President Obama in Kokomo: "Don't bet against us." (Opening shot of 2012 campaign)

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President Barack Obama delivers remarks to workers at Chrysler's Indiana Transmission Plant in Kokomo, Indiana November 23, 2010




____ We've got some of the best workers in the United States of America right here at this plant. (Applause.) And I had a chance to meet some of you as we were going around seeing these amazing transmissions that you’re building. And I was very happy to hear that after a couple of tough years, this plant is now running at full capacity. And that’s why I’m here today. (Applause.) That's why I'm here today.

Now, we all know that one plant by itself doesn’t mean that there aren't people in Kokomo who are still hurting. I had lunch with the mayor and some firefighters, and there's still a long way to go. The mayor has got all kinds of great plans, and there are businesses that are looking to start expanding. But the fact is there are millions of people around the country who are still looking for work in the wake of the worst recession in our lifetimes. I don’t have to tell you that. Many of you still have friends or neighbors, a husband or a wife who is still struggling.

And I know that before this plant started rehiring, a lot of you were in the same position, so you remember that it is a tough, tough thing when you’re out of work, especially when you’ve taken a lifetime of pride in working and supporting a family and making great products.

But even as we continue to face serious challenges, what’s happening here at this plant -– the changes we’re seeing throughout Kokomo -– are signs of hope and confidence in the future -- in our future, together. You’re showing us the way forward. You’re living up to that spirit of optimism and determination -– that grit –- that’s always been at the heart of who we are as a people, at the heart of America.




(AP photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

I remember coming to Kokomo a little over two years ago. Joe will remember this. Some of you might have been here. What was happening here reflected what was happening all over the country, all over this region. For a decade or more, families had felt a growing sense of economic insecurity. A lot of manufacturing had left the area. And then a recession started taking hold, and folks were seeing job losses and facing new hardships.

That was before anybody knew how devastating the recession was going to be. So by the time I took office, just a few months later, the financial crisis had hit, the auto industry teetered on the brink, and we were losing millions of jobs.

And that left Joe and I with some tough choices. One was to help the auto industry restructure. And that wasn’t an easy call. I understood that there were some reservations of those who said that the industry should pay a price for some poor decisions by the part of management. But we also knew that millions of jobs hung in the balance. We also knew that the very survival of places like Kokomo were on the line. And we knew that the collapse of the American auto industry would lead to an even deeper disaster for our economy.




(Reuters/Jim Young)

And you know what, we also believed that America, which popularized the automobile, whose middle class was made on the basis of manufacturing -- that we couldn’t just give up. We couldn’t throw in the towel. That was not an option.

There were those who were prepared to give up on Kokomo and our auto industry. There were those who said it was going to be too difficult, or that it was bad politics, or it was throwing good money after bad. You remember the voices arguing for us to do nothing. They were pretty loud, suggesting we should just step back and watch an entire sector of our economy fall apart.

But we knew that the auto industry was not built, and this country was not built, by doing the easy thing. It wasn’t built by doing nothing. It was built by doing what was necessary even when it’s difficult. So we made the decision to stand behind the auto industry -- if automakers, if CEOs like Sergio were willing to do what was necessary to make themselves competitive in the 21st century, and if they have the cooperation of workers who were taking pride in the products that they made.




(AP photo/Darron Cummings)

We made the decision to stand with you because we had confidence in the American worker, more than anything. And today we know that was the right decision. (Applause.) We know that was the right decision.

Today each of the Big Three automakers has increased their market share -- each of them. For the first time in over a decade, Americans are buying a larger share of Chryslers, Fords and G.M. cars, and a smaller share of their foreign counterparts -- for the first time in decades. (Applause.)

We’re coming back. We’re on the move. All three American companies are profitable, and they are growing. Some of you read last week, G.M.’s stock offering exceeded expectations as investors expressed their confidence in a future that seemed so dim just 18 months ago. And as a result, the Treasury was able to sell half of its G.M. stock.




(AP photo/Darron Cummings)

So here’s the lesson: Don't bet against America. (Applause.) Don't bet against the American auto industry. Don't bet against American ingenuity. Don't bet against the American worker. Don't bet against us. (Applause.) Don't bet against us. (Applause.)


So, for anybody who says our country’s best days are behind us, anybody who would doubt our prospects for the future, anybody who doesn’t believe in the Midwest, anybody who doesn’t believe in manufacturing -- have them come to Kokomo. Have them come to Kokomo. (Applause.) Come here. Meet these workers. Visit these plants. Come back to this city that's fighting block by block, business by business, job by job. (Applause.)

This is a reminder of what we do as Americans. What we can do as Americans when we come together, when we’re not divided; we’re not spending all our time bickering, but instead focusing on getting the job done. We don’t give up. We don’t turn back. We fight for our future.



(Reuters/Jim Young)


full text of remarks: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/11/23/remarks-president-and-vice-president-chrysler-plant-workers-kokomo-india

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1. the USA squanders half of its wealth every year on wars and more wars lol nt

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2. all the more reason

. . . to highlight these other ambitions of government.

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3. .

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4. New hires: $15 an hour n/t

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5. hard to support a family on nothing

. . . which is what these workers were facing.