Obama to DNC: We Kept Our Promises, We're Moving Forward

By: David Morgan
Topics: White House

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

With allusions to Republicans as a party of obstructionists preventing Washington from working for the American people, President Barack Obama told an audience of Democratic Party stalwarts that he would not back down from fighting for health care reform.

At the Democratic National Committee's Winter Meeting this morning, the president reminded DNC members that despite sluggish poll numbers and the frustrations of Americans over jobs and the economy, his administration and party has accomplished much of what they promised.

"I just want to remind everybody, we knew from the beginning that this would not be easy," Mr. Obama said. "Change never is, but that's especially true in these times, when we face an array of challenges as tough as any we have seen in generations. President Kennedy once said, 'When we got into office, the thing that surprised me most was to find that things were just as bad as we'd been saying they were!' The truth was, things were worse. . . . "

Presdient Obama said steps taken to right the economy and restore a greater sense of security for middle-class families was done without the cooperation of Republicans.

"Some of the steps we took were done without the help of the other party, which made a political decision all too often to jump in the back seat, let us do the driving, and then critique whether we were taking the right turns," he said. "None of us wanted to throw a lifeline to the banks. But the outrage shouldn't be that we did, because it had to happen in order to prevent millions more from losing their jobs, millions of businesses and homes foreclosed; the real outrage is that we had to do it in the first place, in order to fend off the collapse of the financial system - that's the outrage."

Full Text: Obama's Speech to DNC (2.06.10)

Democrats cheered as the president recited a list of accomplishments over the past year: nearly $300 billion in tax relief, including cuts for small businesses and 95% of working Americans; a job stimulus bill; a credit card bill of rights; a law for equal pay for equal work; extending health care to 4 million more children; prohibitions of marketing tobacco towards minors; passing the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act; appointing Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court; working with Congress and the military to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"; improving America's engagement with partners overseas to stop the spread nuclear weapons; moving towards Iraq's self-control; banning torture; charting a new way forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan; speaking in Cairo as part of a dialogue with the Muslim world; and aiding Haitian victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

"So if you look at a tally of the things we said we would do, even in the midst of this extraordinarily challenging economy, we've kept our promises. We've kept our commitments. We have moved forward on behalf of a more prosperous and more secure future for the American people."

Still, he admitted, for Americans who are struggling, change cannot come quickly enough, and he said he understands their frustration with Washington.

"Michelle is always a good barometer," Mr. Obama said. "And she said, 'You know, listen, if you're the average family, if I'm a mom out there and I'm working and my husband's working but we're worried about losing our jobs or hours have been cut back, costs of our health care premiums just went up 30% and credit card company just jacked up our interest rates 39% and our home values have gone down by $100,000, our 401(k)s all banged up and suddenly someone calls up and says, So, how do you think President Obama's doing's doing right now? What are they going to say?'

"When unemployment is 9.7%, when we are still digging ourselves out of an extraordinary recession, people are going to be frustrated. And they're going to be looking to the party in power to try to fix it. When you've got another party that says 'We don't want to do anything about it,' of course people are going to be frustrated.

"Folks are out there working hard every day, trying to meet their responsibilities. But all around them during this last lost decade, what they've seen is a wave of irresponsibility from Wall Street to Washington. They see a capital city where every day is treated like Election Day and every act, every comment, every gesture passes through a political filter. They've seen the outsides influence of lobbyists and special interests who too often hijack the agenda by leveraging campaign money and connections. Of course they wonder if their leaders can muster the will to overcome all of that and confront the real problems that touch their lives.

"But here's what everybody here has to remember - that's why I ran for president. That's why you worked so hard to elect a Democratic Congress. We knew this stuff was tough. But we stepped up because we decided we were going to take the responsibility of changing it. And it may not be easy, but change is coming."