To the extent that our political dialogue is such where everything is under suspicion, everybody is corrupt and everybody is doing things for partisan reasons, and all of our institutions are full of malevolent actors - if that's the storyline that's being put out there by whatever party is out of power, then when a foreign government introduces that same argument with facts that are made up, voters who have been listening to that stuff for years, who have been getting that stuff every day from talk radio or other venues, they're going to believe it.
Barack ObamaThe spirit's there and that's not just my imagination. I think if you look at surveys and attitudes among young people, you see it.
Barack ObamaI actually believe that we need missile defense, because of Iran and North Korea and the potential for them to obtain or to launch nuclear weapons, but I also believe that, when we are only spending a few hundred million dollars on nuclear proliferation, then we're making a mistake.
Barack ObamaWhat I believe is that marriage is between a man and a woman, but what I also believe is that we have an obligation to make sure that gays and lesbians have the rights of citizenship that afford them visitations to hospitals, that allow them to be, to transfer property between partners, to make certain that they're not discriminated on the job.
Barack ObamaUnder my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocketโฆ Because Iโm capping greenhouse gasses, coal power plants, natural gasโฆyou name itโฆwhatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retro-fit their operations. That will cost moneyโฆthey will pass that money on to the consumers.
Barack ObamaThe government has to treat all citizens equally. I am a strong supporter not of a weak version of civil unions, but of a strong version, in which the rights that are conferred at the federal level to persons who are part of the same-sex union are compatible. When it comes to federal rights, the over 1,100 rights that right now are not being given to same-sex couples, I think that's unacceptable.
Barack Obama