Quote

These days an income is something you can't live without - or within.

Most people need the money all the time.

In the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works a full time job should have to live in poverty. That's a fundamental value proposition, an article of faith in our country that I know an overwhelming majority of Americans agree on.

People who work full-time in America should not have to live in poverty - simple as that. Too many jobs don't pay enough to get by, let alone get ahead. Too many people are finding the rungs on the ladder of opportunity further and further apart.

I have developed a life which seems to need a relatively high income.

We cannot tax the same people we expect to create jobs. That is a recipe for keeping people out of work.

A safety net for the poor indeed requires some level of income redistribution.

If a man or a woman puts in an honest day's work, they should to be able to earn a living wage.

What middle-income Americans want most of all is a job. We need a generous safety net for the most vulnerable in our society, but for most people the biggest social accomplishment that we can help them achieve is a good-paying job.

Most high-income people in our country do not realize that their incomes are being subsidized by their protection from competition from highly skilled people who are prevented from immigrating to the United States. But we need such skills in order to staff our productive economy, so that the standard of living for Americans as a whole can grow.