Political Quotes

“I join you in those condolences. Our subject matter for the evening was really going to be about the economy, about income within this Nation, or the lack of it. I want to just start by referring to a statement that Franklin Delano Roosevelt made during the economic crisis of the 1930s. In fact, this statement is etched in the marble at the F.D.R. memorial here in Washington, D.C. He said: The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. The test of our progress. Well, what has been our progress over these last several years? This last week, the economic study of the progress of America since the great crash of 2007 was made public. There has been progress. There has been economic growth. There has been the creation of wealth. We have seen progress, but it's not the kind of progress that F.D.R. talked about in the thirties. What we have seen is exactly the opposite of what he called for: to provide more for those who have little. Here it is, the tale of two Americans, a stunted recovery, but, nonetheless, a recovery. Where did the economic growth go? Where did the wealth go that was created? Was it to those who have little? No. No. No. Ninety-five percent of all of the wealth that this economy created since 2007 in the great crash went to the top 1 percent. Ninety-five percent of all of the wealth went to the top 1 percent.…”