Photo by:
President Barack Obama spoke Tuesday night to a gathering of 200 donors at the Pepsi Center’s Ridgeline Room as part of a fundraiser for his 2012 presidential campaign, stressing the critical nature of next year’s election and condemning the congressional inaction of Senate Republicans, who have in recent weeks uniformly rejected Obama’s proposed jobs bill.
“The other side has a very clear idea of where they want to go” Obama said, referring to the Ryan budget proposal as well as the tax plans championed in recent Republican primary debates. “The first idea is [that] we’re going to cut taxes on the wealthiest individuals, the biggest corporations, and we’re going to pay for that by gutting our investments in education and infrastructure, and weakening our social safety net.”
Obama also appealed directly to his Colorado base, alluding to the “enormous strides” Colorado has made towards clean air and clean water.
“So what’s [the Republican] solution? Let’s roll back the entire agency responsible for making sure that companies are acting responsibly when it comes to our environment,” said Obama, drawing boos from the strongly-Democratic crowd. “This country is not going to compete in the 21st century based on who’s got the cheapest jobs and the dirtiest air and the dirtiest water.”
“That race to the bottom is not a race we want to be on. I want a race to the top,” Obama said.
The speech on the club-level Ridgeline Room was the second of a two-part fundraiser at the Pepsi Center, with the first taking place at the Blue Sky Grill, located on the Pepsi Center’s first floor. Tickets ranged from $250 for General Admission tickets for the standing room-only event at the Ridgeline Room to $35,800 for a plate at the Blue Sky Grill dinner reception, which included a candid photograph with the President.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Senator Michael Bennet spoke prior to Obama’s arrival, with Bennet formally introducing the President. Obama described Bennet as “one of the finest public servants in the country,” adding “you guys are doing a good job electing the right people here in Colorado.”
“We got your back!” shouted a woman towards the front of the crowd.
“I appreciate that,” Obama said, laughing.
