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President Obama Speaks in Missouri; Parsing the President's Remarks

Aired September 20, 2013 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Five years ago, plants like this one were closing their doors. And the day I stepped into the Oval Office, the American auto industry, which is the heartbeat of American manufacturing, heartbeat of manufacturing, the auto industry was flat-lining. Ford was standing on its own two feet, had made some smart decisions, but Allen (ph) will tell you, if GM and Chrysler had gone down, suppliers would go down, dealers would have gone down and all of that would have had a profound impact on Ford. I refused to let that happen. So we worked with labor, we worked with management. Everybody had to make some sacrificed. Everybody put some skin in the game. We bet on the American worker. We bet on you. And today, that bet has paid off because the American auto industry has come roaring back.

The big three are all profitable. Hiring new workers. You're not just building more cars, you're building better cars, better trucks. Look at what's going on right here at the plant. The new F-150 is built tougher than ever, more fuel efficient than ever. You got trouble making them fast enough. You had to bring on a third shift of 900 workers just to keep up with demand. And because Ford invested $1.1 billion in this plant, pretty soon 1,100 more new workers will be joining you on these assembly lines in good union jobs building Ford transmissions (ph).

Some more jobs building cars, that means more jobs for suppliers. It means more jobs for distributors. It means more jobs for the folks who own the restaurant here in town, or the bar, depending on -- it has an impact on your tax base. It has an impact on the teacher who teaches your kids. The first responder who keeps you safe. All those people are impacted by your success. And that fundamental idea that when everybody is doing -- when some of us are doing well, it's OK. But when everybody's got a stake, that's when things really start rolling. That's at the heart of every decision I have made as president, because when the middle class does better, we all do better. Shareholders do better. CEOs do better. Workers do better. Everybody does better.

So, in the depths of the crisis, we passed a recovery act to make sure that we put a floor below which this country couldn't fall. We put money in folks' pockets with tax breaks. We made sure the people were rebuilding roads and bridges, keeping things going, helping to keep teachers and firefighters and cops on the job. Today, three and a half years later, our businesses have added 7.5 million new jobs, 7.5 million new jobs. We helped responsible homeowners stay in their homes. Won one of the biggest settlements in history on behalf of people who had wrongfully lost their homes because banks hadn't done things right. Today, our housing market is healing. We took on a tax code that was too skewed toward the wealthy. We gave tax cuts, locked them in, for 98 percent of families. We asked those in the top 2 percent to pay a little bit more. Today, middle-class tax rates are near their all-time low. The deficits are falling at the fastest rate since World War II. That's what we did.

We invested in new American technologies to end our addiction to foreign oil. Today, we're generating more renewable energy than ever before. Produce more natural gas than anybody in the world. We're about to produce more of our own oil than we buy from overseas for the first time in nearly 20 years. And we took on a broken health care system. And in less than two weeks, millions of Americans who have been locked out of the insurance market are finally going to be able to get quality health care. Out of every 10 Americans who are currently uninsured, six out of those 10 are going to be able to get covered for less than $100 a month. Less than your cell phone bill.

So we've been working, just like you've been working over these last four and a half years. We've cleared away the rubble from the crisis. We've started to lay a new foundation for economic growth, new foundation for prosperity. And everybody here, we all had to make some adjustments. I'm assuming some folks had to tighten their belts, get rid of some debt, focus on things that really matter, cut out some things you didn't need. We've shown the world that the American people are tough, they're resilient. The only thing built tougher than Ford trucks are American workers, the American people. That's what we've shown.

All right, so that's the good news. But, any working person, any middle-class family, they'll tell you, we're not yet where we need to be. The economy's growing, but it needs to grow faster. We're producing jobs, but we need to create more jobs and more good-paying jobs. We've got to make sure that we're rebuilding an economy that doesn't work from the top down, it works from the middle out, that gives ladders of opportunity to folks who still don't have a job.

We've got to make sure that workers are sharing in growth and productivity. Right now, even though businesses are creating jobs, the top 1 percent took home 20 percent of the nation's income last year. The average worker barely saw a raise. It ain't fair. It ain't right. So in many ways, the trends that have taken hold over the past few years of a winner take all economy, few folks at the top doing better and better and better, everybody else treading water or losing ground, that's not a model that we want. And it's been made worse by this recession.

So what I've been doing over the last couple months, I've been visiting towns like Liberty, traveling all across the country, talking about what we need to do to reverse those trends, make sure we've got a better bargain for middle-class America. Good jobs that pay good wages, an education that prepares our kids for a global economy, a home that is secure, affordable health care that is there when you get sick, a secure retirement even if you're not rich. All of those things that make for a secure life so you can raise your kids and have confidence that they're going to do better than you did. That's what I'm focused on. That's what you're focused on. That's what Congress should be focused on.

Which brings me to the current situation. Let me talk a little bit about what's going on back in Washington.

Right now, Congress is in the middle of a budget debate. Now, there's nothing new about that. You know, every year, Congress got to pass a budget and it's always a contentious, you know, process. But right now our recovery still needs to build more strength, so it's important that we get it right in Washington because even though our success as a country is ultimately going to depend on great businesses like Ford, hard workers like you, government has to do some things. Congress has to pass a budget to make sure our education system works and prepares our kids and our workers for the global economy. If we're going to rebuild our roads, our bridges, our airports, our ports, government's got to be involved in that.

If we're going to have scientific research and development, I was looking at all these newfangled pieces of equipment here. You know, some of the things that allowed the efficiencies of this plant originated in laboratories and scientists doing work on the government's dime. That's how we always maintain our cutting edge. These are things that help us grow. These are help - things that help the private sector succeed. So don't -- when people tell you somehow government is irrelevant. No, everything we do has some connection to making sure that we collectively, as a democracy, are making some smart investments in the future. That's - that's how it's always been.

So what Congress is doing right now is important. Unfortunately, right now, the debate that's going on in Congress is not meeting the test of helping middle class families. It's just -- they're not focused on you. They're focused on politics. They're focused on trying to mess with me. They're not focused on you. They're not focused on you.

So there are two deadlines coming up that Congress has to meet. And I want folks to pay attention to this. Congress has to meet two deadlines and they're coming up pretty quick. The first deadline, the most basic constitutional duty Congress has is to pass a budget. That's Congress 101. If they don't pass a budget by September 30th -- what's the date today? The 20th. All right. So if Congress doesn't pass a budget in 10 days, a week from Monday, the government will shut down.

A government shutdown shuts down many services that the American people rely on. This is not abstract. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will not be allowed to go to work. Our men and women in uniform, even those deployed overseas, won't get their paychecks on time. Small businesses, they won't get their loans processed. Now, none of that has to happen as long as Congress passes a budget. Number one, passing a budget.

Number two, in the next few weeks, Congress must vote to allow the Department of the Treasury to pay America's bills. All right? Our Treasury Department, that's where we take in money and we pay it, right? Real simple. This is usually done with a simple routine vote to raise what's called the debt ceiling. If you don't raise the debt ceiling, America can't pay its bills.

Since the 1950s, Congress has always passed it. Every president has signed it. Democrats, Republicans, Ronald Reagan, Lyndon Johnson, it doesn't matter, this is just a routine thing that you've got to do so the Treasury can pay the bills. If Congress doesn't pass this debt ceiling in the next few weeks, the United States will default on its obligations. That's never happened in American history. Basically, America becomes a deadbeat.

If the world sees America not paying its bills, then they will not buy debt Treasury bills from the United States, or if they do they'll do it at much higher interest rates. That means somebody wanting to buy an F-150 will have to pay much higher interest rates eventually, which means you will sell less cars. That's just one example of how profoundly destructive this could be. This is not some abstract thing.

And this is important. Raising the debt ceiling is not the same as approving more spending, any more than making your monthly payments adds to the total cost of your truck. You don't say, well, I'm not going to - I'm not going to pay my bill, my note for my truck because I'm going to save money. No, you're not saving money, you already bought the truck, right? You have to pay the bills. You are not -- you're not saving money. You might have decided at the front end not to buy the truck. But once you bought the truck, you can't say you're saving money just by not paying the bills. Does that make sense?

So raising the debt ceiling, it doesn't cost a dime. It does not add a penny to our deficits. All it says is, you've got to pay for what Congress already said we're spending money on. If you don't do it, we could have another financial crisis. And the fact is, I know a lot of people are concerned about deficits. Our deficits are now coming down so quickly, but that by the end of this year we will have cut them in more than half since I took office. Cut the deficits in half.

So I just want to break this down one more time. I go into a Ford dealership. I drive off with a new F-150. Unless I paid cash, I've still got to pay for it each month. I can't just say, you know, I'm not going to make my car payment this month. That's what Congress is threatening to do. Just saying, I'm not going to pay the bills. There are consequences to that. The bill collector starts calling you, right? Your credit goes south. And you got all kinds of problems.

Same is true for our country. So if we don't raise the debt ceiling, we're deadbeats. If we fail to increase the debt limit, we would send our economy into a tailspin. That's a quote, by the way, what I just said. You know who said it? The Republican speaker of the House, John Boehner. The Republican speaker has said, if we don't pay our bills, we'll have an economic tailspin. So this is not just my opinion. This is everybody's opinion.

All right. Now, why haven't we already gotten it done if it's such a simple thing? That's -- everybody is nodding. They're all like, yes, why didn't we already get this done? Democrats and some reasonable Republicans in Congress are willing to raise the debt ceiling and pass a sensible budget. And I want to work with Democrats and Republicans to do just that. Claire McCaskill, she's ready to do it. Congressman Cleaver, he's ready to do it. And if we just pass the budget, raise the debt ceiling, we can get back to focusing on growing this economy and creating jobs, educating our kids, all the things we got to do. Unfortunately, there is a --

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So you've been listening to the president. You can continue to do so, cnn.com/live.

So here he is. He's at this Ford stamping plant, Liberty, Missouri, touting, talking economic growth. But what we were just listening to for really the last 10 minutes or so was the president speaking and addressing the House Republicans' vote today, really strictly along party lines, voting once again to, quote/unquote defund Obamacare. Here was the vote from earlier in the day for yourself, 230-189.

Now, this is about the 40th tiem that House Republicans have held an anti-Obamacare vote. What's new is this. They have attached this anti- Obamacare bill to this measure to fund the government past September 30th. So that means that the legislation meant to avert, as the president was discussing, to avert this government shutdown is dead on arrival, hearing Harry Reid call it DOA, you know, if and when it will get to the Senate, where Democrats still refuse to defund Obamacare, which Democrats consider to be as big an achievement as Republicans think it's a blunder.

So let's get some reaction. Let me take you straight to Washington to our "Crossfire" host and former House speaker, Newt Gingrich. And he has some firsthand experience with government shutdowns. He has been there.

Mr. Speaker, or Newt, I guess, as we are now colleagues, you have played this game of who blinks first. You heard the president just then. What's your reaction?

NEWT GINGRICH, CO-HOST, CNN'S "CROSSFIRE": Well, I think today's speech, like Monday's speech, like Tuesday's speech to the business roundtable, is one more step towards hitting head on. The president could have stayed in Washington. He could have sat down and talked with legislative leaders. He could have tried to find a solution. This is his third partisan attack in one week. Part of what he says is just plain not true. The fact is that since President Eisenhower, we have over and over again had things attached to the debt ceiling. So he's making a case to the audience there that's baloney.

Nobody is arguing about whether or not ultimately you should raise the debt ceiling if that's what's necessary. What we're arguing about is whether or not the legislative branch, under our Constitution, is allowed to have amendments, to modify it, to have conditions on it. And starting with President Eisenhower in the 1950s, this has been a common habit. And the president, frankly, on Monday - or on Tuesday, rather, at the business roundtable, was just plain not accurate. I mean he was saying things that were false. And presidents shouldn't do that, particularly in a prepared text where presumably the White House could check it. So, start with that. Second, you know, there's no offer of any negotiation at all. I mean having Harry Reid say something is dead on arrival so the Senate gets to decide what does and doesn't happen, historically, you have to have a negotiation. The Republican - the House Republicans have a very strong position. The president has a very strong position. Is there some place in the middle they can meet? Well, the President and Harry Reid are saying no, you either do what they want or nothing. And we don't run a dictatorship. Under our Constitution, the dually elected members of the House have a legitimate right to have a say both on the continuing resolution and on the debt ceiling.

BALDWIN: I know you talked negotiations and we hear the president talk about, what was it specifically he said? He said some Democrats and some reasonable Republicans in Congress. Right, so you have this push to repeal, defund Obamacare. We know that the Democrats think that that is total nonsense. But apparently there are some Republicans who agree. Here is Peter King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: I think it's a wing within our party led by people like Ted Cruz who have been really, as far as I'm concerned, carrying out a fraud with the people by somehow implying or even saying that this strategy is going to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I mean, Newt, that's a pretty strong word, hearing, you know, a Republican congressman saying "fraud," right? You have this Republican saying that the path - essentially that the path -

GINGRICH: Well, no -

BALDWIN: The path Republicans have elected to take is a fraud. Do you think, just listening the last couple days to John Boehner, and, you know, we heard him today with Eric Cantor, do you think - do you see him as a strategist, do you see him as driving this thing?

GINGRICH: Look, I think that the Republicans have said over and over again how much they dislike Obamacare, how bad they think Obamacare is. You know, you just had, I think today, Home Depot announce that they're basically going to quit paying for insurance for 20,000 part- time workers and they're going to dump them on the government's change. You had the Cleveland Clinic announce that it's going to lay off 3,000 people in order to survive financially under Obamacare. We've had 301 different companies announce that they're going to put people on part-time work to avoid paying for their insurance.

So, I mean, there are a lot of things out there in the real world that don't exactly meet the president's vision of a government-run health system. The question is, is there some obligation on the part of the president and the Senate Democrats to negotiate with the elected leadership of the House. It doesn't do the president any good to say, oh, I have found (ph) my four pet Republicans and I can work with them. The overwhelming majority of the House Republican Congress, 230 votes in the last -- when they voted today. The overwhelming majority of the House Republican Congress has a firm position. And I think they could be negotiated with. I think they probably could be talked into accepting significant modifications in Obamacare. But, for example, the president is going to push ahead to give people money on an honor system. Now, we get $11 billion to $13 billion a year of fraud in the unearned income tax credit when we try to check. Can you imagine how many billion dollars are going to be given away inappropriately, and in many ways illegally, if you have an honor system?

BALDWIN: I hear you, and I hear you talking about all these negotiations. But at the end of the day, if this thing has to go through the House and the Senate, ultimately is it not up to -- you know how this works, is it not up to the president to say yea or nay, to veto or not? I mean talk about a signature achievement.

GINGRICH: Sure. Look -

BALDWIN: This is the quintessential signature achievement. Why is he going to agree to any kind of middle ground on that?

GINGRICH: Well, the House has passed a bill that keeps the government open. If the president prefers to close the government, that's his prerogative. If the president would like to negotiate to avoid closing the government, that's his prerogative. You're right, he's the president, he gets to choose.

If the president wants to say, Obamacare is so perfect, there's not a single thing we could fix, that's his prerogative. I think the country's going to watch and the country's going to say, this is not a dictatorship. President don't get to dictate. At some point, this president has to sit down and negotiate. And I think the longer he stays in this non-negotiating role, the weaker he's going to get.

BALDWIN: We know the deadline, as he pointed out and everyone's pointing out, September 30th. Newt Gingrich, thank you so much.

GINGRICH: Good to be with you.

BALDWIN: And just a reminder to all of our viewers, watch Newt and the rest of the gang on CNN's "Crossfire" every weekday night. Newt Gingrich, Stephanie Cutter, S.E. Cupp and Van Jones. Do not miss it tonight at 6:30 Eastern.

Coming up, a three-year-old gunshot victim. Just think about that. Three years of age. Hit by a bullet. A little boy among 13 people shot in a Chicago park last night. Is this a gun problem? Is this a gang problem? We'll talk about that.

Plus, more than 850 snakes found inside one man's home. He's accused of running an illegal pet shop. I'll talk to someone from the Columbus Zoo about how he allegedly pulled this off.

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