From the White House – Weekly Address
President Obama discusses the housing market and urges Congress to confirm Mel Watt to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency and take action to give every responsible homeowner the chance to refinance and save money on their mortgage.
From the White House – Weekly Address
President Obama describes the incredible opportunities to create middle-class jobs in America by deepening our economic ties and expanding trade in Latin America and discusses recent Senate bill that takes commonsense steps to fix our broken immigration system.
From the White House – Weekly Address
President Obama says that because Republicans in Congress allowed a series of harmful, automatic budget cuts-called the sequester-to take effect, important programs like Head Start are now forced to reduce their services. After travelers were stuck for hours in airports and on planes this past week, members of Congress passed a temporary band-aid measure to stop the cuts that impact airlines – but they must do more to stop cuts to vital services for the American people. That’s why it’s time for a balanced approach to deficit reduction that makes smarter cuts and reforms in the tax code while creating jobs and strengthening the middle class.
From the White House – Weekly Address
President Obama speaks to the American people about the act of terror at the Boston Marathon that wounded dozens and killed three innocent people on Monday, and says that through it all, Boston’s spirit remains undaunted and Americans have proven they refuse to be terrorized.
Do we elect them to fight the good fight, come up short and, in the end do absolutely nothing? No.
We elect them to get stuff done, even if it is only “any sort of line they can sign no matter how minuscule.”
We don’t live in a dictatorship where President Obama can sign executive order after executive order and allocate money and resources and make laws. We live in a federal republic where power is split between the federal and state governments and where within each of those governments power is further split between the various branches. Given that the Republicans currently control the House, that means some Republicans must vote for any piece of legislation before it can even reach President Obama’s desk.
Yes, there are certain things President Obama can get done with executive orders, but not the heavy lifting. He cannot unilaterally raise taxes. He cannot unilaterally reallocate funds from one line in the budget to another. He cannot unilaterally raise or cut spending. Similarly, he cannot change immigration rules; he can only direct the relevant agencies to exercise prosecutorial discretion, an action easily reversed by his successors in the absence of legislation.
From the White House – Weekly Address
President Obama used his weekly address to tell the American people about the Budget he is sending to Congress this week, which makes the tough choices required to grow our economy and shrink our deficits. The President’s Budget calls for a balanced approach to deficit reduction, including reforms that strengthen Medicare for future generations and tax reform that closes wasteful loopholes, so we can afford the investments required to grow grow the economy, create new jobs, and reignite the engine of our economic growth: a rising, thriving middle class.
From the White House – Weekly Address
Three months after the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama says that the Senate has taken important steps forward to help protect our kids by reducing gun violence. The American people made their voices heard, and the Senate made progress to make it harder for criminals and people with serious mental illnesses to get guns, to crack down on anyone trying to funnel guns to criminals, and to reinstate and strengthen a ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons. Each of these ideas deserves a vote. The President urges Congress to pass these commonsense measures while affirming our nation’s tradition of responsible gun ownership.
Everyone has a 9/11 story. I won’t bore you with mine. But I’ll just remind you all of the hundreds of non Americans who died at ground zero including 69 Brits, more than have ever been killed in any other terrorist atrocity, more than the 7/7 London tube bombings in 2005
NYC is a capital of the world. It belongs to the world. And our whole lifestyle, liberalism and internationalism were under attack. It was literally an attack on modern western secular values – and we all have a stake in them.
But while I can’t forget those 3,000 victims, the spiral of reaction and counter reaction has amplified those deaths many times over, all the victims of other Al Qaeda atrocities in Bali, Madrid, Baghdad, Lahore, Tanzania. And of course the civilians caught in the cross fire of counter-insurgency and invasion, hundreds of thousands in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I’m happy this morning, but I don’t feel like partying. I feel like breathing again…
It feels like a ten year nightmare might finally be over…
I proudly voted for President Obama, but I must admit, there are times I question whether or not this was appropriate. A case in point comes this morning, as I was perusing the news wire, and came across this report from New York Magazine:
New presidents are allotted $100,000 to overhaul the White House residence and the Oval Office… But the First Couple isn’t spending that money. They “are not using public funds or accepting donations of goods for redecorating their private quarters,” says Camille Johnston, director of communications for the First Lady. Nor is the couple, who reported $4.2 million in household income in 2007 tax returns, using money from the White House Historical Association, a privately funded foundation that paid for a $74,000 set of china shortly before Laura Bush left town.
Mr. President, this is exactly where people start thinking you’re a hoity-toity, liberal elitist! What’s wrong with our money, Mr. President? By God, if Joe Biden says it’s patriotic to pay taxes, then you’re essentially questioning our patriotism! I mean, what’s wrong with Cowboys and Indians wallpaper in the Lincoln bedroom? And why would you discount public funds, sir- are you planning on putting in Kenyan cultural art pieces? Perhaps a large portrait of Che Guevara? Something you wouldn’t want the general populace to know?
Mr. President, please come to your senses.
Thank you.