Political Quotes

Barack Obama: Most Americans, regardless of political party, don't understand how we can ask a senior citizen to pay more for her…

On the recordJuly 24, 2011
Most Americans, regardless of political party, don't understand how we can ask a senior citizen to pay more for her Medicare before we ask corporate jet owners or the oil companies to give up tax breaks that other companies don't get. How can we ask a student to pay more for college before we ask hedge fund managers to stop paying taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries? How can we slash funding for education and clean energy before we ask people like me to give up tax breaks we don't need and didn't ask for? That's not right. It's not fair.
Said by
Barack Obama
Democratic · Illinois

Editor's note · Context

Obama criticizes the unfairness of asking vulnerable groups to bear financial burdens while corporations and wealthy individuals retain tax breaks.

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