WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: The President’s Budget – Expanding Opportunity for All

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

______________________________________________________________________________

EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, April 5, 2014

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: The President’s Budget – Expanding Opportunity for All

WASHINGTON, DC – In this week’s message, Director of the Domestic Policy Council Cecilia Muñoz discusses the President’s budget proposal which would expand opportunity for all, including millions of Hispanic families.

Remarks of Cecilia Muñoz

Spanish Weekly Address

The White House

April 5, 2014

Hi, everybody. 

Our economy is growing and our businesses are consistently generating new jobs but there’s much more to do.  While those at the top are doing better than ever, too many Americans are working harder than ever, but feel like they can’t get ahead.

That’s why the budget the President sent Congress earlier this year is built on the idea of opportunity for all.  It will grow the middle class and shrink the deficits we’ve already cut in half since the President took office.

It’s an opportunity agenda that seeks to create more good jobs that pay good wages. Trains more Americans with the skills to fill those jobs. Guarantees every child access to a great education.  And it also seeks to make work pay – with wages you can live on, savings you can retire on, and health care that’s there for you when you need it. 

The President’s budget helps expand opportunities for Hispanic families in particular, increasing funding for early childhood education which builds a foundation for success in the formative early years of a child’s life. His budget also proposes to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 so that no one who works full time will have to raise their family in poverty.

This week, the Republicans in Congress put forward a very different budget.  And it does just the opposite: it shrinks opportunity and makes it harder for Americans who work hard to get ahead. 

The Republican budget begins by handing out massive tax cuts to households making more than $1 million a year.  Then, to keep from blowing a hole in the deficit, they’d have to raise taxes on middle-class families with kids.  Next, their budget forces deep cuts to investments that help our economy create jobs, like education and scientific research. 

Unsurprisingly, the Republican budget also tries to repeal the Affordable Care Act – even though that would take away health coverage from the more than seven million Americans who’ve decided to buy health insurance.  And for good measure, their budget guts the rules we put in place to protect the middle class from another financial crisis.

Policies that benefit a fortunate few while making it harder for working Americans to succeed are not what we need right now.  Our economy doesn’t grow best from the top-down; it grows best from the middle-out.  That’s what an opportunity agenda does – and it’s what the President will keep fighting for.  Thanks.  And have a great weekend.

###

The audio of the address and video of the message is available online HERE.