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It has become the new Republican attack on President Obama: He thinks Americans are lazy.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney leveled that charge yesterday while campaigning in South Carolina. "Sometimes, I just don't think that President Obama understands America," he said. "I say that because this week -- or was it last week? -- he said that Americans are lazy. I don't think that describes America."
Today, Rick Perry uses the line of attack in a new TV ad. "Can you believe that?" Perry says to the camera. "That's what our president thinks is wrong with America? That Americans are lazy?"
And even in the contest for New Mexico's open Senate seat, Republican candidate Heather Wilson called on the Democrats running for the race to repudiate Obama's remarks.
“President Obama ... said the reason we’re not creating more jobs in this country is because Americans have been ‘lazy’,” she said. “He's wrong about the American people and he's wrong to have criticized America in front of the world."
But when you examine what Obama said on Saturday -- to business leaders at the APEC summit in Hawaii -- it's pretty clear that his critics are taking him out of context. He wasn't calling Americans lazy; rather, he was calling U.S. business practices to attract foreign investors lazy. In fact, you could interpret his full remarks as a call to arms to improve on that front.
MR. McNERNEY: I think one related question, looking at the world from the Chinese side, is what they would characterize as impediments to investment in the United States. And so that discussion I’m sure will be part of whatever dialogue you have. And so how are you thinking about that?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, this is an issue, generally. I think it’s important to remember that the United States is still the largest recipient of foreign investment in the world. And there are a lot of things that make foreign investors see the U.S. as a great opportunity -- our stability, our openness, our innovative free market culture.
But we’ve been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades. We’ve kind of taken for granted -- well, people will want to come here and we aren’t out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America. And so one of things that my administration has done is set up something called SelectUSA that organizes all the government agencies to work with state and local governments where they’re seeking assistance from us, to go out there and make it easier for foreign investors to build a plant in the United States and put outstanding U.S. workers back to work in the United States of America.
And we think that we can do much better than we’re doing right now. Because of our federalist system, sometimes a foreign investor comes in and they’ve got to navigate not only federal rules, but they’ve also got to navigate state and local governments that may have their own sets of interests. Being able to create if not a one-stop shop, then at least no more than a couple of stops for people to be able to come into the United States and make investments, that’s something that we want to encourage.
This GOP attack -- that Obama thinks Americans are lazy -- is the latest Republican suggestion that the president is somehow un-American or espouses anti-American views.
Previously, Republicans have (falsely) accused him of apologizing for America or not believing in American exceptionalism (when, in fact, he said he believes in it).
*** UPDATE *** Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt emails First Read: “Rick Perry and Mitt Romney apparently don’t think the president should encourage CEOs to promote the United States abroad in order to create American jobs and attract investment at home. They have opposed the president’s efforts to create 2 million jobs now and instead of laying out their own plan to do so, they have endorsed a radical budget plan that would wipe out investments necessary to create jobs in programs like education, research and development and clean energy and shift a greater tax burden away from millionaires and billionaires onto the backs of the middle class and seniors.”
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Oh My!
The truth stings sometime...
In a sense, President Obama is correct... we are lazy!
Instead of people getting involved in making this country a better place for all, the majority of Americans are more concerned about Kim Kardashian & Snooki!
Stand up & FIGHT for what is left of the middle class...
Stand up & FIGHT for the senior citizens...
Stand up & FIGHT for the disabled...
Stand up & FIGHT for the disadvantaged...
Complacency is NO longer an option!
How soon these morons forget their total disrespect for OUR President!
Calling Our President a Nazi, Un-American, Socialist, Hitler...etc
Oh My indeed!
The republican puppet masters learned something from Goebels. If you repeat a lie enough times it becomes truth. Consider the source people!
How un-American of Romney.
Kind of funny, when you think about it.
Republicans are the ones peddling the notion that if you are not one of the 1%, you are a bum, a welfare cheat, refuse to work, etc. etc. etc....
Kind of reminds me of the old tactic:
Tactic #4: Go Negative, Then Cry Foul
Funny: Ha, ha - Obama tips his hat to the Birthers and admits he was not born in the USA.
Cause according to him, Hawaii is in Asia.
Funny:Sad, frowny face - CHu, the DOE and the White House asking Solyndra to not lay people off until after 11/3/11.
Cause we all know what was on 11/2/11.
But tell me chilled - when our government dumps 1/2 a billion into a company it knows is going down, is that capitalism?
I think calling Obama a venture socialist is highly accurate. Particularly in light of all the fantastic revelations coming out of Solyndra and now the millions spent on a small pox vaccine to another big Obama supporter.
Cause you know chilled some pigs are created more equal.
A friend of mine sent me this via email...
I thought that it might be something that we could all agree on for a change. It is long but a good read. It makes a statement to the intestinal fortitude of Americans and how we bounce back.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
November 14, 2011 4:00 A.M.
What America Does Best
We’re once again hearing the broken record of declinism.
We are in a fresh round of declinism — understandably, after borrowing nearly $5 trillion in less than three years and having very little to show for it. Pundit strives with op-ed writer to find the latest angle on America ’s descent: We are broke; we are poorly educated; we are uncompetitive; we have gone soft; our political institutions are broken; and on and on. The Obama administration does its part, with sloganeering like “reset,” “lead from behind,” “post-American world,” and America as exceptional only to the degree that all nations feel exceptional.
This is not new. In the late 1930s, the New Germany and its autobahns were supposed to show Depression-plagued America how national will could unite a people to do great things. After all, they had Triumph of the Will Nuremberg rallies; we still had Hoovervilles. They flew sleek Me-109s; we flew lumbering cloth-covered Brewster Buffaloes. We, the victors of a world war, were determined never to repeat it; they, the losers, were eager to try it again.
In the 1950s, Sputnik and the vast spread of Communism through the postcolonial world were supposed proof of the efficiency and social justice of Communism and the rot of capitalism — the inevitable denouement of the 20th century. Sputnik soared, even as our ex-Nazi scientists could not seem to make our rockets work. They had Uncle Ho and Che; we had Diem and the Shah. Their guys wore peasant garb and long hair; ours, sunglasses and gold braid.
By the 1970s and 1980s, Japan Inc. was the next new paradigm of the post-American world. Even American “experts” lectured us on the need to adopt Japanese-like partnerships between corporations and government. They made Accords and Camrys; we made Pintos and Gremlins. We played golf at Pebble Beach ; they owned it.
As Japan faded, the next great hope followed in the 1990s when the EU captivated the American Left. The Europeans’ loud moral declarations, their pacifism, cradle-to-grave entitlements, trains à grande vitesse — all of that was what a backward America should strive for. They crafted the Kyoto Agreement; we drove gas-guzzling Tahoes and Yukons . Their strong Euros bought in New York what our weak dollars could not in Paris .
Where are all those supposedly post-American systems now? Fascism was crushed; Communism imploded; Japan is aging and shrinking; the European Union is cracking apart. But, of course, there is China, which, we are told, is the next new replacement for America — a country with enormous demographic problems, a reputation for crude diplomacy and an outlaw approach to international commercial agreements, censored media and a complete lack of transparency, vast inequality, environmental catastrophes, and no stable political system to transition a rural peasantry into a postindustrial affluent citizenry. No matter — our jet-setting elites still whine that they have shiny new airports; we have grungy LAX and JFK. They have sleek bullet trains; we, creaking Amtrak.
In this era of American debt, rancor, pessimism, and declinism, we should reflect on what the United States still does far better than anyone else — and why that is.
Recently, the British magazine Times Higher Education rated the world’s top 400 universities. Seven of the top ten — Cal Tech, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, MIT, Chicago , Berkeley — are American. Even a nearly insolvent California hosts four of the top 13 — more than any nation except the U.S. itself. While American K–12 education cannot turn out students who achieve top rankings in math, science, and language, our university system still remains by far the best in the world, training a global elite in the American way of engineering, math, science, business, and medicine. In fact, the world’s diplomatic corps is beginning to look like an American college reunion. This week, the Greeks appointed a new prime minister, Lucas Papademos, a former Harvard professor. And the newly appointed Libyan prime minister, Abdurrahim el-Keib, is a former electrical-engineering professor from the University of Alabama .
American petroleum engineers over the last decade have discovered radical new methods of recovering previously unknown or unreachable reserves of oil and gas. Contrary to all conventional wisdom, America ’s natural-gas and petroleum reserves just keep growing. Suddenly, we have enough known natural gas to supply 100 percent of our domestic needs for the next 90 years — a huge window of opportunity in which to transition to competitive renewable energy. That is on top of trillions of dollars’ worth of new oil finds offshore and in Alaska, the Dakotas, and the West, which will create millions of new jobs and help pay down the deficit — if we have the will to extract such energy resources. The real story is not the pathetic machinations surrounding Solyndra, a statist, corrupt model that will never produce competitive power, but a quiet revolution in North Dakota , which is emerging as the new Texas . Within 15 years, North America could reinvent itself as completely independent from Middle Eastern gas and oil. Indeed, from Calgary to Argentina and Brazil , new petroleum and natural-gas finds may soon make the Western Hemisphere the world’s new Persian Gulf . That fact will change the entire global geostrategic and financial landscape in ways that are scarcely imaginable.
We are worried that China may soon deploy one aircraft carrier. Yet the United States now has eleven enormous carrier groups, each one more powerful than all the other aircraft carriers in the world combined. In areas as diverse as drone and space technology, counterinsurgency, battlefield experience, air power, armor, and ship design, the American military is the best-armed, best-trained, and most lethal armed force around — and will be so for decades hence. The American soldier remains the most innovative, disciplined, and adaptive in the world — and surely after Iraq and Afghanistan the most veteran.
We forget sometimes that there are a host of small, vulnerable nations that apparently still assume that the United States, alone, can and will come to their aid. Without America , it is hard to see how Israel can survive, or that Kurdistan would ever have become autonomous, or that bankrupt and vulnerable Greece will have independence of action in a tough neighborhood, or that Taiwan will continue as we have known it. No one is talking about the defense of Europe as it implodes — apparently on the supposition that NATO is de facto American and will continue to protect the continent from outside threats and discourage historical tensions from within. The truth is that in the decades ahead, weak and vulnerable states will look to the U.S. military as never before.
A billion adolescents worldwide are growing up with Apple iPhones, iPods, and iPads; with Facebook accounts, Amazon online ordering, Google searches, and Walmart discount purchasing. These are not Russian, French, Chinese, or Japanese companies, but American inventions that uniquely appeal to the human desire for economy, ease of use, wide choice, informality, and transparency. No other country could have invented them — or the next generation to come. The idea of a Chinese-invented Google is a paradox, a Russian Facebook a joke, a Japanese-inspired Walmart impossible.
Race, tribe, and religion tear many countries apart, notably in the Middle East and the Balkans. Yet at the other extreme, racially uniform nations like Japan and China seem clumsy when dealing with even tiny minorities, since they define their citizens not just by national allegiance, language, and locale, but by the way they look. America alone –albeit often in rancorous and messy fashion — has no particular national ethnic or racial profile. Even in postmodern Europe, the idea of a Barack Obama as president of France , or a Condoleezza Rice as foreign minister of Germany , is the stuff of fantasy. We will see no prime minister of China or Russia who does not look like the majority of Chinese and Russians — much less a Colin Powell. Most of the world will continue to have some sort of practical or romantic claim on America because of the fact that anyone can be not just an American, but a very successful American.
In one of the most amazing transformations in the history of civilization, a tiny East Coast community of predominantly white European Christian settlers developed a system whose natural logic of reform, self-critique, and reinvention over two centuries became the present melting pot of whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, agnostics, and atheists. As the world is becoming more interconnected through globalization and high tech, it is following the model of a meritocratic America , which remains light years ahead of most nations in defining its citizens by their values and allegiance, not how they worship or the color of their skin.
To walk down University Avenue in Palo Alto is to see the world’s engineering talent united by a shared desire for career advancement and upward mobility, and the spirit of inquiry — on the assumption that the American “system” will reward talent and forget about most else. A European might inquire about these immigrants’ accent or background, a Chinese about their racial ancestry, an Indian about their class, a Middle Easterner about their religion. An American will inquire to what degree they can solve a problem, do business, and make a profit.
Statism the world over is crumbling. The Communist Soviet Empire is a distant memory. The redistributionist European Union is neither democratic nor economically sustainable. It will disappear soon, wrecked by the idea that utopians could unite vastly different nations from on high without constitutional democracy. China succeeds to the degree that its Communist rulers abandons their Maoist legacy. Massive redistributive bureaucracies have impoverished much of Africa and the Middle East . America alone values individual freedom and limited government under the rule of law.
The Obama experiment of the last three years did not bring prosperity, and is likely soon to prompt a sharp reaction and a return to the American devotion to individualism and choice that made us the wealthiest nation in history. The American model is the antithesis of the socialism, Communism, theocracy, and statism that have impoverished so much of the world — and the 21st century has brought that fact home in a way few imagined.
Why does the United States continue to reinvent itself, generation after generation, to adapt to a radically changing world? Our ancestral Constitution checks the abuse of power and guarantees the freedom of the individual — all in transparent fashion. And our habits and customs that have evolved over two centuries are grounded in the human desire to be judged by what we do rather than what we look like, or under what circumstances we were born — a fact that explains our vibrant and sometime crass popular culture. The essence of our culture is constant self-critique and reexamination — a messy self-audit that so often fools both ourselves and our critics into thinking that our loud paranoia about decline, rather than our far quieter effort to arrest it, is the real story of America
In short, the 21st century will remain American.
— NRO contributor Victor Davis Hanson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the author most recently of the just-released The End of Sparta, a novel about ancient freedom.
How many of these morons have come out and speak against income inequality that has made so many headlines this year and propose a meaningful way out of this mess. US is now a land of the rich and the poor which of course GOP helped perpetuated and never bothers selective amnesia fools.
SOB, the real story is that the rich are taking it all. We are at the point where the line between the haves and have nots is worse than at the time of the robber barrons. Conservatives are ready to lie cheat and steal to take this election. How dare they call themselves the party of family values when their policies will land a record number of families into a state of poverty.
He's not talking about the American people themselves. Sounds like he's talking about the United States Chamber of Commerce to me. A collection of lazy Republican louts sitting on their inherited cash, and conjuring up roadblocks to Obama's progress.
The Chamber and its membership needs to get out there and promote America, and let them know the welcome mat is laid down for capital investment. They also need to re-erect tariffs, FAIR trade,...etc...
Think about it. It is not the job of some farmer from Ames, Iowa, or an assembly line worker in Detroit to go to China, India or Russia and woo the construction of plants / investment here. Get real. As usual the repubs twist, distort, and deliberately blur everything the President says.
Spankster:
"Cause you know chilled some pigs are created more equal".
He lives! It's Alive....
Sorta like those "no bid" contract blow em up.. maintenance contract thingys during the last administration right spankster...Still on Solyndra..Give it a rest mr. deflect king! There is no quid pro quo here so get off it.
I see Spanky's whistle still works.
Toepedo, Didn't Haxelrod send you the new talking point on no bid contracts? It is now called "sole-source" Please try to keep up.
I'm with WCA.
HEY Spank- promise you won't blow it around town?
(y' got a whistle up ya butt, 'counselor')
What's up Torpedo.
Talking about Solyndra is "deflection?"
Well, I suppose around here, and on MSNBC, sure.
But golly most everywhere else this thing has blow up even worse.
So how about it Torpedo - why in the world wold the DOE ask to have layoffs postponed until 11/3/10?
Oh and Torpedo, in case you do only get your info here [heaven forbid] Ron Perlman's company, the one that got $00 million for small pox, got it on a NO BID contract.
Torpedo that's not good, but why are we buying $400 million worth of vaccine for a disease that no longer exists?
Drive By - that is one interesting fascination you have with whistles and butt.
You are a odd little bird my man.
Fly that freak flag high and proud Drive By.
I forgot to add what's his name to my first post.
"Fly that freak flag high and proud Drive By."
Are you 'counselling' me to?
I'll do it!
Oops. ; )
Ahh, now that explains conservative comments in Thoughts this morning. Wondered where the "President Obama thinks Americans are lazy" lines came from since I have never heard him say anything like that--it was taken out of context which should be no surprise to anyone. It's what the GOP does best because they certainly cannot govern very well.
Sickof... For the most part that was a good article; thanks for posting it. I did see a bit of right-wing bias slipped in, though, regarding President Obama and the 3 years not bringing prosperity yet; the mention of communism and socialism in the same paragraph. It took FDR more than 3 years to bring the economy back from the Depression, it will take more than 3 to get us out of the Great Recession as well.
I'm not sure if it is a new low, but First Read is now simply printing e mails from anObama campaign spokesmanan.
No edits or comments. No journalistic input. So is this Journalism with a capital J or a little j now?
I wonder - Murray did you ask for a response e mail from the Romney campaign? Did you reach out to the Perry campaign? Or is it just within your normal channels of communication to get the Obama campaign's e mails?
That really calls into question the whole impartiality thing, eh Mark?
huh. Well Murray, I suppose we'll just sit back and wait for a GOP campaign e-mail to be handled in a similar fashion.
I have only heard the President say how proud he is of Americans and how hard they work.
If you listen to the hundreds of speeches and presentations he makes, conversations, round-tables, summits and meetings day in and day out, you'd hear how much he admires American workers.
"The best in the world!" He says it over and over again.
The quote out of context - used here by the Know-Nothing-Just-Kill-Everything-That-Is-Good-For-Americans-Presidential-Candidates: is about how commerce dropped off over the last decade, jobs went overseas and the wealthy sat and counted their tax break dollars.
President Obama was not talking about the 99%. And the GOP candidates know it. Just add it to their giant list of Whoppers.
["Sometimes, I just don't think that President Obama understands America," he said. "I say that because this week -- or was it last week? -- he said that Americans are lazy."]
Uhm, no Mitt...President Obama said no such thing.
But of course, Mittens isn't smart enough to actually LISTEN to the whole quote by President Obama, and much like Spanky here, will take a snippet that conveniently fits his agenda to create a "talking point", and toss the rest aside as if has no bearing on the fact that either Mitt knows this, and is blatantly lying about it, or is too ignorant to connect the dots, and therefore isn't fit to "has presidency".
Spanky --
You must not have seen the numerous UPDATES to other posts on this blog. We include updated comments from all the campaigns, including Romney, Perry, etc. They all read this blog, and shoot us on-the-record responses. And we print what we get from them.
This is not the first time we've done this.
Mark, Spanky has moved on to "bigger and better" things...he's out looking for a Solyndra or Fast and Furious link to Mitt Romney and the "lazy" thingie...
Talk about a bunch of masochists! lol
Come to think of it, you would have to be if you're working for any of the current cast of clunkers the GOP is offering up!
Hope they are paid well, for selling their souls to the dark side!
Mark -- Love the updates that include on-the-record responses. Keeps it interesting.
Whenever someone talks off topic there is suspicion of deflection. We saw a lot of that from the right during the Bush Administration whenever we criticized Bush for what was obvious. We heard things like "well, Clinton did it" or something of the sort. Cowardly when you dish it out but can't take it.
What, taking something out of context.
Hmmmmm.... Not our republican friends.
They always tell the truth, or at least always tell us what their version of what the truth is.
We need a truth in campaigning pledge. Don't republicans like taking pledges?
So when he said "We've been a little bit lazy" - he refers to whom?
Obama is hardly pro business, and support plenty of anti-business policies.
But hey, he sure has been silent on the fat bonuses Frannie and Freddie passed out.
Now why is that gang? He was all up in the private sector's business when it came to bonuses - saying crap like "sometimes you have made enough."
But when it comes to a federally funded agency he apparently is A-OK with those guys taking as much as they can.
Nice double standard.
He certainly wasn't referring to lawyers now was he. We know how hard you work Spankster pushing that paper now don't we?
Ah, shucks Torpedo, know that we all know you are married to and love a lawyer with all of your heart, i suppose any and all lawyer cracks from you must be deemed high praise.
So thanks Torpedo. And give Ms. Torpedo, ESQ. a kiss for me tonight.
So how about it Torpedo - why is Obama good with the insane bonuses the taxpayers paid Freddie and Fannie, but not ok with privately funded bonuses?
Yeah,....and they passed them out to Gingrich. Thanks for the reminder Spanks.
BTW Spanks. Read Motor Trend lately? Two hundred grand,....for this?
http://www.motortrend.com/used_cars/01/bmw/recalls/
Gosh GOPEX - I am just so happy and proud of you now that you understand who and what comprises the 'American auto industry.'
But now it appears you do not understand what a bonus is. So are you now saying Gingrich received his compensation in the form of a bonus?
You've proven you know how to evade and deflect. Now how bout you courageously square your shoulders and address the recalls on your beloved Bimmers? American cars? I don't pay $200,000 for a recalled Chevy, but a Bimmer lemon goes for that.
Seems like you've overpaid for your foreign P.O.S.
Remind me to avoid your investment advice.
Tax breaks, "free" trade agreements. If you are a business, what's not to?
@GOPisextinct LOL based on this comment on another thread I thought libs supported all car manufacturers. I wish you guys would get your stories straight, I can't keep up.
'Ideologically, democrats stand behind the option of buy any damn car you want. "
Sorry GOPEx - I already wasted time with you the last time.
You are [and hopefully no longer] ignorant of the topic we were discussing.
Plus I do not, nor have I ever owned a BMW.
[Sorry GOPEx - I already wasted time with you the last time.]
Translation from SpankySpeak:
RUN AWAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W_u4UTvk9w
Hey Spanky.
Ever work on the line? Ever design vehicles on a CAD terminal? Ever been in an auto plant? Can you name one Great Lake?
Do you even know what the acronym "C.A.D." stands for (without Google)?
Ever run for Union office with 315 automotive employees in your Unit?
Do you know what "commonization" means? How bout BSR? Here's and easy one,...B.I.C.? No? Spanks? Oh Spanky?
Do you know how the IIHS arrives at vehicle crash test ratings? Can you discuss the merits and advantages of "spring over" as opposed to "spring under"? Do you know what a diff. offset is?
So tell me all about the automotive industry Spanks. Tell me alllllllll about it.
Have you ever lived in Southeastern Lower Michigan? Could you place Michigan on a map? Have you ever worked in the automotive industry in any capacity whatsoever?
Should I drag you out from under the porch now?
Here are some answers GOP you arrogant Lib...
Yes
Yes
Yes
Michigan
Computer Aided Drafting (But if you are still using that you are about 20 years behind. How about telling me wht CATIA and UG stand for or who the companies are that own the systems?)
No
Commonization is the pratice of using the same part across several car lines.
Buzz Squeak and Rattle
Best In Class
Yes (Do you even know what IIHS stands for and what the driving factor in their rating is? Hint: It's not safety)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Now, I know you asked Spanky these questions, but see GOP all Auto Industry workers aren't Liberal Democrats. In fact more and more of the Union folks I work with have had it with Obama and won't be voting "Lock Step" with the Union Directive.
So get off your soapbox.
barry is right the moonbat liberals that support him are lazy and he knows it. Liberals are not counted on the unemployment rolls they are supposed to be unemployed. Eat drink and be merry liberals if it causes poor health barry gave you free healthcare
Since they don't have anything real on the president the GOP/TP has to make it up. Pay attention America! The righties are taking it out of context again, which in my book is just plain lying. The right wing has sold out to corporations and millionaires, and now they want to destroy the middle class and take whatever you have left. They don't care about their country, only their millions.
Nope nothing real.
Cause 9.0% unemployment, a credit downgrade and inflation are just silly little diversions.
Negative approvals are not the result of a bad batch of fairy dust, but rather the consistent creation of bad policies.
Hey, you all have heard about the latest total failure of Obamacare? They cannot subsidize cost through federal exchanges, and only 17 states created exchanges.
Brilliant. Pelosi was so right.
Spanky- How much do you get paid by Fox News to reply to every single post that does not fit the "right-wing" mold?
Do you get a special e-mail with Hannity's, O'Reilly's, and Glenn Beck's talking points for the day? So you can here and bather your worn out drum of quasi-rebuttals; which really are no more than smoke and mirrors.
I find it highly unlikely that someone would "expend" (read- waste) their day going through every single article and every single commit and writing about what you were told to think on the Rush Limbaugh Show.
I guess I should congratulate you, there are many Americans unemployed right now.
But if you are going to at least fake being an "independent-free minded commentator", at least have the decency to fake it a little better.... I find it rather insulting to everyone's intellect. Earn those bucks... Perhaps create different accounts... I guess you haven't figured it yet because you are just sitting there on your desk, waiting to be told what to do.
Duncan,
[... Perhaps create different accounts...]
You may want to take a closer look at some of the posts here. I think the "counselor" already has it covered...
Duncan why don't you ask that same question of Feisty?She posts 24/7.
What else is new? The republicans repeat something taken out of context, which makes it an outright lie and then it becomes a 'fact' that the right wing will never let go of.
Think again if you believe the GOP and Romney are Obama's only problems......
Obama's biggest worshipper Chris Matthews ( "thrill up my leg") is worried too.
"Chris Matthews must be seriously concerned about Barack Obama's reelection chances.On the syndicated program bearing his name this weekend, the man who used to get a thrill up his leg whenever a certain junior senator from Illinois spoke said that George W. Bush did a better job of using television to convey his message than the current White House resident has."
Uh oh. "The thrill is gone." LOL
Read more: #ixzz1du4xYQLZ
Will you look at that?
The chicken escaped the hen house and is now busily laying her 'cackle-berries' everywhere...
AAAHHHHH!!!
The Sky is Falling the Sky is Falling!
hey Feisty,
Take it up with Chris Matthews, not me. He's the one who had a "thrill up my leg" syndrome.
LOL
From the sound of you honey... it's been YEARS since you've had a thrill up your leg! ;o)
Feisty... Leona is actually trying to converse with you...
Why must you throw mud and wage personal attacks ALL THE TIME?
Leona, it's not the first time Matthews and many other liberal pundits have given the right their due that the know how to use the media to get their views across. Doesn't change the fact that the current republican field is pathetic.
SOB,
You may find it satisfying to try to converse with someone who eats paste...
I, on the other-hand find it a massive waste of time!
LOL - You commenting on personal attacks is the epitome of pot meet kettle!
Try paying attention, will ya JR?
Feisty,
You see!
Sueb1 was able to state her counter-point to Leona's comments without throwing mud or personally attacking Leona.
Well done, Sueb1! I may not agree with you but I respect your ability to hold a civil conversation.
BTW Feisty... if it is so unsatisfying and a complete waste of time... why not ignore Leona all together (or me for that matter). No. I don't think that you believe it to be a waste of time at all. I think it provides you the only pleasure you have in life... sad.
Ha Ha Ha Ha ...
SOTB: MoooooMMMM! I'm TELLING!!
(show me the....what was it again??)
"Why must you throw mud all the time...?"
Hey, y' big zero- who said it was MUD?
Again... thanks for the outstanding contributions there DBO.
;-)
(BTW... I am really sorry that my little tag line irritates you so much. NOT!)
(show me the clown nose, fisty!)
The problem with you, SOB, is that you don't have a funny bone in your body. Fiesty's comment was hilarious.
And she was also right about this.
I responded to your misreadings of Jody's comments on another post, but you never got back to me. Don't like to be challenged, do you?
Oh, well, let's talk Chris Matthews whose opinions from day to day run hot and cold depending on how he is trying to antagonize the guests on his program. Chris Matthews right now is singing the praises of John F. Kennedy to sell his new book. He does it however he can and has used criticism (comparison) of President Obama shamelessly in the process. No president should be compared to another for numerous reasons. Matthews runs his mouth. I have heard him say on the same program completely contradictory statements about President Obama; one comment is high praise, the next is negative.
Jack in Portsmouth, thanks for the help this morning.
Jody,
De nada. It's difficult enough having a reasonable disagreement without someone purposely misinterpreting everything you say.
Republicans are disgusting. Whether it's swiftboating John Kerry or making up lies about "death panels" in the Healthcare bill, they rely on misinformation, slander and spin to win elections. Sadly, some voters are so uninformed they are swayed by such tactics.
Misinformation in a campaign?
You mean like Obama in 2008 campaign lying about how his mother on her deathbed didnt have health insurance?
Bob,
You are right about misinformation and the Democrats.
How about the Democrats being the Party of NO information? Pelosi said things like "we have to pass the bill to know what's in it."
Hey Nancy !!! You and Obama work for us, not the other way around!!
NEXT !!
Bob
Well Amy, How about these lies and misinformation from Obama.
"Selma got me born" when he was born 4 years later.
"I was a Professor of Law" when he was a senior lecturer.
"I was a Constitutional Lawyer" when he was a senior lecturer.
"No one from my campaign contacted Canada about NAFTA"' when the Canadian Government issued the name and a memo of the conversation.
"I won't have lobbyist in my administration" when he broke the pledge a month into his administration.
And my Favorites " Doctors choose Amputations because Surgeons get paid more than Physicians" ," A Surgeon's decision to remove a child's tonsils is based on a desire to make a lot of money" and "A surgeon gets paid $50,000 for a leg amputation" when their is no evidence to any of them being true.
Amy, that is a LIE of omission- and you know it.
Cigna was the disability insurer for her company- NOT the health insurer.
She was fighting to get part of her salary- despite not having worked at the company long enough to qualify- on the grounds of her cancer.
Furthermore, if you had bothered to copy more of the paragraphs, you would find that his mother sent a letter to Cogna saying that they would be hearing from her "son and attorney, Barack H. Obama"- there is no evidence such a letter was ever sent.
Even furthermore, if you read on, you find that, not only was his claim about her health insurer a lie, but his statements about hearing her fight with insurers was a lie- he never made it to her bedside.
The author characterizes as a "regret" he has- he never bothered showing up because he "did not realize" how sick she was.
He's a real prince, okay.
Amy, well said and nice rebuttal.
Rocco, don't look now, your petty jealousy is showing; not to mention your dislike of our President. As to your last paragraph, a lot is out of context but considering the FR thread regarding the GOP taking things out of context and weaving them into fact--no surprise.
So, Amy lies, and you swear to it?
Obama LIED about his own dying mother- the mother he did not bother to see in her last months.
The overaged teenybopper selectively cuts and pastes- and you give her a high five?
These people are not your friends, Amy. Eating worms does not make you "cool".
By the way, here's the quote, from The New York Times.
He's a real prince, okay. And those of you supporting him?
Well, selective morality is no morality at all.
1) "Swiftboating, " meaning to wage an aggressive slander campaign, enterd the lexicon after Republicans employed such a strategy against veteran John Kerry in 2004.
2) "Death panels" refers to something that never existed, but which was promulgated by Sarah Palin to scare people off supporting healthcare reform.
The President's mother was denied disability benefits due to a pre-existing condition, after several rounds of paperwork, as she was dying from cancer. Thousands of Americans have been denied benfits under similar conditions. Just because hers was for disability, and not medical care doesn't change the fact the President can relate to people who have fought insurance companies and lost.
So, you try to walk it back.
There was not a word, hint, or iota of conversation about DISABILITY insurance in anything Obama said. In fact, he specifically said MEDICAL insurer on many occasions.
It was a lie.
As was his tale of "hearing" his mother fighting with her medical insurer- both because she was NOT, but also, more despicably- because HE was NOT there.
And your lie of omission, in trying to make it seem that what Obama had said was true?
Typical of you.
Uh Oh!
Someone is mainlining the venom this evening!
You really are a piece of work NJNB!
And it isn't in a productive kind of way sweetie! ;o)
do you even have a job?
When will Obama EVER take responsiblity for anything.
It is truly amazing three years in and the blame continues...
Bush's Fault
Tea Party's Fault
Weather's Fault
Europe's Fault
Congress's Fault
1% Fault
and now Lazy Americans.
How absolutely pathetic not just as a president but as a citizen.
It's no wonder you have these clueless dregs out in the former tent cities with their hand out saying where's mine. And the left wing thinks it's progress.
WHOLLY SMOKES!
Did you not read the article? Give it a shot next time.
Good God! man did you even bother to read the article! He did not cal Americans lazy! My comment below is totally validated by yours!
Did you read the post nit-wit, it's actually saying the lazy comment is a fabricated version of what was said.
Looks like we're all on the same page on this guy.
It is truly amazing three years in and the blame continues...
"Bush's Fault" Show us where it is NOT.
"Congress's Fault" Show us where it is NOT. Hint: Repeat after me: "Fillibuster Fillibuster Fillibuster Fillibuster"
"and now Lazy Americans."
Go back. Re read. He did not say AMERICANS are, but that business practices are.
Nice tires. But- as usual, fall short.
The weather?? Been listening to Hannity again, aincha?
Tom,
It's not worth responding to him. He doesn't care about what's true and what's not. He makes it up as he goes along.
Geez, Rob, the article said the "lazy Americans" nonsense is GOP fabricated, taken completely out of context? And you claim President Obama is blaming Bush, TPer's etc. Try this next time: R-E-A-D the article before jumping off the bridge into the alligator swamp.
[WHOLLY SMOKES!]
Raab...it's HOLY smokes...even in Massachewthis...get with the program already!
The problem is the vast majority of Americans will take the comments at face value and not ever see or hear what the President actually said, in that case they are lazy!!
The other thing, Diane, is that this is a semi-subtle continuation of the Republican attack on the President as "other", "different"----feeding into the birther fantasies as "not one of us". I'm waiting for someone to call out Gingrich on the whole post-colonial thing.
Diane, so true. I'll add that it is GOP presidential candidates who are "lazy Americans" because rather than actually discuss the issues and how they would solve problems, they throw red meat lies.
The GOP has always taken President Obama out of context. My personal all-time favorite is this "quote" that they claim is from The Audacity of Hope.
"I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."
Pinheads.
Is this MSNBC or the DNC ?Is it necessary to defend Obama so.... vigorously?
If Obama is re-elected, these MSNBC journalists might take Jay Carney as their hero, and head right over to the White House for their reward... a useless public sector job ...
The point about what Obama meant by "lazy" has some validity..however, to further claim that Republicans have claimed Obama is "un American " is a stretch, and goes into the realm of partisan sniping.
Something that Rachel Maddow might spin...but you journalists shouldnt do it.
But, first, he has to pass this test-
Quick, Mark- spin the "we've lost our ambition" line- you know, in the past things like the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Hoover Dam, were built, when I suppose, we had ambition.
Of course you know that things like that could NEVER be built today- the environmentalists would have a conniption if such were even proposed.
So, spin it so Obama looks good blaming the majority, rather than the minority of "green"idiots for preventing such construction.
No Jo and Bob numerals- two pees in a pod.
(and yes- I know the correct spelling of the vegetable)
WOW! Yet another fantastic insight from DBO.
Thanks Buddy!
Any time, door-knob. Any time.
How bout' if I give it a try No Jo? I think he's right.
I think American business has placed its emphasis on short-term profits, and making money by moving money around.
I think it is far easier to lay off thousands of non-Unionized Americans and offshore the work than think up, design and make innovative, aspirational products. Neither one of us can work for $.18 cents per hour, but there are a billion Chinamen or Mexicans who will. Ask Mitt. Ask Carly Fiorina.
America has gotten lazy, and the party of "cash my dividend checks" has taken them there in a short 30 years.
What else is new? The republicans repeat something taken out of context, which makes it an outright lie and then it becomes a 'fact' that the right wing will never let go of.
Sueb,
The outright lie continues to be that we are where we are because of the intransigent republican party that just says no to everything obama suggests.
The fact is we are in this mess because the democrats REFUSE to reign in spending and tackle needed entitlement reform. It is that SIMPLY.
Our government is spending too much not taxing the rich too little PERIOD!
" put outstanding U.S. workers back to work in the United States of America."
The "lazy" part of the statement has been taken sooooo out of context it is almost laughable; and would be except there are many lazy people on the right who now believe that is what was actually said by our President who was "talking up" the American worker.
Romney and Perry are despicable human beings for putting that negative spin on the President's positive portrayal of the American worker.
Rob, I respectfully disagree. Our government is spending too much and giving too many tax breaks to the ultra-rich and to corporations. Politics and governing are never 'that simple'.
Rob, either you are rich or a sucker for the right wing.
wayne,
you are either on the public dole or a sucker on the teat of government.
Yeh boob, that's what Jesus would say, isn't it! You are one of those who loves your country and hates most of the people in it.
Wrong on both count Wayne....
I'm a p&#ssed off tax payer living in Brockton, MA that drives by the unemployment office and multiple section 8 apartment buildings with parking lots filled with lexus', hummers, and bmw's.
When I stand in line at a package store I see people use their EBT card to buy booze and scratch tickets (mass finally after years of abuse has now limited their use).
SSI don't even get me started on how many abled bodied individuals are getting disability benefits. It is astounding.
Baby Boomers are heading very soon to the age requiring extensive medical care and that is going to be a disaster unless someone with sense and guts starts to dramatically revamp medicare and medicaid.
So you think people on unemployment are buying BMW's and hummers? You are a sad, bitter little man.
Rob, like I say to my brothers, come on down to Virginia. We have the best Governor in the country, and a good economy.
Mass. is a lost cause, liberals like our buddy Wayne are destroying it.
Seems odd you boys seem to be on the verge of nominating the former governor from Mass. Now you two roberts go on and keep working on ruining as many people's lives as possible. You promote poverty, homelessness and malnutrition. Now there is a triple entente!
Wayne was one of those guys that said Newt's welfare reform would lead to children starving in the streets.
Isn't that right Wayne?
As it were the welfare rolls were cut in half as millions of americans returned to working for a living.
"When I stand in line at a package store..."
I think I may see why you post some of the stuff you post. Say- sounds like you need to move on up to a nicer neighborhood, there, Rob.
Well Rob, when republicans push the idea of dismantling the food stamp program in the name of austerity, what would one be left to believe? When so many of those people you see at the unemployment agency are losing their benefits with no safety net under them, what is one left to believe. You obviously ignore human suffering unless it is your own. You must be the life of the party, the evil one.
While I think the repubs are mischaracterizing Obama's statement, that blinds the real issue. America is not attracting business to the U.S. This has become a major problem stifling economic growth.
So why isn't Obama doing anything to change it? He is the president. Where is the leadership?
Obama was supposed to bring change. He was supposed to change Washington.
Why in a terrible economy isn't Obama the one hungry enough to remove the impediments? Why isn't he leading the charge to make business more attractive in America? I think the real admission here is that as long as Obama has someone else to blame for it, it's not his responsibility. Therefore he can be lazy as well.
We got the change, all right.
The aftermath of a train wreck is, after all, a change.
If one learns anything about Obama, it is to be careful what one infers from his statements.
Democrats learned that in 2010- when he assured those democrats worried about the aftermath of ramming HCR down the throats of an unwilling public that "the difference between 1994 and now is, this time, you've got me".
There was a difference, okay. The democratic losses were far worse than the losses in 1994.
Somehow, I don't think that was the message Obama wanted to imply.
It was, however, the reality.
sophistry. President Obama cannot change Washington DC if Washington DC choses not to change. As for encouraging investment in the USA and trade with foreign countries, he has tried but he cannot do that alone either.
Jody,
which is why other politicians don't run on such empty rhetoric as hope and change. To truly end Washington-style gridlock you either have to come to the center and compromise or lead by inspiring others to see things the way you do.
That's where Obama has failed. Obama's posture has been get the repubs (and several democrats) to come to the left or blame them for gridlock.
I believe Obama's too fixated on his green policy and general digust towards corporate profits to do what it takes to attract investment in the U.S.
He can point fingers all day but in the end, he's the president, if he can't get others to buy into his rationale, he's an ineffective leader. (I said the same of GW Bush.) Something I think Bill Clinton was very adept at.
400 fake filibusters by Senate Republicans is a pretty strong indicator of who is the responsible party for the gridlock on Capitol Hill. Obama has given the Con-men all the rope they will need to hang themselves in the next election. After he helps the Israelis take out the Iranian Nuclear program, in October of 2012, he will win in a landslide and his coat-tails will be very long.
Paul,
This election will be about the economy. Period. People who are really hurting financially are going to vote their wallet. Whomever wins will be the one who best articulates what they're going to do to stimulate the economy. My guess is that Obama's blame game won't fly this time around.
Neither will a message of hope and change or a green-centric stimulus bill. He can blame congress for the gridlock all day but all ithat really communicates is his failure to lead.
He'll have to either come up with new ideas that might actually get passed or completely attack the republican candidate.
From what I hear, he's going to do the latter. No new ideas, nothing to run just dirty, negative campaigning.
That may very well work. But that my friend is neither hope nor change. Nor is it leadership. It's desperate and cowardice.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who bought into his hope and change ideals and is sorely disappointed.
That's okay, in a huge speech last week Herman Cain said he"...had innapropriate relations with women..." and Mitt Romney said "...Iran would not have a nuclear weapon...". Michelle Bachman said about a hundred stupid things and Rick Perry said that the BP oil spill was an "Act of God and could not be prevented". I find it lazy that none of them can find the time to look at the quote in context.
So, Americans "lazy", I think in many ways we are. Obama could have said it and it would be true. As a liberal even I can admit that it is the lazy that take advantage of the system, but, HE DID NOT SAY THAT!
We have politicians that are lazy and instead of being honest, they speak on wedge issues. If the current crop of Republican candidates cannot admit that, then they are lazy too. Life would be nice if millionaires gave me money to write laws for them. Come to think of it, I cannot think of the last time my local congressional represenatives were anywhere near me. Hmmmmm...try being a teacher and not showing up for a day of school. Or a fireman not getting on the truck. They could just call in "present". Lazy, as it has been said a lot around here..."pot, meet kettle."
Well, now is as good a time as any...
DA NOID'S CHALLENGE TO THE GOP - PART IV
I've asked the question 3 times previously and I've actually received some answers but surely more of you should be able to answer this question so let me hear you!
The question for the GOP...
WHO DO YOU SUPPORT IN THE FIGHT FOR THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION AND WHY?
Try your best not to trash the President in your explanation...I want to hear about your candidate's merits.
"Thank You" to the following people who have answered so far:
"Mark in SoCal"
"Freedom_Thinker"
"Jane DoeAmerican"
"Kevin Bitz"
"Commonman - 4084915"
"For the first time I'm proud of our country" M.O.
There is a pattern here and THEY BOTH NEED TO GO!
Shut off Hannity, and get in line at your local package store. Might do you some good.
Rob, a prime example of the republicans taking a quote out of context and making that lie the 'fact'. Watch the whole conversation, I'm sure it's still on the internet somewhere.
Rob is on something, but he didn't get it at the package store.
Due to the ridiculous policies and anti-business rhetoric of this president many businesses are reluctant to build here. Take Boeing for instance. They would have been much better off just moving those jobs to South Korea instead of South Carolina. Here is a thought if you want to create jobs in the USA get rid of the expense of "SelectUSA" and just lower our corporate tax rate. Foreign investors will "navigate the guantlet of federal, State and local stops if the return is there. We desperatley need a better leader......
How sad then that no better leader is in the offing.
It really is Kate. In all seriousness the country can afford to have a Monkey in the oval office but we can't afford to let that monkey have a majority of monkeys in the house and senate too....
"Monkey".......... really?!?! YellowCake from NIGER, please!
LEONA: You have to pass a bill through the house and the Senate and then reconcile in committee the differences between the two in order to know what is going to remain in the bill which goes to the President to sign. That's legislative reality. If this is too tough for you, perhaps you should give it up. Pelosi was correct.
PAUL,
Take the rose colored glasses off ! Who are you kidding?
Pelosi wanted Obamacare passed in the fastest way possible so that no one could read the stupid monstrosity of a bill !!!!!!
It is impossible to write a bill and then reconcile it in committee if "no one" has ever read it LEONA. To assert such is just stupid.
"we have to pass this bill to know what's in it"
If you are voting on a bill you haven't read and don't understand, you have failed in your duty to your constituents. You have failed in your duty to The United States. You have failed to do your job properly. You have totally and completely failed.
IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS IN A BILL YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS VOTING ON IT!!
Does that even need to be said? I just thought that was obvious. I guess not.
For the record, it was passed at midnight on Christmas eve, away from the cameras. We did not get Obama going through it publicly "line by line, word for word" like we were PROMISED. Instead they did it away from the public, using an arcane legislative technique called "reconciliation". They did this to avoid the vote of Scott Brown, senator from Massachussetts, who was sent to DC for one reason and one reason only. To break the supermajority and to cast the deciding vote AGAINST Obama's Healthcare law.
For anyone to assert that this is normal is ludicrous.
"reconciliation" is the same method which was used to pass the Bush tax cuts, and why they were scheduled to expire after 10 years. Nothing "arcane" or abnormal about it. Keep reading #17.3 until you understand it. We'll wait.
"It is impossible to write a bill and then reconcile it in committee if "no one" has ever read it"
YOU are confused. Having a bill go to comittee and having a bill go to reconciliation are two entirley different things. The reconciliation process used to pass the healthcare bill involved the Senate passing it then trusting the House to not change it too much. The process they used meant that the bill the Senate voted on WAS NOT THE FINAL VERSION.
Traditionally after a bill comes out of comitte, it is voted on again.
Your condescending attitude does not mask your lack of understanding.
"RECONCILIATION" is a proceedure for passing a bill which is limited to legislation which has taxation and budgeting issues and therefore limits the window of operation of the passed laws to a ten year window. Because of that limitation the fake filibuster under rule 22 of the Senate can not be used to slow down or eliminate the voting process.
Bills that pass both the house and Senate but don't match word for word have to be reconciled in committee and then voted on again. Is this too complicated for you to follow?
Lol Paul, you're so funny. Maybe you didn't understand what I meant when I said that "Your condescending attitude does not mask your lack of understanding."
I'll try smaller words, although I feel I am stooping to your level even as I type this....
Insulting and ridiculing everybody else does not make you smarter than them.
There, is that easier to get? (sorry, couldn't help myself. Besides, you can dish it out, right?)
Nevertheless, your point is wrong. The Senate voted on it and sent it to the House. The House could make changes to it.
The Senate NEVER voted on it again! And they KNEW when they voted that it would be that way!
That's why the reconciliation by committee process is not the same as the legislative technique formally known as reconciliation. Can you imagine the Senate right now voting on a bill and then sending it to the House, knowing they would be powerless to stop any changes that the House made to it?
Try to be smarter and less mean, please. For your own sake, if not for others.
Off topic Paul, but since you mentioned it..... Do you have any idea why the filibuster rules were changed to the current impasse state of affairs? I'll give you a hint... it was 1980. It was a man named Byrd. I'm sure you will have no trouble figuring out the rest of it.
The reconciliation legislative process, and bill reconciliation in committee are not the same thing, we agree.
The Rule 22 fake filibuster was ostensibly brought into being to allow the Senate to operate more efficiently. Bills could be tabled, indefinitely unfortunately, while other "business" could be undertaken, was the thinking. It is claimed that it was never anticipated that the ability to shelve bills by minority vote would be abused. Ironically the Leader of the senate doesn't have to allow it to go on. he can make the filibuster actually take place. REID hasn't been willing to give an answer as to why he doesn't exercise that power.
I'm leaning towards Romney. Almost purely because of his economic prowess and his overall command on a breadth of issues. In a past election, I might be more concerned about social stances but for me, I just want the economy back.
I think Romney would recognize that if he got elected it would essentially be a mandate on the economy. He seems like the type of person that wouldn't stop until he got it right.
I'm leaing Romney, too.
Mostly because I like that photo so much of him and his pals with all that money sticking out of their pockets. I'm sure if Mitt's the guy, I'll get to see that puppy a WHOLE lot more!
I have no problem with other people being successful. Businesses have every right to be profitable. It's not a zero sum game.
sophistry, I lived in Massachusetts when Romney was governor, it's part of the reason we left. Look at his record more closely and you'll understand why he's not the guy to do the job.
Sue,
Nobody lives in or leaves a state because of the governor.
Doesn't the right as a matter of routine, refer to the poor and unemployed as "lazy?" Are these people not Americans too?
Doesn the left as matter of routine, envy and hate the success of fellow Americans who worked hard and succeeded, and desire to confiscate their wealth?
The wealthy routinely overcharge for goods and services, apply hidden fees, and take advantage of those they consider inferior, namely the middle class. As usual, they caused the mess we are in and now they want the 99% to clean it up for them. They always seem to tell us that they work hard for their money, which is the same thing as saying that the rest of us don't. I don't envy them. I pity them. Many of them are the worst among us. If you think success is measured by the sum of your assets, you are surely missing out on what is important in life Bob. Too bad.
Out of context exploitation is nothing new by anyone, but:
Romney is desperate to prove he is a real conservative.
Perry is desperately trying to remain relevant.
Both are failing.
"UPDATE *** Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt emails First Read"
UPDATE: Official Obama campaign spokesman emails unofficial Obama campaign spokesman...
Obama is anything but lazy when it comes to making sure his cronies get the "green" initiative. Here's another example of payback to his billionaire supporters that you won't read about on FR or NBC.
http://biggovernment.com/whall/2011/11/16/robert-kennedy-jr-s-green-company-scored-1-4-billion-taxpayer-bailout/
That's right. Another rich Obama supporter got a billion dollars of taxpayer money to bail out their failed investment.
But hey, let's worry that someone took the liar-in-chief's words out of context. That's really, really, really, really important.Just ignore the pattern of cronyism.
Spends the same,....don't it?
Good thing I'm not too lazy to cut and paste (lol)...
Offered this in another post, but it fits a little better here....
I hinted at something in my mostly well-received inaugural post (and if you missed it, the penalty is 30 lashes with a wet noodle) concerning “electric” cars….
I was just waiting for the right opportunity to expound on it (expounding is what I do─whether I do it well or not is up for debate, but….)
There’s been talk about “getting America back to work”…one of those ways being through focusing on repairing the somewhat dated interstate highways that have gone largely neglected for nearly 50 years. Not a bad idea on it’s own, but just a stop-gap measure to reviving our faltering economy that’s been propped up on a lot of nonsensical paper derivatives and Ponzi-scheme banking practices for the last 10 years at least. You’re only going to keep construction jobs like that going for a few years at the most. We need something a bit more sustainable over a longer haul to recover, in my opinion.
I had an old guy (who had to be in his 80s) tell me in an elevator a couple days ago that he could remember a time where everything he owned or his neighbors owned was made in America. He said he thinks the biggest reason we’re in the fix we’re in economically is that, since everything we have is “Made in China”, it only stood to reason that sooner or later, the Chinese were gonna want their stuff back.
Ah. The prescience of the common American.
He also thought that I was one of the smartest colored men he ever met, after about 7 whole minutes in that elevator ride. And yes, he actually said “colored”. How sweet was that! In the immortal words of Yakov Smirnof: “What a country!”
Who in their right minds would keep this dear old guy away from his Medicare?
You know what, just for grins, let me make a f’r instance moment….
Technology has, seemingly overnight, revolutionized how we all communicate with each other. We’re connected to each other (and the world) in ways that are hard to grasp, if you remember what everything was like before Iphones and Twitter accounts and YouTube Videos. My son does not know what the world was like without the internet. It’s been around longer than he’s been alive. Amazing.
And it’s not so much the technology itself (at least not on its own) that’s changed us all….it’s the ACCESSIBILITY of that technology to all of us that’s changed us. Young and old. Rich and poor. Saint and sinner. Hopefully for the better, but time will tell.
To me, if you really want to do something American…what would it take to make “electric” cars accessible to the majority of American citizens? And by accessible, I mean in the ways current autos are to most people─where people have a realistic and financially feasible choice in regards to owning one? To me, the best way would be to make the things more practical in their usage.
The engineering of those cars (making the cars part gas and part electric) is showing some ingenuity, but why not extend some of that ingenuity into dispersal to everyday people in the nature of transportation?
We’ve got to do something about the roads in our cities and towns, right? Why not make a lane or two on a couple of major roads (sort of like a HOV lane or a toll lane) where there was a little rail line in the road that the car could ride on and use electricity exclusively? Not unlike what you’d see from a rail system?
Think of all the industries that would immediately be impacted positively by that! And of how enduring an industry like revolutionizing the common method of transportation would be, especially if we could proudly stamp it “Made in America”?
It’s silly, I know. There are probably two hundred and fifty-seven million, three hundred thirty eight thousand, five hundred twenty nine reasons why something like that wouldn’t work. Thinking like that’s a by-product of a misspent youth, alternately hip-deep in comic books and stolen hubcaps…
…but hey, this is America. A “colored” guy like me can dream….
…can’t he?
Maybe you could get your answers from Fisker Automotive- you know, the company heavily invested in by an Obama supporter- got a half a billion in stimulus funds- building cars, okay- in Finland.
And, of couse,, when and if they get shipped here, most "average" Americans will line up for miles to buy one- at $120,000 per vehicle.
OK, here's the truth you lying tool.
Fisker’s loan has two parts. In the first part, Fisker used $169 million to support the engineers who developed the tools, equipment and manufacturing processes for Fisker’s first vehicle, the Fisker Karma. That work was done Fisker’s U.S. facilities, including its headquarters in Irvine, California which has 700 employees and plans to continue hiring. While the vehicles themselves are being assembled in Fisker’s existing overseas facility, the Department’s funding was only used for the U.S. operations. The money could not be, and was not, spent on overseas operations. The Karma also relies on an extensive network of hundreds of suppliers in more than a dozen U.S. states.
The larger portion of the loan -- $359 million – is supporting the production of Fisker’s Nina vehicles. Fisker is using this funding to bring a shuttered General Motors plant in Delaware back to life and employing more than 2,500 workers. Fisker was attracted to this site in part by the opportunity to rehire some of the trained, dedicated workers who lost their jobs when that plant closed.
Wow. I knew liberals were delusional, but you take the cake.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/car-company-us-loan-builds-cars-finland/t/story?id=14770875
That old GM plant in Delaware is DTILL shuttered- and will remain so, because Fisker says they can't find the proper facilities or workers to build the cars here.
It was on that basis that they got clearance from Obama to build in Finland.
doerr's contributions to Obama's campaign probably have not hurt, either.
Good lord- I guess the only way you can still support Obama is to believe your own fairy tales.
Too bad the country has to deal with the reality of his failures and corruption.
Itymof
NJNB
The plan is to start building cars in Delaware next year. Please actually do some reading. You know Jo, at least the President is doing something, as compared to the GOP/tp who have done NOTHING, except to try to gut programs that keep us safe and control women's bodies. Just stop your fat little feet and scream NO, NO, NO, NO, and feed their corporate masters.
Keep trying to tell the lie Jo. We'll keep pointing out that you're less then truthful, just a mean spirited troll.
Well, see here, now this is progress, NJNB....
I'll posit my theoretical another way (since I didn't seem to make it clear initially)...
I don't think, as far as engineering or building the actual cars go, it's that difficult an enterprise (heck, if the Finns can do it—at a low production cost, too, I bet....)
...but again, making the things worth any investment to people in the long-term, you've got to make them more practical. A type of rail integration would do a lot to reduce the need to dual-engineer the things (fuel/electrical), and make them energy-efficient (thereby reducing the need for foreign oil), among other things...
...but ultimately, and in the interests of "Americanizing" the enterprise (which, to me, means creating a manufacturing and production base in this country…something more salient, tangible, reliable and stable than derivatives-trading three-card-monty), there's going to have to be an acceptance that it's a long-term investment and wouldn't show a lot of profit for a while (a corollary would be our “streamlined” space program)…
...and that is one of those hundreds of thousands of millions of banes against even the thought of private enterprise and public endeavor collaborating in order to see if it's even possible, that I mentioned.
America's "sovereignty" (particularly in a business or economic sense) has long since become hopelessly muddled in the global marketplace, where two thirds of that labor force would do practically anything for a pittance. And business being what it is, if it can get the labor it needs for a reduced cost, then there's really no way to stop it.
Businesses have the right to make money. I doubt that anybody begrudges that. There used to be a time where businesses did what they could for this country and its workforce, even it it meant profits would be modest for a while, if the need arose.
I wasn't seeking to make this partisan, but I understand that it has to be seen that way sooner or later. It doesn't really matter who fired the first shot if class warfare's been declared, has it? Lives are going to be lost in any conflict, so it better be worth the lives threatened or lost, because the winner's going to have to explain exactly what it is s/he's won.
At any rate, I guess I should thank you for not scolding me for harboring childish liberal fantasies.
I guess civil discourse actually CAN be civil.
Who knew?
..