Breaking: Obama To Address Nation Tonight. Will Bypass Congress & Invoke 14th Amendmt

[MaggieMae]

Is it true Obama quoted Ronnie?

Multiple times, just like in his USA Today piece. I think he's given up on being Lincoln or FDR. He really is Carter writ large.

It's only because the average American conservative needs a reminder occasionally that their hero also was a compromiser.

 

[MaggieMae]

It was a campaign speech aimed at wishy washy independents.

And incredibly cynical...but he does get 10 Points For Consistency on that front.

Most of it sounded almost verbatim to his Friday speech, sigh. Starting off with 'blame Bush' and then magnanimously saying that both parties created the problem and both would have to solve it followed by blaming the Republicans for everything. And then laying out a plan so vague and with zero specifics that wouldn't have made a good clue in a kid's detective game.

But Speaker Boehner wasn't a hell of a lot better in his rebuttal and didn't make me proud.

I thought Boehner's speech was a hell of a lot better, I read both texts:

The Full Text of Speaker Boehner's National Address - - NationalJournal.com

Good evening. I’m John Boehner. I serve as Speaker of the whole House -- of the members of both parties that you elect. These are difficult times in the life of our nation. Millions are looking for work, have been for some time, and the spending binge going on in Washington is a big part of the reason why.

Before I served in Congress, I ran a small business in Ohio. I was amazed at how different Washington DC operated than every business in America. Where most American business make the hard choices to pay their bills and live within their means, in Washington more spending and more debt is business as usual.

I’ve got news for Washington – those days are over.

President Obama came to Congress in January and requested business as usual -- yet another routine increase in the national debt limit -- we in the House said 'not so fast.’ Here was the president, asking for the largest debt increase in American history, on the heels of the largest spending binge in American history.

Here's what we got for that spending binge: a massive health care bill that most Americans never asked for. [Yes, they did...] A 'stimulus' bill that was more effective in producing material for late-night comedians than it was in producing jobs.[It did what it was supposed to do, plus that was insulting and extremely unprofessional for a man of his stature.] And a national debt that has gotten so out of hand it has sparked a crisis without precedent in my lifetime or yours.

The United States cannot default on its debt obligations. The jobs and savings of too many Americans are at stake.

What we told the president in January was this: the American people will not accept an increase in the debt limit without significant spending cuts and reforms.

And over the last six months, we’ve done our best to convince the president to partner with us to do something dramatic to change the fiscal trajectory of our country, something that will boost confidence in our economy, renew a measure of faith in our government, and help small businesses get back on track.

Last week, the House passed such a plan, and with bipartisan support. It’s called the ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’ Act. It CUTS and CAPS government spending and paves the way for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, which we believe is the best way to stop Washington from spending money it doesn’t have. Before we even passed the bill in the House, the President said he would veto it. [Because it had zero to do with increasing the existing debt limit to cover the bills we already owe.]

I want you to know I made a sincere effort to work with the president to identify a path forward that would implement the principles of Cut, Cap, & Balance in a manner that could secure bipartisan support and be signed into law. I gave it my all. [Yes, he did, until the TP twisted his arms and Boehner saw he might lost his speakership unless he just said no to everything the President and Democrats had to offer.]

Unfortunately, the president would not take yes for an answer. Even when we thought we might be close on an agreement, the president’s demands changed.

The president has often said we need a 'balanced' approach -- which in Washington means: we spend more. . .you pay more. Having run a small business, I know those tax increases will destroy jobs.

The president is adamant that we cannot make fundamental changes to our entitlement programs. As the father of two daughters, I know these programs won’t be there for them and their kids unless significant action is taken now.

The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen. [He never asked for a blank check on budget items. Never. That was a blatant lie by omission.]

You see, there is no stalemate in Congress. The House has passed a bill to raise the debt limit with bipartisan support. And this week, while the Senate is struggling to pass a bill filled with phony accounting and Washington gimmicks, we will pass another bill – one that was developed with the support of the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Senate.

Obviously, I expect that bill can and will pass the Senate, and be sent to the President for his signature. If the President signs it, the ‘crisis’ atmosphere he has created will simply disappear. The debt limit will be raised. Spending will be cut by more than one trillion dollars, and a serious, bipartisan committee of the Congress will begin the hard but necessary work of dealing with the tough challenges our nation faces. [Frankly, that's all Boehner needed to say. THE TRUTH.]

The individuals doing this work will not be outsiders, but elected representatives of the people, doing the job they were elected to do as outlined in the Constitution. Those decisions should be made based on how they will affect people who are struggling to get a job, not how they affect some politician’s chances of getting reelected. [Oh sure...]

This debate isn't about President Obama and House Republicans … it isn't about Congress and the White House … it's about what’s standing between the American people and the future we seek for ourselves and our families.

You know, I’ve always believed, the bigger government, the smaller the people. And right now, we have a government so big and so expensive it’s sapping the drive of our people and keeping our economy from running at full capacity.

The solution to this crisis is not complicated: if you’re spending more money than you’re taking in, you need to spend less of it,

There is no symptom of big government more menacing than our debt. Break its grip, and we begin to liberate our economy and our future.

We are up to the task, and I hope President Obama will join us in this work.

God bless you and your families, and God bless America.

Boehner's political attack did not look good for him anymore than Obama's elevated him. It was a wash, in my opinion, and I could have been watching something far more interesting for a half-hour than just a rehash of their ideological differences in soundbites.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

Watching the news right now. Boehner just laid out a plan about 40 minutes ago. Now Obama has decided before the nation tonight at 9 eastern (8 Central time) and aids are saying he will go ahead and bypass congress and invoke the 14th amendment which experts say will increase the crisis because the Constitution states that he can't do it without the lawful approval of Congress. Does this mean that SS checks will not go out for seniors and veterans? We will find out I guess. The word is that he can be impeached if he allows us to default. The sign that hints to Obama stating he will invoke the 14th Amendment was this in his La Raza speech earlier today which is in this link.

Obama: I'd Like 'to Bypass Congress and Change the Rules on My Own' - George E. Condon Jr. - NationalJournal.com

President Obama let his frustration over the stalled debt talks seep into an address on Latino issues on Monday, confessing that he’d like to “bypass Congress and change the laws on my own.”

What does sound like he wants to be? That's right, a dictator. I guess we will find out tonight.

Breaking.I Army Retarded,sock of Pole Rider is a racist who hates blacks which is why I have an obsession over Obama and could care less about the corruption of other presidents and that they are criminals as well.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Two words for you, saveliberty: non sense.

I see your math is still fuzzy. Nonsense is one word.

Hey, I was using GOP fuzzy math!

 

[Foxfyre]

Is it true Obama quoted Ronnie?

Multiple times, just like in his USA Today piece. I think he's given up on being Lincoln or FDR. He really is Carter writ large.

It's only because the average American conservative needs a reminder occasionally that their hero also was a compromiser.

What they are proposing we compromise on, however, is as reprehensible to those of us who are fiscal conservatives as it would be reprehensible to say okay, we can't get together on this race stuff so let's compromise: We won't bash 'those people' if you agree that it is okay to bash 'these people'. What they are requiring compromise on is that nothing be done to address the real problem. They'll both appear to have won a point and it will actually be business as usual going forward.

It does not give people like me confidence when they are plotting behind closed doors, figuring out how they will look good to most of their constituencies, and not actually tell us a damn thing about what will be done in the budget or how it will affect anybody.

They are already saying that we will default on our debts if we do not increase the debt ceiling next Tuesday. That is a bald faced lie.

They are already saying that we will cut X billion or trillion out of future expenditures without being will to commit to exactly what those cuts will be or how they will be done which means nothing will be done at all.

It's all smoke and mirrors and I personally feel that our fearless leaders are giving us all the shaft just to tack a few more lucrative years onto their retirement portfolios. We deserve better.

 

[JakeStarkey]

We deserve both the far left and the far right to come together, and we are not getting it from either one.

Defined spending cuts, defined reforms in Social Security, reduced defense budgets, some increased tax revenue.

Both sides have to agree to a guaranteed deal, where both sides give up enough so that it hurts each side.

 

[saveliberty]

Too bad Obama didn't invoke the 5th.

 

[Foxfyre]

When even Chris Matthews on MSNBC is appalled at a speech, you know the President gave a pretty bad, ineffective speech. Alas, no more tingle up his leg. Life is so fickle.

But what a difference five years makes:

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.

It is a sign that the US Government can not pay its own bills.

It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.

Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally.

Leadership means that the buck stops here.

Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.

America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."

--Senator Barack Hussein Obama, March 2006

 

[JakeStarkey]

Why was Chris appalled? Not liberal enough?

 

[MaggieMae]

The problem is there is no compromise. Repubs don't want to increase taxes, Dems don't want to cut spending. Surely, there can be a tax increase and a cut to spending.

Annie
As for your poll, of course people don't want tax increases. Probably the most redundant question on any poll like this. It's like saying to a guy, "Yes or no, would you like your balls squeezed in a vice?"...

According to all these polls, the majority of people responding to the question is "both" (to increased taxes/cut spending--not the balls squeezed).

Budget/Taxes

 

[MaggieMae]

Back his ASS into the corner and watch him squirm Boehner...

The thought that we need to give this narcissistic ego a debt increase is suicidal...

It's amazing what a addict will continue to do if you do not deny them more, it is very simple folks, we can't continue to spend more than we take in...

You mean like Gingrich tried to do to Clinton? How'd that work out?

 

[MaggieMae]

Read what I posted. Much more on the point than 80% want tax increases on the wealthy.

You mean the 400 Wealthiest Americans who pay an effective tax rate of 18%? Those people? Or the people making $10 million a year who pay an effective tax rate of 19%?

and those families making $250k or even lower, jointly.

Another small percentage, and yes, they ARE rich by comparison to the average wage earner, especially now.

The deluded Obama critics who think $250,000 is a middle-class salary. - By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine

The Census Bureau... reported that the median household income was $50,223 in 2007—up slightly from the last year but still below the 1999 peak. So a household that earned $250,000 made five times the median. In fact, as this chart shows, only 2.245 million U.S. households, the top 1.9 percent, had income greater than $250,000 in 2007. (About 20 percent of households make more than $100,000.)

 

[MaggieMae]

Reasons Obama wasn't specific about solving the debt crisis:

1. It would require numbers that can be proven true or false.
2. It would define what he wants and his ability to achieve those results.
3. It would reveal flaws in his thinking.
4. It would take away his ability to say, Americans don't understand the problem/solution.
5. It would take him out of campaign mode.
6. It would mean his advisors would have to show they had experience in their fields.

Neither "side" has produced specifics, which usually run a couple thousand pages. That's the issue here, in my opinion: The budget cuts, which will be part of an overall FY budget and beyond, has yet to be drafted, debated in both chambers, nor voted upon yet. The issue TODAY is raising the debt ceiling, period, with the simple "promise" to all or some of the bullet points each has produced thus far.

 

[MaggieMae]

It's really sad how things turn out sometimes. All the fanatical Hopey Changey followers used to call George Bush a "Dictator." Well guess what? Bush wasn't even close. This current President behaves more & more like a maniacal Dictator everyday. It really is very sad.

It's sadder that we really don't do anything about it, and continue to trust these people.

How many campaign promises has Obama reneged on now?
Not that many. See below.

When will everybody learn that the 2 party system is not designed to give you a choice. At the end of the day they don't benefit the American people, they are not your voice.
They are all beholden to other interests, and YOUR ass always comes last, YOU have to make do without, YOU get the shitty end of the stick, ALWAYS.
We must change our way of thinking and stop the stupid partisan bickering, and go back to the basics.
This is not the first time they have bypassed (or threatened to bypass the Constitution).
Get away from it , do your research on alternative candidates that are not puppets of corporations and the money system, but are willing to uphold and defend the Constitution.
I'd rather have a bunch of no names who know their shit when it comes to the law of the land and sound economics then the lying scumbags that are presented to us as viable choices.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/

 

[JakeStarkey]

Boehner can't control the yay-hoos of the far right Tea Party in Congress.

If the country defaults, the GOP will have less than 1/3rd in each chamber in January 2013 with BHO as president.

The Dems will not pull what they did in 2009. They will ram a 100 days program through that will make FDR et al look like the Tea Party.

You guys don't have the votes in the country to back up putting America into a Depression. You will be politically destroyed.

 

[MaggieMae]

Multiple times, just like in his USA Today piece. I think he's given up on being Lincoln or FDR. He really is Carter writ large.

It's only because the average American conservative needs a reminder occasionally that their hero also was a compromiser.

What they are proposing we compromise on, however, is as reprehensible to those of us who are fiscal conservatives as it would be reprehensible to say okay, we can't get together on this race stuff so let's compromise: We won't bash 'those people' if you agree that it is okay to bash 'these people'. What they are requiring compromise on is that nothing be done to address the real problem. They'll both appear to have won a point and it will actually be business as usual going forward.

It does not give people like me confidence when they are plotting behind closed doors, figuring out how they will look good to most of their constituencies, and not actually tell us a damn thing about what will be done in the budget or how it will affect anybody.

They are already saying that we will default on our debts if we do not increase the debt ceiling next Tuesday. That is a bald faced lie.

They are already saying that we will cut X billion or trillion out of future expenditures without being will to commit to exactly what those cuts will be or how they will be done which means nothing will be done at all.

It's all smoke and mirrors and I personally feel that our fearless leaders are giving us all the shaft just to tack a few more lucrative years onto their retirement portfolios. We deserve better.

As I mentioned just a few moments ago, none of them has specifically spelled out exactly where and how much will be cut.

The back and forth proposals put forth generalizations, period. Boehner redefines what constitutes "emergency" spending, but we all know that's a pretty broad term and would still be open to a ton of loopholes. I read something that identified cuts to education programs, infrastructure (no high-speed rail, being the only specific), and overlapping agency funding that should be removed (a good thing). Obama has talked about the waste and fraud, particularly in the Medicare, and defense authorizations for stuff the Pentagon doesn't even want anymore, among other things. The point is, that all gets done in Part 2, when actual bills are drafted and ultimately enacted. Stay tuned.

 

[MaggieMae]

Why was Chris appalled? Not liberal enough?

I didn't watch MSNBC, but I suspect he was surprised that it didn't include specific details, which was what everyone expected, and which was the reaction also by CNN pundits.

 

[MaggieMae]

Boehner can't control the yay-hoos of the far right Tea Party in Congress.

If the country defaults, the GOP will have less than 1/3rd in each chamber in January 2013 with BHO as president.

The Dems will not pull what they did in 2009. They will ram a 100 days program through that will make FDR et al look like the Tea Party.

You guys don't have the votes in the country to back up putting America into a Depression. You will be politically destroyed.

The Tea Party (and several others) are strangely committed to the "pledge" of no new taxes to none other than someone who earns his living by intentionally stirring up trouble: Grover Norquist. They are so enamored with and entranced by his mantra that they actually believe this diverse country of over 311 million people, and whose national economy now depends on the other 600 billion people around the world, can function on the "promise" of free enterprise. Norquist's sole goal is to make it impossible to raise taxes for any reason, including to balance budgets. Ironically, however, he fueded recently with Senator Tom Coburn and several other Republican Senators who are wise to his absurdities, when they voted to eliminate $6 billion in ethanol subsidies to farmers.

Um, hey Grover: Where do you think that $6 billion came from? Coin crops? Plant a penny, harvest when silver dollars emerge?

 

[Foxfyre]

Boehner can't control the yay-hoos of the far right Tea Party in Congress.

If the country defaults, the GOP will have less than 1/3rd in each chamber in January 2013 with BHO as president.

The Dems will not pull what they did in 2009. They will ram a 100 days program through that will make FDR et al look like the Tea Party.

You guys don't have the votes in the country to back up putting America into a Depression. You will be politically destroyed.

The Tea Party (and several others) are strangely committed to the "pledge" of no new taxes to none other than someone who earns his living by intentionally stirring up trouble: Grover Norquist. They are so enamored with and entranced by his mantra that they actually believe this diverse country of over 311 million people, and whose national economy now depends on the other 600 billion people around the world, can function on the "promise" of free enterprise. Norquist's sole goal is to make it impossible to raise taxes for any reason, including to balance budgets. Ironically, however, he fueded recently with Senator Tom Coburn and several other Republican Senators who are wise to his absurdities, when they voted to eliminate $6 billion in ethanol subsidies to farmers.

Um, hey Grover: Where do you think that $6 billion came from? Coin crops? Plant a penny, harvest when silver dollars emerge?

I truly and sincerely wish all those who do not believe in free enterprise would move to some other country more to their liking. I personally will NEVER support any other economic system because to do so would dismantle the very Constitution that has been the fundamental principle upon which the greatest nation the world has ever known was founded.

And until there is a balanced budget amendment in place and ratified, that is one point I very much agreed with Speaker Boehner last night. Congress is not going to use any new taxes to balance anything. They haven't done that for more than fifty years now. They will use it to justify more money funneled to their constituencies because it sounds so noble and right to fuzzy mush headed people to do that.

 

[JakeStarkey]

I no more want unregulated capitalism, which destroys competititon, than I want communism, which destroys personal iniative.

The Balanced Budget amendment is a hoax, Foxfyre.

Rich Lowry, the very conservative editor of National Review, tells us why at The Balanced-Budget Amendment - By Rich Lowry - The Corner - National Review Online