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.

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

Today, 54% of all African-American children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled since 1960.

Providing these families with the same chances that previous generations have had is a daunting challenge, but it is certainly one we can meet.

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…

He began to find comfort in his faith, and when he left jail, he moved in with an aunt who expected him to behave well and study hard. And he did. He is now at Benedict College and will be president of the student council there next year.

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…

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…

But he told us that of everything that's out there, his biggest dream is to someday stand in the front yard of his own home with his wife and kids, who will hug him and say, 'I love you, Daddy.'

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.

None of this agenda will happen overnight, nor will it be easy to get done. But then again, America's story hasn't been all that easy itself.

We know that to fill these jobs, we'll also have to get serious about educating our workforce for the 21st century.