Tag: President Obama

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China Foreign Policies News Politics

Xi Loves You Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

Yes, that would be the number one hit on Radio Beijing this week as Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the United States on Friday to meet with President Obama. Their agenda will not be full of arms control or contentious issues like North Korea, Iran or who owns which teensy islands in the South China Sea, but rather, personal diplomacy. That’s right; President Xi (or is it her…I can never remember) is traveling thousands of miles to meet the chilliest, most standoffish, least huggable American leader since Richard Nixon in order to establish a personal connection on the superpower stage.

Further, Mrs. Xi (is that redundant? OK, I’ll stop) won’t be accompanying the Mr. to the Republican Dude Ranch, which is a shame because I’m sure there are many Americans who would like to meet her. Mrs. Obama also won’t be in attendance because it’s getting near the end of the school year and the Obama girls surely have some last minute exams to take. So, it will just be the guys at the Sunnylands retreat, where Ronald Reagan and other GOPers used to sun themselves and cavort with wealthy people who loved them.

As with all meetings between key world leaders, both sides will need to measure the success of the summit. It will be difficult to tell if Xi achieves his goal of making friends with Obama, but I give him credit for making the personal, instead of the political, his particular goal. China isn’t ready to take the lead on the world stage. Their economy is large and growing, but subject to volatility brought on by too much state meddling and the ever-present threat of shoddy, or even deadly products. Militarily, they could rival the US in sheer numbers, but their eyes are too big for their stomachs when it comes to how much they can push or bully other countries to do their bidding. At this point, they can’t even dissuade North Korea to make significant changes to their behavior. How are they going to challenge more savvy, well-connected and wealthier countries to take them seriously? Xi is most likely aware of this and is taking a slow growth approach to the United States.

Xi is also a member of the generation that came of political age at the time of the June 4th democracy movement in Tienanmen Square. The military crackdown on democracy protesters was a critical turning point, and presumably today’s Chinese leadership has learned the dangers of allowing too much freedom along with the warning that too much repression brings. Letting people to get rich in return for agreeing to a one-party state is a risky proposition because the truth is this: Not everyone can get rich, but everyone will be subject to the censors, the police and the Internet trackers. Xi must be looking at Turkey, Syria and Egypt and wondering how he can keep the lid on his country. In the end, it’s only a matter of time.

Let’s hope that  President Obama can establish a connection with our main rivals in the world, and engage Mr. Xi in a productive dialogue that the two men can use when relations get difficult, because they ultimately will. Then both of them can say that they found success.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

Categories
Politics

President Obama to Republicans: I Dare You. Block This…

President Obama laid down the gauntlet once again and dared Republicans to go against the American people and the Constitution by not doing their job.

Announcing his selection of judges to fill the three vacancies on the federal appeals court in D.C,  the president reminded Americans that nominating qualified individuals for these positions was his job, and voting on the nominees was Congress’s job. And he reminded the country that republicans have used politics to block almost all of his nominees to date, for no other reason but politics.

“There’s no reason — aside from politics — for Republicans to block these individuals from getting an up or down vote,” the President said during a ceremony unveiling three nominee. “It’s important we don’t play games here.”

Of course, Republicans will not disappoint. They have already signalled that they will in fact, do all the can to block these new nominees. Said Republican Chuck Grassley;

“It’s hard to imagine the rationale for nominating three judges at once for this court given the many vacant emergency seats across the country, unless your goal is to pack the court to advance a certain policy agenda.”

The hope by the Administration is that the American people would see the obvious, that Republicans have no intention of doing the people’s work, but instead would do what they think is best for them politically.

Video:

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Politics weekly address

President’s Weekly Address – Good Economic Signs So Far, But More Needed

Another week, and another weekly address by President Obama asking Congress to do their jobs and work for the American people. The President spoke about some of the positive things that have happened since his policies were put in placed, and he suggests that more can and should be done if Congress cooperated.

 Thanks to the grit and determination of the American people, our businesses have now created nearly 7 million new jobs over the past 38 months.

An auto industry that was flat lining is once again the heartbeat of American manufacturing – with Americans buying more cars than we have in five years.

Within the next few months, we’re projected to begin producing more of our own crude oil at home than we buy from other countries – the first time that’s happened in 16 years.

Deficits that were growing for years are now shrinking at the fastest rate in decades.  The rise of health care costs is slowing, too.

And a housing market that was in tatters is showing new signs of real strength.  Sales are rising.  Foreclosures are declining.  Construction is expanding.  And home prices that are rising at the fastest rate in nearly seven years are helping a lot of families breathe a lot easier.

Now we need to do more.

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Politics

President Obama’s Poll Numbers Rise Despite G.O.P’s Manufactured Controversies

President Obama’s approval ratings have increased since a trio of controversies involving his administration began dominating the news cycle.

Fifty percent of those surveyed in Gallup’s three-day tracking poll released Wednesday say they approve of the job the president is doing, compared to 43 percent who said they disapprove.

The 7-percentage point positive margin is better than where the president stood in the poll over the two weeks before the IRS and Department of Justice scandals broke, and is near Obama’s rating over the waning days of the 2012 campaign when voters convincingly elected him to a second term in office.

Obama’s Gallup numbers are up three percentage points since the pollster’s May 23-25 survey and suggest Obama’s approval ratings held steady, even as the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of Tea Party groups made headlines.

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Military Politics weekly address

President’s Weekly Address: Thanking The Men And Women In The Military

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and President Obama used his weekly address to acknowledge the brave men and women who have dedicated their lives to serving in the Military.

The President:

They are heroes, each and every one.  They gave America the most precious thing they had – “the last full measure of devotion.”  And because they did, we are who we are today – a free and prosperous nation, the greatest in the world.

At a time when only about one percent of the American people bear the burden of our defense, the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform isn’t always readily apparent.  That’s partly because our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and coast guardsmen are so skilled at what they do.  It’s also because those who serve tend to do so quietly.  They don’t seek the limelight.  They don’t serve for our admiration, or even our gratitude.  They risk their lives, and many give their lives, for something larger than themselves or any of us:  the ideals of liberty and justice that make America a beacon of hope for the world.

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Politics

President Obama Defends Use of Drones: “We Are At War”


President Obama on Thursday defended his administration‘s aggressive use of drone strikes in the war on terror, even as he announced steps that could reduce reliance on the program.

In a speech at the National Defense University in Washington, Obama said the U.S. drones program was legal and argued strikes had been effective in fighting extremists who launched the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.

“We are at war with an organization that right now would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first,” Obama said. “So this is a just war – a war waged proportionally, in last resort, and in self-defense.”

But Obama also announced he had approved and declassified a set of guidelines governing the use of drone strikes that would authorize a strike only when there is a “continuing and imminent threat” that other governments cannot address.
And he said the end of the war in Afghanistan and U.S. success in the fight against al Queda was likely to reduce the use of drones.

Categories
Oklahoma Politics

President Obama Will Visit Oklahoma on Sunday

President Barack Obama will travel to tornado-ravaged Moore, Okla., on Sunday.

That’s according to a White House official, who wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss the trip ahead of the official announcement and requested anonymity.

A monstrous tornado barreled through the Oklahoma City suburb Tuesday afternoon, demolishing an elementary school and reducing homes to piles of rubble. State authorities say two infants were among the 24 people who perished in the twister.

The town of Moore is a community of 41,000 people located about 10 miles from Oklahoma City.

Categories
Politics

Poll Shows So-Called “Scandals” Haven’t Hurt Obama’s Ratings

A new poll shows that recent scandals haven’t hurt President Barack Obama’s approval rating.

The poll, from CNN and ORC International, found that 53 percent of Americans approve of the job Obama is doing, while 45 percent disapprove. This number remains virtually unchanged from polls taken before the scandals hit.

The poll was taken on May 17 and 18, and has a 3 percent margin of error.

A CNN poll taken in early April showed Obama’s approval rating to be 51 percent. According to a Gallup poll taken in early May, the president’s approval rating was 50 percent.

The CNN poll also found that 71 percent of Americans believe the actions of the IRS employees who targeted tea party groups were unacceptable. However, 6 in 10 respondents said they trusted the president’s statements on the issue.

Categories
News

President Obama’s 2013 Morehouse College Commencement Speech

It’s official.  President Barack Obama is now a ‘Morehouse man’!

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Politics weekly address

President’s Weekly Address – Building The Middle Class

This week’s Presidential address focused on the Middle class and how to continue building on the progress of the last four years. President Obama stated three areas where that focus on the middle class must continue: jobs, skills and opportunity.

The President:

Categories
News Politics taxes

Acting IRS Chief Resigns, Obama Condemns ‘Inexcusible’ Targeting of Tea Party Groups

President Obama announced on Wednesday that the Internal Revenue Service acting commissioner Steven Miller has submitted his resignation for his agency’s “inexcusable” targeting of conservative groups who had applied for tax-exempt status.

“I reviewed the Treasury Department watchdog’s report and the misconduct that it uncovered is inexcusable,” Obama said in the East Room of the White House. “Americans have a right to be angry about it, and I’m angry about it.”

“I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency but especially at the IRS given the power that it has and the reach it has inside of our lives,” he added.

His comments come after the Treasury Inspector General released a report on Tuesday implicating “poor management” for allowing the practice to singling out groups with names like “tea party” or “patriot” in their names for additional scrutiny.

Obama said that he intends to hold the “responsible parties accountable” and pledged to work with Congress and the Treasury department to investigate the problems at the IRS and ensure that it never happens again.

h/t/ – ABCNEWS

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Benghazi Benghazi Politics

Obama: Benghazi Talking Points a ‘Side Show’

Washington (CNN) – GOP outrage over a changed set of talking points related to September’s attack in Benghazi is a political “side show,” President Barack Obama argued Monday, asserting the tragedy was being used for political gain by his rivals.

The Republicans who claim Obama’s administration was intentionally misleading in the way they characterized the Benghazi attack are ignoring key facts and sullying the memory of the four Americans who died, the president claimed.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of people in the State Department who consistently say, ‘You know what, I’m willing to step up, I’m willing to put myself in harm’s way because I think that this mission is important in terms of serving the United States and advancing our interests around the globe.’ And so we dishonor them when we turn things like this into a political circus,” he said.

Obama was speaking at a press availability alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron, in Washington to discuss next month’s G8 summit in Northern Ireland.

Republicans’ accusations of an administration-led cover up in the immediate aftermath of the Benghazi attack were fueled last week by the release of internal e-mails showing top administration officials scrubbing any mention of al Qaeda from talking points given to members of Congress and Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

The unclassified talking points have become a political flashpoint in a long-running battle between the administration and Republicans, who say that officials knew the attack last September 11 was a planned terror operation while they were telling the public it was an act of violence that grew out of a demonstration over a video produced in the United States that insulted Islam.

That was the story that Rice told five days later when she made the rounds of all five Sunday morning television talk shows.

The attack occurred two months before the November election, in which President Barack Obama’s campaign often pointed out that it had “decimated” al Qaeda.

Obama noted Monday that he referred broadly to “acts of terror” in a Rose Garden statement the day after the attack, and that Republicans pointing to an administration “cover up” were ignoring stated facts by himself and other officials.

“The whole thing defies logic, and the fact that this keeps getting churned out, frankly has a lot to do with political motivations,” Obama said, echoing other Democrats who say the GOP focus on Benghazi is founded in an attempt to discredit former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the leading 2016 Democratic presidential prospect.

h/t – CNN

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