Good afternoon, everybody. 大家下午好。
Well, I want to start by thanking a few folks who’ve joined us today. We’ve got the mayor of Osawatomie, Phil Dudley is here. We have your superintendent Gary French in the house. 首先，我想感谢几位今天到场的朋友。奥萨瓦托米市长菲尔·达德利来了；你们的学区负责人加里·弗伦奇也在；奥萨瓦托米高中的校长道格·奇萨姆也来了。我还带来了你们的前州长、现任卫生与公众服务部长凯瑟琳·塞贝利厄斯。我们都很喜欢凯瑟琳。
And we have the principal of Osawatomie High, Doug Chisam. And I have brought your former governor, who is doing now an outstanding job as Secretary of Health and Human Services -- Kathleen Sebelius is in the house. We love Kathleen. 很高兴再次回到得克萨斯州——回到堪萨斯州。我之前还拿比尔·塞尔夫开过玩笑，他不久前来过这里。你们很多人知道，我和这里有渊源。我相信大家都熟悉奥萨瓦托米的奥巴马家族。其实我喜欢说，我的名字来自父亲，但我的口音和价值观来自母亲。她出生在威奇托；她的母亲在奥古斯塔长大；她的父亲来自埃尔多拉多。所以，我的堪萨斯根基很深。
Well, it is great to be back in the state of Tex -- state of Kansas. I was giving Bill Self a hard time, he was here a while back. As many of you know, I have roots here. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Obamas of Osawatomie. Actually, I like to say that I got my name from my father, but I got my accent -- and my values -- from my mother. 我的祖父母都曾在第二次世界大战期间服役。祖父是巴顿将军麾下的士兵，祖母在轰炸机装配线上工作。他们共同分享了一个国家战胜大萧条和法西斯主义后的乐观精神。他们相信这样的美国：努力工作就会有回报，承担责任就会得到认可，只要努力，任何人都能取得成功——不论你是谁、来自哪里、起点如何。
She was born in Wichita. Her mother grew up in Augusta. Her father was from El Dorado. So my Kansas roots run deep. 这些价值观孕育了世界上最庞大的中产阶级和最强大的经济体。正是在美国，生产效率最高的工人和最具创新力的企业制造出地球上最好的产品。
My grandparents served during World War II. He was a soldier in Patton’s Army; she was a worker on a bomber assembly line. 你们知道吗？每个美国人都分享了那份自豪和成功——从高管办公室里的人，到中层管理者，再到工厂车间的工人。因此，只要你全力以赴，就有信心带回足够的钱养家、送孩子上学、获得医疗保障，并为退休存下一点钱。
And together, they shared the optimism of a nation that triumphed over the Great Depression and over fascism. 今天，我们仍然拥有世界上生产效率最高的工人，也仍然拥有世界上最具创新力的企业。但对大多数美国人来说，曾让这个国家伟大的基本约定已经被侵蚀。
They believed in an America where hard work paid off, and responsibility was rewarded, and anyone could make it if they tried -- no matter who you were, no matter where you came from, no matter how you started out. 在经济衰退到来很久以前，努力工作就已经不再给太多人带来回报。为经济成功作出贡献的人，真正从这种成功中获益的越来越少。最顶层的人凭借收入和投资变得比以往更加富有，而其他所有人却在应对不断上涨的成本，工资却没有同步增长；太多家庭只能累积越来越多的债务来维持生活。
And these values gave rise to the largest middle class and the strongest economy that the world has ever known. It was here in America that the most productive workers, the most innovative companies turned out the best products on Earth. And you know what? 多年来，信用卡和房屋净值贷款掩盖了这一严峻现实。但在2008年，这座纸牌屋倒塌了。现在我们都知道事情经过：把抵押贷款卖给无力偿还、甚至有时根本无法理解条款的人；允许银行和投资者不断打包风险并将其转卖；拿别人的钱下注，却作出巨额赌注并领取巨额奖金；本应提醒我们注意危险的监管者却视而不见，或者根本没有权力全面审查。
Every American shared in that pride and in that success -- from those in the executive suites to those in middle management to those on the factory floor. 这是错误的。少数人的惊人贪婪与整个体系的不负责任结合在一起，把我们的经济和世界拖入一场至今仍在努力复苏的危机。数百万无辜且勤劳的美国人失去了工作、住房和基本安全感；他们已经履行了自己的责任，却仍然被迫承担后果。
So you could have some confidence that if you gave it your all, you’d take enough home to raise your family and send your kids to school and have your health care covered, put a little away for retirement. 从那以后，人们一直激烈争论恢复增长、繁荣、平衡和公平的最佳方式。这场争论在全国引发了抗议和政治运动，从茶党到占据纽约及其他城市街头的人们；它让华盛顿几乎持续陷入僵局；它也成为竞选总统的男女候选人热烈、有时甚至颇为生动的讨论主题。
Today, we’re still home to the world’s most productive workers. We’re still home to the world’s most innovative companies. But for most Americans, the basic bargain that made this country great has eroded. Long before the recession hit, hard work stopped paying off for too many people. 但是，奥萨瓦托米，这不只是又一场政治争论。这是我们这个时代的决定性问题。这是中产阶级以及所有努力进入中产阶级的人所面临的成败关头。因为关键在于，这个国家是否仍会让劳动者挣到足够的钱来养家、积累适度储蓄、拥有住房并保障退休生活。
Fewer and fewer of the folks who contributed to the success of our economy actually benefited from that success. Those at the very top grew wealthier from their incomes and their investments -- wealthier than ever before. 此时此刻，有些人似乎患上了集体失忆症。经历了大萧条以来最严重的经济和金融危机之后，他们却想回到把我们带入这场混乱的做法。他们甚至想回到多年令中产阶级美国人处于不利地位的政策。其理念很简单：当每个人都只能自谋生路、各按自己的规则行事时，我们的境况会更好。
But everybody else struggled with costs that were growing and paychecks that weren’t -- and too many families found themselves racking up more and more debt just to keep up. 我来这里就是要说，他们错了。我来到堪萨斯，是要重申我的坚定信念：我们团结在一起时，比各自为战更加强大。我相信，当每个人都有公平机会、每个人尽到应尽的责任、每个人遵守相同规则时，这个国家就会取得成功。这些不是民主党的价值观，也不是共和党的价值观；不是1%人群的价值观，也不是99%人群的价值观。这是美国的价值观，我们必须重新拥有它们。
Now, for many years, credit cards and home equity loans papered over this harsh reality. But in 2008, the house of cards collapsed. We all know the story by now: Mortgages sold to people who couldn’t afford them, or even sometimes understand them. 你看，这不是美国第一次面对这样的选择。上个世纪初，一个以农民为主的国家正在转型为世界工业巨头，我们必须作出决定：我们是否要接受这样一个国家——大多数新铁路和工厂都由少数庞大垄断企业控制，它们维持高价格和低工资？
Banks and investors allowed to keep packaging the risk and selling it off. Huge bets -- and huge bonuses -- made with other people’s money on the line. Regulators who were supposed to warn us about the dangers of all this, but looked the other way or didn’t have the authority to look at all. 我们是否允许公民，甚至儿童，在不人道的长工时和不安全、不卫生的环境中工作？我们是否把教育限制在少数特权阶层手中？因为当时有人认为，严重不平等和对人的剥削就是进步必须付出的代价。
It was wrong. It combined the breathtaking greed of a few with irresponsibility all across the system. 西奥多·罗斯福不同意。他是出身富裕家庭的共和党人。他赞扬工业巨头创造就业、发展经济的成就。他当时就相信、而我们今天也知道，市场经济是人类历史上推动经济进步最强大的力量。它带来了其他国家无法匹敌的繁荣和生活水平。
And it plunged our economy and the world into a crisis from which we’re still fighting to recover. It claimed the jobs and the homes and the basic security of millions of people -- innocent, hardworking Americans who had met their responsibilities but were still left holding the bag. 但罗斯福也知道，自由市场从来不是一张可以任意攫取他人利益的许可证。他明白，自由市场只有在确保竞争公平、开放、诚信的规则下才能运转。因此，他打击垄断，迫使企业以更好的服务和更低的价格争取消费者；今天，这些企业仍然必须如此。他努力确保企业不能靠剥削儿童获利，也不能销售不安全的食品或药品；今天，它们仍然不能这样做。
And ever since, there’s been a raging debate over the best way to restore growth and prosperity, restore balance, restore fairness. Throughout the country, it’s sparked protests and political movements -- from the tea party to the people who’ve been occupying the streets of New York and other cities. 1910年，泰迪·罗斯福来到奥萨瓦托米，阐述了他所谓“新民族主义”的愿景。他说：“我们的国家毫无意义，除非它意味着真正民主的胜利——意味着建立一种经济制度，使每个人都能获得展现自身最佳能力的机会。”
It’s left Washington in a near-constant state of gridlock. It’s been the topic of heated and sometimes colorful discussion among the men and women running for president. 正因为如此，罗斯福被称为激进分子、社会主义者，甚至是共产主义者。但今天，我们的国家更加富裕，民主也更加强大，正是因为他在最后一次竞选中争取的事业：八小时工作制、女性最低工资、为失业者和老年人及残障人士提供保险、政治改革以及累进所得税。
But, Osawatomie, this is not just another political debate. This is the defining issue of our time. This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class, and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. Because what’s at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement. 一百多年后的今天，我们的经济又经历了一次转型。过去几十年，技术的巨大进步让企业能够以更少的资源完成更多工作，也让它们更容易在世界任何地方设厂并雇用工人。你们很多人亲身经历过这给许多美国人带来的痛苦冲击。
Now, in the midst of this debate, there are some who seem to be suffering from a kind of collective amnesia. After all that’s happened, after the worst economic crisis, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, they want to return to the same practices that got us into this mess. 人们原以为会工作到退休的工厂突然搬到了海外，因为那里的劳动力更便宜。过去需要100名甚至1000名员工的钢铁厂，如今可以用100名员工完成同样的工作，因此裁员越来越常常变成永久性的，而不再只是商业周期中的暂时现象。这些变化影响的不只是蓝领工人。如果你是银行柜员、电话接线员或旅行代理，你会看到许多同行被自动取款机和互联网取代。
In fact, they want to go back to the same policies that stacked the deck against middle-class Americans for way too many years. And their philosophy is simple: We are better off when everybody is left to fend for themselves and play by their own rules. 如今，就连会计师和中层管理人员这样的高技能岗位，也可以外包到中国或印度。如果你的工作可以由计算机或其他国家的人以更低成本完成，那么当你要求雇主提高工资或改善福利时，你就没有多少议价能力，尤其是因为如今加入工会的美国人越来越少。
I am here to say they are wrong. I’m here in Kansas to reaffirm my deep conviction that we’re greater together than we are on our own. I believe that this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share, when everyone plays by the same rules. These aren’t Democratic values or Republican values. 就像泰迪·罗斯福时代一样，华盛顿有一群人在过去几十年里一直说，让我们用老调子回应这一经济挑战。“市场会解决一切问题，”他们告诉我们。
These aren’t 1 percent values or 99 percent values. They’re American values. And we have to reclaim them. 只要我们削减更多监管、削减更多税收，尤其是给富人减税，我们的经济就会更加强大。当然，他们说，会有赢家和输家；但如果赢家表现得非常好，工作和繁荣最终就会向下惠及其他人。他们还说，即使繁荣没有向下惠及所有人，那也是自由的代价。
You see, this isn’t the first time America has faced this choice. At the turn of the last century, when a nation of farmers was transitioning to become the world’s industrial giant, we had to decide: Would we settle for a country where most of the new railroads and factories were being controlled by a few giant monopolies that kept prices high and wages low? Would we allow our citizens and even our children to work ungodly hours in conditions that were unsafe and unsanitary? 这是一套简单的理论。我们必须承认，它迎合了美国人崇尚个人奋斗、对过多政府干预持健康怀疑态度的性格。这存在于美国的基因之中。这套理论很适合写在保险杠贴纸上。但问题是：它行不通，
Would we restrict education to the privileged few? Because there were people who thought massive inequality and exploitation of people was just the price you pay for progress. 从来没有行得通。大萧条前的十年曾尝试过，但没有成功；20世纪50年代和60年代战后经济的惊人繁荣也不是它带来的；上一个十年我们再次尝试，结果仍然没有成功。要知道，我们并不是没有试过这套理论。
Theodore Roosevelt disagreed . He was the Republican son of a wealthy family. He praised what the titans of industry had done to create jobs and grow the economy. He believed then what we know is true today, that the free market is the greatest force for economic progress in human history. It’s led to a prosperity and a standard of living unmatched by the rest of the world. 还记得2001年和2003年吗？国会通过了历史上针对富人的两项最昂贵的减税措施。结果呢？就业增长是半个世纪以来最慢的。巨额赤字让我们更难为那些建设这个国家、帮助数百万美国人进入并留在中产阶级的投资提供资金，比如教育、基础设施、科学技术、医疗保险和社会保障。
But Roosevelt also knew that the free market has never been a free license to take whatever you can from whomever you can. He understood the free market only works when there are rules of the road that ensure competition is fair and open and honest. And so he busted up monopolies, forcing those companies to compete for consumers with better services and better prices. And today, they still must. He fought to make sure businesses couldn’t profit by exploiting children or selling food or medicine that wasn’t safe. And today, they still can’t. 还记得同一时期吗？多亏如今掌控国会的那些人中的一些，我们监管薄弱、监督不足，结果呢？保险公司可以肆无忌惮地提高保费，拒绝为患病患者提供医疗；抵押贷款机构欺骗家庭购买他们负担不起的住房；金融部门缺乏基本监督、任由不负责任行为发展，几乎摧毁了整个经济。
And in 1910, Teddy Roosevelt came here to Osawatomie and he laid out his vision for what he called a New Nationalism. “Our country,” he said, “…means nothing unless it means the triumph of a real democracy…of an economic system under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the best that there is in him.” 如果我们真心要重建这个国家的中产阶级，就绝不能回到这种“各人自求多福”的经济模式。我们知道，它不会带来强大的经济，只会带来一个对人民和未来投资不足的经济。我们知道，它不会带来向下惠及所有人的繁荣，只会让越来越少的公民享受繁荣。
Now, for this, Roosevelt was called a radical. He was called a socialist -- even a communist. But today, we are a richer nation and a stronger democracy because of what he fought for in his last campaign: an eight-hour work day and a minimum wage for women -- insurance for the unemployed and for the elderly, and those with disabilities; political reform and a progressive income tax. 看看统计数据。过去几十年，最富有的1%人群的平均收入增长了250%以上，达到每年120万美元。我说的不是拥有100万美元的人，而是每年赚100万美元的人。最富有的万分之一人群如今平均每年收入2700万美元。过去收入约为普通工人30倍的首席执行官，如今收入达到工人的110倍。然而在过去十年，大多数美国人的收入实际上下降了约6%。
Today, over 100 years later, our economy has gone through another transformation. Over the last few decades, huge advances in technology have allowed businesses to do more with less, and it’s made it easier for them to set up shop and hire workers anywhere they want in the world. And many of you know firsthand the painful disruptions this has caused for a lot of Americans. 不平等还会扭曲我们的民主。
Factories where people thought they would retire suddenly picked up and went overseas, where workers were cheaper. Steel mills that needed 100 -- or 1,000 employees are now able to do the same work with 100 employees, so layoffs too often became permanent, not just a temporary part of the business cycle. And these changes didn’t just affect blue-collar workers. If you were a bank teller or a phone operator or a travel agent, you saw many in your profession replaced by ATMs and the Internet. 它让少数负担得起高价游说者和无限竞选捐款的人拥有过大的话语权，使我们的民主面临被最高出价者买走的风险。它让其他人有理由怀疑，华盛顿的制度已被操纵，民选代表并没有维护大多数美国人的利益。
Today, even higher-skilled jobs, like accountants and middle management can be outsourced to countries like China or India. And if you’re somebody whose job can be done cheaper by a computer or someone in another country, you don’t have a lot of leverage with your employer when it comes to asking for better wages or better benefits, especially since fewer Americans today are part of a union. 但还有一个更根本的问题。这种巨大的不平等，实际上否定了美国核心承诺：只要努力，你就能取得成功。我们告诉人们，也告诉孩子们，在这个国家，即使一无所有，只要努力工作，也能进入中产阶级；我们告诉他们，你们的孩子将有机会比你们做得更好。这正是世界各地的移民历史上纷纷来到美国海岸的原因。
Now, just as there was in Teddy Roosevelt’s time, there is a certain crowd in Washington who, for the last few decades, have said, let’s respond to this economic challenge with the same old tune. “The market will take care of everything,” they tell us. If we just cut more regulations and cut more taxes -- especially for the wealthy -- our economy will grow stronger. 然而，过去几十年，机会阶梯的横档越来越疏远，中产阶级不断萎缩。第二次世界大战结束几年后，一个出生在贫困中的孩子，成年后成为中产阶级的机会略高于一半。
Sure, they say, there will be winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, then jobs and prosperity will eventually trickle down to everybody else. And, they argue, even if prosperity doesn’t trickle down, well, that’s the price of liberty. 到1980年，这一机会降到了约40%。如果过去几十年不平等加剧的趋势继续下去，据估计，今天出生的孩子只有三分之一、也就是33%的机会进入中产阶级。
Now, it’s a simple theory. And we have to admit, it’s one that speaks to our rugged individualism and our healthy skepticism of too much government. That’s in America’s DNA. And that theory fits well on a bumper sticker. But here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It has never worked. It didn’t work when it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. It’s not what led to the incredible postwar booms of the ‘50s and ‘60s. And it didn’t work when we tried it during the last decade. I mean, understand, it’s not as if we haven’t tried this theory. 这个国家有数百万劳动家庭被迫带着孩子去食物银行领取一顿像样的饭，已经足够令人心碎。但如果那些孩子无论多么努力，都可能没有机会摆脱这种处境、重新进入中产阶级呢？这是不可原谅的。这是错误的，违背了我们所坚持的一切。
Remember in those years, in 2001 and 2003, Congress passed two of the most expensive tax cuts for the wealthy in history. And what did it get us? The slowest job growth in half a century. Massive deficits that have made it much harder to pay for the investments that built this country and provided the basic security that helped millions of Americans reach and stay in the middle class -- things like education and infrastructure, science and technology, Medicare and Social Security. 那么，在今天的经济中恢复中产阶级的安全感意味着什么？首先要确保美国每个人都有公平的成功机会。事实是，在让企业支付最低工资、打击工会、允许企业随意污染环境方面，我们永远不可能和其他国家比谁更差。这是一场我们赢不了、也不应想赢的“逐底竞争”。那些国家没有强大的中产阶级，也没有我们的生活水平。
Remember that in those same years, thanks to some of the same folks who are now running Congress, we had weak regulation, we had little oversight, and what did it get us? Insurance companies that jacked up people’s premiums with impunity and denied care to patients who were sick, mortgage lenders that tricked families into buying homes they couldn’t afford, a financial sector where irresponsibility and lack of basic oversight nearly destroyed our entire economy. 我们想赢、也能够赢的，是一场向上竞争——争取薪酬良好、能够提供中产阶级保障的优质工作。
We simply cannot return to this brand of “you’re on your own” economics if we’re serious about rebuilding the middle class in this country. We know that it doesn’t result in a strong economy. It results in an economy that invests too little in its people and in its future. We know it doesn’t result in a prosperity that trickles down. It results in a prosperity that’s enjoyed by fewer and fewer of our citizens. 企业会把这些工作创造在拥有技能最高、受教育程度最高的劳动者，最先进的交通和通信，以及最坚定投入研究和技术的国家。
Look at the statistics. In the last few decades, the average income of the top 1 percent has gone up by more than 250 percent to 1.2 million dollars per year. I’m not talking about millionaires, people who have a million dollars. I’m saying people who make a million dollars every single year. For the top one hundredth of 1 percent, the average income is now 27 million dollars per year. The typical CEO who used to earn about 30 times more than his or her worker now earns 110 times more. And yet, over the last decade the incomes of most Americans have actually fallen by about 6 percent. 世界正在转向创新型经济，没有谁比美国更擅长创新。没有谁做得更好。没有哪个国家拥有更好的学院和大学，也没有哪个国家拥有更多元的人才和创造力。没有哪个国家的工人或企业家更有动力、更敢于冒险。一直以来我们的优势，恰好与时代的要求完全契合。
Now, this kind of inequality -- a level that we haven’t seen since the Great Depression -- hurts us all. When middle-class families can no longer afford to buy the goods and services that businesses are selling, when people are slipping out of the middle class, it drags down the entire economy from top to bottom. America was built on the idea of broad-based prosperity, of strong consumers all across the country. 如今，制造商和其他企业会把工厂设在基础设施最完善的地方，以便运输产品、转移工人并与世界其他地方沟通。因此，
That’s why a CEO like Henry Ford made it his mission to pay his workers enough so that they could buy the cars he made. It’s also why a recent study showed that countries with less inequality tend to have stronger and steadier economic growth over the long run. 住房市场崩溃时失去工作的100多万建筑工人不应坐在家里无事可做。他们应该重建道路和桥梁，铺设更快的铁路和宽带网络，改造我们的学校——其他国家已经在做这些事情，以吸引优质工作和企业。
Inequality also distorts our democracy. It gives an outsized voice to the few who can afford high-priced lobbyists and unlimited campaign contributions, and it runs the risk of selling out our democracy to the highest bidder. It leaves everyone else rightly suspicious that the system in Washington is rigged against them, that our elected representatives aren’t looking out for the interests of most Americans. 当然，这些生产性投资需要资金，并不是免费的。因此，我们也一直要求每个人承担公平份额来支付这些投资。如果资源无限，没有人需要缴税，也不必削减任何支出。但我们的资源并不无限，所以必须确定优先事项。如果我们想要强大的中产阶级，税收制度就必须体现我们的价值观。我们必须作出选择。
But there’s an even more fundamental issue at stake. This kind of gaping inequality gives lie to the promise that’s at the very heart of America: that this is a place where you can make it if you try. We tell people -- we tell our kids -- that in this country, even if you’re born with nothing, work hard and you can get into the middle class. We tell them that your children will have a chance to do even better than you do. That’s why immigrants from around the world historically have flocked to our shores. 今天，这个选择非常清楚。
And yet, over the last few decades, the rungs on the ladder of opportunity have grown farther and farther apart, and the middle class has shrunk. You know, a few years after World War II, a child who was born into poverty had a slightly better than 50-50 chance of becoming middle class as an adult. By 1980, that chance had fallen to around 40 percent. And if the trend of rising inequality over the last few decades continues, it’s estimated that a child born today will only have a one-in-three chance of making it to the middle class -- 33 percent. 为了削减赤字，我已经签署了近1万亿美元的支出削减法案，还提出了数万亿美元的进一步削减方案，其中包括降低医疗保险和医疗补助成本的改革。
It’s heartbreaking enough that there are millions of working families in this country who are now forced to take their children to food banks for a decent meal. But the idea that those children might not have a chance to climb out of that situation and back into the middle class, no matter how hard they work? That’s inexcusable. It is wrong. It flies in the face of everything that we stand for. 但要从结构上消除赤字、整顿财政，我们必须决定优先事项。眼下最紧迫的是延长本月底即将到期的工资税减免。
Now, fortunately, that’s not a future that we have to accept, because there’s another view about how we build a strong middle class in this country -- a view that’s truer to our history, a vision that’s been embraced in the past by people of both parties for more than 200 years. It’s not a view that we should somehow turn back technology or put up walls around America. 如果不这样做，包括这里大多数人在内的1.6亿美国人，从一月份起平均要多缴1000美元的税，
It’s not a view that says we should punish profit or success or pretend that government knows how to fix all of society’s problems. It is a view that says in America we are greater together -- when everyone engages in fair play and everybody gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share. 这将严重削弱经济复苏。这是短期任务。
So what does that mean for restoring middle-class security in today’s economy? Well, it starts by making sure that everyone in America gets a fair shot at success. The truth is we’ll never be able to compete with other countries when it comes to who’s best at letting their businesses pay the lowest wages, who’s best at busting unions, who’s best at letting companies pollute as much as they want. That’s a race to the bottom that we can’t win, and we shouldn’t want to win that race. Those countries don’t have a strong middle class. They don’t have our standard of living. 从长远看，我们必须更根本地重新思考税收制度。我们要问自己：是要继续投资教育、研究和高技术制造业等领域，投资那些帮助我们成为经济超级大国的一切，还是要继续保留给美国最富有者的税收优惠？我们负担不起两者兼得。这不是政治，而是数学。
The race we want to win, the race we can win is a race to the top -- the race for good jobs that pay well and offer middle-class security. Businesses will create those jobs in countries with the highest-skilled, highest-educated workers, the most advanced transportation and communication, the strongest commitment to research and technology. 到目前为止，我在华盛顿的大多数共和党朋友，无论如何都拒绝要求最富有的美国人回到比尔·克林顿担任总统时所缴纳的同一税率。
The world is shifting to an innovation economy and nobody does innovation better than America. Nobody does it better. No one has better colleges. Nobody has better universities. Nobody has a greater diversity of talent and ingenuity. No one’s workers or entrepreneurs are more driven or more daring. The things that have always been our strengths match up perfectly with the demands of the moment. 那我们就回顾一下历史。
But we need to meet the moment. We’ve got to up our game. We need to remember that we can only do that together. It starts by making education a national mission -- a national mission. Government and businesses, parents and citizens. In this economy, a higher education is the surest route to the middle class. 这不是阶级斗争，而是国家福祉。这关乎作出选择：受益者不只是过去几十年里取得巨大成功的人，
The unemployment rate for Americans with a college degree or more is about half the national average. And their incomes are twice as high as those who don’t have a high school diploma. Which means we shouldn’t be laying off good teachers right now -- we should be hiring them. We shouldn’t be expecting less of our schools –- we should be demanding more. We shouldn’t be making it harder to afford college -- we should be a country where everyone has a chance to go and doesn’t rack up $100,000 of debt just because they went. 也包括中产阶级、努力进入中产阶级的人，以及整个经济。
In today’s innovation economy, we also need a world-class commitment to science and research, the next generation of high-tech manufacturing. Our factories and our workers shouldn’t be idle. We should be giving people the chance to get new skills and training at community colleges so they can learn how to make wind turbines and semiconductors and high-powered batteries. And by the way, if we don’t have an economy that’s built on bubbles and financial speculation, our best and brightest won’t all gravitate towards careers in banking and finance. 最后，强大的中产阶级只能存在于人人遵守相同规则的经济中，从华尔街到主街都是如此。尽管这让我们所有人都无比愤怒，
Because if we want an economy that’s built to last, we need more of those young people in science and engineering. This country should not be known for bad debt and phony profits. We should be known for creating and selling products all around the world that are stamped with three proud words: Made in America. 我们还是拯救了濒临倒闭的大银行，不仅因为全面金融崩溃会把我们拖入第二次大萧条，也因为这个国家需要强健的金融部门。
Today, manufacturers and other companies are setting up shop in the places with the best infrastructure to ship their products, move their workers, communicate with the rest of the world. And that’s why the over 1 million construction workers who lost their jobs when the housing market collapsed, they shouldn’t be sitting at home with nothing to do. They should be rebuilding our roads and our bridges, laying down faster railroads and broadband, modernizing our schools -- all the things other countries are already doing to attract good jobs and businesses to their shores. 但协议的一部分是，我们不能回到一切照旧的状态。因此，去年我们制定了新的运行规则，让金融部门重新聚焦于其核心职责：把资本交给拥有最佳创意的企业家，为数百万想买房或送孩子上大学的家庭提供融资。
Yes, business, and not government, will always be the primary generator of good jobs with incomes that lift people into the middle class and keep them there. But as a nation, we’ve always come together, through our government, to help create the conditions where both workers and businesses can succeed. And historically, that hasn’t been a partisan idea. 我们还没有完全做到这一点，银行也在每一步都与我们斗争。
Franklin Roosevelt worked with Democrats and Republicans to give veterans of World War II -- including my grandfather, Stanley Dunham -- the chance to go to college on the G.I. Bill. It was a Republican President, Dwight Eisenhower, a proud son of Kansas -- who started the Interstate Highway System, and doubled down on science and research to stay ahead of the Soviets. 但这些改革中已有一些开始实施。
Of course, those productive investments cost money. They’re not free. And so we’ve also paid for these investments by asking everybody to do their fair share. Look, if we had unlimited resources, no one would ever have to pay any taxes and we would never have to cut any spending. But we don’t have unlimited resources. And so we have to set priorities. If we want a strong middle class, then our tax code must reflect our values. We have to make choices. 如果你是一家大银行或高风险金融机构，现在必须写出一份“生前遗嘱”，详细说明机构倒闭后将如何偿还账单，从而让纳税人不再为华尔街的错误买单。法律还限制银行规模，并赋予监管者拆解濒临倒闭企业的新权力。新法禁止银行用客户存款进行高风险押注，失败首席执行官将失去巨额奖金和报酬，同时股东可以对高管薪酬发表意见。
Today that choice is very clear. To reduce our deficit, I’ve already signed nearly $1 trillion of spending cuts into law and I’ve proposed trillions more, including reforms that would lower the cost of Medicare and Medicaid. 这就是我们通过的法律。
But in order to structurally close the deficit, get our fiscal house in order, we have to decide what our priorities are. Now, most immediately, short term, we need to extend a payroll tax cut that’s set to expire at the end of this month. If we don’t do that, 160 million Americans, including most of the people here, will see their taxes go up by an average of $1,000 starting in January and it would badly weaken our recovery. That’s the short term. 我们目前正在实施它，所有这些措施都在逐步落实。除非你的金融机构经营模式就是违法、欺骗消费者并作出可能损害整个经济的高风险押注，否则你不应害怕这些新规则。
In the long term, we have to rethink our tax system more fundamentally. We have to ask ourselves: Do we want to make the investments we need in things like education and research and high-tech manufacturing -- all those things that helped make us an economic superpower? Or do we want to keep in place the tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans in our country? Because we can’t afford to do both. That is not politics. That’s just math. 有些人可能知道，我的祖母一生大部分时间都在银行工作。她从秘书一路升到银行副行长。
Now, so far, most of my Republican friends in Washington have refused under any circumstance to ask the wealthiest Americans to go to the same tax rate they were paying when Bill Clinton was president. So let’s just do a trip down memory lane here. 我从她以及接触过的所有人那里知道，绝大多数银行家和金融服务专业人士都希望善待客户。他们希望有规则保护他们，让他们不会因为做正确的事而处于不利地位。然而，国会共和党人却在竭尽全力确保这些规则不被执行。
Keep in mind, when President Clinton first proposed these tax increases, folks in Congress predicted they would kill jobs and lead to another recession. Instead, our economy created nearly 23 million jobs and we eliminated the deficit. Today, the wealthiest Americans are paying the lowest taxes in over half a century. This isn’t like in the early ‘50s, when the top tax rate was over 90 percent. This isn’t even like the early ‘80s, when the top tax rate was about 70 percent. 我举一个具体例子。我们通过的改革首次设立了消费者保护机构，负责保护普通美国人免受抵押贷款机构、发薪日贷款机构或债务催收机构的盘剥。
Under President Clinton, the top rate was only about 39 percent. Today, thanks to loopholes and shelters, a quarter of all millionaires now pay lower tax rates than millions of you, millions of middle-class families. Some billionaires have a tax rate as low as 1 percent. One percent. 我们提名的人理查德·科德雷是俄亥俄州前总检察长，得到了全国大多数民主党和共和党总检察长的支持。没人声称他不够资格。
That is the height of unfairness. It is wrong. It’s wrong that in the United States of America, a teacher or a nurse or a construction worker, maybe earns $50,000 a year, should pay a higher tax rate than somebody raking in $50 million. It’s wrong for Warren Buffett’s secretary to pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. 但参议院共和党人拒绝确认他担任这一职务，拒绝让他履行职责。为什么？
And by the way, Warren Buffett agrees with me. So do most Americans -- Democrats, independents and Republicans. And I know that many of our wealthiest citizens would agree to contribute a little more if it meant reducing the deficit and strengthening the economy that made their success possible. 在座有人认为，导致金融危机的问题是我们对抵押贷款机构或债务催收机构监管过度吗？
This isn’t about class warfare. This is about the nation’s welfare. It’s about making choices that benefit not just the people who’ve done fantastically well over the last few decades, but that benefits the middle class, and those fighting to get into the middle class, and the economy as a whole. 我们不应削弱监督和问责，而应加强监督和问责。我再举一个例子。我们经常看到华尔街公司违反重要的反欺诈法律，因为惩罚太轻，屡犯者无需付出代价。不能再这样下去了。我将推动立法，让这些惩罚真正产生作用，使企业不会把违法惩罚仅仅视为经营成本。
Finally, a strong middle class can only exist in an economy where everyone plays by the same rules, from Wall Street to Main Street. As infuriating as it was for all of us, we rescued our major banks from collapse, not only because a full-blown financial meltdown would have sent us into a second Depression, but because we need a strong, healthy financial sector in this country. 事实是，这场危机在主街和华尔街之间留下了巨大的信任赤字。那些由纳税人救助的大银行有义务付出额外努力，弥合这道信任鸿沟。至少，它们应当纠正导致金融危机的过往抵押贷款滥用行为；应当努力让负责任的房主继续保有住房；我们将继续推动它们给失业的房主更多时间寻找工作，不必担心房屋立即被收走。
But part of the deal was that we wouldn’t go back to business as usual. And that’s why last year we put in place new rules of the road that refocus the financial sector on what should be their core purpose: getting capital to the entrepreneurs with the best ideas, and financing millions of families who want to buy a home or send their kids to college. 大银行应扩大再融资机会，让尚未享受到历史低利率的借款人也能受益。大银行还应认识到，正因为这些措施符合中产阶级家庭和更广泛经济的利益，它们也符合银行自身的长期金融利益。从长远看，对消费者有利的事情也会对银行有利。
Now, we’re not all the way there yet, and the banks are fighting us every inch of the way. But already, some of these reforms are being implemented. 投资教育，让每个人都有成功机会；建立确保每个人承担公平份额的税收制度；制定确保每个人遵守规则的法律。这些将改变我们的经济，也将让中产阶级再次发展壮大。归根结底，基于公平竞争、公平机会和公平责任重建经济，需要我们所有人认识到彼此的成功与自己息息相关，也需要我们所有人承担一定责任。
If you’re a big bank or risky financial institution, you now have to write out a “living will” that details exactly how you’ll pay the bills if you fail, so that taxpayers are never again on the hook for Wall Street’s mistakes. There are also limits on the size of banks and new abilities for regulators to dismantle a firm that is going under. The new law bans banks from making risky bets with their customers’ deposits, and it takes away big bonuses and paydays from failed CEOs, while giving shareholders a say on executive salaries. 这要求父母更多参与子女教育，要求学生更加努力学习，也要求一些劳动者重新开始学习。它要求房主承担更大责任，不要办理自己负担不起的抵押贷款。他们应当记住：如果一件事好得不像真的，那它很可能就不是真的。
This is the law that we passed. We are in the process of implementing it now. All of this is being put in place as we speak. Now, unless you’re a financial institution whose business model is built on breaking the law, cheating consumers and making risky bets that could damage the entire economy, you should have nothing to fear from these new rules. 这要求我们这些公共服务人员让政府更加高效、有效，更以消费者为中心，更能回应民众需求。这就是我们削减不需要的项目、为真正需要的项目腾出资金的原因；这就是我们进行数百项监管改革、为企业节省数十亿美元的原因；这就是我们不只是把钱投入教育，而是要求学校提出最具创新性的改革并取得最佳成果的原因。
Some of you may know, my grandmother worked as a banker for most of her life -- worked her way up, started as a secretary, ended up being a vice president of a bank. And I know from her, and I know from all the people that I’ve come in contact with, that the vast majority of bankers and financial service professionals, they want to do right by their customers. They want to have rules in place that don’t put them at a disadvantage for doing the right thing. And yet, Republicans in Congress are fighting as hard as they can to make sure that these rules aren’t enforced. 这也要求美国企业领导人明白，他们的责任不只面向股东。英特尔前首席执行官、传奇人物安迪·格鲁夫说得最好：“考虑到我职业生涯取得的一切，以及英特尔取得的许多成就，都得益于美国提供的民主环境、经济环境和投资环境，我个人感到自己还有另一项责任。”
I’ll give you a specific example. For the first time in history, the reforms that we passed put in place a consumer watchdog who is charged with protecting everyday Americans from being taken advantage of by mortgage lenders or payday lenders or debt collectors. And the man we nominated for the post, Richard Cordray, is a former attorney general of Ohio who has the support of most attorney generals, both Democrat and Republican, throughout the country. Nobody claims he’s not qualified. 这种更广泛的责任可以有许多形式。
But the Republicans in the Senate refuse to confirm him for the job; they refuse to let him do his job. Why? Does anybody here think that the problem that led to our financial crisis was too much oversight of mortgage lenders or debt collectors? 如今，在中国雇用工人的成本正在迅速上升之际，它应当意味着更多首席执行官决定把工作岗位带回美国——不仅因为这对企业有利，也因为这对成就了企业及其个人成功的国家有利。
Of course not. Every day we go without a consumer watchdog is another day when a student, or a senior citizen, or a member of our Armed Forces -- because they are very vulnerable to some of this stuff -- could be tricked into a loan that they can’t afford -- something that happens all the time. And the fact is that financial institutions have plenty of lobbyists looking out for their interests. 我想到美国三大汽车公司，它们在最近的谈判中同意在美国创造更多就业岗位、生产更多汽车，
Consumers deserve to have someone whose job it is to look out for them. And I intend to make sure they do. And I want you to hear me, Kansas: I will veto any effort to delay or defund or dismantle the new rules that we put in place. 随后又决定不仅给高管发奖金，也给所有员工发奖金，让每个人都参与公司的成功。
We shouldn’t be weakening oversight and accountability. We should be strengthening oversight and accountability. I’ll give you another example. Too often, we’ve seen Wall Street firms violating major anti-fraud laws because the penalties are too weak and there’s no price for being a repeat offender. No more. I’ll be calling for legislation that makes those penalties count so that firms don’t see punishment for breaking the law as just the price of doing business. 我想到一家位于明尼苏达州沃罗德的公司，名叫马文门窗。在经济衰退期间，它的竞争对手关闭了几十家工厂，解雇了数百名工人。但马文门窗没有解雇约4000名员工中的任何一个，一个都没有。事实上，它在一百多年里只裁过一次员。马文先生的祖父甚至在大萧条期间也保留了他的8名员工。
The fact is this crisis has left a huge deficit of trust between Main Street and Wall Street. And major banks that were rescued by the taxpayers have an obligation to go the extra mile in helping to close that deficit of trust. At minimum, they should be remedying past mortgage abuses that led to the financial crisis. They should be working to keep responsible homeowners in their home. We’re going to keep pushing them to provide more time for unemployed homeowners to look for work without having to worry about immediately losing their house. 在马文门窗，困难时期到来时，工人同意放弃一些福利和部分工资，所有者也同样作出牺牲。一位所有者说：“如果你削掉工人带来的技能和经验这一命脉，就不可能发展。”马文门窗的首席执行官说，这关乎社区。他说：“这些人是我们一起上学的人，我们和他们一起去教堂，在同样的餐馆见面。的确，我们很多人还娶了或嫁给当地人。我们本可以去任何地方，但我们就在沃罗德。”
The big banks should increase access to refinancing opportunities to borrowers who haven’t yet benefited from historically low interest rates. And the big banks should recognize that precisely because these steps are in the interest of middle-class families and the broader economy, it will also be in the banks’ own long-term financial interest. What will be good for consumers over the long term will be good for the banks. 美国就是这样建立起来的。这就是我们成为地球上最伟大国家的原因。这是我们最优秀的企业所理解的道理。我们的成功从来不只是适者生存，而是建设一个让我们所有人都过得更好的国家。我们团结起来，共同出力，尽到自己的责任。我们相信努力工作会有回报，承担责任会得到认可，我们的孩子将继承一个让这些价值观延续下去的国家。
Investing in things like education that give everybody a chance to succeed. A tax code that makes sure everybody pays their fair share. And laws that make sure everybody follows the rules. That’s what will transform our economy. That’s what will grow our middle class again. In the end, rebuilding this economy based on fair play, a fair shot, and a fair share will require all of us to see that we have a stake in each other’s success. And it will require all of us to take some responsibility. 正是这种信念，在一个多世纪前那个被雨水浸透的日子里，把成千上万的美国人——也许包括你们的祖先——召集到奥萨瓦托米。他们乘火车、马车、轻便马车，骑自行车或徒步而来，聆听一位热爱这个国家、决心使它更加完善的人的愿景。
It will require parents to get more involved in their children’s education. It will require students to study harder. It will require some workers to start studying all over again. It will require greater responsibility from homeowners not to take out mortgages they can’t afford. They need to remember that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. 那天，泰迪·罗斯福告诉他们：“我们都是美国人。我们的共同利益像这片大陆一样广阔。”在生命最后几年，罗斯福带着同样的信息走遍全国，从小小的奥萨瓦托米到纽约市中心。他相信，无论走到哪里、无论面对什么人，每个人都会从这样一个国家中受益：每个人都拥有公平机会。
It will require those of us in public service to make government more efficient and more effective, more consumer-friendly, more responsive to people’s needs. That’s why we’re cutting programs that we don’t need to pay for those we do. That’s why we’ve made hundreds of regulatory reforms that will save businesses billions of dollars. That’s why we’re not just throwing money at education, we’re challenging schools to come up with the most innovative reforms and the best results. 谢谢大家。上帝保佑你们。上帝保佑美利坚合众国。
And it will require American business leaders to understand that their obligations don’t just end with their shareholders. Andy Grove, the legendary former CEO of Intel, put it best. He said, “There is another obligation I feel personally, given that everything I’ve achieved in my career, and a lot of what Intel has achieved…were made possible by a climate of democracy, an economic climate and investment climate provided by the United States.” 不平等还会扭曲我们的民主。它让少数负担得起高价游说者和无限竞选捐款的人拥有过大的话语权，使我们的民主面临被最高出价者买走的风险。它让其他人有理由怀疑，华盛顿的制度已被操纵，民选代表并没有维护大多数美国人的利益。
This broader obligation can take many forms. At a time when the cost of hiring workers in China is rising rapidly, it should mean more CEOs deciding that it’s time to bring jobs back to the United States -- not just because it’s good for business, but because it’s good for the country that made their business and their personal success possible. 幸运的是，我们不必接受这样的未来，因为关于如何在这个国家建设强大中产阶级，还有另一种观点。这种观点更符合我们的历史，过去200多年一直受到两党的拥护。它不是要让我们倒退技术，也不是要在美国周围筑墙；不是要惩罚利润和成功，也不是假装政府知道如何解决社会的所有问题。它认为，在美国，当每个人都遵守公平竞争、都获得公平机会、都承担公平责任时，我们团结在一起会更加强大。
I think about the Big Three auto companies who, during recent negotiations, agreed to create more jobs and cars here in America, and then decided to give bonuses not just to their executives, but to all their employees, so that everyone was invested in the company’s success. 但我们必须抓住这个时刻。我们必须提高自己的水平，也必须记住，只有共同努力才能做到。首先要把教育变成一项国家使命，需要政府和企业、父母和公民共同参与。高等教育是通往中产阶级最可靠的道路；我们不应裁掉优秀教师，而应聘用他们，也不应让大学教育让学生背上无法承担的债务。
I think about a company based in Warroad, Minnesota. It’s called Marvin Windows and Doors. During the recession, Marvin’s competitors closed dozens of plants, let hundreds of workers go. But Marvin’s did not lay off a single one of their 4,000 or so employees -- not one. In fact, they’ve only laid off workers once in over a hundred years. Mr. Marvin’s grandfather even kept his eight employees during the Great Depression. 在创新经济中，我们需要对科学和研究作出世界一流的承诺，发展下一代高技术制造业。我们应当让人们在社区学院学习制造风力涡轮机、半导体和高功率电池。如果经济不是建立在泡沫和金融投机之上，更多年轻人就能投身科学和工程。美国应以创造和销售“美国制造”的产品闻名。
Now, at Marvin’s when times get tough, the workers agree to give up some perks and some pay, and so do the owners. As one owner said, “You can’t grow if you’re cutting your lifeblood -- and that’s the skills and experience your workforce delivers.” For the CEO of Marvin’s, it’s about the community. He said, “These are people we went to school with. We go to church with them. We see them in the same restaurants. Indeed, a lot of us have married local girls and boys. We could be anywhere, but we are in Warroad.” 是的，企业而不是政府始终是创造优质工作的主要力量，但国家也必须通过政府共同创造让工人和企业成功的条件。罗斯福与两党合作帮助退伍军人上大学；艾森豪威尔启动州际公路系统，并加大科学研究投入。
That’s how America was built. That’s why we’re the greatest nation on Earth. That’s what our greatest companies understand. Our success has never just been about survival of the fittest. It’s about building a nation where we’re all better off. We pull together. We pitch in. We do our part. We believe that hard work will pay off, that responsibility will be rewarded, and that our children will inherit a nation where those values live on. 克林顿总统提出加税时，国会有人预测会扼杀就业并导致衰退；但经济后来创造了近2300万个就业岗位并消除了赤字。如今，有些亿万富翁的税率低至1%，而许多中产阶级家庭缴纳更高税率。
And it is that belief that rallied thousands of Americans to Osawatomie -- maybe even some of your ancestors -- on a rain-soaked day more than a century ago. By train, by wagon, on buggy, bicycle, on foot, they came to hear the vision of a man who loved this country and was determined to perfect it. 这极其不公平。一个教师、护士或建筑工人一年赚5万美元，却要缴纳比赚5000万美元的人更高的税率，这是错误的。沃伦·巴菲特的秘书缴纳的税率高于巴菲特本人，这也是错误的。许多富裕公民愿意多承担一点税负，以削减赤字并巩固让他们成功的经济。
“We are all Americans,” Teddy Roosevelt told them that day. “Our common interests are as broad as the continent.” In the final years of his life, Roosevelt took that same message all across this country, from tiny Osawatomie to the heart of New York City, believing that no matter where he went, no matter who he was talking to, everybody would benefit from a country in which everyone gets a fair chance. 消费者保护机构每缺席一天，学生、老年人或武装部队成员就可能被诱骗签下自己负担不起的贷款。
And well into our third century as a nation, we have grown and we’ve changed in many ways since Roosevelt’s time. The world is faster and the playing field is larger and the challenges are more complex. But what hasn’t changed -- what can never change -- are the values that got us this far. 消费者也应该有人专门维护他们的利益。我会确保这一点，
We still have a stake in each other’s success. We still believe that this should be a place where you can make it if you try. And we still believe, in the words of the man who called for a New Nationalism all those years ago, “The fundamental rule of our national life,” he said, “the rule which underlies all others -- is that, on the whole, and in the long run, we shall go up or down together.” And I believe America is on the way up. 并否决任何推迟、削减资金或拆除新规则的做法。
Thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. 作为一个国家迈入第三个世纪，我们的世界更快、竞争场域更大、挑战更复杂，但让我们走到今天的价值观没有改变。我们仍然与彼此的成功息息相关；从总体和长远来看，我们要么一起向上，要么一起向下。我相信，美国正在向上。
