Saturday, May 24, 2014

President Obama takes it to the Republican party, and makes sure the American people know who broke the government.

You want to know the problem? It's those guys over there.
Thursday night President Obama spoke at a fundraiser, and this time he did not hold back when calling out the Republican party for their obstructionism.

Here are his words courtesy of Salon:  

You’ll hear if you watch the nightly news or you read the newspapers that, well, there’s gridlock, Congress is broken, approval ratings for Congress are terrible. And there’s a tendency to say, a plague on both your houses. But the truth of the matter is that the problem in Congress is very specific. We have a group of folks in the Republican Party who have taken over who are so ideologically rigid, who are so committed to an economic theory that says if folks at the top do very well then everybody else is somehow going to do well; who deny the science of climate change; who don’t think making investments in early childhood education makes sense; who have repeatedly blocked raising a minimum wage so if you work full-time in this country you’re not living in poverty; who scoff at the notion that we might have a problem with women not getting paid for doing the same work that men are doing. 

They, so far, at least, have refused to budge on bipartisan legislation to fix our immigration system, despite the fact that every economist who’s looked at it says it’s going to improve our economy, cut our deficits, help spawn entrepreneurship, and alleviate great pain from millions of families all across the country. 

“So the problem…is not that the Democrats are overly ideological — because the truth of the matter is, is that the Democrats in Congress have consistently been willing to compromise and reach out to the other side. There are no radical proposals coming out from the left. When we talk about climate change, we talk about how do we incentivize through the market greater investment in clean energy. When we talk about immigration reform there’s no wild-eyed romanticism. We say we’re going to be tough on the borders, but let’s also make sure that the system works to allow families to stay together… 

When we talk about taxes we don’t say we’re going to have rates in the 70 percent or 90 percent when it comes to income like existed here 50, 60 years ago. We say let’s just make sure that those of us who have been incredibly blessed by this country are giving back to kids so that they’re getting a good start in life, so that they get early childhood education…Health care — we didn’t suddenly impose some wild, crazy system. All we said was let’s make sure everybody has insurance. And this made the other side go nuts — the simple idea that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, nobody should go bankrupt because somebody in their family gets sick, working within a private system. 

So when you hear a false equivalence that somehow, well, Congress is just broken, it’s not true. What’s broken right now is a Republican Party that repeatedly says no to proven, time-tested strategies to grow the economy, create more jobs, ensure fairness, open up opportunity to all people.

Now THAT was a thing of beuaty!

This is exactly what the President, and the rest of the Democrats, need to keep hammering home.

The government is not broken, but it contains some broken or faulty cogs, and if the American people want it to start running smoothly again they need to replace the parts that are not working.

With Democrats. (Just in case my analogy was not clear enough.)

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:47 PM

    Good for President Obama and this statement! Democrats need to get out there and do the same thing. They need to promote the Affordable Care Act and compare how the US rates in the various areas as to other countries across the globe. i.e.: as to education, health and health costs, mortality rates, etc.

    And, it needs to be reinforced how the Republicans in the House of the US Congress has done nothing but obstruct and block everything President Obama has submitted to them.

    The problems American families are experiencing throughout our country, the racism, etc. are the direct fault of Republicans across the land.

    Vote as many of them out of office that can be done in the upcoming elections. U.S. Congress, Legislatures, governors of states and those in office on community and city levels.

    They are a horrid party and are not representing the American people that put them in office!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2:54 PM

    Obama in Chicago: "I need a Democratic Senate" Transcript

    At the first of two fundraisers in Chicago on Thursday, President Barack Obama told donors "I need a Democratic Senate" or else his agenda for the last two terms of his term — including immigration reform — will not succeed. Obama said he is worried about people not voting in November. "I don't know what it is. Presidential elections, we're all in. In 2008, you all went crazy; 2012, you still went crazy. High turnout, we're motivated, donors are involved, people are active, folks are knocking on doors, people making phone calls. And then the midterm comes and we fall asleep," Obama said.

    http://politics.suntimes.com/article/washington/obama-chicago-i-need-democratic-senate-transcript/thu-05222014-1100pm

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:10 PM

    The Street compiled a list of the 10 dumbest states in America, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, states that are run by Republicans dominate the list.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2014/05/24/10-dumbest-states-america-dominated-republicans.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3:11 PM

    Don't you just love a feisty President who's not running for reelection? He's got nothing to lose by pointing out the infuriating truth, and he seems to be doing it more and more lately.

    Hopefully, that truth will spread to people who don't follow political blogs like we do, and encourage people who might not plan to vote to get their hineys to the polls in November.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:52 PM

      We need to be spreading the word too! Encourage knowledge in the voting process for November (of the candidates!) as well as getting out the Democratic vote!

      Delete
  5. Anonymous3:18 PM

    The ten dumbest states in the country:

    10). Tennessee
    9). Oklahoma
    8). Indiana
    7). Alabama
    6). Nevada
    5). Louisiana
    4). Kentucky
    3). Mississippi
    2). Arkansas
    1). West Virginia

    Is anyone surprised? Right-leaning, religious, and seriously lacking in education.

    There are some more statistics in the article that aren't any more surprising than the list itself.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2014/05/24/10-dumbest-states-america-dominated-republicans.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous3:51 PM

      Don't forget Alaska! Look at the idiots they have elected to office throughout the years - Sarah Palin, Frank Murkowski, Sean Parnell, current Mayor Sullivan/Anchorage, etc.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:43 PM

      I'm just eternally grateful that Florida is not on the dummy list (Don't forget.....we did, after all, vote Blue in the 2008 and 2012 elections).

      I love the bumper sticker Gryphen posted the other day:

      Democrats: We may not perfect,
      but they're nuts.

      Delete
  6. I wish he would also start naming the bills the Republican have obstructed and turned down, such as the infrastructure bill that would have improve our crumbling roads and bridges, increase employment, the bill for equal pay for women, and all of their "job" bills they claimed to have passed which all had a poison pill included they knew the Democrats would never accept. He also needs to remind the public how Cruz and the Republican Party shut down the government which cost us billions. There are many things he could point out to remind the public exactly what the Republicans have done in the past that were done for purely political reasons, but hurt our country instead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think POTUS HAS enumerated all of those things...in some of his "on the road" speeches, and in his Saturday addresses. I often see comments from RWers on various sites, saying that they switch the station when he's on TV, and they have never listened to his speeches (they hate him THAT much).

      So, what POTUS has to say isn't reaching the people who need to hear it, who certainly aren't open-minded about it.

      Delete
  7. You might be interested in this somewhat exasperated response by Driftglass about POTUS' finally voicing what we've all been thinking for the past 5 years -- that the GOP is a waste of everyone's time and money.

    http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2014/05/barry-o-goes-full-driftglass-finally.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous4:03 PM

    Time to rise up and vote the obstructionists out of the country. It is time for all of us to demand the repubs who refuse to progress the economy and give our children a hand up to get the hell out of this country.

    ReplyDelete
  9. SHARON5:20 PM

    I have been a resident in Nevada on and off for about 15 years....I think our problem is more Clive Bundyish, general hatred of government against the Old West mentality. You have Las Vegas where greed is king...fleecing tourists every way possible, not exactly religious. Dean Heller (R) was fighting for reinstating unemployment which I was surprised to hear and good ole Harry Reid holding down the fort in the senate. We have large populations north & south with pretty much nothing in between....casinos & cowboys.

    ReplyDelete
  10. TNBlueDot5:37 PM

    'Mid-terms' need to be called what they really are, congressional elections, and really emphasize it's all about Congress. Wake up everybody to the fact that it really does matter!

    PS - Why am I not surprised about that dumbest state list? But, hey, at least there's 9 states dumber than mine!! I would like to see the whole list to see where the state I grew up in ranks. :)

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  11. Anita Winecooler5:59 PM

    The dumbest state list is no shocker. This is the President at his best, I'm proud and glad he delivered this speech himself and didn't delegate it to President Clinton, the man whose know to explain things.
    It came from his lips directly to the problem, now we need to do our part to give him what would help the most, Democrats in office getting it done.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous6:04 PM

    Keep telling yourself deregulation didn't happen under Clinton. Also remember that your part members didn't do anything to oppose what you rail against then.

    :/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:50 PM

      6:04 PM WTF??? Is that supposed to be a coherent statement?

      Delete
  13. Anonymous7:24 PM

    Off topic.

    What is it about Palin endorsements? Palin endorsed Chris McDaniel (Republican, Tea Party) for US Senate in Mississippi. McDaniel is challenging incumbent Tad Cochrane (Republican- Rove,Haley Barber). Now there are big problems, maybe a total meltdown. Four arrests so far, and the DA might not be done. Has a Palin endorsed candidate ever been arrested?

    "The Madison County, Mississippi District Attorney said "no persons [sic] or persons" including state Sen. Chris McDaniel's (R-MS) campaign has been cleared in the investigation into the photographing of Sen. Thad Cochran's (R-MS) wife." http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/michael-guest-chris-mcdaniel-constitutional-clayton-kelly

    More on the four arrested: Local news.

    Connecting the dots: Mayfield, Sager, Mary and McDaniel http://www.clarionledger.com/story/dailyledes/2014/05/22/mayfield-sager-mary-mcdaniel-connection/9473933/



    ReplyDelete

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