President Obama Tells High School Students The Truth About Their Do Nothing Congress

Read: Kristi Noem Is Banned From 20% of South Dakota.

President Obama delivered some straight talk to high school students today about the do nothing Congress that is letting them down.

Video:

Transcript:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: So a few days ago, I sent my budget to Congress. And budgets are pretty boring — but the stuff inside the budgets are pretty important. And my budget focuses on things like preschool for all; like redesigning high schools so students like you can learn real-world skills that businesses want — (applause) — like preparing more young people for careers in some of the fields of the future — in science and technology and engineering and math to discover new planets and invent robots and cure diseases — all the cool stuff that we adults haven’t figured out yet. (Laughter.)

These are not just the right investments for our schools; they’re the right priorities for our country. You are our priority. We’ve got to make sure we have budgets that reflect that you are the most important thing to this country’s success. If you don’t succeed, we don’t succeed. (Applause.)

We’ve got to make sure all of you are prepared for the new century, and we’ve got to keep growing our economy in other ways: attracting new high-tech jobs, reforming our immigration system — something Congressman Garcia is fighting for. (Applause.) And the rest of Congress needs to stop doing nothing, do right by America’s students, America’s teachers, America’s workers. Let’s get to work. Let’s get busy. (Applause.) We’ve got work to do. All of us have work to do — teachers, school counselors, principals, superintendents, parents, grandparents.

We all have work to do, because we want to see you succeed, because we’re counting on you, Barracudas. (Applause.) And if you keep reaching for success — and I know you will, just based on the small sampling we saw of students here — if you keep working as hard as you can and learning as much as you can, and if you’ve got big ambitions and big dreams, if you don’t let anybody tell you something is out of your reach, if you are convinced that you can do something and apply effort and energy and determination and persistence to that vision, then not only will you be great but this country will be great. (Applause.) Our schools will be great. (Applause.)

President Obama was correct. Students should be a priority. Today’s students are going to be the workforce of tomorrow. Today’s high school juniors and seniors will be able to vote in their first presidential election in 2016. Some of these young people will be entering workforce that has been shaped by years of Republican attempts to undo economic opportunity.

One would think that Republicans could agree with Democrats to work together to help build a better future for our students, but these are the same Republicans who won’t work with Democrats on helping veterans, so there isn’t much hope that they give a damn about the economic challenges that come with getting a higher education or a job.

The president thrives on the energy of the room that he is addressing, and he passionately delivered an uplifting talk to these students.

Obama was right delivering the truth to these students about their do nothing Congress. All of America’s students deserve better than an education system that has been cut to the bone by Republican governors while Republicans at the federal level are expressing zero concern for the future that they are shaping.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association