In Obama's Words

Obama holds a town hall meeting in Decorah, Iowa

I want you to help hold all of us accountable, me included. I am enlisting you in this fight, because if you are -- if you're making your voices heard, if you're letting people know that enough is enough, it is time to move forward, it is time for us to win the future -- if your voices are heard, then sooner or later these guys have to start paying attention. And if they don't start paying attention then they're not going to be in office and we will have a new Congress in there that will start paying attention to what is going on all across America.”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama holds a town hall at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Republican budget that was put forward I would say is fairly radical. I wouldn't call it particularly courageous. I do think Mr. Ryan is sincere. I think he's a patriot. I think he wants to solve a real problem which is our long-term deficit. But I think that what he and the other Republicans in the House of Representatives also want to do is change our social compact in a pretty fundamental way.”

• Other issues:Economy, Government and Politics

Obama Holds Town Hall on Health Care

We have to ask why places like Geisinger Health Systems in rural Pennsylvania or Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City, or communities like Green Bay, can offer high-quality care at costs well below average, but other places in America can't.”

• Other issues:Health Care

Obama's Press Conference

The most critical part of our strategy is to ensure that we do not return to an economic cycle of bubble and bust in this country.”

• Other issues:Economy, Government and Politics, Health Care

Obama holds a town hall on debt reduction in Annandale, Va.

We can't just tell the wealthiest among us, you don't have to do a thing. You just sit there and relax, and everybody else, we're going to solve this problem. Especially when we know that the only way to pay for these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans is by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more for their health care, or cutting children out of Head Start, or doing away with health insurance for millions of Americans on Medicaid -- seniors in nursing homes, or poor children, or middle-class families who may have a disabled child, an autistic child.”

• Other issues:Economy, Government and Politics

Obama Delivers Remarks on Health Care Reform at the American Medical Association's Annual Meeting in Chicago

To say it as plainly as I can, health care is the single most important thing we can do for America's long-term fiscal health. That is a fact.”

• Other issues:Health Care

Obama meets with Fairfax family and delivers remarks on the economy

The body politic is like an individual in the sense that if they go through a really bad accident and you're in a cast and got a little whiplashed and bruised and battered, it takes some time to recover. And that's what happened to our economy. We went through a really bad accident.”

Obama delivers remarks on the economy in Osawatomie, Kansas

'The market will take care of everything,' they tell us. If only we cut more regulations and cut more taxes -- especially for the wealthy -- our economy will grow stronger. Sure, there will be winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everyone else. And even if prosperity doesn't trickle down, they argue, that's the price of liberty. It's a simple theory -- one that speaks to our rugged individualism and healthy skepticism of too much government. It fits well on a bumper sticker. Here's the problem: It doesn't work. It's never worked.”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama remarks at townhall meeting in Racine, Wisconsin

I mean, maybe I'm confused. Do you think that the financial crisis was an ant and we just needed a little ant swatter to fix this thing? Or do you think that we need to restructure how we regulate the financial system so you aren’t on the hook again and we don't have this kind of crisis again?”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama delivers remarks on the economy in Columbis, Ohio

What we've tried to do whenever we are in a setting like this is to talk about the things that folks are going through day to day, because, look, I'll be honest with you, sometimes when you're in Washington you get caught up with the particular legislative battles or, you know, the media spin on certain issues, and sometimes you lose touch in terms of what folks are talking about around the kitchen table.”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama holds question and answer session with Senate Democrats

• Other issues:Government and Politics

Obama holds a town hall meeting in Alpha, Ill.

There's nothing wrong with our country, but there's a lot wrong with our politics right now. And that's what I aim to fix. That's what we have to fix.”

• Other issues:Agriculture, Economy

Obama delivers remarks on education at National Urban League

An education is not something you just tip your head and they pour it in your ear. You've got to want it. You've got to reach out and claim that future for yourself.”

• Other issues:Education

Obama holds Tele Town Hall meeting with seniors

Case in point: Beginning this week, tens of thousands of seniors who fall into the doughnut hole, like Fran, will receive a $250 rebate check to help you cover the cost of your prescriptions.”

• Other issues:Health Care

Obama holds town hall meeting in Ottumwa, Iowa

So I want everybody here as parents, as community members, as church members, to know that if we're supporting our kids -- if we're supporting our kids and we are instilling the values of responsibility, and hard work, and excellence, and second place isn't good enough -- that's how America got built.”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama speaks at town hall meeting in Nashua, N.H.

So I won't walk away from these efforts. I won't walk away from these people. And I don't think Congress should either. I think we should keep working to get this done -- Democrats and Republicans together.”

• Other issues:Economy, Government and Politics, Health Care

Obama Holds Town Hall in Albuquerque, N.M.

It's time for strong, reliable protections for our consumers.”

• Other issues:Economy

Obama holds Twitter townhall meeting

We're not all tied together by ethnicity or a single religion. What ties us together is this idea that everybody has got a shot. As long as you carry out your responsibilities, you can make it. You can get into the middle class and beyond. And you can start a company and suddenly help bring the whole world together. That's what makes this country outstanding. But in order to do that, it requires us to both have a commitment to our individualism and our freedom and our creativity and our idiosyncrasies. But it also requires us to have a commitment to each other, and recognize that I would not be President if somebody hadn't helped provide some scholarships for my school, and you would not have Twitter if the Department of Defense, at some point, and a bunch of universities hadn't made some investments in something that ended up being the Internet. And those were public goods that were invested in.”

Obama holds a town hall on clean energy in Fairless Hills, Pa.

Reducing our dependence on oil, doubling the clean energy we use, helping to grow our economy by securing our energy future -- that's going to be a big challenge. And it's going to require effort. It's going to require ingenuity. It's going to require us coming together. It's going to require us getting past some of the petty politics that we play sometimes. But we can meet that challenge.”

• Other issues:Economy, Energy and Environment

Obama delivers remarks on the economy and health care at Families USA conference

I am not willing to just refight the battles of the last two years. I'm not open to efforts that will take this law apart without considering the lives and the livelihoods that hang in the balance.”

• Other issues:Health Care, Social Issues