Category: Barack Obama

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Barack Obama Politics tax cuts

A Rich Man Ask President Obama – Would You Please Raise My Taxes?

In a LinkedIn Q & A, President Obama was asked a question by someone the Republicans have been trying their hardest to protect – a rich guy. The man asking the question told the President that he was unemployed, not because he forced to, but because he chose to be. He then asked;

“Would you please raise my taxes?” He continued: “I would like very much to have the country to continue to invest in things like Pell Grants, infrastructure, and job training programs that made it possible for me to get to where I am.”

We can safely predict that the regular talking GOP talking points to this man will be, “just write a check!” It’s the same talking point they’ve made to Warren Buffett and many other responsible rich folks who want to pay their fair share.

Republicans have taken a pledge not to raise taxes on the rich and are now fighting the President’s attempt to add revenue to the economy by asking the rich to pay the same tax rate as middle class Americans.

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Barack Obama executive order George Bush Politics

President Obama Ends A Failed Bush Policy – No Child Left Behind

President Obama:

“Our kids only get one shot at a decent education. They cannot afford to wait any longer. So, given that Congress cannot act, I am acting.”

And with that, President Obama used his Executive pen this week and put an end to another of former President Bush’s failed education policy, No Child Left Behind, (NCLB). The policy, signed into law in 2002, is considered a failure by educators all across the country.

The president blamed congress for dragging its feet on revamping the education system saying, “We can’t let another generation of young people fall behind… we are in the midst of an enormous economic challenge,” Mr. Obama said. “The most important thing we can do is make sure that our kids are prepared for this new economy. By signing the Executive Order, President Obama is granting states a waiver, which would allow them to draft their own education programs, instead of the one-size-fits-all approach Bush envisioned under NCLB.

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Barack Obama Politics teachers weekly address

President Obama – States Will Have More Flexibility In Fixing Education

In his weekly address, President Obama stressed the need for Education as it relates to job creating and maintaining oureconomic edge in the world. The President also spoke of the failures of No Child Left Behind, and detailed his Administration’s efforts to make sure education is a priority for students, and the American people.

While the goals behind No Child Left Behind were admirable, experience has taught us that the law has some serious flaws that are hurting our children instead of helping them. Teachers are being forced to teach to a test, while subjects like history and science are being squeezed out. And in order to avoid having their schools labeled as failures, some states lowered their standards in a race to the bottom.

These problems have been obvious to parents and educators all over this country for years. But for years, Congress has failed to fix them. So now, I will. Our kids only get one shot at a decent education. And they can’t afford to wait any longer.

The President also spoke about the flexibility he’s given to the states, to do what is necessary to improve education in their schools.

And that’s why instead of just pouring money into a system that’s not working, we launched a competition called Race to the Top.  To all fifty states, we said, “If you show us the most innovative plans to improve teacher quality and student achievement, we’ll show you the money.”

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Barack Obama CNN James Carville Politics White House

James Carville Happy Again With President Obama

James Carville, the often outspoken liberal commentator, is feeling much better about President Obama. Last week, Carville, a CNN political pundit and former lead strategist for the Clinton administration, wrote a piece on CNN saying that it is time President Obama “panic” and called on the President to fire some of his staff.

After much rebuke from other liberal leaning media outlets, Carville suddenly found favor in the President again. Appearing on Good Morning America, he expressed his pleasure in the President’s speech about raising taxes for millionaires, saying “the White House is listening.” He also said, “I think he fired his old negotiating philosophy which was a pretty good start.”

I guess we have Carville to thank for this???

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Arizona Barack Obama Birthers Birthers White House

Arizona Birthers Forms “Posse” To Investigate President Obama

The Birthers are back, or maybe they just never left.

Even after President Obama officially put an end to the nonsense of Birtherism by providing the very document they’ve asked for since he walked into office, some people just can’t accept the fact that this Black man is living in the White House.

Arizona Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, has decided to form a posse – a five member group called the Cold Case Posse – to investigate the President’s birth, his birth certificate, or his certificate of live birth…whatever you want to call it, Arpaio’s posse will investigate it. Arpaio says the citizens of  Maricopa County demand this investigation be done.

“This investigation does not involve politics,” Arpaio told WND. “I listen to all the residents of Maricopa County who come to my office with complaints, regardless what their politics are.

“My door is open to everyone, and I don’t kick them out. If a complaint is legitimate, I don’t dump it into the wastebasket,” he continued. “When I get allegations brought to me by the citizens of Maricopa County, I look into the allegations, just like I am doing here.”

Arpaio is responding to a complaint brought to his office by representatives of the Surprise Tea Party in Surprise, Ariz., who have expressed in writing their concerns that the voting rights of Maricopa County residents in the 2012 presidential election could be compromised if Obama were to use a forged birth certificate to establish his eligibility under Article 1, Section 2, of the Constitution.

“The Cold Case Posse is a good place to put this investigation,” Arpaio said. “The individuals on this posse have been sworn in by me and I have granted them the authority required to conduct this investigation.”

Arpaio explained to WND that in the final analysis, all decisions stop with him.

“I will have the ultimate authority to decide,” he emphasized. “I gave the Cold Case Posse the authority to investigate, but the results of their investigation ultimately come to me and I will then decide how best to proceed from there.”

I wonder what else this posse would want to see as proof that Barack Obama is an American? Every possible item that can be given as proof of his citizenship has been provided, but he and the citizens of Maricopa County aren’t satisfied yet.

I remember the years they hounded President Bush for his proof of citizenship…oh wait…this wasn’t an issue then as he set off to destroy America’s economy. As a matter of fact, this has never been an issue since George Washington’s inauguration. But then again, all the Presidents before Mr. Obama, have been white.

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Barack Obama Politics Republican

Obama – This Is Not Class Warfare, It’s Math

Today, President Obama outlined his plan for deficit reduction. He again called for a balanced approach to reducing the nation’s deficit through both spending cuts and raising revenue by asking the top 3% of the wealthiest Americans to pay the same rate middle class Americans already pay. Of course, Republicans used the last few days to get their talking points out, calling the President’s proposal “class warfare.”

But President Obama had an answer for them;

It comes down to this: We have to prioritize. Both parties agree that we need to reduce the deficit by the same amount — by $4 trillion. So what choices are we going to make to reach that goal? Either we ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes, or we’re going to have to ask seniors to pay more for Medicare. We can’t afford to do both.

Either we gut education and medical research, or we’ve got to reform the tax code so that the most profitable corporations have to give up tax loopholes that other companies don’t get. We can’t afford to do both.

This is not class warfare. It’s math. The money is going to have to come from someplace. And if we’re not willing to ask those who’ve done extraordinarily well to help America close the deficit and we are trying to reach that same target of $4 trillion, then the logic, the math says everybody else has to do a whole lot more: We’ve got to put the entire burden on the middle class and the poor. We’ve got to scale back on the investments that have always helped our economy grow. We’ve got to settle for second-rate roads and second-rate bridges and second-rate airports, and schools that are crumbling.

That’s unacceptable to me. That’s unacceptable to the American people. And it will not happen on my watch. I will not support — I will not support — any plan that puts all the burden for closing our deficit on ordinary Americans. And I will veto any bill that changes benefits for those who rely on Medicare but does not raise serious revenues by asking the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations to pay their fair share. We are not going to have a one-sided deal that hurts the folks who are most vulnerable.

But explaining simple math to a group who thinks teachers are the enemy and wants to eliminate the Department of Education, may not be the easiest thing to do, but based on the President’s attitude today, I think he’s up for the challenge.

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Barack Obama Politics White House

President Promises To Veto Bill With Entitlement Cuts Alone

As the middle class continues to suffer, another Washington showdown has begun.

Last week, John Boehner made a statement in which he advised the Super Committee to keep taxes off the negotiating table, “it’s a very simple equation,” Boehner said, speaking to the Economic Club of Washington,”tax increases destroy jobs. And the Joint Committee is a jobs committee. Its mission is to reduce the deficit that is threatening job creation in our country.”

Boehner’s claims of course, are unfounded. Over the last 11 years, taxes on these “job creators” have been lower than in previous administrations, including the Clinton White House, where they paid more in taxes, and the economy flourished. If lowering taxes was the answer, the economy would be better now than it was under Clinton.

But back to the showdown…

After Boehner made his statement trying to influence the decisions being made in the Super Committee, whose job is to come up with another $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction by Thanksgiving, Senior White House officials told the Huffington Post that President Obama will veto any agreement that has only cuts in entitlement programs and no tax increase on the wealthy.

“[W]hat the president is saying is he is not doing [beneficiary reforms] if the Republicans are unwilling to ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share,” explained a senior administration official. “What they can’t do is send something to us with the things we propose and without the stuff on the revenue side because we will veto that.”

In a speech today, the President will also outline a proposal to ask the top 3% of millionaire Americans to contribute at the same tax rate that middle class Americans pay.

If we are to draw a conclusion from previous showdowns between the White House and the Congressional Republicans, calling this a win for the no-compromising-Republicans would not be far-fetched. However, the Super Committee’s decision is above the influence threshold of Boehner and the Republicans.

Built into the agreement to raise the debt ceiling is specific language that governs how the Super Committee functions. And part of that language states that the President maintains his veto rights and can use those rights if he disagrees with the Committee’s recommendations. But if an agreement is not reached by the members of the Committee, a trigger mechanism automatically goes into effect, cutting funds from programs both Democrats and Republicans adore.

Hmmm, maybe the President did win the debt ceiling debate after all…!

 

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Barack Obama Politics Republican United States

Debunk The Lies – Read The American Jobs Act Here

If you only listen to the conservative radio punditry or the Republicans in Congress, you will think that President Obama’s jobs proposal, also known as the American Jobs Act, is the feather that finally breaks the camel’s back.

So, to bring some clarity, we’re including the entire bill, here. See for yourself, and debunk their lies.

American Jobs Act
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Barack Obama Politics Wall Street

Chris Mathews Ask Why Business Hate President Obama?

Jim Cramer, CNBC host of Mad Money is considered one of the main voices of Wall Street. He is known as an outspoken financial expert who is not afraid to speak his mind. The financial expert went on Hardball with Chris Mathews today, and was asked one main question – why does Wall Street hate President Obama, when they are making record profits?

Cramer attempted to answer for Wall Street, stating that what investors are concerned about is that President Obama is anti-business. Shocked by Cramer’s claims, Chris Mathews points out the facts: that under President Obama, the stock market rose 31%, and Corporations have gained 88% of all income. Chris asked the question again, “Why do they hate this guy?”

Watch Cramer’s answer below.

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Barack Obama James Carville Politics White House

James Carville – It Is Time For The President To Panic

By James Carville.

People often ask me what advice I would give the White House about various things. Today I was mulling over election results from New York and Nevada while thinking about that very question. What should the White House do now? One word came to mind: Panic.

We are far past sending out talking points. Do not attempt to dumb it down. We cannot stand any more explanations. Have you talked to any Democratic senators lately? I have. It’s pretty damn clear they are not happy campers.

This is what I would say to President Barack Obama: The time has come to demand a plan of action that requires a complete change from the direction you are headed.

I don’t know how else to break this down. Simply put:

1. Fire somebody. No — fire a lot of people. This may be news to you but this is not going well. For precedent, see Russian Army 64th division at Stalingrad. There were enough deaths at Stalingrad to make the entire tea party collectively orgasm.

Mr. President, your hinge of fate must turn. Bill Clinton fired many people in 1994 and took a lot of heat for it. Reagan fired most of his campaign staff in 1980. Republicans historically fired their own speaker, Newt Gingrich. Bush fired Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. For God’s sake, why are we still looking at the same political and economic advisers that got us into this mess? It’s not working.

Furthermore, it’s not going to work with the same team, the same strategy and the same excuses. I know economic analysts are smart — some work 17-hour days. It’s time to show them the exit. Wake up — show us you are doing something.

2. Indict people. There are certain people in American finance who haven’t been held responsible for utterly ruining the economic fabric of our country. Demand from the attorney general a clear status of the state of investigation concerning these extraordinary injustices imposed upon the American people. I know Attorney General Eric Holder is a close friend of yours, but if his explanations aren’t good, fire him too. Demand answers to why no one has been indicted.

Mr. President, people are livid. Tell people that you, too, are angry and sickened by the irresponsible actions on Wall Street that caused so much suffering. Do not accept excuses. Demand action now.

3. Make a case like a Democrat. While we are going along with the Republican austerity garbage, who is making the case against it? It’s not the Democrats!

Read the rest of the article here

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Barack Obama Politics

This Fox Host Is A Man Of Honor… Seriously

Bob Beckel, one of the hosts of Fox News’  The Five, is possibly the most honorable person working at the network. In a recent show, Mr. Beckel made a decision not to join in with his co-hosts to slander the Obama administration.

The group decided to talk about a company that received funds from the stimulus, then went out of business a few years later. Without proof, the Fox News group decided that somehow, the Obama administration did something grossly wrong and proceeded to speculate to their audience about it. Mr. Beckel, showing his displeasure in the conversation, said;

“I’d like to be not interrupted here because this is the last time I’m going to say it on this subject. This story on Solyndra is a clear effort to smear Barack Obama by suggesting he gave government guarantees in exchange for campaign contributions. It is a classic Republican scam. It is based on no evidence except for these little emails you’ve got and, as far as I’m concerned, we won’t talk about the $50 billion in no-contract bids that Halliburton during the Iraq War from Bush and Cheney but we will talk about this. It’s the last time I’ll talk about it. I refuse to talk about it anymore. You guys go talk about it but, for the next days we do, I’m out of the conversation. It’s slanderous and libelous and you should be…ah, never mind.”

More power to you Mr. Beckel!

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Barack Obama Politics

President Obama To Republicans – Put Country First

After detailing his plan to get Americans back to work in a joint session last Thursday, President Obama sent his proposal to Congress to officially begin the process.  The bill will cost $447 billion dollars, and will include infrastructure spending and tax cuts to small businesses and middle class workers.

The President held a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House today, where he was surrounded by middle class workers like Teachers, Police Officers and Construction workers – the type of workers the President said the bill will support. He repeated his call to Congress to “pass the bill now,” saying “this is a bill that will put people back to work all across the country.”

Mr. Obama also addressed the Republicans in Congress, and asked for them to put country ahead of party, saying, “The only thing that’s stopping it is politics. We can’t afford these same political games… Let’s get something done. Let’s put this country back to work.”

Republicans on the other hand are already paving the way to put up a fight against the President’s jobs bill. House Speaker John Boehner hinted at various spending bills enacted in the previous Democratic controlled congress, suggesting the additional spending may be an issue for Republicans. He said;

“The record of the economic proposals enacted during the last Congress necessitates careful examination of the president’s latest plan as well as consideration of alternative measures that may more effectively support private-sector job creation,” Boehner said. “It is my hope that we will be able to work together to put in place the best ideas of both parties and help put Americans back to work.”

President Obama has said the $447 billion jobs bill will be paid for through various ways, including;

  • — A limit on itemized deductions and certain exemptions for individuals who earn over $200,000 and families earning over $250,000. That limitation would raise roughly $400 billion over 10 years.
  • — Treat carried interest — that’s the interest earned by investment fund managers — as ordinary income, rather than taxing it at the capital gains rate. That would raise $18 billion.
  • — Policy changes to a number of oil and gas provisions, revoking their special status, which collectively raise $40 billion.
  • — A change to the corporate jet depreciation rule so that corporate jets are depreciated over seven years, like commercial jets, rather than five years. That raises $3 billion.

If the past is any indication, expect Republicans to fight this jobs bill with everything they have. Keeping Americans unemployed is their main priority – just another case of party over country.

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