In speaking about the building the U.S. economy from the middle out instead of the top down at Cheesman Park in Denver, CO on Wednesday, President Barack Obama said his policies are not “crazy Democratic socialist ideas” and cited as evidence the fact that his favorite president is a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, who he pointed out helped build the transcontinental railroad.

Obama explained his big government initiatives such as raising the minimum wage, equal pay, and making college more affordable are “not partisan,” but “basic ideas that make America work.”

He pointed to President Dwight Eisenhower as having built the interstate highway system and Teddy Roosevelt having started the national parks system and promised to “not stand by and let partisan gridlock or political games threaten the hard work of Americans.”

He vowed he would act without Congress saying, “I’m not going to wait”

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