Obama: Let's 'be smarter about how we pay for our priorities'

President Obama's weekly remarks

Hi, everybody. At a moment when our economy is growing, our businesses are creating jobs at the fastest pace since the 1990s, and wages are starting to rise again, we have to make some choices about the kind of country we want to be.

Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we build an economy where everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead?

That was the focus of my State of the Union Address -- middle-class economics. The idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.

This week, I will send a budget to Congress that's built on those values.

We'll help working families' paychecks go farther by treating things like paid leave and child care like the economic priorities that they are. We'll offer Americans of every age the chance to upgrade their skills so they can earn higher wages, with plans like making two years of community college free for every responsible student. And we'll keep building the world's most attractive economy for high-wage jobs, with new investments in research, infrastructure, manufacturing, and expanded access to faster internet and new markets.

We can afford to make these investments. Since I took office, we've cut our deficits by about two-thirds -- the fastest sustained deficit reduction since just after the end of World War II. We just have to be smarter about how we pay for our priorities, and that's what my budget does.

It proposes getting rid of special interest loopholes in our tax code, and using those savings to cut taxes for middle-class families and reward businesses that invest in America. It refuses to play politics with our homeland security, and funds our national security priorities at home and abroad. And it undoes the arbitrary, across-the-board budget cuts known as "the sequester" for our domestic priorities, and matches those investments dollar-for-dollar in resources our troops need to get the job done.

Now, I know that there are Republicans in Congress who disagree with my approach. And like I said in my State of the Union Address, if they have ideas that will help middle-class families feel some economic security, I'm all in to work with them. But I will keep doing everything I can to help more working families make ends meet and get ahead.  Not just because we want everyone to share in America's success -- but because we want everyone to contribute to America's success.

That's the way the middle class thrived in the last century -- and that's how it will thrive again. Thanks, and have a great weekend. ####

Previous weekly remarks from both parties are available here.

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Good morning. I'm Lynn Jenkins, Congresswoman from the Second District of Kansas and Vice-Chair of the House Republican Conference.

This is the time of year when high school seniors are putting the final touches on their college applications. That means it's also the time when families are preparing to start paying for that education -- whether it's a 4-year college, community college, or a technical school. (Scroll down for video of these remarks.)

As a parent with two children in college, I know this can be one of the most rewarding, and at the same time challenging, aspects of being a parent -- particularly at a time when costs are going up while wages stay about the same. All told, Americans now owe more than $1 trillion in student loan debt.

And so in the new Congress, Republicans are working to lower costs for middle-class families and empower folks with bottom-up solutions that help prepare you for the future.

That's why, this week, I introduced a bipartisan plan to expand popular 529 college savings accounts.

As you know, these 529 plans were created to help middle-class families save and plan for college. Many parents open them not long after their children are born. And ever since Congress allowed folks to withdraw from these accounts tax-free for college expenses, 1 million account holders have turned into 12 million.

Unfortunately, instead of expanding 529s, the president recently proposed raising taxes on college savings. If implemented his scheme would have turned back the clock on middle-class families, and taken money from your savings to pay for more government. This would have discouraged families from using 529s, meaning less savings, more debt, and more government dependence.

It was a terribly misguided idea, but it took a public outcry for the president to realize it. Just days after proposing this tax on 529s, he agreed to drop it from his budget.

But with hardworking families struggling, abandoning his proposal is not enough.

First, the president should put his full weight behind our plan to expand and strengthen 529 accounts. We can remove common paperwork problems, empower students to use the money to pay for computers, and make it easier for families to send their kids to the college of their choice. Because we should be rewarding people who work hard and play by the rules -- not punishing them.

Second, the president should reconsider his threats to veto our common-sense jobs bills. We've voted to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which would create 42,000 American jobs. We're ready to restore the 40-hour workweek so we can get people working full-time again. And we think bureaucrats should have to regulate with more transparency and less cost. That's just common sense.

Expanding opportunity, protecting middle-class savings, holding government accountable: these are your priorities, which means they are Republicans' priorities.

As we saw this week, when the people speak out, government has to listen. Now we need President Obama to keep listening. It's the best thing he can do for our families and our future. Thank you for listening, and enjoy the Super Bowl. ####

Previous weekly remarks from both parties are available here.

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Suddenly, all Afghan reconstruction data made secret

For the first time in the long history of American military action in Afghanistan, a presidential administration has classified virtually all of the information that could be used to judge U.S. involvement and the use and effectiveness of some $65 billion in taxpayer money.

In its first quarterly report since President Obama proclaimed the end of U.S. combat involvement in that perpetually war-torn land, James F. Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) wrote:

"After six years of being publicly reported, Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) data is now classified. The decision leaves SIGAR unable to publicly report on most of the $65 billion U.S.-taxpayer-funded efforts to build, train, equip, and sustain the ANSF. This includes Afghan troop numbers, salaries, training, equipment (including planes and helicopters), and infrastructure projects."

Gen. John Campbell, commander of coalition forces, said he could not explain the previous lack of secrecy.

But Campbell added: "I am compelled to also protect the lives of those individuals who could be put at risk by the release of sensitive information." Presumably, some information could highlight weak spots in the Afghan military. Of course, the secrecy also covers up failed programs, corruption and poor planning and follow-ups.

A Pentagon spokesman described one concern as "unnecessarily highlighting possible vulnerabilities and capability gaps."

The IG wrote: ""The classification of this volume of data is unprecedented." He also said the military had retroactively reclassified as secret some previously-provided data.

Classifying so much information theoretically denies it to the enemy and all but a few members of Congress and the military given access to the classified appendix.

But the darkness also conveniently removes any means for American taxpayers to independently judge the effectiveness of billions of dollars in aid and equipment ($39 billion more is in the pipeline) as well as of the training of Afghan troops by allies and some 9,500 remaining U.S. military in-country.

Obama has touted this training as proof that the U.S. is winding down the war "in a responsible fashion" and not just leaving, as he did from Iraq in 2011 after failing to negotiate a status of forces agreement.

In the six years of previous unclassified SIGAR reports, we learned that the national police force totaled about 150,000, the military around 180,000 and that some 35,000 had been dropped from Army rolls for a variety of reasons, including death, disability and desertion.

"This is the most transparent administration in history," Obama has claimed. "...It's not sufficient for citizens to just take my word for it that we're doing the right thing."

Such an Obama claim is frequently disputed. You may recall, for instance, he often promised that all hearings on his ObamaCare legislation would be open to the public. Not. Then, there was the day in 2010 when VP Joe Biden met for a progress report with the administration's chief of transparency. But that meeting was closed.

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