Think That's A Satisfactory Response. My Faith Reminds Me That We All Are Sinners.

Today, We Are Closer To Fulfilling America's Promise Of Economic And Social Justice Because We Stand On The Shoulders Of Giants Like Dr. King, Yet Our Future Progress Will Depend On How We Prepare Our Next Generation Of Leaders. We Must Fortify Their Ladders Of Opportunity By Correcting Social Injustice, Breaking The Cycle Of Poverty In Struggling Communities, And Reinvesting In Our Schools. Education Can Unlock A Child's Potential And Remains Our Strongest Weapon Against Injustice And Inequality.

To Those Leaders Around The Globe Who Seek To Sow Conflict, Or Blame Their Society's Ills On The West - Know That Your People Will Judge You On What You Can Build, Not What You Destroy.

My First Job As Commander In Chief Is To Keep The American People Safe.

I Think It's Really Important To Enlarge The Issue Behind Abortion. I Have Been Serving For Over Two Decades And I Have Seen Year In And Year Out Largely The Republicans Voting Against Women's Contraception, Family Planning.

We Can't Just Drill Our Way Out Of The Energy And Climate Challenge That We Face.

Torture Is How You Create Enemies, Not How You Defeat Them... Torture Is How You Get Bad Information, Not Good Intelligence. Torture Is How You Set Back America's Standing In The World, Not How You Strengthen It.

My Abiding Faith In The American People Is Undiminished. That's Still What Drives Me Every Single Day.

The Fear Among Economists Across The Political Spectrum That Was - Was That We Were Rapidly Plummeting Towards A Second Great Depression. So, In The Weeks And Months That Followed, We Undertook A Series Of Difficult Steps To Prevent That Outcome. And We Were Forced To Take Those Steps Largely Without The Help Of An Opposition Party, Which, Unfortunately, After Having Presided Over The Decision-making That Had Led To The Crisis, Decided To Hand It Over To Others To Solve.

I Have Always Had Extraordinarily Good Relations With Very Conservative Colleagues. And That's Not Because I Agree With Any Of Them Or Fudge On My Positions, But People Feel I Listen To Them And Give Them The Benefit Of The Doubt. I Assume The Best Of People. And That, I Think, Is An Attitude That Is Maybe Rare In Politics.

The Very Technologies That Empower Us To Do Great Good Can Also Be Used To Undermine Us And Inflict Great Harm.

Societies Held Together By Fear And Repression May Offer The Illusion Of Stability For A Time, But They Are Built Upon Fault Lines That Will Eventually Tear Asunder.

Lieutenant Al-kaseasbeh's Dedication, Courage And Service To His Country And Family Represent Universal Human Values That Stand In Opposition To The Cowardice And Depravity Of Isil, Which Has Been So Broadly Rejected Around The Globe.

While The Future Is Unknowable, The Winds Always Blow In The Direction Of Human Progress.

Politics, Differences Of Religion Or Race, All That Fades Away When We Are Confronted With The Awesome Power Of Nature, And We're Reminded That All We Have Is Each Other.

If We Have Actionable Intelligence About High Value Terrorist Targets And President [pervez] Musharraf Will Not Act, We Will.

I Don't Regret The Excitement, Because I Do Think That It Helped Us Accomplish As Much As We Did.

Higher Minimum Wages, Full-employment Programs, Early-childhood Education: Those Kinds Of Programs Are, By Design, Universal, But By Definition, Because They Are Helping Folks Who Are In The Worst Economic Situations, Are Most Likely To Disproportionately Impact And Benefit African Americans. They Also Have The Benefit Of Being Sellable To A Majority Of The Body Politic.

Now, Because He Knows That His Economic Theories Don't Work, He's Been Spending These Last Few Days Calling Me Every Name In The Book. Lately He's Called Me A Socialist For Wanting To Roll-back The Bush Tax Cuts For The Wealthiest Americans So We Can Finally Give Tax Relief To The Middle Class. I Don't Know What's Next. By The End Of The Week He'll Be Accusing Me Of Being A Secret Communist Because I Shared My Toys In Kindergarten. I Shared My Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich.

There Are Always Going To Be Some Complications.

Those Who Adhere To The Ideology Of Rejecting Israel’s Right To Exist, They Might As Well Reject The Earth Beneath Them Or The Sky Above, Because Israel Is Not Going Anywhere.

If You Like Your Health Care Plan, You Can Keep Your Health Care Plan.

Keeping Promises

Broken Promises

All This Marked Them As Vaguely Liberal, Although Their Ideas Would Never Congeal Into Anything Like A Firm Ideology; In This, Too, They Were American.

I Don't Want To Make Promises, Not Knowing What The Situation's Going To Be Three Or Four Years Out.

Part Of What We Have To Do A Better Job Of, If Our Democracy Is To Function In A Complicated Diverse Society Like This, Is To Teach Our Kids Enough Critical Thinking To Be Able To Sort Out What Is True And What Is False, What Is Contestable And What Is Incontestable. And We Seem To Have Trouble With That. And Our Political System Doesn't Help.

I Could Never Be A Politician. But As Uncomfortable As I Would Be Doing So, I Have No Problem With Obama's Long-planned 'change Of Heart.' This Dude's Made Huge, Measurable Strides For Gay Rights, And If Being Coy About His Plans For Gay Marriage For A Few Years Was Needed To Get Him Elected, Then So Be It. Lgbt Persons Will Be Better Off, And Federal Same-sex Marriage Recognition Will Come Sooner Because Of It.

It Is My Firm Belief That It Will Be In The Interests Of The United States, Especially Our Economic Interests, To Pursue Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

It's The Answer Told By Lines That Stretched Around Schools And Churches In Numbers This Nation Has Never Seen; By People Who Waited Three Hours And Four Hours, Many For The Very First Time In Their Lives, Because They Believed That This Time Must Be Different, That Their Voice Could Be That Difference.

So If Somebody Wants To Build A Coal-powered Plant, They Can; It's Just That It Will Bankrupt Them Because They're Going To Be Charged A Huge Sum For All That Greenhouse Gas That's Being Emitted.

For In Asia And Around The World, India Is Not Simply Emerging; India Has Already Emerged. And It Is My Firm Belief That The Relationship Between The United States And India - Bound By Our Shared Interests And Values - Will Be One Of The Defining Partnerships Of The 21st Century. This Is The Partnership I Have Come Here To Build. This Is The Vision That Our Nations Can Realise Together.

Perfect Is Unattainable. Better Is Possible.

Nothing Can Stand In The Way Of The Power Of Millions Of Voices Calling For Change.

With Respect To Russia, My Principal Approach To Russia Has Been Constant Since I First Came Into Office. Russia Is An Important Country. It Is A Military Superpower. It Has Influence In The Region And It Has Influence Around The World.

You Can Choose A Future Where More Americans Have The Chance To Gain The Skills They Need To Compete, No Matter How Old They Are Or How Much Money They Have. Education Was The Gateway To Opportunity For Me. It Was The Gateway For Michelle. And Now More Than Ever, It Is The Gateway To A Middle-class Life.

Iran Will For Sure Have Pledged To The International Community That It Will Not Develop A Nuclear Weapon, And Now Will Be Subject To An Additional Protocol, A More Vigorous Inspection And Monitoring Regime That Lasts In Perpetuity.

Scientists And Engineers Ought To Stand Side By Side With Athletes And Entertainers As Role Models.

Around The World, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela -- What They Did Was Hard. It Takes Time. It Takes More Than A Single Term. It Takes More Than A Single President. It Takes More Than A Single Individual.

Never Read Who Moved My Cheese In The Workplace When You Can Read The Joy Of Not Working.

The Violence Engulfing The Region Today Has Made Too Many Israelis Ready To Abandon The Hard Work Of Peace. But Let’s Be Clear: The Status Quo In The West Bank And Gaza Is Not Sustainable.

[a] Family With Two Kids That Earns The Minimum Wage Still Lives Below The Poverty Line. That's Wrong. That's Why, Since The Last Time This Congress Raised The Minimum Wage, 19 States Have Chosen To Bump Theirs Even Higher. Tonight, Let's Declare That In The Wealthiest Nation On Earth, No One Who Works Full-time Should Have To Live In Poverty, And Raise The Federal Minimum Wage To $9 An Hour.

Islam Has Always Been Part Of America

I've Been Fighting With Acorn, Alongside Acorn, On Issues You Care About, My Entire Career.

We've Got A Lot Of Work To Do Economically In This Country To Bring About A More Just And Fair Economy.

Let's Make Two Things Clear: Isil Is Not "islamic." No Religion Condones The Killing Of Innocents, And The Vast Majority Of Isil's Victims Have Been Muslim. And Isil Is Certainly Not A State.

Everybody Deserves Fair Treatment, Equal Treatment In The Eyes Of The Law And The State. And That Includes Gays, Lesbians, Transgender Persons. I Am Not A Fan Of Discrimination And Bullying Of Anybody On The Basis Of Race, On The Basis Of Religion, On The Basis Of Sexual Orientation Or Gender. This Is Actually Part And Parcel Of The Agenda That's Also Going To Be Front And Centre, And That Is How Are We Treating Women And Girls.

You Wouldn't Know That If You Talked To Human Rights Watch Or Amnesty International Or Some Of The International Activist Organizations. Certainly You Wouldn't Know That If You Were Talking To Some Of The Writers Who Criticize Our Drone Policy. But I've Actually Told My Staff It's Probably Good That They Stay Critical Of This Policy, Even Though I Think Right Now We're Doing The Best That We Can In A Dangerous World With Terrorists Who Would Gladly Blow Up A School Bus Full Of American Kids If They Could.

What I Believe Unites The People Of This Nation, Regardless Of Race Or Region Or Party, Young Or Old, Rich Or Poor, Is The Simple, Profound Belief In Opportunity For All - The Notion That If You Work Hard And Take Responsibility, You Can Get Ahead.

At A Time When The European Project Is Facing Challenges, It's Especially Important To Show The Benefits Of Economic Integration By Continuing To Invest In Our People And Working To Reduce Inequality, Both Within And Across Our Countries.

The Us And Australia Have A Lot In Common. One Of The Things We Have In Common Is We Produce A Lot Of Carbon.

What A Vindication Of The Belief That Ordinary People Can Do Extraordinary Things, What A Reminder Of What Bobby Kennedy Once Said, About How Small Actions Can Be Like Pebbles Being Thrown Into A Still Lake, And Ripples Of Hope Cascade Outwards And Change The World.

We Ask For Nothing More Than The Chance To Blaze Our Own Trail, And Yet Each Of Us Is Only Here Because Somebody, Somewhere, Helped Us Find Our Path. That`s Part Of What Makes America Exceptional. We Are Family And We`ll Do Anything To Help Each Other Along The Way.

When People Are Judged By Merit, Not Connections, Then The Best And Brightest Can Lead The Country, People Will Work Hard, And The Entire Economy Will Grow - Everyone Will Benefit And More Resources Will Be Available For All, Not Just Select Groups.

Beside The Two Wars He Inherited In Iraq And Afghanistan, And Promised To End, A Financial Crisis At Home Had Pushed The United States To The Brink Of Another Great Depression. When We Spoke With The New President In March Of 2009, The Economy Was Losing 800,000 Jobs A Month, The Government Was Throwing Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars At Failing Banks, And The Auto Industry Was On The Verge Of Collapse. Politically Pummeled From All Sides, Obama Did His Best To Keep A Sense Of Humor.

The Notion That We Can Control The Flow Of Information Is Obsolete.

The American People Are Going To Have A Good Choice.

If We Want America To Stay On The Cutting Edge, We Need Young Americans To Master The Tools And Technology That Will Change The Way We Do Just About Everything.

I Do Love The Waldorf-astoria, Though. You Know, I Hear That From The Doorstep You Can See All The Way To The Russian Tea Room.

I'm Consistently On Record And Will Continue To Be On Record As Opposing Concealed Carry.

I Want To Make Sure America Has Got The Best Education System In The World. And We're Retaining Our Workers For The Jobs Of Tomorrow.

The Government Has To Treat All Citizens Equally. I Am A Strong Supporter Not Of A Weak Version Of Civil Unions, But Of A Strong Version, In Which The Rights That Are Conferred At The Federal Level To Persons Who Are Part Of The Same-sex Union Are Compatible. When It Comes To Federal Rights, The Over 1,100 Rights That Right Now Are Not Being Given To Same-sex Couples, I Think That's Unacceptable.

Our First And Immutable Commitment Must Be To The Security Of Israel, Our Only True Ally In The Middle East And The Only Democracy.

Nature Is Actually Resilient, If We Take Care To Just Stop Actively Destroying It.

I Believe When Women Succeed America Succeeds!

I Think It's Fair To Say That [donald Trump] And I Are Sort Of Opposites In Some Ways.

America's Not Just [about] Looking Out For Yourself, It's Not Just About Greed, It's Not Just About Trying To Climb To The Very Top And Keep Everybody Else Down. ... Hard Work, That's A Value. Looking Out For One Another, That's A Value. The Idea That We're All In It Together And [that] I'm My Brother's Keeper And [my] Sister's Keeper, That's A Value.

Nothing Will Deter Us From Building The Future We Want For Our Children. What Greater Rejection Of Those Who Would Tear Down Our World Than Marshaling Our Best Efforts To Save It.

The Day I'm Inaugurated, This Country Looks At Itself Differently And The World Looks At America Differently. If You Believe That We've Got To Heal America And We've Got To Repair Our Standing In The World, Then I Think My Supporters Believe That I Am A Messenger Who Can Deliver That Message Around The World In A Way That No Other Candidate Can Do.

The Supreme Court Had The Choice Not Only Which Way To Rule, Pro- Or Anti-gay Marriage Rights, But Also How They Were Going To Rule. They Could Have Ruled Just Federalism, Saying, "this Isn't A Matter For Federal; This Isn't A Federal Issue At All. States Should Decide It." Or They Could Decide It On Equal Protection Grounds And Say That, "gay Discrimination Is Wrong."

If You Listen To The Rhetoric, It Is So Over-the-top And So Overheated, And Most Importantly, Is Not Acknowledging The Fact That There's Nothing Else [like Guns] In Our Lives That We Purchase Where We Don't Try To Make It A Little Safer If We Can.

The Dollar Is The Reserve Currency Of The World.

People Don't Expect Government To Solve All Their Problems. But They Sense, Deep In Their Bones, That With Just A Slight Change In Priorities, We Can Make Sure That Every Child In America Has A Decent Shot At Life, And That The Doors Of Opportunity Remain Open To All. They Know We Can Do Better.

Many Of You Know That I Got My Name, Barack, From My Father. What You May Not Know Is Barack Is Actually Swahili For 'that One.' And I Got My Middle Name From Somebody Who Obviously Didn't Think I'd Ever Run For President.

I Make No Apologies For Being Reasonable.

Leaving The Broken System The Way It Is, That`s Not A Solution.

If We Can't Meet With Our Friends, I Don't Know How We're Going To Lead The World In Terms Of Dealing With Critical Issues Like Terrorism.

If You Look At Countries Like South Africa, Where You Had A Black Majority, There Have Been Efforts To Tax And Help That Black Majority, But It Hasn't Come In The Form Of A Formal Reparations Program.

The American People Are Both Anxious For Change. We're In A Time Of Flux.

I Believe It`s Important To Be Open And Honest, Especially With Your Friends.

One Of The Gratifying Things, I Think, About The End Of My Presidency Even Though Admittedly My Successor Ran Against A Lot Of What We Stood For, Is When You Look At The Individual Issues And The Progress That We've Made On A Lot Of Those Issues, We Got The Support Of A Pretty Decent Majority.

If I Did Not Love America, I Wouldn't Have Moved Here From Kenya.

It’s Important To Make Sure That We’re Talking With Each Other In A Way That Heals, Not In A Way That Wounds." - Barack Obama, 44th U.s. President

I Think That Our Politics Everywhere Are Gonna Be Going Through This Bumpy Phase. But As Long As We Stay True To Our Democratic Principles, As Long As Elections Have Integrity, As Long As We Respect Freedom Of Speech, Freedom Of Religion, As Long As There Are Checks And Balances In Our Governments So That The People Have The Ability To Not Just Make Judgments About How Well Government Is Serving Them But Also Change Governments If They're Not Serving Them Well, Then I Have Confidence That Over The Long Term, Progress Will Continue.

At Various Periods In American History, People Get Pretty Rambunctious When It Comes To Our Democratic Debate.

American History

We Had To Get Out Of Chicago So Quick. Election Night Happens, Suddenly I'm Talking To Ben Bernanke And Hank Paulson And Trying To Figure Out Whether The World's Going To Fly Apart, And Michelle Is Trying To Figure Out Where The Girls Are Going To Go To School. And We Pack Up And Leave And Basically Our House In Chicago Just Became Like A Time Capsule. My Desk In My Home Office Still Had Stacks Of Articles And Bills And Stuff From 2008.

This Is Something That I'm Sure I'd Have Serious Debates With My Fellow Christians About. I Think That The Difficult Thing About Any Religion, Including Christianity, Is That At Some Level There Is A Call To Evangelize And Prostelytize. There's The Belief, Certainly In Some Quarters, That People Haven't Embraced Jesus Christ As Their Personal Savior That They're Going To Hell.

Everything We've Done Has Been Designed To Make Sure That We Address That Number One Priority. That's What The Sanctions Regime Was All About. That's How We Were Able To Mobilize The International Community, Including Some Folks That We Are Not Particularly Close To, To Abide By These Sanctions. That's How These Crippling Sanctions Came About, Was Because We [usa] Were Able To Gain Global Consensus That Iran Having A Nuclear Weapon Would Be A Problem For Everybody.

We're Going To Make Sure, Regardless Of Disagreements We Have On Policy, That Our Military And Intelligence Cooperation To Keep The Israeli People Safe Continues And That Cooperation Also Helps The American People Stay Safe.

I Think I Have A Pretty Good Take On Popular Culture That Maybe Makes Up For The Fact That I'm Not A Sound-bite Politician For The Nightly News.

The Freedom Of Information Act Should Be Administered With A Clear Presumption: In The Face Of Doubt, Openness Prevails.

Generally Speaking In America, A Lot Of Environmentally Problematic Facilities Tend To Be Located In Places Where Poor Folks Live Because Wealthier Folks Have The Ability To Say, "not In My Backyard."

How Do We Transform Mere Power Into Justice, Mere Sentiment Into Love?

What I Think Is Fair To Say Is That, Coming Out Of The Republican Camp, There Have Been Efforts To Suggest That Perhaps I'm Not Who I Say I Am When It Comes To My Faith - Something Which I Find Deeply Offensive, And That Has Been Going On For A Pretty Long Time.

It Is Now Our Generation's Task To Carry On What Those Pioneers Began. For Our Journey Is Not Complete Until Our Wives, Our Mothers And Daughters Can Earn A Living Equal To Their Efforts. Our Journey Is Not Complete Until Our Gay Brothers And Sisters Are Treated Like Anyone Else Under The Law - For If We Are Truly Created Equal, Then Surely The Love We Commit To One Another Must Be Equal As Well.

If You're A Strong Man, You Should Not Feel Threatened By Strong Women.

The Terrorists Do Not Speak For Over A Billion Muslims Who Reject Their Hateful Ideology.

The Thing About Hip-hop Today Is It's Smart, It's Insightful. The Way They Can Communicate A Complex Message In A Very Short Space Is Remarkable.

After A Decade Of Profligacy, The American People Are Tired Of Politicians Who Talk The Talk But Don't Walk The Walk When It Comes To Fiscal Responsibility. It's Easy To Get Up In Front Of The Cameras And Rant Against Exploding Deficits. What's Hard Is Actually Getting Deficits Under Control. But That's What We Must Do. Like Families Across The Country, We Have To Take Responsibility For Every Dollar We Spend.

We May Not Be Able To Stop Evil In The World, But How We Treat One Another Is Entirely Up To Us.

I Have 90 Percent Or 95 Percent Support In The African American Community And It's Not Sort Of "well, He's Black, So It's Okay. We're Not Going To Say Anything Even Though We're Seething." And I Hang Out With A Lot Of Middle-aged Black Women, And They're Not Casual In Their Support Of Me. There's A Lot Of Love Forthcoming. Partly Because They Understand The Constraints Of This Society. They Know That This Is Hard.

African American

If You Think You Got A Better Idea In Terms Of How To Approach This That's Not Gonna Result In More Pollution, And More Asthma, And More Illness Then Put Your Ideas Out There. But Don't Just Oppose Things Because, "this Was Obama's Agenda."

The More Freely Information Flows, The Stronger The Society Becomes, Because Then Citizens Of Countries Around The World Can Hold Their Own Governments Accountable. They Can Begin To Think For Themselves.

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