What Liberals Say » Barack Obama

Just tax the heck out of people

Barack Obama — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:37:19 +0000

“Warren [will] tell you his preference is… let the market work… and then just tax the heck out of people at the end and just redistribute it. That way you’re not impeding efficiency, and you’re achieving equity on the back end.”

We smoked cigarettes and wore leather jackets

Barack Obama — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:29:47 +0000

“To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk- rock performance poets. We smoked cigarettes and wore leather jackets. At night, in the dorms, we discussed neocolonialism, Franz Fanon, Eurocentrism, and patriarchy. When we ground out our cigarettes in the hallway carpet or set our stereos so loud that the walls began to shake, we were resisting bourgeois society’s stifling conventions. We weren’t indifferent or careless or insecure. We were alienated. But this strategy alone couldn’t provide the distance I wanted, from Joyce or my past. After all, there were thousands of so- called campus radicals, most of them white and tenured and happily tolerant. No, it remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.”

True Patriotism

Barack Obama — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:14:44 +0000

“You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a [flag] pin. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we’re talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest.”

I personally would want to see our tragic history

Barack Obama — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:05:52 +0000

” I personally would want to see our tragic history, or the tragic elements of our history, acknowledged. I consistently believe that when it comes to whether it’s Native American or African American issues or reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds.”

think that our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think

Barack Obama — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:38:01 +0000

“Well, my understanding is that Governor Palin’s town of Wasilla has, I think, 50 employees. We’ve got 2,500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. You know, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. So I think that our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the last couple of years.”

We need somebody who’s . . . poor or African-American or gay

Barack Obama — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:07:02 +0000

“We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old – and that’s the criterion by which I’ll be selecting my judges.”

We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want . . . That’s just not going to happen

Barack Obama — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:55:48 +0000

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times… and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen.”

We must build on the wealth that open markets have created

Barack Obama — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:39:34 +0000

This is the moment when we must build on the wealth that open markets have created, and share its benefits more equitably. Trade has been a cornerstone of our growth and global development. But we will not be able to sustain this growth if it favors the few, and not the many.

I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go

Barack Obama — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:20:42 +0000

Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.

They cling to Guns or Religion

Barack Obama — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:48:30 +0000

“It’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” â€”Talking about Small Town Folks