Charles E. Schumer Quotes

Ten years ago I said, you know, my goal is to be able to get food on the table. What I'm trying to say by that is trying to create a vibrant, capable and effective middle class. The quicker and stronger that we can be able to do this, the easier it is for political reform to move forward.

Money is ammunition and the surest way I know to make lasting friends, to earn trust and create peace is by providing meaningful jobs, putting people back to work so they can feed their families.

Today, families like the one I grew up in still believe in that American dream. But as President Obama says, it's a make-or-break moment for the middle class. Mitt Romney's plans would make things worse.

I believe a solid, really strong middle-class is the key to making the country in the best way.

Middle class people, I think they realize that Romney is not for them because of his narrowness, but they want to make sure that Barack Obama is focused on them with things that will make a difference. They know he tried, but they also know that it didn't do as well as they would have liked.

Let's take care of the necessities first: give people jobs, and find a way to get us out of poverty.

People everywhere in the world are hungry for economic opportunity. And it's about a lot more than being able to make money.

We can go back to economic plans that are only designed to benefit the wealthiest among us, like Mitt Romney. Or we can keep moving forward with President Obama's vision for a growing economy that works for middle-class families in North Carolina and all across the country. For me, for North Carolina and for America, it's an easy choice.

You cannot have a strong, resilient economy unless you have a strong resilient middle class.

As Ohio's working families continue to recover from the worst economic recession in our country's history, we need a president who's committed to growing our economy by lifting up the middle class.

Working people of this country want economic security. The worst possible thing you can do for those families is bust the public finances, have some welfare system this country can't afford.

The Republican 'Work Harder for Less' budget leaves more Americans even worse off than they are today. The 'People's Budget' makes the critical investments needed to give the American people exactly what they deserve - economic security and peace of mind - and helps grow our economy from the middle out.

President Clinton's record of advocating for the middle class and creating millions of new jobs and opportunity for Americans is second to none. I'm looking forward to campaigning with him and talking about how we keep New Hampshire moving forward and build a strong, innovative economy with the best workforce in the country.

We prefer paychecks to welfare checks for the American people and a robust middle class with rising wages.

Having practical proposals that improve people's economic lives is where it's all about in Ohio, and that's what we're focused on.

We need policies that will benefit the middle class because you will not have a strong society without a strong middle class, fundamentally.

Real Democrats don't abandon the middle class.

But this convention is about more than re-nominating President Obama. It's about Americans coming together to build one economy - not from the top down, but from the middle class out and the bottom up.

Increasingly, staying in the middle class - let alone aspiring to become middle class - is becoming a game of chance.

We need to make sure middle-class people are able to pay the bills. We need to make sure that poor people don't starve. Those are values, too.

We are not going back to the failed policies of the past. We are fighting for the middle class!

The Populist Caucus is the only caucus in Congress devoted solely to addressing middle class economic issues. We formed the caucus because the founding members felt like there wasn't enough focus on middle class issues in Washington, and we're going to keep it focused on middle class issues.

A large part of crime is economics - if people are working and and have a home and family to support, then I believe you can reduce the crime rate.

People who go to work every day and perform the services essential to keeping our economy functioning deserve to live above the poverty level.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden have been working hard to help middle-class families make it in America.