Obama says he doesn't want to redistribute wealth

President Obama is rejecting the notion that he wants to redistribute wealth, telling 60 Minutes he only wants to rebuild a middle class that has been battered in recent decades.

"What's happened to the bargain?"Obama says in the interview to air Sunday night. "What's happened to the American deal that says, you know, we are focused on building a strong middle class?"

"That is not a left or right position," Obama adds. "That is an American position."

"And the question is going to be, in this election, whether or not we are able to reclaim that vital center of American thought and American values that says, 'We're all in this together' and, you know, it matters if we are building a broad-based middle class, where everybody is able to do their part and everybody's able to succeed."

According to excerpts released by 60 Minutes, interviewer Steve Kroft pointed out that in his speech Tuesday in Osawatomie, Kan., Obama repeatedly mentioned "income inequality," a phrase that suggests the need to redistribute wealth.

Obama responded:

"Look, everybody's concerned about inequality. Those folks in there, who were listening to the speech, those are teachers and small-business people, and probably some small-town bankers, who are in there thinking to themselves, 'how is it that I-- we're -- working so hard, we now have Mom and Dad working hard,' maybe if they're lucky, they might have two jobs to try to pay off their house note, and it just seems like they're treading water?

And meanwhile, they know that corporate profits are at a record level, that a lot of folks are doing very well.

What's happened to the bargain? What's happened to the American deal that says, you know, we are focused on building a strong middle class?

That is not a left or right position. That is an American position.

And the question is going to be, in this election, whether or not we are able to reclaim that vital center of American thought and American values that says, 'we're all in this together' and, you know, it matters if we are building a broad-based middle class, where everybody is able to do their part and everybody's able to succeed."