On June 8th, 1998 the Brookings Institution invited then-State Senator Barack Obama to speak on a panel it was holding in Chicago. The panel covered the economic revitalization of the inner cities and was moderated by NPR host Ray Suerez.
While discussing the “bold” proposals that he and some other corporate leaders support, including lifting housing restrictions in the suburbs and revenue tax-based sharing, Obama admits the ideas sound radical” for corporate America and even jokes that the speaker of the Illinois house called the proposals “Soviet.” The audience laughs, as does Obama, before noting “there is gonna be political resistance to some of these proposals.” He concludes by saying such a reaction is “a good sign” that certain proposals, even the controversial ones, are being discussed.
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