Josh's blog

“ When you’re president, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot… And so if your main argument for how to grow the economy is ‘I knew how to make a lot of money for investors,’ then you’re missing what this job is about. ”

“ I am still stunned by the fact that the people who are so wilfully destroying the middle class, whose handiwork these last thirty years has now become dreadfully evident, still claim to be our champions. How come we are reeling? Was it an act of God? Did big government steal everything? No, it was your mortgage backed securities, your collateralized debt obligations, your repeal of Glass Steagal, your destruction of unions, and the beat goes on. And the already too small and fearful government which did not protect us. ”

“ The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive. No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What’s at stake aren’t Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. And we have to reclaim them. ”

“ They’ll fight with their last breath to protect tax cuts for the most fortunate of Americans, but they’ll play political games with tax cuts for the middle class. I guess they thought it was a smart political strategy, but it’s sure not a strategy to create jobs. It’s not a strategy to strengthen the middle class or help people who are trying to get into the middle class to get there. It’s not a strategy to help America succeed. ”

“ The greatest period, economically, for our country and the time when the great middle class was created was that period from the late forties to the mid-1970s. It was a period in which labor unions were very strong, taxes were much higher than they are now, regulations were much tighter—we had Glass-Steagall in the financial industry, for example—and things worked much better. It was when that began to unravel starting in the mid-seventies, coming all the way up to the 21st century that things went haywire and you see where we are now. ”

“ I know many Republicans have sworn an oath never to raise taxes as long as they live. How could it be that the only time there’s a catch is when it comes to raising taxes on middle-class families? How can you fight tooth and nail to protect high-end tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, and yet barely lift a finger to prevent taxes going up for 160 million Americans who really need the help? It doesn’t make sense. ”

“ All these people, these talking heads on respectable networks—the people Fox says are so liberal—they were sitting there saying, “Oh, Bill Clinton’s not a serious president unless he really sticks it to the middle class. That’s how you prove that you are a really reputable person. You know, it ain’t like these people hadn’t had their income going down for twelve years in real terms. Show us you’re a real man and punish those people”… I’m telling you if you could go back and look at the commentary of the time it was to me revolting. I was out there living with those people, I had been Governor of Arkansas for twelve years… I knew what was happening to peoples’ lives out there, I thought, why are these people in Washington saying you’re not a real man unless you stick it to the middle class. Could it be that they’re not in the middle class anymore, those who are saying that? ”

“ Tonight the people of Ohio delivered a gigantic victory for the middle class with their overwhelming rejection of a Republican attempt to strip away collective bargaining rights. Fundamental fairness has prevailed. By standing with teachers and firefighters and cops, Ohio has sent a loud and clear message that will be heard all across the country: The middle class will no longer be trampled on. The people of Ohio are to be congratulated. ”