Listening to Small Businesses at the President’s Forum in Cleveland

Posted by White House

Yesterday, I was in Cleveland with President Obama, a large contingent of his Cabinet, and about 150 small business owners. The President opened the day by telling the small business owners that the goal was “to hear from you, to gain your counsel, and to talk about how America can help you succeed so that you can keep helping America succeed.”

In my breakout session on Entrepreneurship, we heard from 25 small business owners. The President stopped by and had the chance to talk with a barbecue restaurant owner, a portable microwave manufacturer, a woman-owned construction company, and others.

Several topics came up. We talked about how access to capital is still a big problem for too many entrepreneurs and small business owners. We discussed the importance of the small business tax cuts that the President has already signed into law. We talked about promoting more high-growth entrepreneurship through efforts like Startup America. And we discussed ways to identify and remove barriers to entrepreneurship, including a new series of roundtables in entrepreneurial communities that will be kicked off next week in Durham, North Carolina.

We need to do everything we can to support those small business owners – and others across America – because they’re the ones that are working every day to out-innovate, out-build, and out-compete the rest of the world.

Moving forward, we’ll continue to support regional economies like Northeast Ohio as they work to create good jobs. The SBA, for example, has helped support a clustering effort led by a local high-tech economic development organization called NorTech, which the President discussed in his closing remarks. And we’re also expanding a successful and intensive entrepreneur training program to nearby Youngstown, Ohio.

And all of us throughout the Administration will continue to listen to the needs of entrepreneurs and small business owners, using their feedback and insights to ensure that we’re supporting them as they grow our economy and create jobs.

President Obama on the Economy in Cleveland: "The America I Believe In"

Posted by White House

This afternoon the President was in Cleveland, Ohio, the city where House Republican Leader Boehner recently put forth his party’s priorities for the economy. In his remarks, the President laid out a stark contrast between policies that help the economy work for the middle class, and the policies that allowed special interests to run amok -- and to run our economy into a ditch. He spoke about the need to strengthen our recovery in both the short and long terms by investing in America’s roads, bridges and runways, by helping small businesses grow and hire, and by giving certainty to businesses through a permanent incentive to innovate and create good jobs in America in the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit.

But before all that he talked about the foundation of the values that guide his decisions:

Yes, our families believed in the American values of self-reliance and individual responsibility, and they instilled those values in their children. But they also believed in a country that rewards responsibility. A country that rewards hard work. A country built upon the promise of opportunity and upward mobility.

They believed in an America that gave my grandfather the chance to go to college because of the GI Bill. An America that gave my grandparents the chance to buy a home because of the Federal Housing Authority. An America that gave their children and grandchildren the chance to fulfill our dreams thanks to college loans and college scholarships.

It was an America where you didn’t buy things you couldn’t afford; where we didn’t just think about today – we thought about tomorrow. An America that took pride in the goods it made, not just in the things it consumed. An America where a rising tide really did lift all boats, from the company CEO to the guy on the assembly line.

That’s the America I believe in. That’s what led me to work in the shadow of a shuttered steel plant on the South Side of Chicago when I was a community organizer. It’s what led me to fight for factory workers at manufacturing plants that were closing across Illinois when I was a Senator. It’s what led me to run for President – because I don’t believe we can have a strong and growing economy without a strong and growing middle-class.

Looking back on his first 18 months in office, the President spoke about how he had “hoped for a chance to get beyond some of the old political divides – between Democrats and Republicans, Red states and Blue states – that had prevented us from making progress. Because although we are proud to be Democrats, we are prouder to be Americans – and we believed then and we believe now that no single party has a monopoly on wisdom. “ But he also explained that he ran because we needed change, and while ideas on how to do that were welcome from anywhere, simply continuing on with the broken status quo was not a contribution to moving us forward:

A few weeks ago, the Republican leader of the House came here to Cleveland and offered his party’s answer to our economic challenges. Now, it would be one thing if he had admitted his party’s mistakes during the eight years that they were in power, if they had gone off for a while and meditated, and come back and offered a credible new approach to solving our country’s problems.

But that’s not what happened. There were no new policies from Mr. Boehner. There were no new ideas. There was just the same philosophy that we had already tried during the decade that they were in power -- the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place: Cut more taxes for millionaires and cut more rules for corporations.

Instead of coming together like past generations did to build a better country for our children and grandchildren, their argument is that we should let insurance companies go back to denying care for folks who are sick, or let credit card companies go back to raising rates without any reason. Instead of setting our sights higher, they’re asking us to settle for a status quo of stagnant growth and eroding competitiveness and a shrinking middle class.

Cleveland, that is not the America I know. That is not the America we believe in. (Applause.)
A lot has changed since I came here in those final days of the last election, but what hasn’t is the choice facing this country. It’s still fear versus hope; the past versus the future. It’s still a choice between sliding backward and moving forward.

The President’s speech was sweeping, and it is well worth reading in full, where he speaks to the misguided Republican proposal to grant permanent, budget-busting tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans as we touched on this afternoon, and elaborates on his own proposals as we touched on this morning. In closing, he took a step back:

I know that folks are worried about the future. I know there’s still a lot of hurt out here. And when times are tough, I know it can be tempting to give in to cynicism and fear and doubt and division -– and just settle our sights a little bit lower, settle for something a little bit less. But that’s not who we are, Ohio. Those are not the values that built this country.

We are here today because in the worst of times, the people who came before us brought out the best in America. Because our parents and our grandparents and our great-grandparents were willing to work and sacrifice for us. They were willing to take great risks, and face great hardship, and reach for a future that would give us the chance at a better life. They knew that this country is greater than the sum of its parts -– that America is not about the ambitions of any one individual, but the aspirations of an entire people, an entire nation. (Applause.)

That’s who we are. That is our legacy. And I’m convinced that if we’re willing to summon those values today, and if we’re willing to choose hope over fear, and choose the future over the past, and come together once more around the great project of national renewal, then we will restore our economy and rebuild our middle class and reclaim the American Dream for the next generation. (Applause.)

Rebuilding Our Economy to Work for Middle Class Americans Again

Posted by White House

Ed. Note: Watch the President's remarks at 2:10 EDT here at WhiteHouse.gov/live, then stick around right afterwards to watch a live video chat with Austan Goolsbee of the Council of Economic Advisers or join the discussion over at Facebook.

Today, the President will speaking in the Cleveland, Ohio about his vision for the future of the American economy and about specific ways to move our economy forward.

A few weeks ago, Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner visited Cleveland to offer his party’s answer to our economic challenges. There were no new ideas, just the same philosophy we tried for the last decade and which led to the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression – cut taxes for millionaires, cut rules for corporations, and leave the middle class to fend for itself.

President Obama has a different vision for America – as a place where we don’t just think about today; we think about tomorrow. Where responsibility is rewarded and those who put our economy at risk are not. Where we lead the world in the goods we make and sell, not just in the things we consume. And where the benefits of growth are truly shared, from the company CEO to the newest guy on the assembly line.

In this spirit, the President is laying out three additional steps to help grow the economy and help businesses spur hiring:

1. Rebuild America’s roads, bridges and runways. The President is calling for a bold effort to renew and expand our transportation infrastructure – in a plan that combines a long-term vision for the future with new investments. A significant portion of the new investments would be front-loaded in the first year. Some tangible accomplishments of this effort include: Rebuilding 150,000 miles of roads – renewing our commitment to the backbone of our transportation system; constructing and maintaining 4,000 miles of rail – enough to go coast-to-coast; and rehabilitating or reconstructing 150 miles of runway – while putting in place a NextGen system that will reduce travel time and delays. Learn more in the White House fact sheet (pdf).
2. Expand, simplify and make permanent the R&D tax credit. The President is proposing to expand, simplify, and permanently extend the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit. This is a win-win—encouraging companies to create good jobs in America now and to make investments that will pay off with stronger economic growth in the future. The President’s proposal to increase the simplified R&D credit to 17 percent would represent the largest increase in this tax benefit on record. Learn more in the White House fact sheet (pdf).
3. Accelerate business investment to promote job creation. The President is proposing to jump-start private investment and job creation by allowing companies to fully deduct qualified capital investments through the end of 2011. This measure would provide tax incentives for businesses to invest in the United States when our economy needs it most, which should both help create jobs now and expand the capital stock to support future growth. This unprecedented step would be the largest temporary investment incentive in American history. Learn more in the White House fact sheet (pdf).

These measures will help create jobs while building an American economy that is more competitive and productive over the long term. They compliment the measures the President is continuing to fight for to help make the economy work for middle class families again, including:

• Permanently extending tax cuts for the middle class: Republicans are intent on holding hostage middle class tax relief to give a permanent tax cut to the wealthiest two percent of Americans. President Obama will call for immediately extending permanent relief to middle class families, and call on Republican leaders to drop their insistence that we add more than $700 billion to our deficit to give an average tax cut of $100,000 to Americans making over $1 million per year.
• Passing the small business jobs bill: The President will urge passage of the small business jobs bill which would provide key tax relief for small businesses, including eliminating capital gains taxes on key investments in small firms. The bill would also expand access to credit for small firms and provide additional incentives for small businesses to invest and grow.
• Providing additional support to middle class families: The President will renew his call for additional targeted tax relief for middle class families to reduce the cost of childcare and sending a child to college. In particular, the President will call for making permanent his American Opportunity Tax Credit for college, which would mean $10,000 in tuition relief for each child going to four years of college. This measure makes clear that in good times or bad, we never want any family to stop investing in the future of their children or our country.