I Believe That The U.s. Can And

We, The People, Recognize That We Have Responsibilities As Well As Rights; That Our Destinies Are Bound Together; That A Freedom Which Only Asks What's In It For Me, A Freedom Without A Commitment To Others, A Freedom Without Love Or Charity Or Duty Or Patriotism, Is Unworthy Of Our Founding Ideals, And Those Who Died In Their Defense.

I Refuse To Accept Any Approach That Isn't Balanced. I'm Not Going To Ask Students And Seniors And Middle-class Families To Pay Down The Entire Deficit While People Like Me, Making Over $250,000, Aren't Asked To Pay A Dime More In Taxes.

I Believe That The Free Enterprise System Is The Greatest Engine Of Prosperity The World's Ever Known. I Believe In Self-reliance And Individual Initiative And Risk-takers Being Rewarded. But I Also Believe That Everybody Should Have A Fair Shot And Everybody Should Do Their Fair Share And Everybody Should Play By The Same Rules, Because That's How Our Economy's Grown. That's How We Built The World's Greatest Middle Class.

I Don't Regret The Fervor, Because I Do Believe, In The African American Community But Also For Other Communities, And I Know From Talking To People, For Communities Around The World, The Election Of An African American To The Most Powerful Office On Earth Meant Things Had Changed, And Not Just In Superficial Ways. That In Some Irreversible Way The World Was Different.

We Have An Epidemic Of Fatherlessness Here, And That's What I Agree With The President [barack Obama] On, And We Should Be Doing More To Promote And Protect Marriage As Between A Man And A Women For The Needs Of Our Children.