President Obama says GOP would 'cripple' America

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

President Barack Obama charged Sunday that the GOP vision of government would "fundamentally cripple America," as he tried out his newly combative message on the liberal West Coast.

Aiming to renew the ardor of Democratic loyalists who have grown increasingly disenchanted with him, the president mixed frontal attacks on Republicans with words of encouragement intended to buck up the faithful as the 2012 campaign revs up.

"From the moment I took office what we've seen is a constant ideological pushback against any kind of sensible reforms that would make our economy work better and give people more opportunity," the president said at an intimate brunch fundraiser at the Medina, Wash., home of former Microsoft executive Jon Shirley, where about 65 guests were paying $35,800 per couple to listen to Obama.

(snip)
Obama also criticized the audience reactions at recent GOP presidential debates, including people booing a gay service member. Said the president, "That's not reflective of who we are."



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-gop-cripple-america-212923783.html

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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/25/politics/2012election/main20111424.shtml
The Republican alternative, Obama said, is "an approach to government that will fundamentally cripple America in meeting the challenges of the 21st century."

[bigworld]

1. So why the hell have you been giving into them since you took office?

[cstanleytech]

5. Sometimes its a matter of picking and choosing your battles. If he had been as vindictive

as they have been and dug in his heels it would have given them potentially more ammo to use also, hopefully though now that they have shot their load early on in his first term he can hit them harder because we have tried their ideas such as cutting taxes and its failed and hopefully he will bludgeon them over the head with that fact.

[COLGATE4]

32. Picking and choosing isn't what he did for the first 2 1/.2 years -

he chose not to fight the Rethugs on anything of substance. He can 'bludgeon them over the head' now all he wants but many people are going to ask "why didn't you do it sooner?". Good question.

[cstanleytech]

37. "why didn't you do it sooner?" for some reason i suspect any answer would fail to

satisfy you if he were to be asked that question say in an interview.

[vets74]

25. A typically ignorant GOPer-derived talking point. FOR THE FACTS :::

The Obama Administration has accomplished hundreds of campaign objectives and simple good works over GOPer opposition.

-- Appoint two pro-choice women to the Supreme Court.
-- Obama has overhauled the food safety system
-- Expanded the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
-- Advanced women’s rights in the work place
-- Passed the Hate Crimes bill.
-- Put finding Osama Binladen at the very top priority for U.S. intelligence agencies
-- Took the risk of a major "Eagle Claw" type disaster (like Carter in Iran) to grab up all of Binladen's paper files and computers and cell phone -- effectively opening up all of al-Q's financiers and local organizers.
-- Fixed the preexisting conditions exclusions in health insurance.
-- Invested in clean energy which will get solar down to $1/watt-plus-installation (and in 2012-2013 win the investment fight with China, which as spent $30-billion in a bet on old-tech crystallized-sheet plants)
-- Ended Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) in our military
-- Stopped defending DOMA in court.
-- Expanded access to medical care and provided subsidies for people who can’t afford it.
-- Overhaul credit card industry, making it much more consumer-friendly.
-- Dodd-Frank bill begins re-regulating the financial sector.
-- Created Elizabeth Warren’s The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
-- Modernized patient intake systems at Veterans Administration.
-- Health care for the injured from the clean-up after the 9/11 attacks.

None of this was backed by the Republicans. Bush put Binladen on a back-burner and congressional Republicans never so much as whined about it.

They obstructed every item.

McCain-Palin would have been the 2008 alternative -- you betcha !

[no limit]

35. Let's just take your first example, "Appoint two pro-choice women to the Supreme Court"

Appointing our judges to the supreme court is one of the most influential things a president does, so lets concentrate on that. Do you not remember this process? He chose 2 women that would get virtually no opposition from the GOP, and they didn't. Yes, a couple republicans kicked up dust but in the end they were both confirmed with ease. Why didn't he decide to pick a fight with atleast one of these appointees by picking someone that was a liberal instead of a moderate? This was another case of Obama playing the middle instead of actually taking a strong progressive stand. Look at the people Bush appointed and got through and compare them to what Obama did. The republicans fight, Obama folds like a fucking lawn chair every time.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

30. Now he's a progressive again until he gets elected again.

The man has no shame.

[cosmicone]

2. I wish he had done this before he caved in on healthcare, bush tax cuts

and the debt ceiling.

[slay]

3. Same here... we don't have a good choice for president

least not anyone to the left of Nixon. ugh.

[Itchinjim]

20. 225

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Now we're talking.

He's on the right track.

[No Elephants]

14. He's always been good at talking.

[Itchinjim]

21. 226

[No Elephants]

31. 47.

[msongs]

6. nice to hear some fight, let's see some action that backs it up nt

[aquart]

7. "Would"?

Uh...looked around lately?

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

22. +1

That's all they know how to do.

[truth2power]

29. Yeah. American is already crippled. n/t

[comtec]

8. tle late to the game... but at least he's here now

maybe he'll start acting like a democratic president who was put into office by liberals too?

I know, insane hoping.

[No Elephants]

17. He's where now? To the point where he's willing to make a speech about something?

Isn't that where he's been for a lot of his political career?

Meanwhile, "everything is on the table" at the right and center right Super Committee.

[DRoseDARs]

9. "...a constant ideological pushback..." implies firmly standing your ground against them.

Who do you think you're kidding, Mr. President? It'd be nice if this were you finally realizing why many on the left have been complaining about you since even before Day One, but I for one am not holding my breath that you've actually had a Come-to-Jesus moment with the Democratic-wing of the Democratic Party. Will your White House finally stop demeaning and belittling so much of your base and the party's constituents and their concerns? Have you finally realized that the Republican Party is too far-gone with it's extremist-right elements to bother trying to do anything "bipartisan" with them? Are you finally going to lead like a strong Democrat instead of sticking with this delusion of "If I'm a nice guy, the Republicans will be nice too."? You don't have to be a jerk or a pompous ass, but Independents really don't like meekness either; the base sure as hell doesn't. You should fire whoever keeps telling you they do.

You and Congressional Democrats have allowed Republican tantrums to do real damage to this country. You and Congressional Democrats need to stop it. The Republicans have no ability to do so and no desire to do so. It's sad that the only way to save their party from the rot within is from outside their party. There's no way they can save themselves, and they're going to continue to drag the rest of us down with them if you, Mr. President, and Congressional Democrats allow it. You've haven't had pushback, you've only been pushed over, and the only way it will stop is If. You. Say. Stop. and hold your ground. Saying you've drawn a line in the sand and stepping backwards whenever the other side steps over it isn't the same as holding that line.

I really hope this is you openly realizing these truths, but again I'm not holding my breath.

[newspeak]

34. why vote for some of the same sorry arses who got us into this mess in the first place?

The repugs under little boots did their best to destroy the country for their global corporate friends, just having a majority in the house of reps. is so damaging, that they could very well just finish us off. Any american who buys into the repug. "let's do as little as we possibly can so we can take back the power", and not even empathizing with what many americans are going through with this economic mess, need to really have their head examined.

Some of these repugs are crazy if they think I'm going to vote for the same damn people who got us into this fix in the first place-having the same damn ideas as little boots (and they are the same ideas-deregulation, more tax cuts, privatizing, cut the social safety net). Little boots big pharma screw the seniors giveaway, actually increased the deficit while giving his pharma friends even more profits on the backs of the sick and elderly. No way in hell will I ever vote for these unconscionable arseholes.

Yes, Obama has had some good bills, but with the nation financially suffering you don't appoint little boot's retreads or those who have aided in the economic catastrophe. And, basically passing romney care and feeding us to the wolves (health ins. corps) without a public option choice does look like heritage foundation, repug policy. The media talking heads and repugs screaming "Obama is a sosssshalist is just kabuki theater. They know he damn well isn't, just by his very appointments, especially financial appointments.

[Rex]

10. No sir, they have been crippling this country for 30 years.

Wake the fuck up, sir.

[No Elephants]

15. If anyone has been asleep for the last 30 years or so, it's been the U.S. voter, not the

politicians.

[Rex]

16. Yes and the voters are to blame for all the crime politicans are getting

away with, we just need an adult in charge one day to do the right thing before we all die from poverty. To bad they don't let adults run for office.

[No Elephants]

18. I don't know if voters are to blame for all the crime.

I don't recall anyone who ran on corruption getting elected.

We vote for someone we think we agree with on most important things, someone we think is electible, someone we think is ethical. And, it turns out that either things were hidden from us; or candidates become corrupt once they're elected. I am not sure I will take all the blame for that.

Let's say a boss hires someone for the accounting department who interviewed well and came with impeccable references. Then the accountant robbed him or her. Why blame the boss?

Yes, we are somewhat to blame, I won't deny that. But no one makes them be corrupt. That's on them.

[zalinda]

11. I would really like to know.

What will he do in his second term that he didn't do in his first term? Really, I mean if he's re-elected, why should he do anything for the common people. We will have no hold on him. We can protest, or write editorials, or whatever, it doesn't matter, he's in and he can do whatever he damn well wants to do.

The only up side to Obama being re-elected is that a crazy repub won't be elected. None of any of his appointments have been particularly liberal, and most have been more repub than dem.

I really don't get it. Is it just a 'yea, our team won' thing? Because even the Nobel Peace Prize people have got to be scratching their heads and wondering wtf is this guy doing.

zalinda

[COLGATE4]

33. You're right. The only "up" side to him being reelected would be

that there isn't a Rethuglican crazy in the White House. But that's about it.

[JohnnyRingo]

12. He's just trying to frighten us.

and it works for me.

I'm truly terrified for a Republican White House. I've seen what a majority has done in only one house of our legislative branch, and I'll do what I can to prevent further losses to these America hating radicals.

"Death to America" should not be a campaign slogan this side of Syria, yet it seems to be the mainstay of the modern Republican/Tea Party merger.

[webDude]

13. ? ...and you would lie your ass off to get into office, then throw your ...

...people that campaigned for you and believed in you, under the bus? Not much of a choice, Barack. Does it feel better with the Wall Street crowd? I gotta' tell you, we're getting sick and tired of voting for the candidate that smells better than the other.

[ixion]

19. I got news for Mr. Obama. They already have.

and he has helped.

[SHRED]

23. "liberal West Coast"

Had to laugh and cry about that one.

As if...


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[JJW]

24. He's met then 90% on everything they've wanted

so isn't he as much and perhaps even more to blame. He was supposed to be their opposition.

[vets74]

26. Wonderful as a SHILL MAGNET posting.

I was just wondering what those Digg Patroits xxxxxxxxxxs were up to today.......

[captain jack]

27. "After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done. " n/t

[Javaman]

28. "woud"? I think they already have.

Honestly, is Obama paying attention?

[Beartracks]

36. Many would say it already has. n/t

[Hoosier Daddy]

38. "GOP would 'cripple' America"

They already have.

[lynne]

39. Note to Obama - You're late. We're already crippled -

- and its hard to get worked up about the threat of something that's already arrived.