Obama’s speech
President Barack Obama, just as he threatened he would do, went to the American people on Monday evening to ask their help in forcing Congress to continue to fund Obama’s uncontrolled spending. Obama again promised to punish the ‘richest Americans’ who are working hard to make a profit, to grow our economy, and to create new jobs. The speech was pure predictable classic Obama.
Throughout his speech, Obama blamed George W. Bush for the increasing debt.
Throughout his speech, Obama wielded the sword of pure Class Warfare and Class Envy. He repeatedly alluded that taxing the upper 2% of income generators, who Obama claims are still ‘not paying their fair share,’ will solve our debt crisis.
Obama repeatedly attempted to isolate the upper 2% of achievers, to demonize them, and to characterize them as greedy unfair individuals. Never once did he thank them for creating most of the new jobs and paying more than half of all individual Federal income taxes. Obama did not tell us this upper 2% includes most of the small business owners, many of whom Obama’s destructive and uncertain economic policies have already severely harmed.
Obama again attacked corporate jets, insinuating private jets are to be disliked. He did not mention that the Obama Stimulus Package included incentives for the manufacturers of corporate jets – a solid affirmation that in 2009, Obama wanted more corporate jets built as a means of stimulating our economy.
Obama asked for ‘shared sacrifice,’ again pushing for more taxes on the upper 2% of income earners. Obama does not understand that in the United States of America we celebrate financial achievement. It is called achieving The American Dream. We do not single out and promise to punish those who make money as a form of Socialist entertainment to placate the masses.
Obama again threatened the old and the disabled. He said people might not get their Social Security and Veteran’s checks if the debt ceiling was not quickly raised.
Barak Obama.
After his speech, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement -
“I commend President Obama for his address at NCLR today. Beyond his remarks, I am proud of President Obama’s actions, which are a strong testament to his commitment to the Hispanic community. Under President Obama’s leadership, we’ve expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to an additional 4 million children, including legal immigrant children for the first time ever. Students across America benefit from student loan reform, which provides an additional 150,000 Pell Grants to Hispanic students. And he signed into law the Recovery Act, which kept 1.9 million Latinos out of poverty in 2009.
“But these achievements have come in the face of undue Republican opposition in Congress – opposition not based in substance, but in political gamesmanship. As President Obama noted during his address, the minute he pronounces his support for a measure – like the DREAM Act – Republicans immediately oppose it, even if it was their idea to begin with. That’s the type of political game that has cost Latinos and the middle class dearly.
“Similarly, Republicans need to stop playing games with America’s economic future. Right now, Republicans are trying to balance our budget on the backs of seniors and working Americans, including Hispanics, and are seeking a return to the very policies that drove our economy to the brink of disaster. What our communities need is not a return to those failed policies, but rather President Obama’s continued leadership in pushing our country forward.”
President Obama Monday night once again made an eloquent argument for compromise on raising the debt limit. A ‘balanced approach’ that would cut $4 trillion in debt over the next 10 years, through lots of cuts in domestic spending, including some to Medicare and Social Security, and some increases in federal revenue. The sort of compromise that takes a chunk out of the debt, that doesn’t pretend as though the entitlement programs can be left alone to eviscerate the federal budget, but that still preserves smart government spending on things such as roads, bridges, research and weather satellites. The sort of compromise that targets inefficiencies and loopholes in the tax code to raise much-needed cash and eliminate distortionary federal intervention into the economy.
The president came late to this line. He hesitated for months to endorse any reform of Medicare and Social Security, time that he could have spent building support for the balanced approach he now favors. And, yet, he is here now. He implored Congress to ‘seize this moment,’ telling Americans that ‘we can still come together as one nation.’ ‘The entire world is watching’ – he said.
Too bad that compromise died over the weekend.
The only two options that appear to be on the table now is one that doesn’t cut all that much, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and one that aims to take an axe to the budget but raises no new revenue to pay for the things that Americans expect of government, sponsored by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). Making the case for his plan on Monday night, Boehner laced his speech with distortions of the president’s position. He mocked Obama’s position as ‘we spend more, and you pay more,’ accusing the president of asking for ‘a blank check.’ Neither of which actually describe the $4 trillion debt-reduction plan Obama favors.
On the contrary, the president made a great case Monday night — for a plan that has been defunct for days. Maybe he just wanted to underscore that he is trying to be the reasonable centrist in the debate. Maybe he thinks this line of argument will encourage Americans to push Republicans toward Reid’s uninspiring proposal. Either way, it was depressing.