If you like your healthcare plan, you’ll be able to keep your healthcare plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.
The problem is that because the voucher wouldn’t necessarily keep up with health care inflation, it was estimated that this would cost the average senior about $6,000 a year.
And I agree that the Democratic legislators in Massachusetts might have given some advice to Republicans in Congress about how to cooperate. But the fact of the matter is we used the same advisers and they say it’s the same plan.
Today we continue a never ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time.
For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they’ve never been self-executing. That while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by his people here on earth.
We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity.
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.
You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time, not only with the votes we cast, but the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideas.
I will begin to remove our troops from Iraq immediately.
We should be more modest in our belief that we can impose democracy on a country through military force.
This doesn’t mean abandoning our values and ideals; wherever we can, it’s in our interest to help foster democracy through the diplomatic and economic resources at our disposal.
Generally, the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the federal government can’t do to you. But it doesn’t say what the state or federal government must do on your behalf.
Young men need to show women the respect they deserve and recognize sexual assault and to do their part to stop it.
Women can’t wait for equal pay. And I won’t stop fighting to address this inequality.
The biggest deficit that we have in our society and in the world right now is an empathy deficit. We are in great need of people being able to stand in somebody else’s shoes and see the world through their eyes.
The world doesn’t just revolve around you. There’s a lot of talk in this country about the federal deficit. But I think we should talk more about our empathy deficit.
I’m determined to disagree with people without being disagreeable. That’s part of the empathy. Empathy doesn’t just extend to cute little kids. You have to have empathy when you’re talking to some guy who doesn’t like black people.
What is the empathy deficit? The inability of people to stand in other folks shoes. It’s hard to empathize with people who have different values than you.
Let us join together across denominations, religions and cultures to make a habit of empathy and reach out to those most in need. To share the blessings we enjoy and to advance the cause of peace in all corners of our world.
But it will depend on young people like you being open to new ideas and new possibilities. And it will require young people like you never to stereotype or assume the worst about other people.