Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner

Transcript:

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, CBC!  (Applause.)  Thank you so much. Thank you.  Please, everybody have a seat.  It is wonderful to be with all of you tonight.  It's good to be with the conscience of the Congress.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Chairman Cleaver and brother Payne, for all that you do each and every day.  Thank you, Dr. Elsie Scott, president and CEO of the CBC Foundation, and all of you for your outstanding work with your internship program, which has done so much for so many young people.  And I had a chance to meet some of the young people backstage -- an incredible, unbelievably impressive group. 

You know, being here with all of you -- with all the outstanding members of the Congressional Black Caucus -- reminds me of a story that one of our friends, a giant of the civil rights movement, Reverend Dr. Joseph Lowery, told one day.  Dr. Lowery -- I don't think he minds me telling that he turns 90 in a couple weeks.  (Applause.)  He’s been causing a ruckus for about 89 of those years.  (Laughter.) 

A few years back, Dr. Lowery and I were together at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma.  (Applause.)  We've got some Selma folks in the house.  (Applause.)  And Dr. Lowery stood up in the pulpit and told the congregation the story of Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace.  You know the story -- it’s about three young men bold enough to stand up for God, even if it meant being thrown in a furnace.  And they survived because of their faith, and because God showed up in that furnace with them.

Now, Dr. Lowery said that those three young men were a little bit crazy.  But there’s a difference, he said, between good crazy and bad crazy.  (Applause.)  Those boys, he said, were “good crazy.”  At the time, I was running for president -- it was early in the campaign.  Nobody gave me much of a chance.  He turned to me from the pulpit, and indicated that someone like me running for president -- well, that was crazy.  (Laughter.)  But he supposed it was good crazy. 

He was talking about faith, the belief in things not seen, the belief that if you persevere a better day lies ahead.  And I suppose the reason I enjoy coming to the CBC -- what this weekend is all about is, you and me, we're all a little bit crazy, but hopefully a good kind of crazy.  (Applause.)  We’re a good kind of crazy because no matter how hard things get, we keep the faith; we keep fighting; we keep moving forward.

And we've needed faith over these last couple years.  Times have been hard.  It’s been three years since we faced down a crisis that began on Wall Street and then spread to Main Street, and hammered working families, and hammered an already hard-hit black community.  The unemployment rate for black folks went up to nearly 17 percent -- the highest it’s been in almost three decades; 40 percent, almost, of African American children living in poverty; fewer than half convinced that they can achieve Dr. King’s dream.  You’ve got to be a little crazy to have faith during such hard times. 

It’s heartbreaking, and it’s frustrating.  And I ran for President, and the members of the CBC ran for Congress, to help more Americans reach that dream.  (Applause.)  We ran to give every child a chance, whether he’s born in Chicago, or she comes from a rural town in the Delta.  This crisis has made that job of giving everybody opportunity a little bit harder. 

We knew at the outset of my presidency that the economic calamity we faced wasn’t caused overnight and wasn’t going to be solved overnight.  We knew that long before the recession hit, the middle class in this country had been falling behind -– wages and incomes had been stagnant; a sense of financial security had been slipping away.  And since these problems were not caused overnight, we knew we were going to have to climb a steep hill. 

But we got to work.  With your help, we started fighting our way back from the brink.  And at every step of the way, we’ve faced fierce opposition based on an old idea -- the idea that the only way to restore prosperity can’t just be to let every corporation write its own rules, or give out tax breaks to the wealthiest and the most fortunate, and to tell everybody that they're on their own.  There has to be a different concept of what America’s all about.  It has to be based on the idea that I am my brother’s keeper and I am my sister’s keeper, and we’re in this together.  We are in this thing together.  (Applause.) 

We had a different vision and so we did what was right, and we fought to extend unemployment insurance, and we fought to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, and we fought to expand the Child Tax Credit -- which benefited nearly half of all African American children in this country.  (Applause.)  And millions of Americans are better off because of that fight.  (Applause.) 

Ask the family struggling to make ends meet if that extra few hundred dollars in their mother’s paycheck from the payroll tax cut we passed made a difference.  They’ll tell you.  Ask them how much that Earned Income Tax Credit or that Child Tax Credit makes a difference in paying the bills at the end of the month. 

When an army of lobbyists and special interests spent millions to crush Wall Street reform, we stood up for what was right.  We said the time has come to protect homeowners from predatory mortgage lenders.  The time has come to protect consumers from credit card companies that jacked up rates without warning.  (Applause.)  We signed the strongest consumer financial protection in history.  That’s what we did together.  (Applause.)

Remember how many years we tried to stop big banks from collecting taxpayer subsidies for student loans while the cost of college kept slipping out of reach?  Together, we put a stop to that once and for all.  We used those savings to make college more affordable.  We invested in early childhood education and community college and HBCUs.  Ask the engineering student at an HBCU who thought he might have to leave school if that extra Pell Grant assistance mattered.  (Applause.)

We’re attacking the cycle of poverty that steals the future from too many children -- not just by pouring money into a broken system, but by building on what works -– with Promise Neighborhoods modeled after the good work up in Harlem; Choice Neighborhoods rebuilding crumbling public housing into communities of hope and opportunity; Strong Cities, Strong Communities, our partnership with local leaders in hard-hit cities like Cleveland and Detroit.  And we overcame years of inaction to win justice for black farmers because of the leadership of the CBC and because we had an administration that was committed to doing the right thing.  (Applause.)

And against all sorts of setbacks, when the opposition fought us with everything they had, we finally made clear that in the United States of America nobody should go broke because they get sick.  We are better than that.  (Applause.)  And today, insurance companies can no longer drop or deny your coverage for no good reason.  In just a year and a half, about one million more young adults have health insurance because of this law.  (Applause.)  One million young people.  That is an incredible achievement, and we did it with your help, with the CBC’s help.  (Applause.)

So in these hard years, we’ve won a lot of fights that needed fighting and we’ve done a lot of good.  But we’ve got more work to do.  So many people are still hurting.  So many people are still barely hanging on.  And too many people in this city are still fighting us every step of the way. 

So I need your help.  We have to do more to put people to work right now.  We’ve got to make that everyone in this country gets a fair shake, and a fair shot, and a chance to get ahead.  (Applause.)  And I know we won’t get where we need to go if we don’t travel down this road together.  I need you with me.  (Applause.)
  
That starts with getting this Congress to pass the American Jobs Act.  (Applause.)  You heard me talk about this plan when I visited Congress a few weeks ago and sent the bill to Congress a few days later.  Now I want that bill back -- passed.  I’ve got the pens all ready.  I am ready to sign it.  And I need your help to make it happen.  (Applause.)

Right now we’ve got millions of construction workers out of a job.  So this bill says, let’s put those men and women back to work in their own communities rebuilding our roads and our bridges.  Let’s give these folks a job rebuilding our schools.  Let’s put these folks to work rehabilitating foreclosed homes in the hardest-hit neighborhoods of Detroit and Atlanta and Washington.  This is a no-brainer.  (Applause.) 

Why should we let China build the newest airports, the fastest railroads?  Tell me why our children should be allowed to study in a school that’s falling apart?  I don’t want that for my kids or your kids.  I don’t want that for any kid.  You tell me how it makes sense when we know that education is the most important thing for success in the 21st century.  (Applause.)  Let’s put our people back to work doing the work America needs done.  Let’s pass this jobs bill.  (Applause.)

We’ve got millions of unemployed Americans and young people looking for work but running out of options.  So this jobs bill says, let’s give them a pathway, a new pathway back to work.  Let’s extend unemployment insurance so that more than six million Americans don’t lose that lifeline.  But let’s also encourage reforms that help the long-term unemployed keep their skills sharp and get a foot in the door.  Let’s give summer jobs for low-income youth that don’t just give them their first paycheck but arm them with the skills they need for life.  (Applause.) 

Tell me why we don’t want the unemployed back in the workforce as soon as possible.  Let’s pass this jobs bill, put these folks back to work.  (Applause.)   

Why are we shortchanging our children when we could be putting teachers back in the classroom right now, where they belong?  (Applause.)  Laying off teachers, laying off police officer, laying off firefighters all across the country because state and local budgets are tough.  Why aren’t we helping?  We did in the first two years.  And then this other crowd came into Congress and now suddenly they want to stop.  Tell me why we shouldn’t give companies tax credits for hiring the men and women who’ve risked their lives for this country -- our veterans.  There is no good answer for that.  They shouldn’t be fighting to find a job when they come home.  (Applause.) 

These Republicans in Congress like to talk about job creators.  How about doing something real for job creators?  Pass this jobs bill, and every small business owner in America, including 100,000 black-owned businesses, will get a tax cut.  (Applause.)  You say you’re the party of tax cuts.  Pass this jobs bill, and every worker in America, including nearly 20 million African American workers, will get a tax cut.  (Applause.)  Pass this jobs bill, and prove you’ll fight just as hard for a tax cut for ordinary folks as you do for all your contributors.  (Applause.) 

These are questions that opponents of this jobs plan will have to answer.  Because the kinds of ideas in this plan in the past have been supported by both parties.  Suddenly Obama is proposing it -- what happened?  (Laughter.)  What happened?  You all used to like to build roads.  (Laughter.)  Right?  What happened?  Reverend, you know what happened?  I don’t know.  They used to love to build some roads.  (Laughter.) 

Now, I know some of our friends across the aisle won’t support any new spending that’s not paid for.  I agree that’s important.  So last week, I laid out a plan to pay for the American Jobs Act, and to bring out -- down our debt over time.  You say the deficit is important?  Here we go.  I’m ready to go. It’s a plan that says if we want to create jobs and close this deficit, then we’ve got to ask the folks who have benefited most -- the wealthiest Americans, the biggest, most profitable corporations -- to pay their fair share.  (Applause.) 

We are not asking them to do anything extraordinary.  The reform we’re proposing is based on a simple principle:  Middle-class folks should not pay higher tax rates than millionaires and billionaires.  (Applause.)  That’s not crazy -- or it’s good crazy.  (Laughter.)  Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett.  A teacher or a nurse or a construction worker making $50,000 a year shouldn’t pay higher tax rates than somebody making $50 million.  That’s just common sense. 

We’re not doing this to punish success.  This is the land of opportunity.  I want you to go out, start a business, get rich, build something.  Out country is based on the belief that anybody can make it if they put in enough sweat and enough effort.  That is wonderful.  God bless you.  But part of the American idea is also that once we've done well we should pay our fair share -- (applause) -- to make sure that those schools that we were learning in can teach the next generation; that those roads that we benefited from -- that they're not crumbling for the next bunch of folks who are coming behind us; to keep up the nation that made our success possible.

And most wealthy Americans would agree with that.  But you know the Republicans are already dusting off their old talking points.  That's class warfare, they say.  In fact, in the next breath, they’ll complain that people living in poverty -- people who suffered the most over the past decade -- don’t pay enough in taxes.  That's bad crazy.  (Laughter and applause.)  When you start saying, at a time when the top one-tenth of 1 percent has seen their incomes go up four or five times over the last 20 years, and folks at the bottom have seen their incomes decline -- and your response is that you want poor folks to pay more?  Give me a break.  If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor.  I have no problem with that.  (Applause.) It's about time.  

They say it kills jobs -- oh, that's going to kill jobs.  We’re not proposing anything other than returning to the tax rates for the wealthiest Americans that existed under Bill Clinton.  I played golf with Bill Clinton today.  I was asking him, how did that go?  (Laughter.)  Well, it turns out we had a lot of jobs.  The well-to-do, they did even better.  So did the middle class.  We lifted millions out of poverty.  And then we cut taxes for folks like me, and we went through a decade of zero job growth. 

So this isn't speculation.  We've tested this out.  We tried their theory; didn’t work.  Tried our theory; it worked.  We shouldn’t be confused about this.  (Applause.)

This debate is about priorities.  If we want to create new jobs and close the deficit and invest in our future, the money has got to come from somewhere.  And so, should we keep tax loopholes for big oil companies?  Or should we put construction workers and teachers back on the job?  (Applause.)  Should we keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires?  Or should we invest in our children’s education and college aid?  Should we ask seniors to be paying thousands of dollars more for Medicare, as the House Republicans propose, or take young folks’ health care away?  Or should we ask that everybody pay their fair share? This is about fairness.  And this is about who we are as a country.  This is about our commitment to future generations.

When Michelle and I think about where we came from -- a little girl on the South Side of Chicago, son of a single mom in Hawaii -- mother had to go to school on scholarships, sometimes got food stamps.  Michelle's parents never owned their own home until she had already graduated -- living upstairs above the aunt who actually owned the house.  We are here today only because our parents and our grandparents, they broke their backs to support us.  (Applause.)  But they also understood that they would get a little bit of help from their country.  Because they met their responsibilities, this country would also be responsible, would also provide good public schools, would also provide recreation  -- parks that were safe, making sure that they could take the bus without getting beat over the head, making sure that their kids would be able to go to college even if they weren’t rich.

We're only here because past generations struggled and sacrificed for this incredible, exceptional idea that it does not matter where you come from, it does not matter where you’re born, doesn’t matter what you look like -- if you’re willing to put in an effort, you should get a shot.  You should get a shot at the American Dream.  (Applause.) 

And each night, when we tuck in our girls at the White House, I think about keeping that dream alive for them and for all of our children.  And that’s now up to us.  And that’s hard. This is harder than it’s been in a long, long time.  We’re going through something we haven’t seen in our lifetimes. 

And I know at times that gets folks discouraged.  I know.  I listen to some of you all.  (Laughter.)  I understand that.  And nobody feels that burden more than I do.  Because I know how much we have invested in making sure that we’re able to move this country forward.  But you know, more than a lot of other folks in this country, we know about hard.  The people in this room know about hard.  (Applause.)  And we don’t give in to discouragement. 

Throughout our history, change has often come slowly.  Progress often takes time.  We take a step forward, sometimes we take two steps back.  Sometimes we get two steps forward and one step back.  But it’s never a straight line.  It’s never easy.  And I never promised easy.  Easy has never been promised to us.  But we’ve had faith.  We have had faith.  We’ve had that good kind of crazy that says, you can’t stop marching.  (Applause.) 

Even when folks are hitting you over the head, you can’t stop marching.  Even when they’re turning the hoses on you, you can’t stop.  (Applause.)  Even when somebody fires you for speaking out, you can’t stop.  (Applause.)  Even when it looks like there’s no way, you find a way -- you can’t stop.  (Applause.)  Through the mud and the muck and the driving rain, we don’t stop.  Because we know the rightness of our cause -- widening the circle of opportunity, standing up for everybody’s opportunities, increasing each other’s prosperity.  We know our cause is just.  It’s a righteous cause. 

So in the face of troopers and teargas, folks stood unafraid.  Led somebody like John Lewis to wake up after getting beaten within an inch of his life on Sunday -- he wakes up on Monday:  We’re going to go march.  (Applause.)

Dr. King once said:  “Before we reach the majestic shores of the Promised Land, there is a frustrating and bewildering wilderness ahead.  We must still face prodigious hilltops of opposition and gigantic mountains of resistance.  But with patient and firm determination we will press on.”  (Applause.) 

So I don’t know about you, CBC, but the future rewards those who press on.  (Applause.)  With patient and firm determination, I am going to press on for jobs.  (Applause.)  I'm going to press on for equality.  (Applause.)  I'm going to press on for the sake of our children.  (Applause.)  I'm going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now.  I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself.  I don’t have time to complain.  I am going to press on.  (Applause.) 

I expect all of you to march with me and press on.  (Applause.)  Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes.  Shake it off.  (Applause.)  Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying.  We are going to press on.  We’ve got work to do, CBC.  (Applause.) 

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

Obama at Boston Seaport 04/02/2008

Most of all it means deploying our military wisely and the war in Iraq was unwise. It distracted us, from our enemies in Afghanistan.

By the time this thing is over, I think it is safe to assume that it will be well over a trillion maybe closer to two. For that money we could have rebuild every road, every bridge, every hospital, every school in America. We could have completely overhauled our infrastructure, we could have put homeland security in place, we cold have sent our kids to school.

….

Then, John McCain won’t be able to say to me: “Well you voted for that war too”, because I didn’t. He won’t be able to say, “well you went along with George Bush’s policy on Iran”, because I haven’t.

This was an unwise war and that is why I’ll bring this war to an end. And I’ll bring our troops home, in 2009. But I will not just end the war I want to end the mindset that got us into war.

Earlier in this campaign I said I would not just meet with our friends, I would meet with our enemies. Not just leaders we liked but leaders we despised. Strong countries and strong presidents talk to their adversaries and tell them where America stands.

….

And that will allow us then to go before the world and say “America’s back!” We are ready to lead on those common threats of the 21^st century. Yes we will defeat terrorism, we will defeat those who would do us harm, we will lock down those nuclear weapons.

But also, we will deal with the genocide in Darfur, we will also deal with HIV Aids in Sub-Saharan Africa. We will deal with poverty and we will deal with disease.

If you believe, we can have a foreign policy that matches up with our values and our ideals and we will elect a president who has taught the constitution, who believes the constitution, who will obey the constitution of the United States of America, if you believe.

….

They understand that the real risk,, the real roll on the dice would be to have the same old folks doing the same old things over and over again and somehow expecting a different result. They want something more fundamental than that they want real change thats what they are looking for. They are ready to reach a little higher.

….

But towards the end of this campaign we’ve been having an argument not just about the nature of change but also about the nature of hope. See here is the thing, understand, particularly for you democrats, we have a choice right now.

It is not a choice between black and white, it is not a choice between male female, it is not a regional choice, it is a choice between the past and the future.

Nothing in this country worthwhile has ever happened except somebody, somewhere was willing to hope.

A red tagged band of patriots declaring independence challenged the mighty British empire. Nobody gave them a chance, but they had hope. Slaves and abolitionists resisting a wicked system, our greatest generation defeating Hitler, lifting itself up out of a great depression, pioneers heading west, immigrants traveling from distant shores, women winning the right to vote, workers winning the right to organize, young people traveling down south to march and sit-in and get beaten and go to jail and some died for freedom’s cause; thats what hope is.

That is what hope is; imagining and then fighting for and struggling for what did not seem possible before. That is the moment that we are in right now, that is the opportunity that lies before us.

There is a time in the life of every generation, where that spirit, that hope has to shine through. When we cast aside the fear and the doubt and the cynicism and we turn each other and we join hands and we remake this county block by block, county by county, state by state.

This is one of those moments, this our moment this is our time and if you are willing to join with me if you are willing to vote for me if you are willing to organize with me and mobilize with me if you are willing to reach for what you know is possible and not settle for what the cynics tell you have to accept. Then I promise you this, we will not just win the primary we will win the general election. And you and I together we will transform this county and we will transform the world.

God Bless you Boston, I love you.

President-Elect Barack Obama on Election Night

The following is the prepared text of Barack Obama's election night address.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

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.  

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America. 

I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain.  He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he’s fought even longer and harder for the country he loves.  He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.  I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. 

I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation’s next First Lady, Michelle Obama.  Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House.  And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am.  I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics – you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office.  We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements.  Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington – it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. 

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause.  It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth.  This is your victory.

I know you didn’t do this just to win an election and I know you didn’t do it for me.  You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead.  For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.  Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.  There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor’s bills, or save enough for college.  There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long.  Our climb will be steep.  We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America – I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.  I promise you – we as a people will get there. 

There will be setbacks and false starts.  There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can’t solve every problem.  But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face.  I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.  And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. 

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change.  And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.  It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other.  Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.  Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House – a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity.  Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.  As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.”  And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too. 

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.  To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you.  To those who seek peace and security – we support you.  And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.  

For that is the true genius of America – that America can change.  Our union can be perfected.  And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. 

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations.  But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta.  She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. 

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed:  Yes we can. 

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot.  Yes we can. 

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose.  Yes we can. 

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved.  Yes we can. 

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.”  Yes we can. 

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.  And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.  Yes we can. 

America, we have come so far.  We have seen so much.  But there is so much more to do.  So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see?  What progress will we have made? 

This is our chance to answer that call.  This is our moment.  This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can.  Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

***

DÍSCURSO ÍNTEGRO DE BARACK OBAMA


Si todavía queda alguien por ahí que aún duda de que Estados Unidos es un lugar donde todo 
es posible, quien todavía se pregunta si el sueño de nuestros fundadores sigue vivo en nuestros 
tiempos, quien todavía cuestiona la fuerza de nuestra democracia, esta noche es su respuesta.
Es la respuesta dada por las colas que se extendieron alrededor de escuelas e iglesias en un 
número cómo esta nación jamás ha visto, por las personas que esperaron tres horas y cuatro 
horas, muchas de ellas por primera vez en sus vidas, porque creían que esta vez tenía que ser 
distinta, y que sus voces podrían suponer esa diferencia.


Es la respuesta pronunciada por los jóvenes y los ancianos, ricos y pobres, demócratas y 
republicanos, negros, blancos, hispanos, indígenas, homosexuales, heterosexuales, 
discapacitados o no discapacitados. Estadounidenses que transmitieron al mundo el mensaje de 
que nunca hemos sido simplemente una colección de individuos ni una colección de estados 
rojos y estados azules.


Somos, y siempre seremos, los Estados Unidos de América.


Es la respuesta que condujo a aquellos que durante tanto tiempo han sido aconsejados a ser 
escépticos y temerosos y dudosos sobre lo que podemos lograr, a poner manos al arco de la 
Historia y torcerlo una vez más hacia la esperanza en un día mejor.


Ha tardado tiempo en llegar, pero esta noche, debido a lo que hicimos en esta fecha, en estas 
elecciones, en este momento decisivo, el cambio ha venido a Estados Unidos.


Esta noche, recibí una llamada extraordinariamente cortés del senador McCain.
El senador McCain luchó larga y duramente en esta campaña. Y ha luchado aún más larga y 
duramente por el país que ama. Ha aguantado sacrificios por Estados Unidos que no podemos ni 
imaginar. Todos nos hemos beneficiado del servicio prestado por este líder valiente y abnegado.


Le felicito; felicito a la gobernadora Palin por todo lo que han logrado. Y estoy deseando 
colaborar con ellos para renovar la promesa de esa nación durante los próximos meses.
Quiero agradecer a mi socio en este viaje, un hombre que hizo campaña desde el corazón, e 
hizo de portavoz de los hombres y las mujeres con quienes se crío en las calles de Scranton y 
con quienes viajaba en tren de vuelta a su casa en Delaware, el vicepresidente electo de los 
Estados Unidos, Joe Biden.


Y no estaría aquí esta noche sin el respaldo infatigable de mi mejor amiga durante los últimos 16 
años, la piedra de nuestra familia, el amor de mi vida, la próxima primera dama de la nación, 
Michelle Obama.


Sasha y Malia, os quiero a las dos más de lo que podéis imagina. Y os habéis ganado el nuevo 
cachorro que nos acompañará hasta la nueva Casa Blanca. Y aunque ya no está con nosotros, 
sé que mi abuela nos está viendo, junto con la familia que hizo de mí lo que soy. Los echo en 
falta esta noche. Sé que mi deuda para con ellos es incalculable.


A mi hermana Maya, mi hermana Alma, al resto de mis hermanos y hermanas, muchísimas 
gracias por todo el respaldo que me habéis aportado. Estoy agradecido a todos vosotros. Y a mi 
director de campaña, David Plouffe, el héroe no reconocido de esta campaña, quien construyó la 
mejor, la mejor campaña política, creo, en la Historia de los Estados Unidos de América.


A mi estratega en jefe, David Axelrod, quien ha sido un socio mío a cada paso del camino. Al 
mejor equipo de campaña que se ha compuesto en la historia de la política. Vosotros hicisteis realidad esto, y estoy agradecido para siempre por lo que habéis sacrificado para lograrlo.
Pero sobre todo, no olvidaré a quién pertenece de verdad esta victoria. Os pertenece a vosotros. 
Os pertenece a vosotros.


Nunca parecí el aspirante a este cargo con más posibilidades. No comenzamos con mucho 
dinero ni con muchos avales. Nuestra campaña no fue ideada en los pasillos de Washington. Se 
inició en los jardines traseros de Des Moines y en los cuartos de estar de Concord y en los 
porches de Charleston. Fue construida por los trabajadores y las trabajadoras que recurrieron a 
los pocos ahorros que tenían para donar a la causa cinco dólares y diez dólares y veinte dólares
Adquirió fuerza de los jóvenes que rechazaron el mito de la apatía de su generación, que dejaron 
atrás sus casas y sus familiares para hacer trabajos que les procuraron poco dinero y menos 
sueño.


Adquirió fuerza de las personas no tan jóvenes que hicieron frente al gélido frío y el ardiente 
calor para llamar a las puertas de desconocidos y de los millones de estadounidenses que se 
ofrecieron voluntarios y organizaron y demostraron que, más de dos siglos después, un gobierno 
del pueblo, por el pueblo y para el pueblo no se ha desvanecido de la Tierra.
Esta es vuestra victoria.


Y sé que no lo hicisteis sólo para ganar unas elecciones. Y sé que no lo hicisteis por mí. Lo 
hicisteis porque entendéis la magnitud de la tarea que queda por delante. Mientras celebramos 
esta noche, sabemos que los retos que nos traerá el día de mañana son los mayores de 
nuestras vidas -dos guerras, un planeta en peligro, la peor crisis financiera desde hace un siglo-.
Mientras estamos aquí esta noche, sabemos que hay estadounidenses valientes que se 
despiertan en los desiertos de Irak y las montañas de Afganistán para jugarse la vida por 
nosotros.


Hay madres y padres que se quedarán desvelados en la cama después de que los niños se 
hayan dormido y se preguntarán cómo pagarán la hipoteca o las facturas médicas o ahorrar lo 
suficiente para la educación universitaria de sus hijos.


Hay nueva energía por aprovechar, nuevos puestos de trabajo por crear, nuevas escuelas por 
construir, y amenazas por contestar, alianzas por reparar.


El camino por delante será largo. La subida será empinada. Puede que no lleguemos en un año 
ni en un mandato. Sin embargo, Estados Unidos, nunca he estado tan esperanzado como estoy 
esta noche de que llegaremos.


Os prometo que, nosotros, como pueblo, llegaremos.


Habrá percances y comienzos en falso. Hay muchos que no estarán de acuerdo con cada 
decisión o política mía cuando sea presidente. Y sabemos que el gobierno no puede solucionar
todos los problemas.


Pero siempre seré sincero con vosotros sobre los retos que nos afrontan. Os escucharé, sobre 
todo cuando discrepamos. Y sobre todo, os pediré que participéis en la labor de reconstruir esta 
nación, de la única forma en que se ha hecho en Estados Unidos durante 221 años bloque por 
bloque, ladrillo por ladrillo, mano encallecida sobre mano encallecida.


Lo que comenzó hace 21 meses en pleno invierno no puede terminar en esta noche otoñal. Esta 
victoria en sí misma no es el cambio que buscamos. Es sólo la oportunidad para que hagamos 
ese cambio. Y eso no puede suceder si volvemos a como era antes. No puede suceder sin vosotros, sin un nuevo espíritu de sacrificio.


Así que hagamos un llamamiento a un nuevo espíritu del patriotismo, de responsabilidad, en que 
cada uno echa una mano y trabaja más y se preocupa no sólo de nosotros mismos sino el uno 
del otro.


Recordemos que, si esta crisis financiera nos ha enseñado algo, es que no puede haber un Wall 
Street (sector financiero) próspero mientras que Main Street (los comercios de a pie) sufren.
En este país, avanzamos o fracasamos como una sola nación, como un solo pueblo. Resistamos 
la tentación de recaer en el partidismo y mezquindad e inmadurez que han intoxicado nuestra 
vida política desde hace tanto tiempo.


Recordemos que fue un hombre de este estado quien llevó por primera vez a la Casa Blanca la 
bandera del Partido Republicano, un partido fundado sobre los valores de la autosuficiencia y la 
libertad del individuo y la unidad nacional.


Esos son valores que todos compartimos. Y mientras que el Partido Demócrata ha logrado una 
gran victoria esta noche, lo hacemos con cierta humildad y la decisión de curar las divisiones que 
han impedido nuestro progreso.


Como dijo Lincoln a una nación mucho más dividida que la nuestra, no somos enemigos sino 
amigos. Aunque las pasiones los hayan puesto bajo tensión, no deben romper nuestros lazos de 
afecto.


Y a aquellos estadounidenses cuyo respaldo me queda por ganar, puede que no haya obtenido 
vuestro voto esta noche, pero escucho vuestras voces. Necesito vuestra ayuda. Y seré vuestro 
presidente, también.


Y a todos aquellos que nos ven esta noche desde más allá de nuestras costas, desde 
parlamentos y palacios, a aquellos que se juntan alrededor de las radios en los rincones 
olvidados del mundo, nuestras historias son diversas, pero nuestro destino es compartido, y llega 
un nuevo amanecer de liderazgo estadounidense.


A aquellos, a aquellos que derrumbarían al mundo: os vamos a vencer. A aquellos que buscan la 
paz y la seguridad: os apoyamos. Y a aquellos que se preguntan si el faro de Estados Unidos 
todavía ilumina tan fuertemente: esta noche hemos demostrado una vez más que la fuerza 
auténtica de nuestra nación procede no del poderío de nuestras armas ni de la magnitud de 
nuestra riqueza sino del poder duradero de nuestros ideales; la democracia, la libertad, la 
oportunidad y la esperanza firme.


Allí está la verdadera genialidad de Estados Unidos: que Estados Unidos puede cambiar. 
Nuestra unión se puede perfeccionar. Lo que ya hemos logrado nos da esperanza con respecto 
a lo que podemos y tenemos que lograr mañana.


Estas elecciones contaron con muchas primicias y muchas historias que se contarán durante 
siglos. Pero una que tengo en mente esta noche trata de una mujer que emitió su papeleta en 
Atlanta. Ella se parece mucho a otros que guardaron cola para hacer oír su voz en estas 
elecciones, salvo por una cosa: Ann Nixon Cooper tiene 106 años.


Nació sólo una generación después de la esclavitud; en una era en que no había automóviles 
por las carreteras ni aviones por los cielos; cuando alguien como ella no podía votar por dos 
razones -porque era mujer y por el color de su piel. Y esta noche, pienso en todo lo que ella ha 
visto durante su siglo en Estados Unidos- la desolación y la esperanza, la lucha y el progreso; las 
veces que nos dijeron que no podíamos y la gente que se esforzó por continuar adelante con ese 
credo estadounidense: Sí podemos.



En tiempos en que las voces de las mujeres fueron acalladas y sus esperanzas descartadas, ella  sobrevivió para verlas levantarse, expresarse y alargar la mano hacia la papeleta. Sí podemos. 


Cuando había desesperación y una depresión a lo largo del país, ella vio cómo una nación conquistó el propio miedo con un Nuevo Arreglo, nuevos empleos y un nuevo sentido de propósitos comunes.


Sí podemos.


Cuando las bombas cayeron sobre nuestro puerto y la tiranía amenazó al mundo, ella estaba allí para ser testigo de cómo una generación respondió con grandeza y la democracia fue salvada.


Sí podemos.


Ella estaba allí para los autobuses de Montgomery, las mangas de riego en Birmingham, un puente en Selma y un predicador de Atlanta que dijo a un pueblo: "Lo superaremos".


Sí podemos.


Un hombre llegó a la luna, un muro cayó en Berlín y un mundo se interconectó a través de nuestra ciencia e imaginación.


Y este año, en estas elecciones, ella tocó una pantalla con el dedo y votó, porque después de  106 años en Estados Unidos, durante los tiempos mejores y las horas más negras, ella sabe cómo Estados Unidos puede cambiar.


Sí podemos.


Estados Unidos, hemos avanzado mucho. Hemos visto mucho. Pero queda mucho más por hacer. Así que, esta noche, preguntémonos -si nuestros hijos viven hasta ver el próximo siglo, si mis hijas tienen tanta suerte como para vivir tanto tiempo como Ann Nixon Cooper, ¿qué cambio verán? ¿Qué progreso habremos hecho?


Esta es nuestra oportunidad de responder a ese llamamiento. Este es nuestro momento. Estos son nuestros tiempos, para dar empleo a nuestro pueblo y abrir las puertas de la oportunidad para nuestros pequeños; para restaurar la prosperidad y fomentar la causa de la paz; para recuperar el sueño americano y reafirmar esa verdad fundamental, que, de muchos, somos uno; que mientras respiremos tenemos esperanza.


Y donde nos encontramos con escepticismo y dudas y aquellos que nos dicen que no podemos, contestaremos con ese credo eterno que resume el espíritu de un pueblo: Sí podemos.


Gracias. Que Dios os bendiga. Y que Dios bendiga a los Estados Unidos de América.

Brack Obama: Yes We Can

Transcript:



I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard-fought victory here in New Hampshire.

A few weeks ago, no one imagined that we'd have accomplished what we did here tonight. For most of this campaign, we were far behind, and we always knew our climb would be steep.

But in record numbers, you came out and spoke up for change. And with your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment - in this election - there is something happening in America.

There is something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport; in Lebanon and Concord come out in the snows of January to wait in lines that stretch block after block because they believe in what this country can be.

There is something happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit - who have never before participated in politics - turn out in numbers we've never seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be different.

There is something happening when people vote not just for the party they belong to but the hopes they hold in common - that whether we are rich or poor; black or white; Latino or Asian; whether we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, we are ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction. That is what's happening in America right now. Change is what's happening in America.

You can be the new majority who can lead this nation out of a long political darkness - Democrats, Independents and Republicans who are tired of the division and distraction that has clouded Washington; who know that we can disagree without being disagreeable; who understand that if we mobilize our voices to challenge the money and influence that's stood in our way and challenge ourselves to reach for something better, there's no problem we can't solve - no destiny we cannot fulfill.

Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients; workers and businesses, Democrats and Republicans together; and we can tell the drug and insurance industry that while they'll get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every chair. Not this time. Not now.

Our new majority can end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it.

We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start putting them on a pathway to success. We can stop talking about how great teachers are and start rewarding them for their greatness. We can do this with our new majority.

We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists; citizens and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return.

And when I am President, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home; we will finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan; we will care for our veterans; we will restore our moral standing in the world; and we will never use 9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century: terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.

All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All have good ideas. And all are patriots who serve this country honorably.

But the reason our campaign has always been different is because it's not just about what I will do as President, it's also about what you, the people who love this country, can do to change it.

That's why tonight belongs to you. It belongs to the organizers and the volunteers and the staff who believed in our improbable journey and rallied so many others to join.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.

And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America's story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can.

Examen de ingreso de francés año 2010

Examen de ingreso de francés año 2004