President Obama spoke at a campaign event at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Tuesday. Approximately sixteen hundred people were in attendance in the hall (with plenty of media, too).

The president addressed the economy, jobs, the recovery and about sustaining middle class tax cuts (and not so for the two percent).

Previously:

President Obama in Cedar Rapids, Iowa – photos (July 10, 2012)

Iowa – full circle, of sorts (July 11, 2012)

President Obama at a campaign event at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on July 10, 2012.

Chant: “four more years!”

[….]

President Obama: ….And Abraham Lincoln is in the house. [cheers, applause] My, my home boy from Illinois. [laughter, applause] [inaudible] a Republican endorsee. [laughter, applause]….

Abraham Lincoln was in attendance.

[….]

President Obama: ….The stakes in this election could not be bigger. [voice: “That’s right.”] What’s at stake is bigger than two candidates, it’s bigger than two political parties, what’s at stake is two very different visions for our country. And Cedar Rapids, the choice that we make will help determine our direction for years to come. That choice is going to be up to you. [voice: “Obama!”][cheers, applause]

This, this will be my last political campaign no matter what. No, no, I’ve got nothing left to run for. [laughter][voice: “Supreme Court.”]….

[….]    

Greeting the crowd.

[….]

President Obama: ….This election, this election will determine our economic future for the next generation. And frankly, the choice could not be clearer. My opponent, his allies in Congress, they sincerely believe that prosperity comes from the top down. [voices: “No.”] they believe that if we spend trillions more on tax cuts, mostly for the wealthy, that it’ll somehow create more jobs. [voices: “No.”] Even if we have to pay for it by gutting education [voices: “No.”], stop helping students at community colleges with Pell Grants [voices: “No.”], cutting back on training [voices: “No.”], raising middle class taxes [voices: “No.”]. They believe that if we roll back regulations that we put in place on banks and insurance companies and oil companies all meant to protect our people and our economy that somehow everybody’s gonna be better off [voices: “No.”]. I think they’re wrong. [Voices: “Yeah”][applause]….

[….]

[….]

President Obama: ….Now, we’ve got a choice to make. Because on January first taxes are scheduled to go up on everybody in America. That, that’s what the law says right now, if we don’t do anything, Congress doesn’t do anything, taxes will go up on everybody at the end of this year.

Yesterday I called on Congress to stop any tax hikes for ninety-eight percent of Americans who are just like [….] [voice: “Thank you.], just like you. [cheers, applause] Because if the Congress does that then that tax hike would cost up to twenty-two hundred dollars for a family of four. That wouldn’t just be a big financial hit for [….], ’cause as they pointed out, this is what I love about America, what I love about them, they said, you know, as tight as things may be for us, we’re a lot better of than a lot of folks we know. [voices: “Right.”] So, imagine if it’s tough for them what it’s gonna be for somebody else. [voice: “Like my mom.”] Like your mom. [voice: “That’s right.”] Well, it, it would be not only a huge blow to those families, it would be a big blow to our entire economy at a time when we need all the help we can get.

Now, I believe that we should make sure that taxes on the ninety-eight percent of Americans [voice: “Yeah.”] don’t go up and then we should let the tax cuts expire for folks like me, for the top two percent of Americans [applause, cheers].

So, anybody making over two hundred fifty thousand dollars a year, including me, we’ll go back to the tax rate we were paying under Bill Clinton, which, by the way, was a time when our economy created nearly twenty-three million new jobs [cheers, applause], the biggest surplus in history, and created [inaudible]. [applause, cheers]

And, by the way, the reason I say that is not because I just love to pay taxes. [laughter] It’s because I know I can afford it and to give me another tax break or to give Warren Buffet another tax break, or give Mitt Romney another tax break [voices: “No.”] that would cost, that would cost about a trillion dollars and we can’t afford it. Not at a time when we’re trying to bring down our deficit. Not at a time when we’re trying to reduce our debt.

[….]

And for us to give a trillion dollars worth of tax breaks to folks who don’t need it [applause], the folks that don’t need it and aren’t even asking for it, that doesn’t make sense. [voices: “No.”]

Now, the Republicans in Congress and Mister Romney disagree with me. And that’s what Democracy’s all about. They want more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans on top of the existing Bush tax cuts, they’re wanting to give five trillion dollars more in tax cuts [voices: “No.”, voice: “No way.”] A          nd that fight is a big part of what this election’s about. We’re gonna have to debate, here in Iowa and all across the country.

But in the mean time, doesn’t it make sense for us to agree to keep taxes low for ninety-eight percent of Americans [voice: “That’s right.”] who are working hard [applause, cheers] and can’t afford a tax hike right now?….

[….]

[….]

President Obama: ….I’m running because I believe nobody in America should go broke just because they get sick. [cheers, applause] Our health care law was the right thing to do.[cheers, applause]inaudible] And you know what? I will work with anybody to improve the health care law where we can. This law’s here to stay. [cheers, applause] [inaudible]….

[….]

At the end of the speech.

Getting a photo on the “rope line” after President Obama’s speech.