Now, think about this.  These are the people who teach our children. These are the people who keep our streets safe.  These are the people who put their lives on the line, who rush into a burning building.  Government jobs?  I don’t know about you, but I think those jobs are worth saving.  (Applause.)  I think those jobs are worth saving. (Applause.) 

 By the way, this bill that we passed to save all those jobs, we made sure that bill wouldn’t add to the deficit¹.  You know how we paid for it? By closing one of these ridiculous tax loopholes（漏税） that actually rewarded corporations for shipping² jobs and profits overseas.  (Applause.)

 I mean, this -- this was one of those loopholes that allowed companies to write off taxes they pay to foreign governments –- even though they weren’t paying taxes here in the United States.  So middle-class families were footing tax breaks for companies creating jobs somewhere else.  I mean, even a lot of America’s biggest corporations agreed that this loophole didn’t make sense, agreed that it needed to be closed, agreed that it wasn’t fair -– but the man who thinks he’s going to be Speaker, he wants to reopen this loophole.  (Boos.)

 Look, the bottom line is this:  These guys, they just don’t want to give up on that economic philosophy that they have been peddling³ for most of the last decade.  You know that philosophy -- you cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires; you cut all the rules and regulations for special interests; and then you just cut working folks loose -- you cut them loose to fend⁴ for themselves.

 You remember they called it the ownership society, but what it really boiled down to was, if you couldn’t find a job, you couldn’t afford college, you were born poor, your insurance company dropped you even though your kid was sick, that you were on your own.

 Well, you know what, that philosophy didn’t work out so well for middle-class families all across America.  It didn’t work out so well for our country.  All it did was rack up（击倒，获胜） record deficits⁵ and result in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  I mean, think about it, we have tried what they’re peddling.  We did it for 10 years.  We ended up with the worst economy since the 1930s and record deficits to boot.  (Applause.) It’s not like we haven’t tried what they’re trying to sell us.

Now, I’m bringing this up not because I’m trying to re-litigate the past; I’m bringing it up because I don’t want to re-live the past.  (Applause.) 

It’d be one thing, Milwaukee, if Republicans in Washington had some new ideas, if they had said, you know what, we really screwed up, and we’ve learned from our mistakes; we’re going to do things differently this time. That’s not what they’re doing. 

When the leader of their campaign committee was asked on national television what Republicans would do if they took over Congress, you know what he said? He said, we’ll do exactly the same thing we did the last time. (Applause.)  That’s what he said.  It’s on tape.

So basically, here’s what this election comes down to.  They’re betting that between now and November, you’re going to come down with amnesia⁶（健忘症） .  (Laughter.)  They figure you’re going to forget what their agenda did to this country.  They think you’ll just believe that they’ve changed.

These are the folks whose policies helped devastate⁷ our middle class.  They drove our economy into a ditch.  And we got in there and put on our boots and we pushed and we shoved.  And we were sweating and these guys were standing⁸, watching us and sipping⁹ on a Slurpee.  (Laughter.)  And they were pointing at us saying, how come you’re not pushing harder, how come you’re not pushing faster?  And then when we finally got the car up -- and it’s got a few dings and a few dents¹⁰, it’s got some mud on it, we’re going to have to do some work on it -- they point to everybody and say, look what these guys did to your car. (Laughter.)  After we got it out of the ditch!  And then they got the nerve to ask for the keys back!  (Laughter and applause.)  I don’t want to give them the keys back.  They don’t know how to drive.  (Applause.)  

I mean, I want everything to think about it here.  When you want to go forward in your car, what do you do?

AUDIENCE: D!

THE PRESIDENT:  You put it in D.  They’re going to pop it in reverse. They’d have those special interests riding shotgun, then they’d hit the gas and we’d be right back in the ditch.  (Laughter.)#p#分页标题#e#

Milwaukee, we are not going backwards¹¹.  That’s the choice we face this fall.  Do we want to go back?  Or do we want to go forward?  I say we want to move forward.  America always moves forward.  We keep moving forward every day.  (Applause.) 

Let me say this, Milwaukee.  I know these are difficult times.  I know folks are worried.  I know there’s still a lot of hurt out here. I hear it when I travel around the country.  I see it in the letters that I read every night from folks who are looking for a job or lost their home.  It breaks my heart, because those are the folks that I got into politics for.  You’re the reason I’m here.  (Applause.)

And when times are tough -- when times are tough, I know it can be easy to give in to cynicism（愤世嫉俗） .  I know it can be easy to give in to fear and doubt.   And you know, it’s easy sometimes for folks to stir up stuff and turn people on each other, and it’s easy to settle for something less, to set our sights a little bit lower.

But I just want everybody here to remember, that’s not who we are. That’s not the country I know.  We do not give up.  We do not quit.  We face down war.  We face down depression.  We face down great challenges and great threats.  We have lit the way for the rest of the world.

Whenever times have seemed at their worst, Americans have been at their best. That’s when we roll up our sleeves.  That’s when we remember we rise or fall together –- as one nation and as one people. (Applause.)  That’s the spirit that started the labor¹² movement, the idea that alone, we may be weak.  Divided, we may fall.  But we are united, we are strong.  That’s why they call them unions. That’s why we call this the United States of America.  (Applause.)

I’m going to make this case across the country between now and November.  And I am asking for your help.  And if you are willing to join me and Tom Barrett and Gwen Moore and Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, we can strengthen our middle class and make this economy work for all Americans again and restore the American Dream and give it to our children and our grandchildren.  (Applause.)

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)