Over the last few decades, fundamental changes in the way we work and live have trapped too many American families between an economy that's gone global and a government that's gone AWOL.

It has not been lost on either Michelle or myself that our family's story has been America's story - a story of opportunity, and possibility, and the tireless pursuit of a dream that was always within reach.

But just as we have individual responsibilities, at the dawn of the 21st century we also have a collective responsibility to strengthen that safety net, put the rungs back on that ladder to the middle-class, and give every family the…

So, for those Americans who have been searching unsuccessfully for employment, I will invest $50 million in programs that will place willing workers into transitional jobs and train them for permanent ones.

In the last six years, over 300,000 black males have lost jobs in the manufacturing sector - the highest rate of any ethnic group.

The second step we'll take to strengthen families is to ensure that working Americans are not impoverished Americans.

And instead of waiting every ten years for Congress to fight over raising the minimum wage, I will finally make the minimum wage a living wage by permanently indexing it to inflation so that it actually pays the bills.

Parents will need to make sure their kids turn off the TV once in a while, and put away the video games, and start hitting the books.

And of course, though I did not know him well, every year around Father's Day I think of my own father. He and my mother divorced when I was only two years old, and for most of my life I knew him only through the letters he sent and the…

I think about my grandfather, who first became a father when my mother was born on a Kansas army base at the outset of World War II. He left to fight fascism in Europe while my grandmother stayed behind and pitched in on a bomber assembly…

My plan would also support families with children by expanding the Child Tax Credit to an additional 600,000 more Americans, who would receive $1,000 per child.

It's a plan that would remove some of the financial penalties the government currently imposes on married couples, cut out the red tape to ensure that every dime of child support goes directly to children instead of bureaucrats, and…

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of hearing that town tell us we can't.

I think, you know, the scandal of tainted pet food is going to move us in this direction because finally I think people say, you know, this is not just some academic debate. Country of Origin Labeling, understanding where the meat you…

I'm not going to get into what I said or didn't say.

I can't fathom why they seem so obsessed to ram through this flawed bill that the American people overwhelmingly reject.

If we don't try, this problem that has bedeviled us for years will continue.

Doing nothing is not an alternative. It is not an alternative. This issue isn't going away.