Obama: Entitlements ‘Do Not Make Us A Nation Of Takers’

[freshwest]

Source: Talking Points Memo



President Obama defended the idea of entitlements like Medicare and Social Security in his second inaugural address Monday, arguing that these programs strengthen the nation and free Americans to "take the risks that make this country great."

"We reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn."

He continued:

"We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great."


Read more: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-entitlements-do-not-make-us-nation-of

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Part of Obama's Second Inauguration Speech, January 21st, 2013, this morning.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/full-text-of-obamas-second-inaugural-address

Thanks, EarlG for the pic of the day.

[Matariki]

1. Those quotes are powerful. Bravo Mr. President.

[NYC Liberal]

2. Not-so-subtle reference to Rmoney's 47% bullshit.

[meow2u3]

3. I love the subtle digs he took at the Randians and teabaggers

Last edited Mon Jan 21, 2013, 03:14 PM - Edit history (1)

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.

Take that, Paul Ryan and your fellow Rand cultists!

And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.

Suck it, teabaggers!

[freshwest]

22. Yes, he did and they knew exactly what he meant, every word of it.

[Lars39]

4. Thanks for finding that quote!

[groundloop]

5. I do wish the wore "entitlement" would go away

I've paid into the medicare, social security, and unemployment funds for my entire adult life and for right wingers to call it an "entitlement" when it comes time for me to start drawing out some of my investments from these programs just really irks me.

If right wingers weren't so hell bent on destroying these programs they'd be even stronger and robust, and they'd be in good shape to help even more people.

[Jamaal510]

8. You took the words right out of my mouth.

That is why I always refer to them as "safety net programs". Americans pay into them, and they were designed to help us whenever we are down on our luck. Hence the term safety net.

[icymist]

12. No! Don't let the word entitlement be redefined!

Draw the line in the sand here! Entitlements are just that: What we have paid into a system and are entitled to draw back out at a time when it is needed. This is not a handout as it is our OWN MONEY that has been paid into this fund on our behalf. Those who are not entitled to this money are those that have borrowed against it and don't want to pay that money back. I'm sick and tired of these people trying to redefine entitlements as a handout.

[freshwest]

40. +1,000

[SoapBox]

13. Ditto, Ditto, Ditto! We need to hammer Dems for using "entitlements".

"Entitlements"...HELL, I'm paying into SS and Medicare. Where does the "entitlement" come in? That
I eventually want some of my monies (and the monies that my employer put in) back?

Dems...stop fucking using that word!!!!

[Purplehazed]

11. Entitlements

Entitlement is not a bad word. Social security and medicare are "entitlements" that are guaranteed to you by legislation. Unemployment benefits are different.

[DaveJ]

16. Absolutely! I wish they would stop perverting the English language...

...is what I was gonna say.

We shouldn't even entertain their misuse of words in the first place, imo.

[pampango]

24. Exactly. They are ENTITLEMENTS and we should not let repubs turn it into a dirty word like they did

with 'liberal'.

[marybourg]

28. "Entitlement" means exactly what it sounds like

and exactly what you think it SHOULD mean: you're entitled to it. It doesn't mean "welfare". I don't understand what the problem is.

[freshwest]

41. Trying to avoid the wrath of the RW by hiding is what it is. That doesn't work.

We either believe in the programs that we paid into or buy into the RW meme that we are moochers. Changing the word will not change the situation.

[kestrel91316]

6. How sad a sign of our times to see our First Lady apparently wearing body armor.

Otherwise a beautiful pic.

[Hekate]

35. It's awfully cold out there, kestrel!

I think she's bundled up!

[kestrel91316]

37. She's too squared-off around her chest. I think its a bullet-proof vest.

[Hekate]

38. What a time we live in

[ck4829]

7. We can take risks and still have a safety net

People who think otherwise have never needed to do anything involving risk.

[Dawson Leery]

9. Social Secuirity and Medicare are EARNED BENEFITS!

My grandparents/parents and tens of millions of others EARNED those benefits. Accordingly, there should be NO modifications to these programs.

[Scuba]

10. Please, please tell me he didn't use the word "entitlements".

[subterranean]

14. He didn't use the word "entitlements."

That was the word used by the writer of the TPM post. The president did not use the word in his address.

[Scuba]

15. Thank you!

[freshwest]

20. So we should surrender to the right and not use the word FDR and SSA uses?

I'm sorry to see so many people adopting the right's atttitude towards the safety net and being ashamed of it. There will be no end to this retreat, they'll pick another word as unacceptable next, whichever one people feel is safe and hide behind, ashamed to say that looking out for each other is right. Then they will gtve in and not use the newly banned by the right until there is nothing more to say.

Peace Out.

[Politicub]

30. Great points all!

[freshwest]

31. And a great speech, the most inclusive ever! I am proud of him and the ideals we believe in.

[Politicub]

33. Right on. Best I've heard in my lifetime.

[JoeyT]

39. I'll kick and rec this thread and I'd rec this post too if I could.

It's like a bizarro-world version of the euphemism treadmill.

[freshwest]

42. Thanks. The RW won't respect the 47% more just because we change the word to please them.

And this is appeasement. I'm amazed at the number of people who shrieked that Obama was spineless. Or that he wasn't looking out for them with Obamacare, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And then run from one of the lists of words put out there by the RW to twist the meanings of good words and good programs. Is it any wonder we have a problem when we won't confront the RW list of distortions about us?

[JoeyT]

43. Yep.

The end goal is to have us cede so much ground on words that we not only can't articulate our positions, but can't even describe what we are. I'm a liberal and I support entitlements.

[freshwest]

44. Thanks, brother.

[freshwest]

17. Why not? It's time to stop surrendering the entitled-to-rule GOP copyright on a word

Last edited Mon Jan 21, 2013, 04:58 PM - Edit history (1)

that means just what it says:

en·ti·tle·ment
noun \-ˈtī-təl-mənt\

Definition of ENTITLEMENT

1a : the state or condition of being entitled : right
1b : a right to benefits specified especially by law or contract
2: a government program providing benefits to members of a specified group; also : funds supporting or distributed by such a program
3: belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges

Examples of ENTITLEMENT

1. my entitlement to a refund
2. celebrities who have an arrogant sense of entitlement
3. entitlements such as medical aid for the elderly and poor

First Known Use of ENTITLEMENT - 1942

Synonyms: allocation, allotment, annuity, appropriation, grant, subsidy, subvention

FDR created the word entitlement to apply to the social programs enacted. And the Democratic Party defends the New Deal.

The GOP believes they are entitled to rule and be wealthy by means of birth or cronyism; the opposite of the Democratic ideal of a meritocracy where a worker's labor is of value, and its rewards are earned.

The media denigrating the word spews the same dogma because they won't risk speaking the truth. They are paid by those act with the arrogance of the entitled few, with unearned, not earned, wealth they support without a whimper.

Workers are entitled to their wages, dignity and respect, not as a gift or whim to be granted. Even the scriptures say it is a crime to withhold their rightful due. This is their rightful due, to which they and their heirs are entitled to receive.

Edited after re-reading it. It does not improve the speech to leave it out. It's what the legal term for the social safety net is.

Nothing personal to you or any others who shrink at that word. The media has taught us to be ashamed of the actions of FDR, the Democratic Party and the New Deal. It's time to talk back.

[John2]

19. THe GOP's

philosophy is hypocritical. Their notion is some people are not entitled to anything because they are takers and free loaders. They believe only the wealthy are privileged to have a good life because they are the smartest and work hard for it.

They do not believe in science and do believe some people are inferior. Apparently I get the feeling they believe this country would be nothing without them. That is not the case though. They did have help to succeed in this country. Mitt Romney for example cannot say he didn't get help from his parents. His parents got help from the U.S. Government yet he tried to down play it. Businesses and corporations have gotten help from what the U.S. government and our society allows individuals to do.

From the time this country became a nation, the U.S. government provided armies to protect settlers and allowed them to acquire new lands in territories acquired by the U.S. government. They did not defeat the Indian nations on their own. So the whole theory that people claim their parents built something on their own is false. And some people's descendants did not have the same opportunities in this country as other people's descendants. It is a total misconception of this country's history. And I wish people will stop putting the original founders of the constitution's words on such a high plane.

The original Constitution is not the present Constitution because it has been changed in stages. One of the most significant changes was during after a deadly War that saw over 600,000 Americans lose their lives over the right to secede and slavery. The Constitution was amended and every new citizen of this country need to learn that. They need to stop listening to racists and supremacists because African Americans have been a big part of building this country into what it is. They have fought in every War this Nation has had. An African American is just as American as a white person or man.

[freshwest]

21. Thank you.

[Politicub]

32. The GOP has hammered on the word liberal for as long as I can remember. But today

it is proudly reclaimed!

[freshwest]

36. Yes, let's keep the spirit of the campaign alive:

As George Washington said:

As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.

Obama is this type of Liberal:



I've always been proud to be a Liberal.

[JDPriestly]

18. But then, David Plouffe announced that "entitlement reform" is on Obama's agenda.

Asked by ABC’s George Stephanopolous whether Obama “will only sign a budget deal if it includes new revenues,” Plouffe agreed.

“Yes, it’s got to be balanced,” said Plouffe, who expects to leave his first-floor West Wing office soon. “We need spending cuts, entitlement reform and revenue. We have to have that.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/senate-democrats-say-they-will-oblige-gop-calls-to-pass-budget-warn-it-will-include-taxes/2013/01/21/23e1d8a8-63af-11e2-889b-f23c246aa446_story.html

That will be terrible for a lot of young American families because they will have to take care of mom and dad on top of all their other responsibilities.

Social Security and Medicare have made elderly people more independent, and that has made it possible for younger people to also enjoy more independence. Too bad that conservatives, and I do not just mean Republican conservatives, do not understand this.

[JoePhilly]

23. Obama hates us.

[forestpath]

25. They'll defend it as long as Obama cuts SS. Then it's different, somehow.

Maybe we won't be as cold or hungry when he cuts SS as we would be if a Republican cut it.

[NoOneMan]

26. Though I'd suggest,

Pretending your nation generates more wealth than it does to perpetually pay for goods your economic system fails to produce & distribute to satisfy the population's needs, endlessly, does make you a nation of can-kickers.

[bemildred]

27. If you got one person with $1 billion, and another with nothing, who is REALLY the "taker"? nt

[Politicub]

29. Every word in the speech mattered

There are a lot of excerpts that I keep thinking about. This is a big one.

[Hekate]

34. This president never wastes a word

Every bit of that speech means something, and will mean something going forward.