Obama Economic Speech Tells GOP To Drop The 'Endless Parade Of Distractions'
Source: Huffington Post
WASHINGTON -- Against the backdrop of a stable but still lethargic economy, President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged Congress to end what he deemed worsening gridlock and to join him in crafting a constructive agenda for jobs, immigration reform and health care implementation.
The speech, which was widely hyped in advance by the administration, was heavy on broad themes while touching on a few specifics. The president pitched a refinancing plan for mortgages, a long-term fix to student loans, worker training programs, and a renewed focus on manufacturing jobs and infrastructure repair. Speaking at Knox College, he called on Congress to offer constructive input on all these fronts.
"Over the last six months, this gridlock has gotten worse. I didn't think that was possible," the president said. "The good news is, a growing number of Republican senators are trying to get things done, like an immigration bill that economists say will boost our economy by more than a trillion dollars. But a faction of Republicans in the House wont even give that bill a vote, and that same group gutted a farm bill that Americas farmers and most vulnerable children depend on."
"With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball," he said. "And I am here to say this needs to stop. Short-term thinking and stale debates are not what this moment requires."
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/obama-economic-speech_n_3645371.html
alp227
(32,047 posts)BOOM! Get 'em mr. president! Keep smacking 'em upside the head all the way to 2014 and show how those ReTHUGS really are!
Berlum
(7,044 posts)LiberalLovinLug
(14,176 posts)But I wish he had been on DEFCON from the start. Especially after the first months when it was clear that the GOP were going into shut-down mode and McConnell admitted their only task would be to make Obama a one-term President.
All he had/has to do is inform the American people exactly what they are being denied because of Republican obstructionism.
Its like its gone through 3 stages.
First he naively thought he could compromise and so he was so desparate to prove that he started his bargaining position way way to the right, and time and time again, like Charlie Brown and Lucy, the ball was snatched back and the goal posts set back further.
After continuing this strategy over and over with the same results...he finally moved to the second phase. He just shut up about the whole thing. You hardly heard much from him. He seemed to finally realize what we and everyone else knew...that there was no interest from the GOP to pass ANYTHING he proposed, no matter how much it hurt America. So he just took his ball and went home.
Now its finally reached a third stage where, and I hope he continues, where he is publicly calling them out on their shenanigans. Enough of the conciliatory back-bending. The "I trust something will get done" "I have faith that an agreement can be reached" etc..
There never should have been those first two stages though. Maybe by his last month in office he'll actually be where he should have been after his first month.
SunSeeker
(51,664 posts)The NYTimes offered a pretty negative, dreary take. Glad you posted the Huffpo version. I deleted my earlier NYTimes linked post on this in LBN, so there is no longer a dup post on this, plus yours is way better presented, with pic and all.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)SunSeeker
(51,664 posts)The NY Times did not describe the scandals as phony but rattled them off by issue name right in the first line as if meritorious and suggested Obama was trying to get away from them.
And then it quotes all these Republicans as saying they have tried to do things but the article offers no analysis or calls bullshit on them like it should have.
In fact, when it does offer analysis, it suggests there was cooperation but that Obama was not offering steps to "win more cooperation from Congress."
yurbud
(39,405 posts)is often from the same out of touch with reality script of the Republicans.
SunSeeker
(51,664 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)AllINeedIsCoffee
(772 posts)Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)A great speech by a great President!!!
Always Randy
(1,060 posts)I didn't see this post and did a duplicate from youtube
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)I could've gone to NRO to read that.