"In his speech, he referred to "that old, discredited Republican philosophy ”give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, even if you don't have boots. You're on your own. Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America."

"The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank that's been looking out for the interests of American workers since 1986, applauds the recognition of this fundamental failure of our current approach to economics.

"EPI senior economist Jared Bernstein, an informal advisor to the Obama campaign, introduced the on-your-own language in his 2006 book, All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy.He wrote of the contrast between the failed YOYO (You're On Your Own) approach and the inclusive, uplifting, and ultimately more successful idea that We're In This Together (or WITT). Bernstein explored these ideas in more depth in his current release, Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries)."

And David Sirota writes: "The speech is probably the most populist national speech Obama has given.

"Here are the key snippets:

"We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work...

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it...

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road...

I will make certain those [health care] companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most...

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses..."

"This is strong stuff - the kind of thing I was talking about when I wrote a newspaper column back in June entitled "Countering Race With Class." That column said the only way for Obama to counter the GOP's cultural populism is with a full-throated economic populist message."

Jonathan Tasini at Working Life has these thoughts: "I'm not going to repeat the usual, positive stuff--that would just bore the heck out of you. So, here were two of the thoughts I had last night at the time so they weren't just the result of sober reflection the next morning.

"First, Obama didn't use the word "union" even once--he did talk about raising teachers' pay and there was a reference to people walking on the picket lines. And these lines were important:

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma.  We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.

  " And...

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

  " Cool. But, where was the connection between what he correctly detailed as economic pain and crisis to the decline of the labor movement and the inability to organize? We heard the pro-union rhetoric a lot on the campaign trail. But, it troubles me that there was not, in a national appeal for "change" in America, an explicit connection drawn for an audience of millions between the lack of power they have at work and the attack on unions.

   "Second, and I acknowledge this is a minority opinion and perhaps picky, but I'm not a big fan of American exceptionalism. Obama says:

And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

 "There are lots of things to love about the country we live in--unions that bring together people in communities to struggle for a common goal, for example. But, personally, I think we end up lording ourselves over the rest of the world with too much soaring references to the "American spirit" and the idea that one country is the "best hope" for anything."