Ronald Reagan called this trickle-down economics. George Bush called it the Ownership Society. But what it really means is that you’re on your own. If your premiums or your tuition is rising faster than you can afford，you’re on your own. If you’re that Maytag worker who just lost his pension，tough luck. If you’re a child born into poverty，you’ll just have to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps.
This philosophy isn’t just out-of-touch - it’s put our economy out-of-whack. Years of pain on Main Street have finally trickled up to Wall Street and sent us hurtling toward recession，reminding us that we’re all connected - that we can’t prosper as a nation where a few people are doing well and everyone else is struggling.
John McCain is an American hero and a worthy opponent，but he’s proven time and time again that he just doesn’t understand this. It took him three tries in seven days just to figure out that the home foreclosure crisis was an actual problem. He’s had a front row seat to the last eight years of disastrous policies that have widened the income gap and saddled our children with debt，and now he’s promising four more years of the very same thing.
He’s promising to make permanent the Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest few who didn’t need them and didn’t ask for them - tax breaks that are so irresponsible that John McCain himself once said they offended his conscience.
He’s promising four more years of trade deals that don’t have a single safeguard for American workers - that don’t help American workers compete and win in a global economy.
He’s promising four more years of an Administration that will push for the privatization of Social Security - a plan that would gamble away people’s retirement on the stock market；a plan that was already rejected by Democrats and Republicans under George Bush.
He’s promising four more years of policies that won’t guarantee health insurance for working Americans；that won’t bring down the rising cost of college tuition；that won’t do a thing for the Americans who are living in those communities where the jobs have left and the factories have shut their doors.
And yet，despite all this，the other side is still betting that the American people won’t notice that John McCain is running for George Bush’s third term. They think that they’ll forget about all that’s happened in the last eight years；that they’ll be tricked into believing that it’s either me or our party is the one that’s out of touch with what’s going on in their lives.
Well I’m making a different bet. I’m betting on the American people.
The men and women I’ve met in small towns and big cities across this country see this election as a defining moment in our history. They understand what’s at stake here because they’re living it every day. And they are tired of being distracted by fake controversies. They are fed up with politicians trying to divide us for their own political gain. And I believe they’ll see through the tactics that are used every year，in every election，to appeal to our fears，or our biases，or our differences - because they’ve never wanted or needed change as badly as they do now.
The people I’ve met during this campaign know that government cannot solve all of our problems，and they don’t expect it to. They don’t want our tax dollars wasted on programs that don’t work or perks for special interests who don’t work for us. They understand that we cannot stop every job from going overseas or build a wall around our economy，and they know that we shouldn’t.
But they believe it’s finally time that we make health care affordable and available for every single American；that we bring down costs for workers and for businesses；that we cut premiums，and stop insurance companies from denying people care or coverage who need it most.
They believe it’s time we provided real relief to the victims of this housing crisis；that we help families refinance their mortgage so they can stay in their homes；that we start giving tax relief to the people who actually need it - middle-class families，and seniors，and struggling homeowners.
They believe that we can and should make the global economy work for working Americans；that we might not be able to stop every job from going overseas，but we certainly can stop giving tax breaks to companies who send them their and start giving tax breaks to companies who create good jobs right here in America. We can invest in the types of renewable energy that won’t just reduce our dependence on oil and save our planet，but create up to five million new jobs that can’t be outsourced.
