President Obama at Bel-Air Fundraiser: Average Workers 'Need Us'

At the Bel-Air home of Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, President Obama insisted that average workers need more Democrats in Congress.

During his speech Wednesday, Obama complained that Republicans had increased “cynicism and discouragement” about government by blocking Democratic legislation.

“The problem is, is that for the folks worth fighting for–for the person who’s cleaning up that house or hotel, for the guy who used to work on construction but now has been laid off–they need us,” he said. He elaborated they they don’t need them “because they want a handout, but because they know that government can serve an important function in unleashing the power of our private sector.”

Obama blamed Republicans for discouraging Democratic voters, which he described as “younger” and “more likely to be minority.”

“And because they’re more likely to be struggling, they’re not always paying attention when the president–presidential candidate isn’t on the ballot,” Obama stated. 

He contined:

And so you’ve got a self-fulfilling prophesy–people who have the most at stake in a government that works opt out of the system. Those who don’t believe that government can do anything are empowered; gridlock reigns, and we get this downward spiral of even more cynicism and more dysfunction.