President Barack Obama

President Obama discussed the importance of fair competition in the marketplace. The principle of fair competition isn’t a Democratic or a Republican idea – it’s an American idea.

Over the past eight years, the Obama Administration has taken many actions to keep the marketplace fair, including: defending a free, open, and accessible internet; cracking down on conflicts of interest by making sure professionals who give retirement advice do so in the consumer’s best interest; and – just this week – standing up for beef, pork, and poultry growers when they’re treated unfairly. The President believes our free-market economy only works when there’s competition and rules are in place to keep it fair, open, and honest. That’s what this is all about – ensuring that everyone has a chance to compete by leveling the playing field and keeping the rules clear and consistent. President Obama defended his network neutrality legacy: "My administration has done a lot to keep the marketplace fair. We defended a free, open, and accessible internet that doesn't let service providers pick winners and losers."

[Commentary] Over the last eight years, my Administration has worked hand-in-hand with rural communities to build more opportunity – investing in rural schools, supporting rural small business owners, deploying high speed Internet and wireless, and building partnerships between businesses and colleges to help train folks not just for a job, but for a career. And for those struggling with opioid use, we've expanded access to treatment to help them get the care they need. So we're making progress – progress that's possible only because of the strength and resilience of the people in our rural communities.

In Pikeville (KY) former coal miners are trading coal for code. They're retraining to learn HTML, JavaScript, and PHP, transforming an old bottling factory into a digital hub. It's a transition that not only supports good jobs, but also offers a glimpse of what the future could look like in other communities like Pikeville. In Piedmont (AL) school leaders have invested in high-speed connectivity and laptops for every student, so that teachers can tailor lessons to individual students and assess each student's progress in real time. Already, test scores and graduation rates are up, and tiny Piedmont City School District has emerged as a national model for digital learning. That's what rural America can look like in the 21st Century. Smart investments that lead to real, tangible progress. Today, rural unemployment has dropped from a high of about ten percent during the Great Recession to six percent. The rural child poverty rate is dropping, and rural median household incomes are rising again. In so many ways, from its resilience and ingenuity in the face of a challenge to the defining values that power it every day, rural America represents that beating heart. That's why these communities are so important – because when America's rural communities are strong, America is strong.