Wednesday, September 19, 2012

They Said It!

Obama In 1998: “I Actually Believe In Redistribution”


Obama: “Let me just close by saying as we think about the policy research surrounding the issues that I just named, the policy research for the working poor, broadly defined. I think that what we are going to have to do is somehow resuscitate the notion that government action can be effective at all. There has been a systematic – I don’t think it’s too strong to call it a propaganda campaign against the possibility of government action and its efficacy. And I think some of it has been deserved. Chicago Housing Authority has not been a model of good policymaking. And neither necessarily have been the Chicago Public Schools. What that means that as we try to resuscitate this notion that we’re all in this together, leave nobody behind. We do have to be innovative in thinking how – what are the delivery systems that are actually effective and meet people where they live? And my suggestion I guess would be that the trick – and this is one of the few areas where I think there are technical issues that have to be dealt with as opposed to just political issues. I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence, facilitate some redistribution because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure everybody’s got a shot.” (State Senator Barack Obama, Remarks At Loyola University Panel, Chicago, IL, 10/19/98)

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