Yes you are, Mr. President!
The President addressed the Illinois State Assembly today. He spoke about many subjects and ticked off his many great accomplishments. If Republicans weren't playing obstructionists for basically his entire term, he could have accomplished even more.
We were mirred in the Great Recession, as he took the oath of office. If it were not for this President’s leadership, things could have been much, much worse.
We’ve come a very long way since those dark days and there’s still work to be done, but we have made incredible progress. I couldn't be more proud of our President!
I'll really miss him.
Video below.
thehill.com/…
“I am a progressive Democrat, I am proud of that. I make no bones about that,” he continued, rattling off a list of his beliefs. “When I’ve got an opportunity to find common ground, that doesn’t make me a sellout to my own party."
Obama called it a fool’s errand to make “blanket promises to their base that it can’t possibly meet,” including “union bashing or corporate bashing without acknowledging that both workers and businesses make our economy run.”
“That kind of politics means that supporters will be perennially disappointed,” he said. “It only adds to folks’ sense that the system is rigged.”
White House aides stressed the speech did not just touch on Obama’s frustrations with the 2016 race but the polarization that has tinged nearly every one of his efforts to find common ground with Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Obama said that despite the gridlock in Washington, he’s accomplished a lot, ticking off examples, such as the economic recovery, his healthcare reform bill and the mission that killed Osama bin Laden.
“There is no doubt America is better off today than when I took office,” Obama said, drawing applause from Democrats, but not Republicans, gathered in the assembly chamber that has struggled with partisan divisions over the state’s budget.