I'll cut out government spending that's not working, that we can't afford, but I'm also going to ask anybody making over $250,000 a year to go back to the tax rates they were paying under Bill Clinton, back when our economy created 23 million new jobs, the biggest budget surplus in history and everybody did well. Just like we've tried their plan, we tried our plan — and it worked. That's the difference. That's the choice in this election. That's why I'm running for a second term.

Campaign speech, Oakland, California, 2012-07-24, quoted in Tapper, Jake (2012-07-26). "Obama Now Partly Running On Bill Clinton's Record — 'Our Plan'". ABC News. Retrieved on 2012-08-03.