Remarks at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland

The President. Hello, hello, hello.

[At this point, the President briefly addressed audience members in the balcony behind him as follows.]

As my mother would instruct me to say, please excuse my back. I apologize. [Laughter]

Sadé—I just told her, when she walked off the stage, when she's President and they say, "Joe Biden is out in the waiting room," she promised me she won't say, "Joe who?" [Laughter]

Please—do you have seats? Oh, okay. I once said that, early on in my tenure, Gov. And I said, "Everybody take a seat." None of them had seats. [Laughter]

Well, I tell you what, you guys are impressive. And the three of you are really close, close friends, and one is about to become a close friend.

Gov, my problem is, your biceps are a little small. [Laughter] I mean, you're not in very good shape. But I—maybe—I'll work with you and see what we can do.

No, but really and truly, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I appreciate it very much.

Senator Ben Cardin is one of the great—I hate the phrase "public servants," but it is true.

You know, I judged my colleagues over the years based on not just their intellectual capacity and their decency, but their integrity. The men you have here have incredible integrity. Integrity. And it's just amazing.

Chris Van Hollen is one of the reasons why I got elected Vice President. He's the guy that did my debate prep for me. [Laughter] And without it, I'd have been in real trouble.

And Steny Hoyer—he and I share the Eastern Shore of Delaware and the Western Shore of Maryland. You know that whole area in there? I keep telling him that it really is part of Delaware, but he doesn't—[laughter]. And, David, thank you for being such a great partner. You've been great as well. I really do appreciate it.

Prince George's Community College, thanks for welcoming us here today. As many of you know, my wife is a professor at a community college. Matter of fact, she's teaching today.

She has an expression. And I—this is the God's truth. She said, "Any country that outeducates us will outcompete us." "Any country that outeducates us will outcompete us." The work you do here in preparing students to compete in the economy of the future is real. It matters.

This summer, I traveled to Chicago, where I spoke about a fundamentally changing American economy—from an economy that for decades rewarded those who were at the very top and left everyone behind who—just on their own, basically. One that gives working people a—in this Nation not only a fighting chance—they didn't do.

You know, that trickle-down economy, not a whole lot—I grew up in a—I wasn't—we weren't poor, but we had a three-bedroom, split-level house with four kids and a grandpop living with us. And I didn't see a whole lot trickle down on my dad's kitchen table. [Laughter]

But, you know, everybody deserves a shot at building the lives they deserve for their families. And we've done that. For the first time in a long time, we've climbed out of our great economic crisis. It's beginning to work for working people.

This Nation is very rich. We have—and who have benefited the most has been the very rich, though. Not everybody. And that's how—that's not how it should be.

The new economic vision has been labeled by those at the Wall Street Journal and the London Economist and some of the more conservative press as "Bidenomics." Well, they didn't mean it as a compliment at first. [Laughter] But now they're getting it. [Laughter]

What's Bidenomics? It's about investing in—and I feel like I'm going to—I'm going to try not to repeat some of what my colleagues have already said, but it's about investing in America—investing in America and investing in Americans—American people.

It's about growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up instead of the top down. Because when the middle class does well, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy still do very well.

I'm a capitalist. If you guys go out here and you can make a billion dollars, go get it. Just pay a little more in taxes. [Laughter]

But look—but our friends—our friends on the other team, on the other side of the aisle, they have a very different vision for America.

And by the way, you have this—I think you have this book on your table, on your chairs. Maybe not. I thought they—did you all—did my staff hand this out? You just have the little one. But I'm the only President who hands out the opposition's economic plan. [Laughter] Oh, you think I'm kidding?

"Protecting America's Economic Security. Fiscal Year 2024. The Budget of the Study Committee of Kevin Hern. Budgets"—and it goes on. This is the MAGA budget. You know, I want you to take a look at it. I think we have other copies of it. If we don't, we'll get you some.

So, since I've come to office, all they've really done is attack me and my economic plan—there hadn't been much else—even though we've created, as has been pointed out, over 13 million jobs, more jobs in 2 years than any President has created in a 4-year term. Even though—[applause]—no, I'm not looking—even though we've had 19 straight months of unemployment under 4 percent for the first time in American history.

Even though we have the lowest inflation rate of any major economy in the world, with core inflation rate the last 3 months at 2.4 percent. We've got more to do, even though we've created 800,000 manufacturing jobs and a manufacturing boom we haven't seen in decades.

Even though America, as we met here—meet here today, has the strongest economy in the world. Let me say that again: America has the strongest economy in the world of all the major economics.

And—but—all they do is attack it. But you know, you've noticed something. For all the time they spend attacking me and my plan, here's what they never do: They never talk about what they want to do. [Laughter] No, no, think about it.

They tell you what they're against. What are they for? It's like they want to keep it a secret. I don't blame them. [Laughter]

Well, today I'm going to talk about their plan. Look, we're going to talk about the MAGA Republican economic plan.

And by the way, this is not your father's Republican Party. This is a different deal.

All kidding aside, we've all worked with Republicans on the other side. Over our careers, we've become good friends: honest, decent people. Disagree like hell with them, but they were—but they were in the deal. They thought the institutions mattered. They thought it mattered.

Well, guess what? Our democracy is at risk because I don't think they do think it matters anymore.

Because the country should know the facts. They should know the choice between Bidenomics and MAGAnomics: American growth and hope that we're building or American losing—lost jobs, raising fears, MAGA Republicans give us a few—they gave us a few short years ago.

Look, their plan—MAGAnomics—is more extreme than anything America has ever seen before. Just months ago, they went further than anyone has ever gone, threatening to default on the debt that's over 220 years old—default—unless we gave them everything they wanted. We gave them nothing they wanted. We gave them nothing they wanted. And we got a deal.

But up to now, Republican have given us a failed plan of trickle-down economics that didn't work. My guess is, your story is just like mine: Not much trickled down that ended up helping y'all.

Instead, this is what trickle-down economics did. It shipped jobs overseas. There's a basic thing: Find the cheapest place in the world for labor, send the jobs there and the product there, and then import the product home.

Well, you know, they hollowed out the Main Streets of America, and they did the same for the middle class. They blew up the deficit. It produced an anemic economic growth, if any growth at all. And it stripped the dignity and pride and hope out of a community, one after another.

You know, when you have those communities where there's that—been that factory employing 250 people in a small community for years and years, and then it closes down, you don't just lose a job. You lose a sense of belonging. People lose hope. They lose their pride. They lose their sense of pride.

And now these MAGA Republicans have taken a plan I have never worked and you know, it's—look, the plan they're proposing has never worked, but they've decided to make it much, much worse.

Now Republicans in Congress are doubling down with a plan that does three things. One, it cuts taxes even more for the very wealthy and big corporations. Two, it cuts Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid. Three, it raises costs for families, gutting investments in the middle class.

Under their plan, the top 1 percent—one-tenth of 1 percent of the households that make over $4 million a year are going to get another tax cut worth more than two times what the typical American family makes in a single year.

Let me say that again: Two times what the average family makes a year is going to be the tax cut they're proposing to give to the very wealthy.

MAGA Republicans in the Congress are also trying to undo the progress we've made to make it—make getting a—you know, look, what I was able to do in the—what they call the G-7, among the NATO countries and European countries. I was able to get them to all agree—and then around the world, all the democracies—agree that we were going to have a global minimum tax on corporates—on corporations. Meaning that you couldn't have a—offering a tax to build or make something in another country that's a considerably lower than what the tax would be in that country where if—it in fact comes from.

And that global minimum tax was finally agreed. It took me a better part of a year to get it done. And guess what? They want to get rid of it, let corporations go back to shifting jobs and profits overseas, and avoiding paying taxes at home.

And who is going to pay for that? Well, now we know because the MAGA Republicans in Congress has finally released the budget I just referenced. And the answer is: Seniors and hard-working Americans are going to pay for it.

They don't talk much about—but I got the budget. I should—I mean, literally, it's here, and it's all in black and white.

And just for our—your convenience, I left—I thought I left it—my staff told me they left a copy on your seats, but I guess they didn't. [Laughter]

So here is what it does: Their budget gives one-point—$5.1 trillion in additional tax cuts skewed to the wealthy people and big corporations while cutting $700 billion from Social Security—you hear me now?—$700 billion dollars from Social Security and a trillion dollars from Medicare.

Let me say that again: cut Social Security by $700 billion and Medicare by $1 trillion.

They want to raise the Social Security retirement age, which means a 13-percent cut in benefits for seniors who retires at age 67.

Imagine. You work your whole life. Every single paycheck you've had, you've paid into that system. You thought you'd be able to retire with a little bit of dignity.

Our MAGA Republicans in Congress—all they—also want to take Medicare away from more than 1 million Americans with disabilities.

Now, if they hadn't done what they've done the last 2 years, you might not believe me. But I promise you, I give you my word: That's what they're proposing.

They want to cut Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and the Children's Insurance Program by more than half.

What does it mean? Under MAGA—under MAGAnomics, as I've called it, tens of millions of Americans could lose their insurance. Waiting lists would skyrocket for seniors who need home- or community-based care because they have nowhere else to go; they can't—have no family to take of them. Children would not get adequate health care.

MAGA Republicans don't think we should be investing in education, and that's not an exaggeration. Students here at Prince George's Community College should know: MAGA Republicans in Congress want to slash Pell grants. More than 6 million students who count on these grants to be able to afford to go to college would lose it. That's what their pressing for.

You saw how they took on my attempt to eliminate student debt. Although we're still going to eliminate a hell of a lot of student debt.

And by the way, they actually want to cut 1,800 food safety inspectors. No, I'm serious. If—if—I mean, unless I was in, I don't know, Russia, you wouldn't think these would have made any sense. But here—so, they want to slash research on cures for cancer and Alzheimer's by nearly $4 billion.

I got my team over here to go along with—when President Obama allowed me to set up the—a whole effort to deal with cancer, allowing me to use any office—any administration facility, and we've invested billions of dollars. We're on the cusp of changing cancer as we know it. We made a commitment: cut cancer in half—in half—in 25 years and extend life to Americans suffering from cancer by significant numbers.

And it's happening, but they want to cut the funding—cut the funding.

They want to cut funding that guarantees the clean air and clean water. They don't want those inspectors out there.

The new Republican MAGAnomics would mean 82,000 children would lose access to Head Start for low-income students and affordable preschool. Not only are they not willing to support our joint effort among your delegation and me—to make sure that we're in a situation where we provide for early education.

You know, if you send a child to school, no matter what the background is—not to daycare, but to school, where they teach reading, writing, arithmetic—at age 3, the cost is—[inaudible]—and you increase by 56 percent the chance that that child, no matter what background they come from, will go through 12 years of school and on to community college if they choose and be able to do that. Fifty-six percent.

Look, folks, they want to cut 226,000 teachers and staff—could lose their jobs under it at Title I schools that serve the most vulnerable.

And now they're turning their backs on the bipartisan budget deal Senator—Speaker McCarthy made me—made with me just a few months ago after threatening to do something no one—and came very close to do it: shutting down and reneging on our national debt, which would have caused an international economic crisis.

Well, they're back at it again: breaking their commitment, threatening more cuts, and threatening to shut the Government again this month.

Now, what they do talk about is claiming all these cuts are going to reduce the deficit.

When it comes to reducing the deficit, let's compare the records a little bit. Under my predecessor—you remember the self-professed King of Debt? Well, it turned out he was. He's actually the Emperor of Debt. [Laughter] He created more debt than any other President did in 1 year. No, I'm serious.

For starters, when he passed that $2 trillion tax cut skewed to the wealthy and big corporations, they didn't pay for a penny of it. The end result was that it has ballooned the national debt by nearly 40 percent. Over a 200-year accumulated debt, he ballooned it by 40 percent.

Well, I've taken a different approach with the help of your delegation. And I'm not being solicitous when I say that. You have the best delegation in the country. And that's not just because my whole family is from Baltimore. [Laughter]

But look, we just cut the budget deficit by a hundred—we—they helped me cut the deficit by $160 billion. A hundred and sixty billion. You know how we did it? By giving Medicare the power to negotiate for lower prescription drug costs.

I, along with your Senators and Congressmen, have been trying for our whole careers to take on Big Pharma. Well, they've intimidated. They spent $200 million on having their lobbyists make sure that didn't happen. But guess what? It happened. We finally won.

Not a single solitary Republican voted for that. And now—and now they want to repeal it.

I hope American seniors are listening, because we've made enormous progress here.

Let's be clear: We pay more for drug prices—for prescription drugs than any nation in the world. And let me be precise with you. If you go in and have a prescription and you go into a drugstore here in Maryland or in anywhere in the United States, and you give out the same prescription in Toronto, Canada, or in London, England, or Paris, France, or Madrid, Spain, you're going to pay somewhere between 20- and 40-percent less in those other countries.

Same exact drug made by the same exact company. It's wrong. And guess what? We're changing it, and we're not going back.

I don't get it, man.

Up until now, seniors have been paying up to 400 bucks a month for their insulin. We've reduced that to $35. And at $35, the drug company is still making 350-percent profit. Because the guy who invented the insulin for diabetes didn't patent it because he wanted it available to everybody.

To make it and to package it costs $13 to $14, and they're paying $35 now for it. Thirty-five dollars. Democrats just got—and Republicans are trying to take that away.

We did something else, too, you should be aware of. Just a few years ago, as was pointed out, 55 percent of the—55 of the largest corporations in the Fortune 500 paid zero in income tax, and they made $40 billion.

I said I was going to do everything I could to make sure they start paying their fair share. Well, we changed that. Now the biggest corporations have to pay a minimum tax of 15 percent, so they don't get away with paying nothing.

As a matter of fact, they're supposed to be paying a minimum of 21 percent. Twenty-one percent. That's what the tax law says.

You know, big corporations are by the way, I know a little bit about big corporations; I'm from Delaware. [Laughter] More corporations are incorporated in Delaware than every other State in the United States of American combined.

And look, it—I want them to do well, but pay your taxes. But they're complaining. So MAGA Republicans are carrying their water. They want to go back to telling them—pay nothing again, and you have to pick up the tab instead—you pick up the tab.

Not only are they refusing to take corporations—make them pay their fair share. Earlier this week, it was reported that MAGA Republicans are planning to give an additional—this is not—again, this is all public—an additional $1 trillion tax cut—$1 trillion tax cut for big corporations. They're doing very well, I might add.

Apparently, they think corporations, which made record profits in recent years, pay too much in taxes. It's unbelievable.

To hear MAGA Republicans in Congress tell it, the only way to reduce the deficit is to cut Medicare, Social Security that you've paid for your whole life. From the time you've had your first job, you had to pay the Social Security out of every paycheck.

Give me a break. These guys are just plain wrong. And they've proved it.

On my watch, the deficit has—already has fallen by over $1 trillion—$1 trillion so far. I signed legislation to reduce the deficit by another trillion dollars over the next decade.

And the budget I'm putting forward this year would cut the deficit by another 2.5 billion dollars—trillion dollars on top of that. And we're doing it by making the wealthy and big corporations begin to pay their fair share. I'm not talking about 70-percent taxes, I'm talking about 36-percent taxes, 24-percent taxes.

How many of you think the Tax Code is fair? Raise your hand. [Laughter] Even if you're making it. No, I'm serious, even if you're making a lot of money.

You know, we've gone, in the pandemic, from about 740 billionaires in America to a thousand. Well, guess what? These billionaires pay an average of—guess what?—less than 8 percent in Federal taxes—less than 8 percent on a yearly basis.

They pay a lower tax rate than a firefighter, a teacher, a cop. How can that be right? How can that possibly be right?

My friends came up with an answer. Do you have—guess what? The Republicans—last time out, when they were in change, when the President was—the last President was there.

What they did was, they cut the number of tax examiners. They cut them. They—well, everybody say: "Well, that's great. We want to get rid of those tax examiners."

Guess what? They cut all of the folks that are very sophisticated tax examiners—that takes years to learn in how you go through a trillion-dollar income, how you determine what they pay. They cut them.

It's time billionaires began to pay at least a minimum tax of 25 percent, for God's sake. They'll still be multibillionaires at that.

We ought to make the Tax Code more fair, not less fair. That's why I promised that no one making under $400,000—who had never seen that—but no one making under $400,000 will see their Federal taxes go up a single penny.

Audience member. Yeah, Joey!

The President. I've kept that promise, and I will keep it. That's why I expect [expanded; White House correction] the childcare tax credit, helping millions of middle class families.

It's a great benefit to those families. It increased economic—and, by the way, it increases economic growth. All the things we do for middle class and working class families increases economic productivity.

When you have a childtare crax credit [childcare tax credit; White House correction] and you're a middle- or lower-middle-class-income person, guess what? It means you can get help for your kid and you can go to work at the same time.

And now, MAGA Republicans in Congress did not support continuing that expended—that extended tax cut. And this week, we learned what happened as a result of their position: About 3 million more kids are now living in poverty because we've cut that again.

I'm fighting to restore the child tax credit and once again lift these kids out of poverty.

Folks, it wasn't that long ago we were losing jobs in this country. In fact, there are only two Presidents in American history with fewer jobs the day they left office than when they started. One was President Hoover, and the other was Donald "Hoover" Trump. [Laughter] Seriously, the only two Presidents in American history.

And look, you may remember my predecessor promised to be the greatest job President in history. Well, it didn't really work out that way. [Laughter]

He lost 2 million jobs over the course of his Presidency. Two million. But we created 13—we've created 13.4 million new jobs. We not only recovered all the jobs we lost during the pandemic, we've added millions more.

We've seen record lows in unemployment, particularly—and I've focused on this my whole career—particularly for African Americans and Hispanic workers and veterans, you know, and the workers without high-school diplomas. The lowest unemployment rate in 70 years for women now.

You know, and, by the way, when I got elected, I promised that I wanted an administration that would look like America. I got more women in the Cabinet than any President has ever in history. And I got more women—more women than men in the Cabinet. And I put more Black women on the appellate court and the Supreme Court than every other President combined in American history.

A higher share of working-age Americans are in the workforce now than any time in the past 20 years. And job satisfaction is higher than has been 36 years—for 36 years. And we're growing the economy.

You know, my dad used to have a saying—and I give you my word, this is real. I'm not making this up. He'd say it all the time. He'd say: "Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity. It's about respect. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, 'Honey, it's going to be okay,' and mean it." That's Bidenomics. That's the objective of it.

The prior administration promised to revive manufacturing; they failed. I'm not sure they even tried, to be honest with you. [Laughter] No, I'm serious, I'm not sure they tried.

As a matter of fact, they had a theory, and it shipped jobs overseas for cheaper labor markets and import the product.

Well, I went back, and I don't know, guys—I didn't know this, and I've been around a long time. I didn't know that Roosevelt passed in 1934 a piece of legislation that said that when the President is given money by the Congress to—gets money appropriated to spend for the American people, he should only hire American workers and only use American products. No President ever tried to really keep that going, but I have.

And here's the deal: That's why we've grown so rapidly. If we don't have the technique—we don't have the particular skill required, you can make an exception and not spend it on an American worker.

But we've got to invest in America. And we're making things in America again.

You know, folks, we—it's just amazing how much has changed. We used to be—we used to be—have the largest economy in the world in terms of manufacturing. Under my Presidency, America has surged to the front again. We're now on track of having the strongest economy in the world for decades to come.

The prior administration promised to rebuild our Nation's infrastructure. Remember "Infrastructure Week"? Every week. And then "Infrastructure Month." Well, guess what? It never came.

Great real estate builder—the former President. He didn't build a damn thing. [Laughter] No, I mean—really, think about this. Can you believe we used to have the best infrastructure in the world. We had the best infrastructure—not a joke—the best infrastructure in the world rated by all these international agencies. But guess what? We fell to—and ranked number 13 in the world. Thirteen in the world. Twelve countries have better infrastructure—bridges, roads—across the board than we have.

Well, when I signed the bipartisan infrastructure bill these guys helped me get through, we're now investing in America again: our roads, our bridges, our ports, our airports, high-speed internet, and removing lead pipes from everyone so they have access to clean water.

Look, folks, because you can't have the strongest economy in the world without the best infrastructure in the world. How can you do both? I mean, you can't.

We're making sure we're growing the economy in a way that benefits all Americans. We awarded a record $70 billion in Federal contacts [contracts; White House correction] to small, disadvantaged businesses, and more Black small businesses are starting up than at any time in American history.

Now we have the fastest economic growth from the pandemic of any world economy. We have the lowest inflation rate among the major economies.

We—and we have a lot more to do though. And I'm going to get those gas prices down again. I promise you.

Audience member. Thank you! [Applause]

The President. But seriously, we're living through one of the greatest job-creation periods in our history. And, folks, it's not an accident. It's not an accident.

That literally is our economic plan in action—Bidenomics in action.

Let me close with this. And there's a lot more I know we could talk about. I wish I had a chance to take all your questions, but I'm going to get in real trouble if I do that. [Laughter]

But all kidding aside, we've faced some pretty tough times in recent years. But America didn't give up. America never gives up.

I've said it a thousand times: There's no quit in America—no quit.

But you hear from our friends on the other side, the MAGA Republicans, what's wrong with America. Everything's wrong with America. They keep telling us America is failing.

Well, they're wrong. They're failing.

America is not failing. America is winning. And there's one reason for it: you. All you people get up every single morning and go out to try to do the right thing. You, the American people—you're the ones with grit and determination. Not me or your elected officials. You.

Whatever we've set our mind to as a country we've always accomplished. We've never failed.

Not a joke. Think about it. Name me one objective America has set that they haven't been able to accomplish if we worked together. Name one.

And, folks, that's not going to change. I've long said it's never been a good bet to bet against America. It's not a good bet today. America's best days are ahead of us, not behind us.

And I can tell you: I know virtually every major world leader. I know most of them pretty well. Every one of them is looking to us. Every single one of them.

I can honestly say I've never been more optimistic about America's future. Never, never, never. We just have to remember who the hell we are: We're the United States of America.

And there is—this is for real. This isn't a campaign speech. This is for real. There's nothing, nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we've worked together. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Folks, the little reason I'm so optimistic is we really are the most unique nation in the world. You know, say, "Well, every nation says it." No, think about it—I mean, in real terms. Think: We're the most unique nation in the whole world.

Every other country is based on ethnicity, geography, religion, race, or creed. We're the only nation—and this is literal. Think about it. We're the only nation based on an idea—an idea. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

Look, we've never fully lived up to it. We've never walked away from it. These other guys are trying to walk away from it.

I'm about to make a major speech. I made one back when I ran the last time in 2020 up at Independence Hall. Democracy is at stake, folks. Our democracy is under attack, and we've got to fight for it.

I taught at the University of Pennsylvania for 4 years, and I used to teach political theory. And, folks, you always hear every generation has to fight for democracy. And I find myself—it's automatic. We didn't have to believe it. But we do. We do.

And look, it's who we are.

I had a long talk with my counterpart, who I've known for 25 years, Vladimir Putin. And he started to—he said to me—this was early on when I first got elected and we were talking about strategic doctrine and keeping nuclear weapons out of space, et cetera, in Geneva.

And he sat there and—when I was making the case, and he looked at me and he said that "the reason I'm reluctant to talk to you about this: You expect me to bring China along all the time." I said, "Oh, I don't expect you to bring China along."

I said: "You've got essentially a 6,000-mile border with China. Your tundra is melting in the Arctic Circle. Methane is coming out. You got a lot of problems, and China doesn't respect you that much." And he looked at me; he kind of stood up.

I said: "We have Canada to our north, Mexico to our south, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. We've got the most heterogeneous nation in the history of the world. And we're together. I'm not asking you to do anything except yourself."

It ended up with a very different ending, but the—my point is the idea of who we are. There's nothing beyond—I promise you.

Madeleine Albright was right, fellas. We are the essential nation.

There's not a single room I walk into—not because of Joe Biden; I mean that sincerely—because I'm President of the United States. Not a single nation I walk into—room I walk into, the rest of the world doesn't stop and said, basically, "What do you think?" Not a joke.

We've just got to be—remember who we are. We are the United States of America. There is nothing beyond our capacity.

God bless you all. Thank you.