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Subscribe to RSSPresident Obama is seen speaking at a conference held at Loyola University in October 1998 about city government and public policy, in which then-Illinois state senator talked about making government more efficient.
Updated 11:29 p.m. — Mitt Romney's campaign this week has pounced on a 14-year-old clip of Obama speaking about "redistribution" in October 1998 at a conference in Chicago, in which the future president seems to extol the virtues of redistributing wealth.
Yet NBC News has obtained the entirety of the relevant remarks, which includes additional comments by Obama that weren't included in the video circulated by Republicans. That omission features additional words of praise for "competition" and the "marketplace" by the then-state senator.
In the whole clip, Obama says:
I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody's got a shot. How do we pool resources at the same time as we decentralize delivery systems in ways that both foster competition, can work in the marketplace, and can foster innovation at the local level and can be tailored to particular communities.
Obama continues in a few words after that to describe the use of tax credits in setting public housing development policy in Chicago as an example before concluding.
The video circulated by Republicans, which has used as fodder for an attack on Obama, includes a longer reflection by Obama about talking about how government action can be effective. But the clip has been cut short after the word "shot;" Obama's words about competition, the marketplace and innovation are omitted from the clip.
Romney has nonetheless seized upon this clip as his campaign looks to regain its footing after the release of a surreptitiously-recorded video of the GOP presidential nominee speaking at a private fundraiser in May. Romney's campaign has been bogged down in criticism from conservatives and Democrats alike since the release of the clip, in which Romney talks about how he couldn't count on the support of 47 percent of Americans, since they pay no taxes, and are "dependent" on government.
The Republican candidate has used it as campaign fodder as recently as Wednesday.
"This is how America works. It does not work by a government saying, become dependent on government. Become dependent upon redistribution. That will kill the American entrepreneurship that’s lifted our economy over the years," Romney told donors at a fundraiser this afternoon in Atlanta. "The question of this campaign is not who cares about the poor and the middle class? I do. He does. The question is who can help the poor and the middle class? I can! He can’t!"
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I notice that as the polling gap widens between the President and "Foot in the Mouth" Willard, the Loser Teabags are coming on here in force, trying desperately to insult and bully folks into changing their minds.
Got two words for ya baggers...FAT CHANCE! Your backin' a selfish plutocrat, you're saying that most of your countrymen are freeloaders, you're inciting class warfare, ANNNDDD your backing the wealthy side AGAINST your OWN best interests. And you have to stones to get indignant because the majority of the country (the SANE people) are rejecting your bigoted rhetoric? WTF?
Well you can scream, you can curse...you can call every one of us "Libtards" or or "Obamanation" or any other vulgar slur you can think of (and we call you tea baggers because of the tea bags attached to your hats, not because of what you do with each other in private), But you CAN'T WIN.
Come November, we're going to put an END to this BS. But you're welcome to try again...in about four years...
The medias dilemma....How to try to make four years of failure seem popular....Solution, print daily articles attacking the opposition. Pretend that Obamas policies are working and will work. Constantly tell everyone that Obama is cool and popular and that everyone hates Romney. Divide the country into factions of class warfare and envy.
What is the medias basic responsibility? Forget all that, they feel that it is their number one job now to promote socialism and to attack all the things that made this country great....and Obama is their man to carry out those goals....The media is slime.
Couldn't have said it better myself, amen
If you have all the wealth in the top 10% and eliminate the middle class, you end up with a revolution, and that can't be good even for the dummies in the GOP.
BearDown....you ignored the rest? So, are you saying that context doesnt matter? Maybe that is what is wrong with the Republican party in general. They listen to some (1%) but not all (47%).