“I can’t remember a time when the choice between two competing visions of our future has been so unambiguously clear ….. In the months ahead I will be fighting as hard as I know how for this truer vision of what the USA is all about.”
President Obama speaks during the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) Convention on April 3
And I agree that this was a FANTASTIC SPEECH on so many levels:
(1) Signaling the start of “campaign Obama;”
(2) Framing effectively for the voters the unambiguous choice between him and Willard in 2012;
(3) Putting the dishonest Media on notice with their “both sides” false equivalency crap, and their predilection for focusing on trivial nontroversies;
(4) Explaining to American people the MATHEMATICS of failed GOP policies
(5) Reassuring the American people that as long as he is President, we will have an advocate in the WH.
My favourite of my many favourites about this speech was the smackdown of the media and their false equivalence. They are pathetic. He’s been watching them, and he told them.
Following Obama’s speech Tuesday afternoon, Paul Ryan released the following statement on the House Budget Committee’s website:
“History will not be kind to a President who, when it came time to confront our generation’s defining challenge, chose to duck and run. The President refuses to take responsibility for the economy and refuses to offer a credible plan to address the most predictable economic crisis in our history. Instead, he has chosen tired and cynical political attacks as he focuses on his own re-election.
“The President has offered four budgets during his four years in the White House – each committed to funding ever-higher government spending by taking more from hardworking Americans and adding to a crushing burden of debt. His failed agenda is stifling opportunity and hope for the next generation.
“Like his reckless budgets, today’s speech by President Obama is as revealing as it is disappointing: While others lead by offering real solutions, he has chosen to distort the truth and divide Americans in order to distract from his failed record. His empty promises are quickly becoming broken promises – and the American people will hold him accountable for this violation of their trust.”
Brilliant, PJ! Paul Ryan really is a douche. Company profits are at record highs. The stock market (and people’s 401Ks) are at record closes. Consumer confidence is up. The auto industry is roaring back. The world is thrilled with President Obama’s foreign policy.
And Paul Ryan equates all that with “failed policies”. I’m beginning to think the GOP don’t understand the meaning of words.
I’m beginning to think the GOP don’t understand the meaning of words.
From Sarah Palin to Paul Ryan — word salad all the time. Doesn’t matter if they don’t make any sense, or if they’re contradicting themselves, or just downright lying, they don’t care. They’ll just say whatever. Words, Schmords!
Just brilliant Paul Ryan never watched the speech, and PBO call paul on his BS budget Ryan’s plan will
benefit only the very rich and the rest of us will get the SHAFT, so Paul we are not that stupid. and we
have a President that will punch hard on your ASS.
When my President listed all the benefits that an ordinary citizens could get from the $150K annual tax cut that is given to billionaires who don’t need them, I was riveted to the CSPAN TV screen.
I thought this was the best part of the speech, among many wonderful parts including calling out the media on their false equivalency, the “marvelous” budget, etc. But these “plusses” the average American who might not understand social darwinism, and trojan horse, would get this.
“If President Obama gives the speech he gave today three times a week for the next 28 weeks, he’ll win by a landslide — in both the electoral college and popular vote.
Same goes for 535 congressional seats, minus the really red ones.
today’s speech was great, but in reality it’s not much different than what PBO has always talked about, even long before he even entered the national stage. he was particularly pointed and direct today, and maybe a little extra pissed, but the content has always been very consistent. truly one of the great presidents already!
I appreciate your saying this. One of the most tired memes of the Left over the past year has been “it’s about time that Obama took it to the Republicans”.
Exactly! Some people need to hear this speech every day. The media should play sounds bites daily instead of that right wing garbage.
Off topic… Poor Tamaron Hall is so upset about the tornado in Texas. Her whole family is there. She speaks of her mother often. I hope she and her family will be fine.
Yes the ones who need to hear the speech is the AP they always report a lot’s of BS. so I am glad
that I watched the speech so I do not need to hear from the MSM talking heads BS spinderela.
“mostly democratic” — hopefully, that’s some consolation.
I live in a county that went 54 (McCain) – 44 (Obama) in 2008, 59 (R) – 41 (D) for our congressional seat, and had an unopposed Republican for our State house seat. The demographics have changed some since then, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough for this November.
Depressing. I dunno if I could sit through a whole day of watching Repubs come in to vote for their party’s kkklowns. I’d go insane.
I wasn’t able to hear the speech, now I can’t wait for the video. The repubs are the one that want to change this country. I sure hope people are starting to wake up to see what they want to do.
Mr PRESIDENT, to quote Billy Crysral…….” YOU WERE MAAAHVELOUS.
You laid it all out there sir for all the world to hear about the Gop piece of garbage they are trying to pass off on
us under the guise of budget.
My only regret is that paul ryan did not have his front row seat this time around. 🙂
Thank you for being your usual bold articulate self, fighting for the people who really need the help.
It is a blessing from the Lord to have a true teacher as the Leader of the Free World. I’m telling everyone it was better to listen to this amazing man on the radio that the television broadcast.
Anytime LL, anytime. I love to read well written articles, books and now posts, so I have no trouble making sure people read your writing. Keep it up, please.
Prayers to Dallas, TX of course….especially with their GOP Government officials. I will pray their is NO damage because their GOP representatives would rather cut out their own hearts than go to PBO for help.
Our President Obama served up a large platter of “whup-ass” today. And with it the framing for the 2012 election:
GOP= Social Darwinism (Rich survive and middle class doesn’t)
Mitt Romney = “Marvelous”
Our President Obama is a political genius and a moral leader.
With all eyes focused on the Supreme Court’s consideration of the Affordable Care Act and its individual mandate to purchase health insurance, it’s a good time to remind people that there’s way more to the law than the mandate—and the public supports all the law’s parts except for the mandate. Conservatives like to pretend the law is massively unpopular in all respects but that’s just not true.
Consider these data from the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. The chart shows the public is favorable toward every component of the act except the mandate, with ratings of at least 69 percent for a majority of the components tested.
Unfortunately the public’s awareness of more popular provisions lags behind the individual mandate. The chart below shows that awareness of five popular provisions is less than 50 percent while the mandate is recognized by 64 percent of the public—the highest awareness for any individual component of the law.
And that is because the only thing they really hear is that there is a mandate (which isn’t even the appropriate word) and not the rationale behind it. If people knew that the mandate could actually result in their own premiums going down as well as reducing the deficit, they might be more prone to back it.
If they would just look at the “mandate” to buy car insurance and knowing that our car insurance is the lowest it has ever been, it’s affordable, and protects you from the truly uninsured, then they should be glad that more people would have health insurance, you can’t be kicked off at anytime due to pre-existing conditions, and for having a costly illness.
I was able to actually watch the speech this time, as it was right before my Storytime. I agree with PM Carpenter. If this is Obama’s stump speech, we’re looking at a landslide. He has facts. The GOP has nothing.
A key Democratic official cheered the Ipsos analysis and added that Obama’s strength is growing in states with key Senate races and strong coattails in those elections will help keep Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his team in control of the chamber.
Their tax-cut fixation, Obama proceeded to argue, forces them to embrace all sorts of cruel and simply stupid budget cuts: deep reductions to Medicaid, Pell Grants, infrastructure, and the like. Obama proclaimed his own willingness to make tough choices and again touted the balanced approach of the Bowles-Simpson deficit plan. But again and again he zeroed in on the point of contention: Republicans would require vastly larger spending cuts than he could accept because they refuse to accept any higher revenue. In his speech today, Obama explicitly tied Mitt Romney to the House Republican budget plan, framing the election as a choice of priorities: Do Americans really want to undergo the fiscal pain that would be required in order to maintain the low tax rates demanded by Republicans? He has every reason to believe the answer is no.
try not to, since mittens and his wife ann are truly vile liars. it would be wasted sympathy. the stakes are so high for each of us, and the entire world, that we all need to make sure republicans like them are never in control of the white house agin.
Almost exactly a year ago, President Obama delivered a high-profile speech on the nation’s fiscal future, and used the opportunity to condemn the House Republican budget plan in no uncertain terms. Republicans responded with apoplexy — Obama hurt their feelings by rejecting their governing philosophy. They can accuse him of being a radical socialist, but if the president responds with a broadside against a plan that eliminates Medicare, he’s a big meanie.
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This was, as advertised, an aggressive, unapologetic condemnation of the Paul Ryan/Mitt Romney budget agenda, and the ideology that led to its creation. Indeed, Obama practically mocked Republicans for having tested their trickle-down philosophy, failing spectacularly, and then becoming even more right wing as a consequence.
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Republican leaders issued some press releases this afternoon, complaining that the president’s remarks were “tired” and “partisan.” None, however, could point to anything Obama got wrong in this speech.
6 Reasons the Koch Brothers Had a Very Bad Week
An FBI investigation, a new documentary, and a negative court ruling: here’s a look inside the Kochs’ worst week in a while.
Were there a way for a few billion clams to wipe a week off the calendar, one imagines that Charles and David Koch, the multibillionaire principals of Koch Industries, would like to see the final week of March 2012 vaporized, at least in the public mind. For the Kochs, it was a week of bad news: a new documentary about their political activity and corporate negligence was making a splash — on the same day a story broke announcing an FBI investigation of two Wisconsin groups tied to Americans for Prosperity, the political ground organization they founded and fund. (Full disclosure: AlterNet is a supporter of the documentary, Koch Brothers Exposed, and I appear in the film.)
Things got even worse the next day, Friday, March 30, when the billionaire brothers learned that a federal court handed down a decision that may ultimately require certain non-profit groups, such as Americans for Prosperity, to reveal their full donor list, and the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, who wrote a devastating profile of the brothers last year, reported on the Kochs’ involvement in a barrage of anti-Obama ads sponsored by a tax-exempt non-profit called the American Energy Alliance, which may also now be required to reveal its donor list.
On the very same day, another federal court struck down portions of Wisconsin’s controversial law that stripped collective bargaining rights from most of the state’s public employees — a law championed by Americans for Prosperity, and rammed through the state legislature a year ago by the AFP-supported Gov. Scott Walker. Here, we take a closer look at the Kochs’ very bad week…
Dudette, I hope that turns out to be the best week they have in a long time and things get worse and worse for them as their traitorous and corrupt activities become common knowledge. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving pair of criminals. By the way I hope the “may” in that ruling is eliminated and they “have” to reveal their donor list. Americans need to know who’s buying their democracy and their future.
WOW, folks are super excited to see Mitt who stopped by at a store. They’re literally tripping over themselves to shake his hand, give him their babies, talk to him, get a hug from him, etc..
That is one of my very favoritist fast food joints, Culver’s. Great burgers and fantastic frozen custard. Great to know that their customers are so discerning as to ignore the “marvelous” one.
Beautiful!! Now if that was a certain someone we all know and love camera phones would be flashing every second,people would be screaming in excitement, the elderly lady in front would be hugging him until the Secret Service stepped in and the people working behind the counter would be falling all over themselves.
But not Mitt. And must he try to imitate the President in everything he does?
Well derbingle, Mitt hasn’t got into sports just yet, because less say they ask him to pick the winners of the up coming NBA playoff, Mitt would say something like well I don’t know the players but the owners are my friends.
Geez, how is it possible for any American to be that awkward in a burger place. He looks like he’s never been to one before and not one person is even smiling at him. You can get someone to smile at you if you ask them how they are, say something fun about the weather, being hungry, etc. But he just stands there like a stick.
That is too funny and sad. Poor Mittens: Where is the love? he seems to be asking himself. Would love to see this juxtaposed with any photo of PBO during his first campaign or from the present time when he entered public places. Willard may be beginning to realize that you can’t buy love and respect; only yes men, flunkies, and opportunists.
President Obama is showing Democrats everywhere how to campaign against the Repugs.
In 2010, Russ Fiengold convinced Harry Reid not to try and pass a budget. He lost anyway. Democrats did not take responsibility for their decision, and the President was blamed by the repugs and the media. They left President Obama to stand alone against the criticism, and created an unnecessary burden on him, to get legislation passed after the election. Instead of running on passing the AffordableCareAct, and in the process educating the public, Dems ran away from it. They lost anyway, which allowed the continuation of misinformation, and lies by the Repugs, to once again go unchallenged.
The one other thing that MUST happen, is for progressive voices in the MSM to continue to challenge GOP LIES, and challenge the rest of the non-FOX media to do the same.
Mitt Romney is a pathelogical liar. I have never seen anything like this. Rachel Maddow has frequently pointed this out, but other media continue to ignore it. I’m no longer surprised by anything in politics anymore. The Gloves are off. However, no matter what happens, we have to maintain our integrity and dignity. If Barack Obama can be gracious, in the face of what has to be one of the most acrimonious political atmospheres since the Civil War, we owe it to him to try our best to follow his example. I am an old dog, but I find myself looking to the President as a roll model, of how to be a better human being. It’s never too late to learn a new ‘trick’.
hahahahahahahaha! Why does he even try? He might as well give a speech ii the cheese section with a putrid green backgound ala McCain! He sure does not look exciting and presidential! Carrying ordinary too far Mr.
Three Charts Illustrating Two Different Visions for Our Nation
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Today at the Associated Press Luncheon, the President discussed how his vision differs with the radical vision laid out in the House Republican Budget:
“This Congressional Republican budget, however, is something different altogether. It’s a Trojan Horse. Disguised as deficit reduction plan, it’s really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. It’s nothing but thinly-veiled Social Darwinism. It’s antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everyone who’s willing to work for it – a place where prosperity doesn’t trickle down from the top, but grows outward from the heart of the middle class. And by gutting the very things we need to grow an economy that’s built to last – education and training; research and development – it’s a prescription for decline.”
The President’s approach to reducing our deficit is a balanced approach that asks the wealthiest to pay their fair share, achieves significant health savings and enacts sensible spending cuts while making the investments we need to have a strong middle class.
Take a look at how the President’s approach and the Congressional Republican policies stack up side by side:
Does anyone bother to see how firing government workers impacts the economy? Look at the records of the Repub governors who have slashed budgets. I don’t see jobs magically appearing to re-hire those public servants.
The White House announced Tuesday that President Obama has signed the JOBS Act. The bill was a bipartisan fusion of small business proposals from both President Obama and House Republicans, and was shepherded through the House by Majority leader Eric Cantor.
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And Nader is pissed… Which us what politico keeps telling us. Why do I get the feeling he is running?
Oh dear…now that is some serious pandering. The customer service reps (in the far left corner) don’t look particularly thrilled. They’re just going along with Ryan and Willard’s antics, but you can tell they’re wishing that it were PBO and VP Biden who just stepped in instead of those two KLOWNS.
Oh dear Chips, why now, just when I am out of time: I’ll Have What He’s Having. I’m With Stupid. No, We Are Not Twins. Who’s Paying?. Bill It To My Expense Account. Are We Having Fun Yet? We Are The 1%.
auto focus malfunctions at “burger buddy” grand opening, and instead of focusing on the main attraction, camera accidentally focuses on the two hired clowns.
Campaign handlers install “smile-at-fast-food-joint” chip into the freshly unzipped Romneybot. Eddie Munster accompanies. Tiny bobblehead dolls stand guard. A fun time was had by all.
Hay Mitt, are you sure you are ready? President Obama is not Santorum, Newt, or Paul. This is the big league Mitty boy. And President Obama is going to kick your lying butt.
PRESIDENT OBAMA CALLS OUT THE MEDIA FOR LAZY REPORTING
Both sides “ARE NOT’ equally at fault.
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I guess another way of thinking about this is — and this bears on your reporting. I think that there is oftentimes the impulse to suggest that if the two parties are disagreeing, then they’re equally at fault and the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and an equivalence is presented — which reinforces I think people’s cynicism about Washington generally. This is not one of those situations where there’s an equivalence. I’ve got some of the most liberal Democrats in Congress who were prepared to make significant changes to entitlements that go against their political interests, and who said they were willing to do it. And we couldn’t get a Republican to stand up and say, we’ll raise some revenue, or even to suggest that we won’t give more tax cuts to people who don’t need them.
And so I think it’s important to put the current debate in some historical context. It’s not just true, by the way, of the budget. It’s true of a lot of the debates that we’re having out here.
Cap and trade was originally proposed by conservatives and Republicans as a market-based solution to solving environmental problems. The first President to talk about cap and trade was George H.W. Bush. Now you’ve got the other party essentially saying we shouldn’t even be thinking about environmental protection; let’s gut the EPA.
Health care, which is in the news right now — there’s a reason why there’s a little bit of confusion in the Republican primary about health care and the individual mandate since it originated as a conservative idea to preserve the private marketplace in health care while still assuring that everybody got covered, in contrast to a single-payer plan. Now, suddenly, this is some socialist overreach.
So as all of you are doing your reporting, I think it’s important to remember that the positions I’m taking now on the budget and a host of other issues, if we had been having this discussion 20 years ago, or even 15 years ago, would have been considered squarely centrist positions. What’s changed is the center of the Republican Party. And that’s certainly true with the budget.
By JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 4/3/12 3:45 PM EDT
President Barack Obama will briefly introduce a Saturday airing of the Gregory Peck-starring “To Kill A Mockingbird.”
Obama taped about a minute of remarks to air before the first national showing of a restored version of the classic tale of southern racial tensions in the 1930s, USA Network said Tuesday. USA is airing the movie at 8 p.m. on Saturday in partnership with the American Film Institute and Universal Picture.
The White House has not yet released his remarks, which could touch on issues of race and equality.
Harper Lee, the famously reclusive author of the book on which the movie is based said in a statement that she is “deeply honored that President Obama will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by introducing it to a national audience.”
“I believe it remains the best translation of a book to film ever made, and I’m proud to know that Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch lives on — in a world that needs him now more than ever,” she said.
There’s a beautiful documentary airing on PBS stations (American Masters) about Harper Lee. I recorded it, and have been watching it in segments. It’s great.
You beat me to it! 🙂 I just saw that and got so excited!
To Kill a Mockingbird is my absolute favorite piece of American literature, and the film was an exemplary adaptation. Gregory Peck was perfectly cast as Atticus.
I can’t wait to watch the remastered version. And how appropriate that our President gets to introduce it! He is the embodiment of the values, patience, and temperance of Atticus Finch.
I will note, that their last vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, “To Kill a Mocking Bird” was one of the books the president brought for Malia as her reading selection for the summer.
Ok, I’ve been thinking for the past few hours, and I think I’ve nailed down what made PBO’s speech today most effective: mockery. The tone in his voice was impossible to miss. Yes, there was fire. Yes, there was concern. But the dripping mockery with which he painted the GOP turned them from being “serious” participants in the national debate to a bunch of clowns doing the bidding of their feudal masters. He’s no longer hiding his condescension of the GOP’s “ideas”. And he’s also no longer hiding his distaste for what our Fourth Estate has become. He’s telling the press to do it’s damned job, which is to report and inform, not to play he-said-she-said games. It’s hard to take any group seriously when it’s being mocked, and when the mockery strikes a chord with the public. Today we saw the roll-out of one of his strategies: make the GOP seem so ridiculous that most people won’t be able to take them seriously.
It appears that any interest group out there that feels irrelevant and ignored, like a young child, simply needs to act up in front of President Obama in some way just to get attention.
Who is conducting the real “war on religion”? The “moral” foundation of Paul Ryan’s political life by his own admission and the foundation of the Ryan budget is the Social Darwinism of anti-religionist Ayn Rand. The GOP worships Ayn Rand. Paul Ryan requires indoctrination in Ayn Rand philosophy by all of his employees, so does Justice Clarence Thomas. Here she is, the God-hating Ayn Rand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TxCWbTqz9s&feature=player_embedded
Mitt Romney will appear on Fox with Sean Hannity at 5pm ET today to respond to a speech by President Obama that blasted Romney and the Paul Ryan budget, tweets his spokesman Andrea Saul.
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Hannity at 5 PM ? ….Does Romney need his hand held to respond to the President.?
Exactly. Romney and Hannity will be joined at the tonsils. It won’t be an interview. Romney will just get asked softball leading questions that a fifth grader could answer. But I am thrilled that he will have to defend that train wreck budget. Romney and Ryan are joined at the hip now. That budget is the path to poverty. It tells you all you need to know about what is important to the Republican Party.
Lil Punkass. Barack Obama went in front of the Associated Press and smacked you. You, by contrast, are going on a show which ought to be considered, “Republican Mind Fellatio” with Sean Hannity. Really, he didn’t go to ABC, CBS, NBC. Hell, he could have went to CNN, but NO, he’s going to his enforced bunker, hidden from view, to try to hit back. Man, please. You ain’t ready Willard. You ain’t ready.
If you’ve followed the public discussion of the Affordable Care Act, you probably have become accustomed to seeing the use of estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
At the time that the Affordable Care Act passed, and a year later, CBO estimated that the health care law in its entirety would reduce the Federal budget deficit over the next decade. And this week, a new report from the Government Accountability Office found that the Affordable Care Act “would have a major effect” on reducing the deficit if implemented as intended.
This year, CBO also updated estimates for parts of the health care law. They project that:
The cost of the coverage provisions will be $50 billion lower from 2012 through 2021 when compared to last year’s estimates, and
Private health insurance premiums will be 8 percent lower in 2021 than CBO projected last year.
But some opponents of the law are using this new analysis to claim that the cost of the law has doubled to $1.7 trillion. This claim is false. Here’s why:
President Obama Speaks on Budget at Associated Press Luncheon
=================================
Washington, DC
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
In his keynote address at the Associated Press Luncheon today, President Obama denounced the House Republican Budget calling it
a “Trojan Horse disguised as deficit reduction plan.”
The Republican budget plan, approved by the House last week last, cuts $5.3 trillion over the next ten years through deeps cuts in spending and entitlements.
President Obama spoke at the same Associate Press Luncheon four years ago when he was running for president. With this year’s appearance, the President joins every sitting president since Calvin Coolidge in addressing an Association Society of News Editors audience.
I hate this. Note that despite the fact that the Ryan budget actaully increases the deficit, this article accepts as fact that the budget wiil reduce the deficit. It would have been more accurate for them to say “Republicans have made the claim that their budget reduces the deficit…” However, this claim is based upon closing tax loopholes which they have so far refused to list.
One thing that I have not seen discussed very much, if at all, is that PBO, in talking about the SC reviewing the ACA, basically said, if you are serious about reducing costs, it will be necessary to have everybody covered. There are only two ways to do that: mandate or single payer. He basidally is already advertising the fact that if the SC strikes down the mandate, he will start considering single payer. I don’t expect that to be a campaighn issue, but after the election, watch for it.
Being shocked that FOX is our most popular news channel is like being shocked McDonald's is our most popular restaurant.— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) April 03, 2012
Coward Fineman was on Hardball stretching contorting and twisting himself in order to criticize PBO’s speech while at the same time making the Repubs look good.
First of all, Fineman claimed that PBO praised Bush and Nixon. UTTER nonsense! PBO used Nixon and Bush as example of two “BAD” GOP presidents who endorsed a few policies that could be considered “reasonable” by today’s GOP standards.
Next, Fineman says that Independent voters might be turned off by the tone of PBO’s speech…excuse me Mr. Finemann, but unless these “Independents” are Republicans (such as yourself), there’s nothing about our President’s illuminating, informative, assertive honest, and non-patronizing speech that could be perceived as nasty in tone.
It wasn’t PBO’s budget..one of the R’s tried to pull a fast one and slipped some nasty provision in there. If the MSM reports this as the DEMS all voting against PBO’s budget, the media is LYING in order to protect the Repubs. I’m getting all my budget info from a reliable source like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi or DWS, not the mainstream media.
That makes sense. I thought there were GOP shenanigans involved there but couldn’t remember. I was sorry to see the Dem unable to rebut that Utah guy with that truth. Sad.
This stuff is to be expected–they’re threatened by PBO and have to lie, slander and rage to distract people from the president’s message. The vision the GOP has for American is ugly and frankly unAmerican. PBO called them on it and laid it out as clear as crystal and they don’t like that. They’ve gotten by for decades through deceit and illusion and they want to do it one more time so they can ensure the final collapse of democracy and fairness as we know it. It’s going to be our call-to-call, door-to-door conversations with people that will deliver the message. And it will have to be–for once–Democrats working together to drown out the GOP lie machine.
Just returned from voting for the third time for Barack Obama. (Wisconsin) Vote count when I voted was down about 400 hundred than what it usually has been when I voted. Not a lot to vote for. Presidential primary and judges and local supervisors–mostly unopposed. Joanne Kloppenburg was on the ballot–voted for her. President Obama had no opposition but you could select an undesignated delegate or a write in. Wisconsin has an open primary. I could have selected a Republican if I had wanted to, but I was proud to vote for Barack Obama.
Think about all the money that PBO will have in the till to unleash on the eventual GOP nominee. Meanwhile, Mehmney is having to spend a fortune just to get the GOP nod. And even though the Super PACS on the other side will unleash a torrent of money, that money won’t put boots on the ground, and it certainly won’t produce this: http://slate.me/H9e9z3. Not only will this organization win the Presidency and the House, but it should make Democrats “Obamacrats” for the foreseeable future.
I know this lady because she used to bring her grandson to my Storytime when I was starting out. She came by today, and we started talking. She’s… an OBAMACON! I just feel all sorts of giddy right now. I have a feeling that her story will be repeated over and over this November.
(CBS News) In the escalating battle between the administration and the judiciary, a federal appeals court apparently is calling the president’s bluff — ordering the Justice Department to answer by Thursday whether the Obama Administration believes that the courts have the right to strike down a federal law, according to a lawyer who was in the courtroom.
The order, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, appears to be in direct response to the president’s comments yesterday about the Supreme Court’s review of the health care law. Mr. Obama all but threw down the gauntlet with the justices, saying he was “confident” the Court would not “take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.”
Overturning a law of course would not be unprecedented — since the Supreme Court since 1803 has asserted the power to strike down laws it interprets as unconstitutional. The three-judge appellate court appears to be asking the administration to admit that basic premise — despite the president’s remarks that implied the contrary. The panel ordered the Justice Department to submit a three-page, single-spaced letter by noon Thursday addressing whether the Executive Branch believes courts have such power, the lawyer said.
The panel is hearing a separate challenge to the health care law by physician-owned hospitals. The issue arose when a lawyer for the Justice Department began arguing before the judges. Appeals Court Judge Jerry Smith immediately interrupted, asking if DOJ agreed that the judiciary could strike down an unconstitutional law.
The DOJ lawyer, Dana Lydia Kaersvang, answered yes — and mentioned Marbury v. Madison, the landmark case that firmly established the principle of judicial review more than 200 years ago, according to the lawyer in the courtroom.
Smith then became “very stern,” the source said, telling the lawyers arguing the case it was not clear to “many of us” whether the president believes such a right exists. The other two judges on the panel, Emilio Garza and Leslie Southwick–both Republican appointees–remained silent, the source said.
Smith, a Reagan appointee, went on to say that comments from the president and others in the Executive Branch indicate they believe judges don’t have the power to review laws and strike those that are unconstitutional, specifically referencing Mr. Obama’s comments yesterday about judges being an “unelected group of people.”
UPDATE 6 p.m. ET: The White House is declining to comment on the 5th Circuit’s order, but the president today did clarify his comments that it would be “unprecedented” for the Court to overturn laws passed by a democratically elected Congress. During a question-and-answer session after a luncheon speech in Washington, a journalist pointed out “that is exactly what the Court has done during its entire existence.”
Quote from President Obama’s answer to the question today which CBS omits:
“THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, let me be very specific. We have not seen a Court overturn a law that was passed by Congress on a economic issue, like health care, that I think most people would clearly consider commerce — a law like that has not been overturned at least since Lochner. Right? So we’re going back to the ’30s, pre New Deal.
And the point I was making is that the Supreme Court is the final say on our Constitution and our laws, and all of us have to respect it, but it’s precisely because of that extraordinary power that the Court has traditionally exercised significant restraint and deference to our duly elected legislature, our Congress. And so the burden is on those who would overturn a law like this.
Now, as I said, I expect the Supreme Court actually to recognize that and to abide by well-established precedence out there. I have enormous confidence that in looking at this law, not only is it constitutional, but that the Court is going to exercise its jurisprudence carefully because of the profound power that our Supreme Court has. As a consequence, we’re not spending a whole bunch of time planning for contingencies.”
CNN just said that in Wisconsin, 12% of Democrats voted in the Republican Primary and Santorum got their vote 32-22 over Robney.
That might make it a lot closer than anticipated, that exit polls will not pickup.
PBO: For the average $150,000 tax break for every millionaire in this country, let’s just step back for a second and look at what $150,000 pays for:
A year’s worth of prescription drug coverage for a senior citizen.
Plus a new school computer lab.
Plus a year of medical care for a returning veteran.
Plus a medical research grant for a chronic disease.
Plus a year’s salary for a firefighter or police officer.
Plus a tax credit to make a year of college more affordable.
Plus a year’s worth of financial aid.
One hundred fifty thousand dollars could pay for all of these things combined — investments in education and research that are essential to economic growth that benefits all of us.
The Obama Diary 
great speech
Congrats on #1!
And I agree that this was a FANTASTIC SPEECH on so many levels:
(1) Signaling the start of “campaign Obama;”
(2) Framing effectively for the voters the unambiguous choice between him and Willard in 2012;
(3) Putting the dishonest Media on notice with their “both sides” false equivalency crap, and their predilection for focusing on trivial nontroversies;
(4) Explaining to American people the MATHEMATICS of failed GOP policies
(5) Reassuring the American people that as long as he is President, we will have an advocate in the WH.
My favourite of my many favourites about this speech was the smackdown of the media and their false equivalence. They are pathetic. He’s been watching them, and he told them.
yup my fave part also
I’m watching the speech now and he’s fantastic. He never backs down from his principles.
Following Obama’s speech Tuesday afternoon, Paul Ryan released the following statement on the House Budget Committee’s website:
“History will not be kind to a President who, when it came time to confront our generation’s defining challenge, chose to duck and run. The President refuses to take responsibility for the economy and refuses to offer a credible plan to address the most predictable economic crisis in our history. Instead, he has chosen tired and cynical political attacks as he focuses on his own re-election.
“The President has offered four budgets during his four years in the White House – each committed to funding ever-higher government spending by taking more from hardworking Americans and adding to a crushing burden of debt. His failed agenda is stifling opportunity and hope for the next generation.
“Like his reckless budgets, today’s speech by President Obama is as revealing as it is disappointing: While others lead by offering real solutions, he has chosen to distort the truth and divide Americans in order to distract from his failed record. His empty promises are quickly becoming broken promises – and the American people will hold him accountable for this violation of their trust.”
Shhh, Paul, adults are speaking.
Translation: The big meanie gave me a beat down all over again. And I wasn’t even in the room this time!!!
Brilliant, PJ! Paul Ryan really is a douche. Company profits are at record highs. The stock market (and people’s 401Ks) are at record closes. Consumer confidence is up. The auto industry is roaring back. The world is thrilled with President Obama’s foreign policy.
And Paul Ryan equates all that with “failed policies”. I’m beginning to think the GOP don’t understand the meaning of words.
From Sarah Palin to Paul Ryan — word salad all the time. Doesn’t matter if they don’t make any sense, or if they’re contradicting themselves, or just downright lying, they don’t care. They’ll just say whatever. Words, Schmords!
Oh really Paul, “taking more money from the ‘hard working’ people” like Mitt Romney, Paris Hilton, George W Bush and a slew of trust fund babies?
The American people will be voting for the President, big time.
Here’s my response to little Paul Ryan:
Eff Paul Ryan.
Oh, in this first paragraph, I thought loser man was referring to W.
Looking forward to the full speech, chips.
I just fell in love with this President all over again, his ability to speak for the people goes unmatched.
I’m so pumped up after listening to that speech, it’s gonna be hard to get any work done this afternnoon. God, I love this man!
Just brilliant Paul Ryan never watched the speech, and PBO call paul on his BS budget Ryan’s plan will
benefit only the very rich and the rest of us will get the SHAFT, so Paul we are not that stupid. and we
have a President that will punch hard on your ASS.
pugeretto, as the First Lady ask, do we have POTUS back? I say yes we do and we have to be prepared to get out there and fight for his re-election.
When my President listed all the benefits that an ordinary citizens could get from the $150K annual tax cut that is given to billionaires who don’t need them, I was riveted to the CSPAN TV screen.
I was cheering as he listed each “plus” – brilliant!
I thought this was the best part of the speech, among many wonderful parts including calling out the media on their false equivalency, the “marvelous” budget, etc. But these “plusses” the average American who might not understand social darwinism, and trojan horse, would get this.
Oops, pluses, not plusses 😦
No body, but no bady will fuck with our President yes he can you Goooo!!!! mr President.
Yes Betsy that was good, the whole darn speech was good. Bravo Mr. President. The battle has begun and I am ready to fight with you.
I loved that he spelled out exactly what would happen if this “marvelous” budget went into effect. I hope some of the reporters at least mention it.
Yes. He. Is.
From P.M. Carpenter:
“If President Obama gives the speech he gave today three times a week for the next 28 weeks, he’ll win by a landslide — in both the electoral college and popular vote.
Same goes for 535 congressional seats, minus the really red ones.
It’s that simple.”
Gas up the Beast, strap Willard to the roof, and hit the road, Mr. President!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 oh, and 🙂
That was too funny!
LOL PJ! Girl, you are sick!
I really needed a laugh after the day I have had.
You had me cracking up!
BAWAAWWWHAHAHAAAA!!!!
ROFLMAO!!!!!
THIS!!
today’s speech was great, but in reality it’s not much different than what PBO has always talked about, even long before he even entered the national stage. he was particularly pointed and direct today, and maybe a little extra pissed, but the content has always been very consistent. truly one of the great presidents already!
I think he’s “pissed-ness” made the speech ring extra clear. it like he’s saying I am goddamn tired of the shenanigans these buffoons keep playing.
I appreciate your saying this. One of the most tired memes of the Left over the past year has been “it’s about time that Obama took it to the Republicans”.
Exactly! Some people need to hear this speech every day. The media should play sounds bites daily instead of that right wing garbage.
Off topic… Poor Tamaron Hall is so upset about the tornado in Texas. Her whole family is there. She speaks of her mother often. I hope she and her family will be fine.
Yes the ones who need to hear the speech is the AP they always report a lot’s of BS. so I am glad
that I watched the speech so I do not need to hear from the MSM talking heads BS spinderela.
13th!! I meant to do that.
i need a cigarette after that speech. and i’ve never smoked in my life. wow!
LOL
I can’t wait to see the speech when it get home tonight. Voter turnout is dead. I’m so bored.
What state are you in ck?
DC!
Some precincts are ok but mine is blah. It’s mostly democratic though.
“mostly democratic” — hopefully, that’s some consolation.
I live in a county that went 54 (McCain) – 44 (Obama) in 2008, 59 (R) – 41 (D) for our congressional seat, and had an unopposed Republican for our State house seat. The demographics have changed some since then, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough for this November.
Depressing. I dunno if I could sit through a whole day of watching Repubs come in to vote for their party’s kkklowns. I’d go insane.
It’s also spring break in Montgomery county MD so a lot of folks are away probably.
I went to vote in Silver Spring about 2:00pm and the place was pretty empty.
Speech is up on C-Span.
I wasn’t able to hear the speech, now I can’t wait for the video. The repubs are the one that want to change this country. I sure hope people are starting to wake up to see what they want to do.
Mr PRESIDENT, to quote Billy Crysral…….” YOU WERE MAAAHVELOUS.
You laid it all out there sir for all the world to hear about the Gop piece of garbage they are trying to pass off on
us under the guise of budget.
My only regret is that paul ryan did not have his front row seat this time around. 🙂
Thank you for being your usual bold articulate self, fighting for the people who really need the help.
Can I adore this man any more? Not possible.
It is a blessing from the Lord to have a true teacher as the Leader of the Free World. I’m telling everyone it was better to listen to this amazing man on the radio that the television broadcast.
I’m suprised at how many people don’t know there’s a presidential primary today. People keep asking me why Barack Obama is on the ballot.
two of my sons live in MD and I had to remind them they needed to vote today :(.
I said the same thing on the earlier thread. It is so frustrating to hear this from people who should know better.
My polling place was empty this morning. I walked right in and 5 minutes later I was out.
I agree… both my sons thought it was just for repubs today.. had to tell them nOOOOOO.. go and vote.. they both assured me they would.
Great read here on false equivalency by our Liberal Librarian
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2012/04/but-both-parties-are-same.html
Oh gee, Betsy, I just tooted my own horn below. Thanks for tooting it for me. 😀
Anytime LL, anytime. I love to read well written articles, books and now posts, so I have no trouble making sure people read your writing. Keep it up, please.
Tornado headed for DFW airport. Pray for all that they are safe.
Prayers to Dallas, TX of course….especially with their GOP Government officials. I will pray their is NO damage because their GOP representatives would rather cut out their own hearts than go to PBO for help.
So true. They’d rather not fund the National Weather Service, or have sirens, etc. because tax cuts for millionaires is more important. Bah!
Our President Obama served up a large platter of “whup-ass” today. And with it the framing for the 2012 election:
GOP= Social Darwinism (Rich survive and middle class doesn’t)
Mitt Romney = “Marvelous”
Our President Obama is a political genius and a moral leader.
And Boy, did the right freakout.
That hit a nerve, got them right in the nuts.
Yes he is. He is all that and more.
Tamron Hall’s entire family is in Dallas……..she is getting real time text messages from family members about the Tornadoes.
I just flipped the TV to MSNBC and thought she sounded strange. Now I know why.
86 year old gymnast……..
Amazing…
I wanna be her when I’m 86! She is amazing!
If I tried that now. I don’t even want to think about it.
What the Public Thinks of Obamacare, by Component
http://tcf.org/commentary/2012/the-snapshot-what-the-public-thinks-of-obamacare-by-component
[see the article for a couple of very enlightening charts]
With all eyes focused on the Supreme Court’s consideration of the Affordable Care Act and its individual mandate to purchase health insurance, it’s a good time to remind people that there’s way more to the law than the mandate—and the public supports all the law’s parts except for the mandate. Conservatives like to pretend the law is massively unpopular in all respects but that’s just not true.
Consider these data from the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. The chart shows the public is favorable toward every component of the act except the mandate, with ratings of at least 69 percent for a majority of the components tested.
Unfortunately the public’s awareness of more popular provisions lags behind the individual mandate. The chart below shows that awareness of five popular provisions is less than 50 percent while the mandate is recognized by 64 percent of the public—the highest awareness for any individual component of the law.
And that is because the only thing they really hear is that there is a mandate (which isn’t even the appropriate word) and not the rationale behind it. If people knew that the mandate could actually result in their own premiums going down as well as reducing the deficit, they might be more prone to back it.
Exactly.
If they would just look at the “mandate” to buy car insurance and knowing that our car insurance is the lowest it has ever been, it’s affordable, and protects you from the truly uninsured, then they should be glad that more people would have health insurance, you can’t be kicked off at anytime due to pre-existing conditions, and for having a costly illness.
Not to toot my own horn, but I think my post on TPV fits in nicely with PBO’s speech: http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2012/04/but-both-parties-are-same.html.
I was able to actually watch the speech this time, as it was right before my Storytime. I agree with PM Carpenter. If this is Obama’s stump speech, we’re looking at a landslide. He has facts. The GOP has nothing.
toot away, LL! No need to apologize to us for linking to one of your excellent posts. We’re grateful.
President Obama’s chance of winning re-election are wait for it….
http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/washington-secrets/2012/04/ipsos-85-99-chance-obama-winning/440256#.T3tEdntFyos.twitter
I bet it just killed the Examiner to highlight this.
I meant to put a caveat there I don’t read the Washington examiner. lol.
And THIS is key:
Nice! I like that “key.”
CRUEL AND SIMPLY STUPID BUDGET CUTS
Obama Frames the Economic Choice for November
By Jonathan Chait
=============================
Their tax-cut fixation, Obama proceeded to argue, forces them to embrace all sorts of cruel and simply stupid budget cuts: deep reductions to Medicaid, Pell Grants, infrastructure, and the like. Obama proclaimed his own willingness to make tough choices and again touted the balanced approach of the Bowles-Simpson deficit plan. But again and again he zeroed in on the point of contention: Republicans would require vastly larger spending cuts than he could accept because they refuse to accept any higher revenue. In his speech today, Obama explicitly tied Mitt Romney to the House Republican budget plan, framing the election as a choice of priorities: Do Americans really want to undergo the fiscal pain that would be required in order to maintain the low tax rates demanded by Republicans? He has every reason to believe the answer is no.
==============================
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/04/obama-frames-the-economic-choice-for-november.html
My, My, My. Our President rocked the podium this afternoon. I was riveted. I actually feel a little sorry for Mittens.
I hope Mrs Gaffe zips up her husband and goes home.
You’re bad. LOL!!
try not to, since mittens and his wife ann are truly vile liars. it would be wasted sympathy. the stakes are so high for each of us, and the entire world, that we all need to make sure republicans like them are never in control of the white house agin.
Don’t Zekke, he surely doesn’t feel sorry for you, or any of us!
A ROUSING REJECTION OF REPUBLICAN RADICALISM
By Steve Benen
=================================
Almost exactly a year ago, President Obama delivered a high-profile speech on the nation’s fiscal future, and used the opportunity to condemn the House Republican budget plan in no uncertain terms. Republicans responded with apoplexy — Obama hurt their feelings by rejecting their governing philosophy. They can accuse him of being a radical socialist, but if the president responds with a broadside against a plan that eliminates Medicare, he’s a big meanie.
.
This was, as advertised, an aggressive, unapologetic condemnation of the Paul Ryan/Mitt Romney budget agenda, and the ideology that led to its creation. Indeed, Obama practically mocked Republicans for having tested their trickle-down philosophy, failing spectacularly, and then becoming even more right wing as a consequence.
.
Republican leaders issued some press releases this afternoon, complaining that the president’s remarks were “tired” and “partisan.” None, however, could point to anything Obama got wrong in this speech.
==================================
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/03/11004634-a-rousing-rejection-of-republican-radicalism
6 Reasons the Koch Brothers Had a Very Bad Week
An FBI investigation, a new documentary, and a negative court ruling: here’s a look inside the Kochs’ worst week in a while.
Were there a way for a few billion clams to wipe a week off the calendar, one imagines that Charles and David Koch, the multibillionaire principals of Koch Industries, would like to see the final week of March 2012 vaporized, at least in the public mind. For the Kochs, it was a week of bad news: a new documentary about their political activity and corporate negligence was making a splash — on the same day a story broke announcing an FBI investigation of two Wisconsin groups tied to Americans for Prosperity, the political ground organization they founded and fund. (Full disclosure: AlterNet is a supporter of the documentary, Koch Brothers Exposed, and I appear in the film.)
Things got even worse the next day, Friday, March 30, when the billionaire brothers learned that a federal court handed down a decision that may ultimately require certain non-profit groups, such as Americans for Prosperity, to reveal their full donor list, and the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer, who wrote a devastating profile of the brothers last year, reported on the Kochs’ involvement in a barrage of anti-Obama ads sponsored by a tax-exempt non-profit called the American Energy Alliance, which may also now be required to reveal its donor list.
On the very same day, another federal court struck down portions of Wisconsin’s controversial law that stripped collective bargaining rights from most of the state’s public employees — a law championed by Americans for Prosperity, and rammed through the state legislature a year ago by the AFP-supported Gov. Scott Walker. Here, we take a closer look at the Kochs’ very bad week…
read more here: http://www.alternet.org/election2012/154795/6_reasons_the_koch_brothers_had_a_very_bad_week/?page=entire
Dudette, I hope that turns out to be the best week they have in a long time and things get worse and worse for them as their traitorous and corrupt activities become common knowledge. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving pair of criminals. By the way I hope the “may” in that ruling is eliminated and they “have” to reveal their donor list. Americans need to know who’s buying their democracy and their future.
Our Beloved President is the ultimate visionary.
WOW, folks are super excited to see Mitt who stopped by at a store. They’re literally tripping over themselves to shake his hand, give him their babies, talk to him, get a hug from him, etc..
bahaha! that is funny and a great contrast to any appearance by PBO when he was still just a presidential candidate.
That is one of my very favoritist fast food joints, Culver’s. Great burgers and fantastic frozen custard. Great to know that their customers are so discerning as to ignore the “marvelous” one.
Hmmm. And now I’m hungry and there’s no Culver’s in my area. I haz a sad!
Love it Hopefruit!!!!!
https://twitter.com/#!/___Chips___/status/187270582650417152
Beautiful!! Now if that was a certain someone we all know and love camera phones would be flashing every second,people would be screaming in excitement, the elderly lady in front would be hugging him until the Secret Service stepped in and the people working behind the counter would be falling all over themselves.
But not Mitt. And must he try to imitate the President in everything he does?
Well derbingle, Mitt hasn’t got into sports just yet, because less say they ask him to pick the winners of the up coming NBA playoff, Mitt would say something like well I don’t know the players but the owners are my friends.
Why do we have to pay for secret service protection for this guy?
LOL! Exactly. Nobody even knows who he is.
Geez, how is it possible for any American to be that awkward in a burger place. He looks like he’s never been to one before and not one person is even smiling at him. You can get someone to smile at you if you ask them how they are, say something fun about the weather, being hungry, etc. But he just stands there like a stick.
Now THAT was funny!!!
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
Now that is funny. No one is even looking at him!!! Maybe he should have unzipped himself and he might have gotten some attention.
OMG! Good one! He took out his wallet to count some Cayman notes? 🙂
That is too funny and sad. Poor Mittens: Where is the love? he seems to be asking himself. Would love to see this juxtaposed with any photo of PBO during his first campaign or from the present time when he entered public places. Willard may be beginning to realize that you can’t buy love and respect; only yes men, flunkies, and opportunists.
I like the sneer on the face of the one young man to the side of him. Perfect!
President Obama is showing Democrats everywhere how to campaign against the Repugs.
In 2010, Russ Fiengold convinced Harry Reid not to try and pass a budget. He lost anyway. Democrats did not take responsibility for their decision, and the President was blamed by the repugs and the media. They left President Obama to stand alone against the criticism, and created an unnecessary burden on him, to get legislation passed after the election. Instead of running on passing the AffordableCareAct, and in the process educating the public, Dems ran away from it. They lost anyway, which allowed the continuation of misinformation, and lies by the Repugs, to once again go unchallenged.
The one other thing that MUST happen, is for progressive voices in the MSM to continue to challenge GOP LIES, and challenge the rest of the non-FOX media to do the same.
Mitt Romney is a pathelogical liar. I have never seen anything like this. Rachel Maddow has frequently pointed this out, but other media continue to ignore it. I’m no longer surprised by anything in politics anymore. The Gloves are off. However, no matter what happens, we have to maintain our integrity and dignity. If Barack Obama can be gracious, in the face of what has to be one of the most acrimonious political atmospheres since the Civil War, we owe it to him to try our best to follow his example. I am an old dog, but I find myself looking to the President as a roll model, of how to be a better human being. It’s never too late to learn a new ‘trick’.
Lawrence, Martin and Rev. Al call out his lies too. Lawrence was the first to do it on TV and Steve Benen was the first to do it in print.
This is EXACTLY how I feel. We have to challenge the lies forcefully but respectfully like the President does.
hahahahahahahaha! Why does he even try? He might as well give a speech ii the cheese section with a putrid green backgound ala McCain! He sure does not look exciting and presidential! Carrying ordinary too far Mr.
I certainly am excited to vote this fall – on NOV 6, I’m at the voting booth at 4AM. I’m sure you will be there too!
Freaking awesome. Very wide margin.
In summary ….
And, anyone still complaining about “WH messaging” is either stupid or brain dead.
#PRESSON
Three Charts Illustrating Two Different Visions for Our Nation
================================
Today at the Associated Press Luncheon, the President discussed how his vision differs with the radical vision laid out in the House Republican Budget:
“This Congressional Republican budget, however, is something different altogether. It’s a Trojan Horse. Disguised as deficit reduction plan, it’s really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. It’s nothing but thinly-veiled Social Darwinism. It’s antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility for everyone who’s willing to work for it – a place where prosperity doesn’t trickle down from the top, but grows outward from the heart of the middle class. And by gutting the very things we need to grow an economy that’s built to last – education and training; research and development – it’s a prescription for decline.”
The President’s approach to reducing our deficit is a balanced approach that asks the wealthiest to pay their fair share, achieves significant health savings and enacts sensible spending cuts while making the investments we need to have a strong middle class.
Take a look at how the President’s approach and the Congressional Republican policies stack up side by side:
=================================
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/04/03/three-charts-illustrating-two-different-visions-our-nation
Good stuff — especially the first two charts!!
Thanks Ladyhawke!
Does anyone bother to see how firing government workers impacts the economy? Look at the records of the Repub governors who have slashed budgets. I don’t see jobs magically appearing to re-hire those public servants.
Remarks by the President at the Associated Press Luncheon
For Immediate Release
April 03, 2012
Marriott Wardman Park
Washington, D.C.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/03/remarks-president-associated-press-luncheon
The White House announced Tuesday that President Obama has signed the JOBS Act. The bill was a bipartisan fusion of small business proposals from both President Obama and House Republicans, and was shepherded through the House by Majority leader Eric Cantor.
—
And Nader is pissed… Which us what politico keeps telling us. Why do I get the feeling he is running?
Let him run. Stupid goat.
Caption it!
Oh dear…now that is some serious pandering. The customer service reps (in the far left corner) don’t look particularly thrilled. They’re just going along with Ryan and Willard’s antics, but you can tell they’re wishing that it were PBO and VP Biden who just stepped in instead of those two KLOWNS.
Dumb and Dumber. Butt and Butthead. Simple and Simon. Greed and Avarice. Hmmm… Lunch break is over…
Oh dear Chips, why now, just when I am out of time: I’ll Have What He’s Having. I’m With Stupid. No, We Are Not Twins. Who’s Paying?. Bill It To My Expense Account. Are We Having Fun Yet? We Are The 1%.
auto focus malfunctions at “burger buddy” grand opening, and instead of focusing on the main attraction, camera accidentally focuses on the two hired clowns.
CTRL C and CTRL V ordering CTRL X.
So funny!
I LOVE IT!!! 😀
Campaign handlers install “smile-at-fast-food-joint” chip into the freshly unzipped Romneybot. Eddie Munster accompanies. Tiny bobblehead dolls stand guard. A fun time was had by all.
🙂
Burgers here are just the right size. Don’t believe us? We’ll betcha $10,000!
you want “lies” with that?
LOL!! 😀
Chips, we have our WINNER!!! 4Morefor44!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
I love it, and I agree!
Holy Toledo that is hilarious. I sreamed when I read this 😆 😆 😆
😆 😆 😆
Oh My…I just spit out my salad….
Thanks 4more. That’s the hardest I’ve laughed in a while.
Obama/Biden 2012
Winner. 🙂
LOL!!!
Two of the four figures closest to the camera are human. Can you identify which ones they are? Didn’t think so.
Dumb and Dumber go out on a date.
Willard, Little Paul and their alter-egos.
Can I see the tasting menu? Now you all try to top that!
“Hey, Paul! What’s more plastic, us or those potato heads on the counter? They DO kind of look like us!”
Unzip me, please! Don’t forget to tip your waitress. I’ll be here all week.
Awesome! Since the media won’t hold Willard accountable, we the voters must do it.
Hay Mitt, are you sure you are ready? President Obama is not Santorum, Newt, or Paul. This is the big league Mitty boy. And President Obama is going to kick your lying butt.
Can’t wait to see this – I am FIRED UP!
Ahhhh Man Jim Messina, don’t tease me like this. Now I have to wait (with baited breath) for a whold day to see this. Not 😎
PRESIDENT OBAMA CALLS OUT THE MEDIA FOR LAZY REPORTING
Both sides “ARE NOT’ equally at fault.
=================================
I guess another way of thinking about this is — and this bears on your reporting. I think that there is oftentimes the impulse to suggest that if the two parties are disagreeing, then they’re equally at fault and the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and an equivalence is presented — which reinforces I think people’s cynicism about Washington generally. This is not one of those situations where there’s an equivalence. I’ve got some of the most liberal Democrats in Congress who were prepared to make significant changes to entitlements that go against their political interests, and who said they were willing to do it. And we couldn’t get a Republican to stand up and say, we’ll raise some revenue, or even to suggest that we won’t give more tax cuts to people who don’t need them.
And so I think it’s important to put the current debate in some historical context. It’s not just true, by the way, of the budget. It’s true of a lot of the debates that we’re having out here.
Cap and trade was originally proposed by conservatives and Republicans as a market-based solution to solving environmental problems. The first President to talk about cap and trade was George H.W. Bush. Now you’ve got the other party essentially saying we shouldn’t even be thinking about environmental protection; let’s gut the EPA.
Health care, which is in the news right now — there’s a reason why there’s a little bit of confusion in the Republican primary about health care and the individual mandate since it originated as a conservative idea to preserve the private marketplace in health care while still assuring that everybody got covered, in contrast to a single-payer plan. Now, suddenly, this is some socialist overreach.
So as all of you are doing your reporting, I think it’s important to remember that the positions I’m taking now on the budget and a host of other issues, if we had been having this discussion 20 years ago, or even 15 years ago, would have been considered squarely centrist positions. What’s changed is the center of the Republican Party. And that’s certainly true with the budget.
==================================
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/03/remarks-president-associated-press-luncheon
By JENNIFER EPSTEIN | 4/3/12 3:45 PM EDT
President Barack Obama will briefly introduce a Saturday airing of the Gregory Peck-starring “To Kill A Mockingbird.”
Obama taped about a minute of remarks to air before the first national showing of a restored version of the classic tale of southern racial tensions in the 1930s, USA Network said Tuesday. USA is airing the movie at 8 p.m. on Saturday in partnership with the American Film Institute and Universal Picture.
The White House has not yet released his remarks, which could touch on issues of race and equality.
Harper Lee, the famously reclusive author of the book on which the movie is based said in a statement that she is “deeply honored that President Obama will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by introducing it to a national audience.”
“I believe it remains the best translation of a book to film ever made, and I’m proud to know that Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Atticus Finch lives on — in a world that needs him now more than ever,” she said.
Wow! I will be tuning in. Spectacular, and so appropriate. Pardon me, I just had a moment….
Oo0O0oh! My..my. I will set my DVR!
I LOVE Gregory Peck…even when he was starring in that Horror film “The Omen” I Loves to loves me some Peck!
Me too! Gregory Peck was phenomenal in the movie. One of my favorite books and movies of all time.
Out-STANDING!!!
One of the greatest American novels and one of the greatest American movies.
Love it!! I’ll be watching. This is my second favorite movie of all time – the 1959 version of Imitation of Life is my first.
My dear, you have excellent taste in film! Two of my faves also. 🙂
There’s a beautiful documentary airing on PBS stations (American Masters) about Harper Lee. I recorded it, and have been watching it in segments. It’s great.
Thanks for this heads-up, Jovie.
What a coincidence — a bit of TV serendipity!!
Maybe some anniversary of the book or film?
Or TV serendipity!!
You beat me to it! 🙂 I just saw that and got so excited!
To Kill a Mockingbird is my absolute favorite piece of American literature, and the film was an exemplary adaptation. Gregory Peck was perfectly cast as Atticus.
I can’t wait to watch the remastered version. And how appropriate that our President gets to introduce it! He is the embodiment of the values, patience, and temperance of Atticus Finch.
Set your DVRs!
I will note, that their last vacation to Martha’s Vineyard, “To Kill a Mocking Bird” was one of the books the president brought for Malia as her reading selection for the summer.
Ok, I’ve been thinking for the past few hours, and I think I’ve nailed down what made PBO’s speech today most effective: mockery. The tone in his voice was impossible to miss. Yes, there was fire. Yes, there was concern. But the dripping mockery with which he painted the GOP turned them from being “serious” participants in the national debate to a bunch of clowns doing the bidding of their feudal masters. He’s no longer hiding his condescension of the GOP’s “ideas”. And he’s also no longer hiding his distaste for what our Fourth Estate has become. He’s telling the press to do it’s damned job, which is to report and inform, not to play he-said-she-said games. It’s hard to take any group seriously when it’s being mocked, and when the mockery strikes a chord with the public. Today we saw the roll-out of one of his strategies: make the GOP seem so ridiculous that most people won’t be able to take them seriously.
PETA to protest Easter egg roll at WH.
They did Not do this to other Presidents, they like picking on this one!
Because small children chasing wooden eggs around are a danger to animals? No Easter Bunny will be harmed during the “hunt”
However Peta protesters will be harmed if if they tick off a bunch of little kids with wooden Easters eggs!
It appears that any interest group out there that feels irrelevant and ignored, like a young child, simply needs to act up in front of President Obama in some way just to get attention.
they know if someone rips on PBO, the media will give them unlimited airtime.
Considering PETA is nothing more than a punchline these days, can’t imagine too many folks quaking in their boots over them.
Who is conducting the real “war on religion”? The “moral” foundation of Paul Ryan’s political life by his own admission and the foundation of the Ryan budget is the Social Darwinism of anti-religionist Ayn Rand. The GOP worships Ayn Rand. Paul Ryan requires indoctrination in Ayn Rand philosophy by all of his employees, so does Justice Clarence Thomas. Here she is, the God-hating Ayn Rand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TxCWbTqz9s&feature=player_embedded
Romney To Respond To Obama Speech
Mitt Romney will appear on Fox with Sean Hannity at 5pm ET today to respond to a speech by President Obama that blasted Romney and the Paul Ryan budget, tweets his spokesman Andrea Saul.
—
Hannity at 5 PM ? ….Does Romney need his hand held to respond to the President.?
He’ll be preaching to the choir.
Exactly. Romney and Hannity will be joined at the tonsils. It won’t be an interview. Romney will just get asked softball leading questions that a fifth grader could answer. But I am thrilled that he will have to defend that train wreck budget. Romney and Ryan are joined at the hip now. That budget is the path to poverty. It tells you all you need to know about what is important to the Republican Party.
He can’t answer on his own; he must be lead.
Ann will probably be there, holding his clammy hand. But this time, she’ll be there (unlike her previous remark) to tell him to zip it.
Lil Punkass. Barack Obama went in front of the Associated Press and smacked you. You, by contrast, are going on a show which ought to be considered, “Republican Mind Fellatio” with Sean Hannity. Really, he didn’t go to ABC, CBS, NBC. Hell, he could have went to CNN, but NO, he’s going to his enforced bunker, hidden from view, to try to hit back. Man, please. You ain’t ready Willard. You ain’t ready.
You ain’t ready Willard. You ain’t ready.
TELL IT
OMG, I can’t wait. I am going to the dvr right now. I love that movie and to have the President introduce it will be a keeper!!!!
I am anxiously waiting for the video of his speech. I wasn’t able to watch it.
BAD MATH AND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
==========================
If you’ve followed the public discussion of the Affordable Care Act, you probably have become accustomed to seeing the use of estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
At the time that the Affordable Care Act passed, and a year later, CBO estimated that the health care law in its entirety would reduce the Federal budget deficit over the next decade. And this week, a new report from the Government Accountability Office found that the Affordable Care Act “would have a major effect” on reducing the deficit if implemented as intended.
This year, CBO also updated estimates for parts of the health care law. They project that:
The cost of the coverage provisions will be $50 billion lower from 2012 through 2021 when compared to last year’s estimates, and
Private health insurance premiums will be 8 percent lower in 2021 than CBO projected last year.
But some opponents of the law are using this new analysis to claim that the cost of the law has doubled to $1.7 trillion. This claim is false. Here’s why:
===========================
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/04/03/bad-math-and-affordable-care-act
President Obama Speaks on Budget at Associated Press Luncheon
=================================
Washington, DC
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
In his keynote address at the Associated Press Luncheon today, President Obama denounced the House Republican Budget calling it
a “Trojan Horse disguised as deficit reduction plan.”
The Republican budget plan, approved by the House last week last, cuts $5.3 trillion over the next ten years through deeps cuts in spending and entitlements.
President Obama spoke at the same Associate Press Luncheon four years ago when he was running for president. With this year’s appearance, the President joins every sitting president since Calvin Coolidge in addressing an Association Society of News Editors audience.
================================
http://www.c-span.org/Events/President-Obama-Speaks-on-Budget-at-Associated-Press-Luncheon/10737429590/
I hate this. Note that despite the fact that the Ryan budget actaully increases the deficit, this article accepts as fact that the budget wiil reduce the deficit. It would have been more accurate for them to say “Republicans have made the claim that their budget reduces the deficit…” However, this claim is based upon closing tax loopholes which they have so far refused to list.
One thing that I have not seen discussed very much, if at all, is that PBO, in talking about the SC reviewing the ACA, basically said, if you are serious about reducing costs, it will be necessary to have everybody covered. There are only two ways to do that: mandate or single payer. He basidally is already advertising the fact that if the SC strikes down the mandate, he will start considering single payer. I don’t expect that to be a campaighn issue, but after the election, watch for it.
I totally agree with your assessment! Can’t wait. Reason #1,300,030 why we have to get Obama-Biden re-elected!
embed
Oh soooo Retweeted!
Hammer meets nailhead!
Coward Fineman was on Hardball stretching contorting and twisting himself in order to criticize PBO’s speech while at the same time making the Repubs look good.
First of all, Fineman claimed that PBO praised Bush and Nixon. UTTER nonsense! PBO used Nixon and Bush as example of two “BAD” GOP presidents who endorsed a few policies that could be considered “reasonable” by today’s GOP standards.
Next, Fineman says that Independent voters might be turned off by the tone of PBO’s speech…excuse me Mr. Finemann, but unless these “Independents” are Republicans (such as yourself), there’s nothing about our President’s illuminating, informative, assertive honest, and non-patronizing speech that could be perceived as nasty in tone.
And then Chaffetz came on and lied…and lied ….and lied with zero push back.
Our media is pathetic.
He made me really angry. He’s such a tool of the GOP. I also wondered why the Dems rejected PBO’s budget, do you know?
It wasn’t PBO’s budget..one of the R’s tried to pull a fast one and slipped some nasty provision in there. If the MSM reports this as the DEMS all voting against PBO’s budget, the media is LYING in order to protect the Repubs. I’m getting all my budget info from a reliable source like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi or DWS, not the mainstream media.
I do…..
It had not been put through the Committee or Mark-up process and was put up as an Amendment by a Republican from South Carolina.
That makes sense. I thought there were GOP shenanigans involved there but couldn’t remember. I was sorry to see the Dem unable to rebut that Utah guy with that truth. Sad.
Thanks Linda. I knew there had to be some shenanigans by the GOP otherwise it wouldn’t make sense. Too bad the Dem couldn’t rebut that Utah guy.
Oops posted 2x on same thing, sorry.
This stuff is to be expected–they’re threatened by PBO and have to lie, slander and rage to distract people from the president’s message. The vision the GOP has for American is ugly and frankly unAmerican. PBO called them on it and laid it out as clear as crystal and they don’t like that. They’ve gotten by for decades through deceit and illusion and they want to do it one more time so they can ensure the final collapse of democracy and fairness as we know it. It’s going to be our call-to-call, door-to-door conversations with people that will deliver the message. And it will have to be–for once–Democrats working together to drown out the GOP lie machine.
I wish you would send him this. I cannot stand the man anymore. It’s always about his sources.
Here’s the President’s speech at C-Span:
http://www.c-span.org/Events/President-Obama-Speaks-on-Budget-at-Associated-Press-Luncheon/10737429590-1/
Well, there goes another monitor lost to water spit.
LMAO. Glad I just spit out my gum or I’d be scraping it off the monitor. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Just returned from voting for the third time for Barack Obama. (Wisconsin) Vote count when I voted was down about 400 hundred than what it usually has been when I voted. Not a lot to vote for. Presidential primary and judges and local supervisors–mostly unopposed. Joanne Kloppenburg was on the ballot–voted for her. President Obama had no opposition but you could select an undesignated delegate or a write in. Wisconsin has an open primary. I could have selected a Republican if I had wanted to, but I was proud to vote for Barack Obama.
Good work, Sharon! I’d vote for PBO everyday if they let me. 🙂
HEADLINE: Obama To Clinch Nomination Tuesday
// According to CNN’s delegate estimate, the president has 2,735 of the 2,778 delegates needed to secure his party’s nod. //
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/obama-to-clinch-nomination-tuesday
Yahhhh!!!!
Think about all the money that PBO will have in the till to unleash on the eventual GOP nominee. Meanwhile, Mehmney is having to spend a fortune just to get the GOP nod. And even though the Super PACS on the other side will unleash a torrent of money, that money won’t put boots on the ground, and it certainly won’t produce this: http://slate.me/H9e9z3. Not only will this organization win the Presidency and the House, but it should make Democrats “Obamacrats” for the foreseeable future.
4 MORE FOR 44! 4 MORE FOR 44!
I just read on Twitter that PBO officially clinches the Democratic nomination tonight.
And just 4 short years ago when he first clinched the Democratic Nomination…..
One of many historic moments for our historically awesome President!
Wasn’t that the night of the infamous terrorist fist jab? 🙂
Why, yes it is! Good eye!
Nice to be here amongst the sanity. HuffPo comments drove me batty earlier and I told myself, “Go to TOD so you can stop hyperventilating” 😉
A wise choice. 🙂
Ok everyone, my day was just made.
I know this lady because she used to bring her grandson to my Storytime when I was starting out. She came by today, and we started talking. She’s… an OBAMACON! I just feel all sorts of giddy right now. I have a feeling that her story will be repeated over and over this November.
(CBS News) In the escalating battle between the administration and the judiciary, a federal appeals court apparently is calling the president’s bluff — ordering the Justice Department to answer by Thursday whether the Obama Administration believes that the courts have the right to strike down a federal law, according to a lawyer who was in the courtroom.
The order, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, appears to be in direct response to the president’s comments yesterday about the Supreme Court’s review of the health care law. Mr. Obama all but threw down the gauntlet with the justices, saying he was “confident” the Court would not “take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.”
Overturning a law of course would not be unprecedented — since the Supreme Court since 1803 has asserted the power to strike down laws it interprets as unconstitutional. The three-judge appellate court appears to be asking the administration to admit that basic premise — despite the president’s remarks that implied the contrary. The panel ordered the Justice Department to submit a three-page, single-spaced letter by noon Thursday addressing whether the Executive Branch believes courts have such power, the lawyer said.
The panel is hearing a separate challenge to the health care law by physician-owned hospitals. The issue arose when a lawyer for the Justice Department began arguing before the judges. Appeals Court Judge Jerry Smith immediately interrupted, asking if DOJ agreed that the judiciary could strike down an unconstitutional law.
The DOJ lawyer, Dana Lydia Kaersvang, answered yes — and mentioned Marbury v. Madison, the landmark case that firmly established the principle of judicial review more than 200 years ago, according to the lawyer in the courtroom.
Smith then became “very stern,” the source said, telling the lawyers arguing the case it was not clear to “many of us” whether the president believes such a right exists. The other two judges on the panel, Emilio Garza and Leslie Southwick–both Republican appointees–remained silent, the source said.
Smith, a Reagan appointee, went on to say that comments from the president and others in the Executive Branch indicate they believe judges don’t have the power to review laws and strike those that are unconstitutional, specifically referencing Mr. Obama’s comments yesterday about judges being an “unelected group of people.”
UPDATE 6 p.m. ET: The White House is declining to comment on the 5th Circuit’s order, but the president today did clarify his comments that it would be “unprecedented” for the Court to overturn laws passed by a democratically elected Congress. During a question-and-answer session after a luncheon speech in Washington, a journalist pointed out “that is exactly what the Court has done during its entire existence.”
Quote from President Obama’s answer to the question today which CBS omits:
“THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, let me be very specific. We have not seen a Court overturn a law that was passed by Congress on a economic issue, like health care, that I think most people would clearly consider commerce — a law like that has not been overturned at least since Lochner. Right? So we’re going back to the ’30s, pre New Deal.
And the point I was making is that the Supreme Court is the final say on our Constitution and our laws, and all of us have to respect it, but it’s precisely because of that extraordinary power that the Court has traditionally exercised significant restraint and deference to our duly elected legislature, our Congress. And so the burden is on those who would overturn a law like this.
Now, as I said, I expect the Supreme Court actually to recognize that and to abide by well-established precedence out there. I have enormous confidence that in looking at this law, not only is it constitutional, but that the Court is going to exercise its jurisprudence carefully because of the profound power that our Supreme Court has. As a consequence, we’re not spending a whole bunch of time planning for contingencies.”
Damn…….
CNN just said that in Wisconsin, 12% of Democrats voted in the Republican Primary and Santorum got their vote 32-22 over Robney.
That might make it a lot closer than anticipated, that exit polls will not pickup.
Operation Chaos!!
PBO: For the average $150,000 tax break for every millionaire in this country, let’s just step back for a second and look at what $150,000 pays for:
A year’s worth of prescription drug coverage for a senior citizen.
Plus a new school computer lab.
Plus a year of medical care for a returning veteran.
Plus a medical research grant for a chronic disease.
Plus a year’s salary for a firefighter or police officer.
Plus a tax credit to make a year of college more affordable.
Plus a year’s worth of financial aid.
One hundred fifty thousand dollars could pay for all of these things combined — investments in education and research that are essential to economic growth that benefits all of us.
New post everyone:
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/04/03/evening-all-61/
Why is the exit polls from CNN, have different numbers, than that of MSNBC?
Test
Wow! Look at all the jobs Romney created. Country First!
http://www.barackobama.com/romney-offshore-outsourcing?source=Romneyoutsourcemap-01-20120328-kghi
Mitt Romney’s record: Outsourcing jobs, investing overseas
http://www.barackobama.com