Barack Obama Quotes About Debate

• If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments — but let’s make them debates worthy of this body and worthy of this country.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Body, Argument

  Sixth Presidential State of the Union Address, delivered 20 January 2015

• The strongest democracies flourish from frequent and lively debate, but they endure when people of every background and belief find a way to set aside smaller differences in service of a greater purpose.

  Barack Obama

  Differences, People, Democracy

  First Presidential Prime Time Press Conference, delivered 9 February 2009

• The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I, therefore, intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt.

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, America, Effort

  "It's Worth Actually Reading Obama's 2006 Debt Ceiling Speech". www.slate.com. October 09, 2013.

• For all the noise and anger that too often surrounds the immigration debate, America has nothing to fear from today's immigrants. They have come here for the same reason that families have always come here-for the hope that in America, they could build a better life for themselves and their families. Like the waves of immigrants that came before them and the Hispanic Americans whose families have been here for generations, the recent arrival of Latino immigrants will only enrich our country.

  Barack Obama

  Country, America, Immigration

  Barack Obama's Remarks to NALEO, www.realclearpolitics.com. June 28, 2008.

• Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Williams Jennings Bryan, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King - indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history - were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. To say that men and women should not inject their "personal morality" into public policy debates is a practical absurdity.

  Barack Obama

  Religious, Kings, Men

  "Leith Anderson, Russell Moore, Other Faith Leaders Ask Obama to Reject Gov't Report Saying Religious Freedom Is Code for Discrimination" by Anugrah Kumar, www.christianpost.com. October 12, 2016.

• The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure... It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Government, America

  Barack Obama's speech Against Raising The Debt Ceiling on the floor of the US Senate, www.redstate.com. March 16, 2006.

• I am convinced that whenever we exaggerate or demonize, oversimplify or overstate our case, we lose. Whenever we dumb down the political debate, we lose. For it's precisely the pursuit of ideological purity, the rigid orthodoxy and the sheer predictability of our current political debate, that keeps us from finding new ways to meet the challenges we face.

  Barack Obama

  Political, Dumb, Challenges

  Barack Obama (2006). “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream”, p.31, Crown

• The shift to a cleaner energy economy wont happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way. But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact.

  Barack Obama

  Inspirational, Choices, Facts

  Fifth Presidential State of the Union, delivered 28 January 2014

• After a century of striving, after a year of debate, after a historic vote, health care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It is the law of the land.

  Barack Obama

  Powerful, Law, Land

  "CNN Student News" with Carl Azuz, edition.cnn.com. March 24, 2010.

• If we're not vigilant foreign countries can have an impact on the political debate in the United States in ways that might not have been true 10, 20, 30 years ago in - in part because of the way news is transmitted and in part because so many people are skeptical of mainstream news organizations that - everything's true and everything's false.

  Barack Obama

  Country, Years, Organization

  Source: abcnews.go.com

• One of the things we're going to have to discuss and debate is how are we striking this balance between the need to keep the American people safe and our concerns about privacy. Because there are some trade-offs involved. I welcome this debate, and I think it's healthy for our democracy.

  Barack Obama

  Thinking, Nsa, People

  "Around The World" with Michael Holmes, www.cnn.com. June 7, 2013.

• What you saw was the people of New York having a debate, talking through these issues. It was contentious. It was emotional. But ultimately, they made a decision to recognize civil marriage. And I think that's exactly how things should work.

  Barack Obama

  New York, Emotional, Thinking

  "Obama Challenges GOP Lawmakers In Budget Debate". "All Things Considered" with Robert Siegel and Melissa Block, www.npr.org. June 29, 2011.

• Number one, it is absolutely critical that we tone down the rhetoric when it comes to the immigration debate, because there has been an undertone that has been ugly. Oftentimes, it has been directed at the Hispanic community. We have seen hate crimes skyrocket in the wake of the immigration debate as it has been conducted in Washington, and that is unacceptable.

  Barack Obama

  Hate, Numbers, Community

  Democratic Debate in Austin, Tex., www.nytimes.com. February 21, 2008.

• You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time, not only with the votes we cast, but the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideas.

  Barack Obama

  Ideas, Voice, Pro Life

  Second Presidential Inaugural Address, delivered 21 January 2013, Washington, D.C.

• All across the world, ...increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or not climate change is real. Not only is it real, it's here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-made natural disaster.

  Barack Obama

  Running, Real, Men

  Barack Obama (2008). “An American Story: The Speeches of Barack Obama : a Primer”, Independent Publishing Group

• This is something that I'm sure I'd have serious debates with my fellow Christians about. I think that the difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and prostelytize. There's the belief, certainly in some quarters, that people haven't embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior that they're going to hell.

  Barack Obama

  Christian, Jesus, Thinking

  "Obama on faith". The Patheos Interview, www.patheos.com. March 27, 2004.

• Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our time.

  Barack Obama

  Powerful, Government, Long

  Second Presidential Inaugural Address, delivered 21 January 2013, Washington, D.C.

• We have a choice. We can shape our future, or let events shape it for us. And if we want to succeed, we can't fall back on the stale debates and old divides that won't move us forward.

  Barack Obama

  Powerful, Moving, Fall

  Remarks From President Obama and Prime Minister Brown, www.nytimes.com. April 1, 2009.

• Now, at times this issue has tended to degenerate into an 'either-or' type of debate. Either we protect our people from terror or we protect our most cherished principles. But that is a false choice. It asks too little of us and assumes too little about America.

  Barack Obama

  America, Issues, People

• Of course, there's been a real debate about where to invest and where to cut, and I'm committed to working with members of both parties to cut our deficits and debt. But we can't simply cut our way to prosperity.

  Barack Obama

  Real, Party, Cutting

  "President to Meet with Senate Leaders; Minot Evacuees Can't Go Back Home Yet; Indonesian Workers Banned From Saudi Jobs; TSA Forces 95-Year-Old to Remove Adult Diaper; Bachmann to Declare Bid Monday". "CNN Newsroom", www.cnn.com. June 26, 2011.

• Donald Trump is somebody who I think likes to mix it up and to have a vigorous debate.

  Barack Obama

  Thinking, Likes, Debate

  Source: time.com

• At various periods in American history, people get pretty rambunctious when it comes to our democratic debate.

  Barack Obama

  People, Debate, American History

  Source: www.realclearpolitics.com

• The president and the executive branch are always going to have greater latitude and greater authority when it comes to protecting America because sometimes you just have to respond quickly and not everything that is a danger can be publicized and be subject to open debate, but there have to be some guardrails.

  Barack Obama

  America, President, Branches

  "NPR's Exit Interview With President Obama". Interview with Steve Inskeep, www.npr.org. December 19, 2016.

• If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

  Barack Obama

  Want, Next, Debate

  Democratic National Convention Presidential Nomination Acceptance, delivered 28 August 2008, INVESCO Field at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado

• Every decision, every debate, no matter how important it is, with the same question: 'What does this mean for the next election? What does it mean for your poll numbers? Is this good for the Democrats or good for the Republicans? Who won the news cycle?' That's just how Washington is. They can't help it. They're obsessed with the sport of politics.

  Barack Obama

  Sports, Mean, Numbers

  President Obama Pennsylvania Health Care Remarks, www.foxnews.com. March 8, 2010.

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