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On Netanyahu’s Speech and Our Ever-Embarrassing Congress
REPUBLICANS ARE ALL SMILES WHEN THEY GET TO USE A FOREIGN LEADER AND A WORLD CRISIS TO EMBARRASS OUR PRESIDENT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally delivered his long-awaited Iran speech to Congress. While powerful, the speech was bereft of new ideas or solutions, and an embarrassment to the United States.
There was absolutely NO reason for this speech to be delivered to a joint session of OUR Congress.
To be clear, I agree with 99% of what Bibi had to say: a nuclear Iran is a danger to Israel and the world, and their current radical regime cannot be trusted. But it’s nothing we haven’t heard him warn before. Netanyahu has screamed that Iran is only months away from getting a nuclear bomb since at least 1993, and routinely sells Iranian regime change to anyone that will listen.
(Just a reminder, Bibi also wrongly warned back in 2002: ”If you take out Saddam, Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region.”)
Even though he clearly benefits from numerous standing ovations in front of his greatest ally’s Congress just 2 weeks before his upcoming election, I don’t hate on Netanyahu for campaigning and preaching for Israel’s security wherever and whenever he can. I’m also thankful anytime our country has a conversation about protecting Israel.
It’s just embarrassing that our Congress gave a foreign leader the floor to dictate American foreign policy.
Given that Bibi shared absolutely nothing new in his hour long rant, what was the purpose of Speaker John Boehner sneakily inviting him to speak? All politics: to attempt to embarrass President Obama while he negotiates with Iran, and manipulate American Jews to steer away from the Democratic Party. Disgusting.
No matter what you think of the President, foreign policy and dealing with foreign leaders is the responsibility of the White House. No matter what you think of the President, he is still OUR President, and you don’t let a foreign leader come into our house to mansplain foreign policy and tell our country, “You’re doing it all wrong!” Regardless of the fact that Netanyahu over-emphasized that Obama has been a great friend to Israel, and the US/Israeli relationship has never been stronger – the spectacle embarrasses us on the world stage.
House Republicans intentionally made our relationship with Israel a politically divisive issue. Not only did it put our President in a tight spot as Boehner went behind the President’s back to set this up, but it forced idiot Democrats to boycott the speech and possibly jeopardize our relationship with one of our strongest allies.
The Iran issue is a tough one. As I said before, Iran’s Jew/US-hating regime can’t be trusted, but they also will NEVER (as no country would) entirely give up their nuclear program. To complicate matters further, Iran’s enrichment facilities are basically untouchable by bombing – so the world can’t stop it by force. Tougher sanctions might be an answer, but then you risk pushing Iran farther away and pushing their nationwide sentiment towards further west-hating and more warmongering.
That basically leaves the world with two tough choices: a) make a deal where inspectors are constantly available to ensure Iran’s nuclear enrichment hopefully stays at peaceful levels strictly for energy purposes, or b) all out regime change through war.
We obviously know which choice Netanyahu prefers. But after America’s recent brilliant failures with regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Obama is opting for negotiation. Dealing with a member of the Axis of Evil isn’t perfect – but OUR President obviously feels its preferable to war.
As Bibi pointed out by singling out Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel, “Never Again.” We have to learn from history and know that US-forced regime change in the Middle East costs thousands of American lives and expends a tremendous amount of capital (both moral and financial) on a mostly fruitless, hopeless endeavor.
Yet House Republicans (who think/pretend that everything the President does is wrong) jumped at a chance to throw a wrench in the works, and invited a foreign leader to share his foreign policy suggestions for our country on our most hallowed stage.
Adding insult to injury, the world got to watch our piece-of-shit Congressmen who annually refuse to applaud OUR President during the State of the Union, refuse to stand and applaud during mentions of fighting for equality, voting rights, a better economy, or even bettering our nation – give a foreign leader numerous standing ovations when he called for war. Of course their applause was missing when that leader complimented President Obama and recognized how much he’s done for Israel, both in public and behind the scenes. Embarrassing.
Foreign policy is never black and white. Its a gray area – with rarely a single correct answer – and thus open for debate. Middle East policy is even touchier, as most of the governments aren’t exactly warm to the US and the regimes who replace them are often worse. This is why we entrust these issues to the nationally-elected President and his advisors. We don’t entrust these decisions to another country’s leader, and certainly not some political hack elected with a few thousand votes out of Ohio (yes, I’m looking at you, Mr. Speaker).
Our current Congressional leadership approaches every situation -no matter how important, dangerous, etc – as an opportunity to embarrass our President. If they really felt this was in our nation’s best interest, it would/should have been handled differently.
Attempting to embarrass your opposition is a hallmark of domestic politics. Attempting to embarrass our President on the world stage solely for partisan political reasons is unforgivable and dangerous.
But this is the new American reality: Party loyalty takes precedent over everything – even our worldwide reputation, credibility and security.
Watch: Netanyahu’s Full Speech to Congress
Read MorePoll: Only 11% Of Republicans Think Obama Loves America
EDITOR’S NOTE: ANYONE WHO THINKS A PRESIDENT DOESN’T LOVE HIS COUNTRY IS A MORON
According to a new poll, only 11% of Republicans believe President Obama loves America, with 7 out of 10 positive Obama doesn’t love America.
Their reasons? He tries to ensure affordable health coverage, fights for higher wages, accepts science, and keeps trying to open up the American dream to immigrants already living here. This dude really just hates America.
Now excuse these Republicans while they go back to intentionally suppressing the right to vote of minorities, limiting women’s rights (and pay), hating on American workers, protecting the rights of businesses to destroy the environment if it helps profits, telling you who to marry/sleep with, taking away Health insurance from millions, refusing to acknowledge democratically passed laws and democratically elected leaders, calling 99% of American scientists liars, saying guns are more important than American lives, destroying the Establishment Clause of the Constitution by forcing (their) religion on government, calling 47% of Americans lazy, handing government over to corporate shareholders, limiting education, rewriting textbooks to push ideology, positively declaring that black Americans are inherently violent moochers, begging to send your children off to die in meaningless wars, denying the American dream to people/families who weren’t born here, supporting the unfettered right of Police to kill (minority) citizens, begging for “real” leaders like Vladimir Putin, and saying the Federal government – the realized dream of our Founding Fathers – is horrible and needs to be diminished and/or shut down.
That’s REAL love, Amurika!
Read: Poll: Only 11 Percent Of Republicans Say Obama Loves America.
Read: YouGov | Many young people don’t love America.
Read MoreBetter Call Foul – The Daily Show Shreds Faux News Lies (Video)
Stewart shreds the lies of Fox News, and calls out right-wing ideologues (and their propaganda arms) for pretending that people who use FACTS to point out the many falsehoods of their loudly-screamed positions, are lying liars out to destroy America.
Watch: Better Call Foul – The Daily Show – Video Clip | Comedy Central.
Watch: 50 Fox “news” Lies (slower than 6 seconds).
Read MoreSen. Boxer Destroys Colleagues for DHS/Immigration Hypocrisy, Irresponsibility and Hatred
It’s not often that a Democrat actually gives an impassioned rant on the Senate floor, but apparently Sen. Barbara Boxer seems willing to burn the place down before her retirement.
Democrats are usually pathetic pushovers allowing Republicans to set the narrative and control the shit-talking airways, but Boxer absolutely shredded her Republican colleagues on obstruction, hypocrisy, irresponsibility, and hatred of a twice-elected President Obama.
Senator Boxer used facts and anecdotes to tear apart any defense of immigration obstruction, and repeatedly told Republicans to “get over” Obama being President, and to “do their jobs” now that they run Congress.
You should definitely watch the entire speech, but here are some of the highlights:
We all know Republicans won in huge numbers in the 2014 election, and they took over the United States Senate and they run it. They run it. Or at least they’re trying to run it. And let’s be clear, less than eight weeks after they took over the Senate, we are facing a shutdown; a shutdown of the very agency that protects the health, the safety, the lives, of the American people – the Department of Homeland Security.
They’re shutting down the program that funds our police officers back home, our firefighters, our first responders. Any way you look at it, this is a national disgrace. And think about what our friends abroad, and those who are not our friends, are thinking about this.
Republicans say, ‘Oh, we’re in danger, we have to go to go to war, put combat troops on the ground!’ But they’re wiling to shut down the department that protects Americans here in the homeland, from a terrorist attack.
How does it make sense, at a time when we’re facing serious threats to our national security, to furlough 30,000, thirty thousand, department of homeland security workers, and to force more than 100,000 frontline homeland security personnel to work without pay?
Why don’t theses senators go without their pay?
Give up your pay! Give up your healthcare, give up your benefits, if this is so important to you. Oh, no, they’ll collect their pay!
***
“I thought they were the party of ‘family values.’ Show me where that’s true? Ripping families apart? I thought they were the party of ‘economic prosperity.’ Show me how that’s true, when we know from study after study show that one of the greatest things we can do for our economy and job creation is get people out of the shadows so they can go buy a home and hold a good job. They (Republicans) can’t or won’t pass an immigration bill. They will not do their job. So when the president steps in and does his job, they say, ‘Oh,this is terrible! Let’s shutdown a totally unrelated department. The Department of Homeland Security.
***
The Center for American Progress, states it would cost more than $50 Billion to deport the entire population that the president is protecting.
And here’s the deal – I’ve never heard of a Republican (and I will stand corrected if any Republican corrects me) I’ve never heard of a Republican complaining when President Eisenhower used his executive order power to help immigrants, when President Nixon did the same thing to protect immigrants, when President Ronald Reagan, their hero, protected immigrants, when George Bush Sr. protected immigrants, when George W. protected immigrants, they all used their authority.
Show me one Republican that stood up and said, ‘Oh this is outrageous! Let’s impeach the president. But it’s president Obama. And they’re annoyed because he won twice. Sorry. Sorry. Wake up and smell the roses. He IS the President.
***
How does it make sense? Because you’re too incompetent to hold a vote on your immigration plan? You want to kick people out of the country? Put it to a vote! Let’s go. You want to deport 11 million people? Put it to a vote. Don’t hide behind the Homeland Security Bill, holding the President’s work hostage. You never did it to the other presidents.
Our national security is at stake, our family values are at stake. And our economy is at stake here. So get over the fact that you don’t like the president. We get it. You couldn’t beat him. Too bad for you. But you’re in charge here, in the Senate. Do your job! Bring an immigration bill to the floor. Let’s let this Homeland Security Bill go. It’s a bipartisan bill. It’s funding for the most important thing we’re doing today. Let it go. Don’t hold it hostage to your hatred of this president, and I use that word because that’s what I think. That’s what I think….
***
So I say to my Republican friends. There’s s presidential race coming. Forget this last one. Get over it. Okay? Let’s work together. Listen, I served with five presidents. I’m a strong Democrat. Everyone will tell you that. But I respect the office of the presidency. If I didn’t agree with Ronald Reagan, I came down here and said it. But we had the respect back and forth. If we lost, we lost. And we moved on. And that worked both ways. I know what it is not to like the policies of a president. I get it. But don’t overdue it and make it so personal. Get on with it. Grow up. Do your job, you know? Do your job! Have respect for the office of the presidency.
What’s brilliant about Boxer’s rant is that it has nothing to do with the Democratic Party or ideology — but EVERYTHING to do with an efficient government with elected officials that work together FOR the people, not against the people.
This isn’t fake “Amurika” bullcrap, but everything about America and Americans.
Government is supposed to help people, not hurt people – and especially not supposed to shut down because a Political party doesn’t like the President overwhelmingly elected by Americans twice.
Get over it. Do your job.
Read more: Barbara Boxer Knocks It Out Of The F*cking Park On GOP Hatred, Hypocrisy & Irresponsibility.
Read MoreJohn Oliver on why Electing Judges is Ridiculous (Video)
John Oliver gave a great rant on why electing Judges destroys justice in our country. Not only is it an obvious conflict of interest when judges whore themselves out for money, but they’re forced to decide cases based off electoral reasons rather than justice.
While some say this might be a necessary evil, elections hold people accountable and judges should be bigger than bribery, a 2006 NYT article found that, over a twelve-year period, [Ohio] justices ‘voted in favor of contributors 70 percent of the time,’ with one justice voting for his campaign donors in 91% of the time.
Since Citizens United, it only got worse. Now big businesses and political hacks band together to fund Super PACs (and air manipulative advertisements) to elect judges sympathetic to particular corporate or political causes, both in-state and out-of-state.
The best way to succeed in this country: buy the politicians to pass favorable laws, then buy the judges to rule those laws constitutional.
Amurika.
Watch: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Elected Judges (HBO) – YouTube.
Read MoreMcConnell Hates Democrats Using His Obstructionist Playbook
MCCONNELL SAYS PEACE TO ACTUAL GOVERNANCE
From the day President Obama took office, Mitch McConnell pledged that his “top political priority is to deny President Obama a 2nd term“. McConnell failed, but he did succeed in ushering in an era of minority-party obstruction — and in the process destroyed the US Senate.
McConnell and team GOP spent the last 6 years blatantly obstructing ALL legislation, obstructing ALL nominees (even ones his party supported) leaving agencies leader-less, abusing filibusters to an embarrassingly historic level, and basically refusing to negotiate or debate (aka “govern”) any issue at all. By doing so, McConnell created the new normal of 60 votes threshold to even debate legislation – an insurmountable hurdle 99% of the time.
This all had one purpose: over 60% of Americans can’t name all 3 branches of government, and over 80% of Americans can only name one person in government: the President. Therefore, if the government stops working, people will hurt, then the people blame the White House and the President. It’s that simple. And it worked like a charm.
Now that the Republicans are in the Senate majority, McConnell and his lackeys have fallen victim to mass amnesia and are loudly decrying Democrat obstruction. The dude just can’t come to grips with the fact that Democrats are playing by his playbook, and obstructing him from unilaterally forcing the GOP platform down America’s throat. How dare they?
To be clear, I do not support obstruction and certainly do not support this 60 vote filibuster crap. It’s abusive, partisan, and has rendered the world’s greatest deliberative body into a non-deliberating, non-legislating, 24/7 partisan campaign fest.
It’s absolute bullshit, but as the head of his Party for the last decade-plus, this new Senate is McConnell’s Frankenstein. Rather than crying over Democrats, he should be crying with joy that his baby is all grownz up and has become the new normal.
Regardless of his ironic cry-babying, history will not-so-lovingly remember Mitch McConnell (along with the Orange Speaker) as the true author of “To Kill a Government.”
Thanks, Sleepy Turtle. Now stop crying.
Read: McConnell decries ‘obstructionism,’ irony dies | MSNBC.
Read MoreConfessions of a congressman: 9 secrets from the inside
HOUSE OF CARDSHARKS
An anonymous Congressman wrote this enlightening post for Vox, and I’ve reposted in its entirety because it’s a must read….
by A Member of Congress on February 5, 2015
I am a member of Congress. I’m not going to tell you from where, or from which party. But I serve, and I am honored to serve. I serve with good people (and some less good ones), and we try to do our best.
It’s a frustrating, even disillusioning job. The public pretty much hates us. Congress polls lower than Richard Nixon during Watergate, traffic jams, or the Canadian alt-rock band Nickelback. So the public knows something is wrong. But they often don’t know exactly what is wrong. And sometimes, the things they think will fix Congress — like making us come home every weekend — actually break it further.
So here are some things I wish the voters knew about the people elected to represent them.
1) Congress is not out of touch with folks back home
Congress is only a part-time job in Washington, D.C. An hour after the last vote, almost everyone is on the airplane home. Congress votes fewer than 100 days a year, spending the rest of the time back home where we pander to their constituents’ short-term interests, not the long-term good of the nation. Anyone who is closer to your district than you are will replace you. Incumbents stick to their districts like Velcro.
2) Congress listens best to money
It is more lucrative to pander to big donors than to regular citizens. Campaigns are so expensive that the average member needs a million-dollar war chest every two years and spends 50 percent to 75 percent of their term in office raising money. Think about that. You’re paying us to do a job and we’re spending that time you’re paying us asking rich people and corporations to give us money so we can run ads convincing you to keep paying us to do this job. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that money is speech and corporations are people, the mega-rich have been handed free loudspeakers. Their voices, even out-of-state voices, are drowning out the desperate whispers of ordinary Americans.
3) Almost everyone in Congress loves gerrymandering
Without crooked districts, most members of Congress probably would not have been elected. According to the Cook Political Report, only about 90 of the 435 seats in Congress are “swing” seats that can be won by either political party. In other words, 345 seats are safe Republican or Democratic seats. Both parties like it that way. So that’s what elections are like today: rather than the voters choosing us, we choose the voters. The only threat a lot of us incumbents face is in the primaries, where someone even more extreme than we are can turn out the vote among an even smaller, more self-selected group of partisans.
4) You have no secret ballot anymore
The only way political parties can successfully gerrymander is by knowing how you vote. Both parties have destroyed your privacy at the polling booth. Thanks to election rolls, we don’t know exactly whom you voted for, but we get pretty damn close. We know exactly which primaries and general elections you have voted in, and since there are so few realistic candidates in most elections, down or up ballot, we might as well know exactly who you voted for. Marry that data with magazine subscriptions, the kind of car you drive, and all sorts of other easily available consumer information that we’ve figured out how to use to map your political preferences and we can gerrymander and target subdivisions, houses — even double beds. Republicans want the male vote; Democrats the female vote.
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5) We don’t have a Congress but a parliament
Over the last several decades, party loyalty has increased to near-unanimity. If a member of Congress doesn’t vote with his or her party 99 percent of the time, he’s considered unreliable and excluded from party decision-making. Gone are the days when you were expected to vote your conscience and your district, the true job of a congressperson. Parliaments only work because they have a prime minister who can get things done. We have a parliament without any ability to take executive action. We should not be surprised we are gridlocked.
6) Congressional committees are a waste of time
With parliamentary voting, control is centralized in each party’s leadership. Almost every major decision is made by the Speaker or Minority Leader, not by committees. They feel it is vital to party success to have a national “message” that is usually poll-driven, not substantive. So why develop any expertise as a committee member if your decisions will only be overridden by party leadership? Why try to get on a good committee if you have already ceded authority to your unelected, unaccountable party leaders? The result is members routinely don’t show up at committee hearings, or if they do show up, it’s only to ask a few questions and leave. A lot of members fight for committees that will help them raise money, or get a sweet lobbying job later (more on that in a minute). The result is that the engine for informed lawmaking is broken.
7) Congress is a stepping-stone to lobbying
Congress is no longer a destination but a journey. Committee assignments are mainly valuable as part of the interview process for a far more lucrative job as a K Street lobbyist. You are considered naïve if you are not currying favor with wealthy corporations under your jurisdiction. It’s become routine to see members of Congress drop their seat in Congress like a hot rock when a particularly lush vacancy opens up. The revolving door is spinning every day. Special interests deplete Congress of its best talent.
8)The best people don’t run for Congress
Smart people figured this out years ago and decided to pursue careers other than running for Congress. The thought of living in a fishbowl with 30-second attack ads has made Congress repulsive to spouses and families. The idea of spending half your life begging rich people you don’t know for money turns off all reasonable, self-respecting people. That, plus lower pay than a first-year graduate of a top law school, means that Congress, like most federal agencies, is not attracting the best and the brightest in America.
9) Congress is still necessary to save America, and cynics aren’t helping
Discouragement is for wimps. We aren’t going to change the Constitution, so we need to make the system we have work. We are still, despite our shortcomings, the most successful experiment in self-government in history. Our greatest strength is our ability to bounce back from mistakes like we are making today. Get over your nostalgia: Congress has never been more than a sausage factory. The point here isn’t to make us something we’re not. The point is to get us to make sausage again. But for that to happen, the people have to rise up and demand better.
Original post: Confessions of a congressman: 9 secrets from the inside – Vox.
Read MoreThese Trade Partnership Agreements are NOT Good
The Transatlatic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) are two HUGE trade treaties being negotiated right now to shore up world-wide trade.
The problem is, these agreements are being “negotiated” in secret, and not by our elected officials.
Although it would certainly increase the market for American goods oversees, these deals would give corporations the power to overturn democratically decided laws and regulations (from environmental protections, food safety, worker safety, wages, etc) through regulatory “cooperation” and secret courts that only corporations would have access to.
Basically, our laws mean nothing if they hurt profits.
Please Mr. President, there are ways to help American businesses without handing over the keys to the world to corporate overlords.
READ: Home – Stop TTIP Stop TTIP.
READ: Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Daily Darwinism Reminder
With the Heat down 1 with almost 40 seconds left against the Timberwolves, Norris Cole proudly earned today’s DDR
Read MoreSuper Bowl Darwinism Reminders (GIFs)
Obviously, that playcall was one of the biggest FAILS in Super Bowl history.
These GIFs sum up the genius of it all perfectly.
Bill Nye The Science Guy Tackles DeflateGate (Video)
The great Bill Nye tackled Deflategate for Funny or Die, and the video has some gems.
“While we’re all obsessed with Deflategate, let’s keep in mind that there’s something about which you should give a fuck. Yes, like Tom Brady, the world is getting hotter and hotter, and you know why? Because we humans are pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”
After listing things that lead to climate change (including increased Carbon Dioxide emitting from the mouths of Brad/Belichick during press confereces defending their cheating), The Science guy gives a solution:
“You should vote for congressmen and senators that appreciate the threat of climate change and the rate at which the world is getting warmer, so that we can preserve the earth for humankind for generations to come.”
And about the balls? After storing some in the fridge to simulate the temperature drop, Nye concluded, “pretty much the same. The Patriots probably bent the rules a little bit.”
No shit.
Read MoreA Blueprint for Middle-Class Economics by President Barack Obama
President Obama laid out his Blueprint for Middle-Class Economics, and later Thursday in Philadelphia, Obama will elaborate on the details of his vision to fix America by helping the Middle-Class.
If only our entire government was as keen on helping all Americans as OUR President is.
A Blueprint for Middle-Class Economics
by, Barack Obama
America’s resurgence is real. With a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production, we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth.
Now we have to choose what we want that future to look like. Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and rising chances for everyone who makes the effort?
In my State of the Union Address last week, I focused on making sure middle-class economics helps more Americans get ahead in the new economy. As a country, we need to do more to make working families’ paychecks go farther, give Americans of every age the chance to upgrade their skills so they earn higher wages, and build the world’s most competitive economy for our businesses.
On Monday, I will present Congress with my budget, a plan for bringing middle-class economics into the 21st Century. First, I’m proposing we make the kinds of investments we need to continue to grow our economy and enhance our national security. We would establish new advanced manufacturing hubs, rebuild crumbling infrastructure, combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and lead a new age of precision medicine that uses cutting-edge science to find new treatments for diseases like diabetes and cancer. We would give working parents a chance to get ahead with guaranteed paid sick leave, and we’d give Americans of all ages a chance to earn new skills by making community college free for responsible students. And we should invest in a 21st century military to confront global challenges with strong and sustained American leadership. These proposals are pragmatic; they’re the types of things both parties should be able to support.
But where Democrats and Republicans often disagree is in how to pay for these kinds of ideas. I’m proud that since I took office, we’ve experienced the fastest period of sustained deficit reduction since the end of World War II. My budget will build on that progress with reforms to health programs, our tax code, and our broken immigration system. It would eliminate the trust fund loophole that allows the wealthiest Americans to avoid paying taxes on their unearned income, and use the savings to cut taxes for middle class families. If Congress passes my budget, our country would meet the key test of fiscal sustainability, with our debt declining as a share of our GDP.
Of course, to make these common-sense investments in our future without adding to our deficits, we need to turn the page on the manufactured crises that have defined the debates over our budget in recent years. Our recovery was held back when Congress shut down the government and risked the full faith and credit of the United States. We can’t afford to do that again. And we have to build on the bipartisan budget agreement I signed in 2013 that helped us end some of the arbitrary, across-the-board budget cuts known as “sequestration.” Last year’s agreement helped boost our economic growth without undermining fiscal responsibility. We were able to invest in key national priorities while cutting our deficits to their lowest level since 2007.
In order to get wages and incomes rising faster, we need to take the next step. That’s why my Budget will fully reverse the sequestration cuts for domestic priorities in 2016. It will match those investments with equal dollar increases for defense funding. If Congress rejects my plan and refuses to undo these arbitrary cuts, it will threaten our economy and our military. Investments in key areas will fall to their lowest level in ten years, adjusted for inflation, putting American research, education, infrastructure, and national security at risk. But if Congress joins me, we can make sure that ending sequestration is fully paid for by cutting inefficient spending and closing tax loopholes.
The Budget I’m sending to Congress is a blueprint for success in the new economy. I know that there are Republicans in Congress who disagree with my approach, and I look forward to hearing their ideas for how we can pay for what the middle class needs to grow. But what we can’t do is simply pretend that things like child care or college aren’t important, or that there’s nothing we can do to help middle class families get ahead.
Because we still have work to do. As a country, we have made it through some hard times. But we’ve laid a new foundation. We’ve got a new future to write. And I am eager to get to work.
Follow Barack Obama on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BarackObama
Originally posted: A Blueprint for Middle-Class Economics | Barack Obama.
Read MoreThe Real Oliver Queen? (Video)
Danish marksman Lars Andersen might just be the real Oliver Queen.
Long ago, Andersen realized that modern archery techniques suck – mainly because they’ve been adapted for competing, not warfare.
Utilizing methods thousands of years old, (ie. holding the bow differently, switching release points, carrying arrows in hand) Andersen can shoot at a ridiculous speed (he accurately fires 10 arrows in 4.9 seconds, or three in 0.6), hit any target, and accomplish a number of outrageous stunts like catching an enemy arrow in midair and shoot it back before hitting the ground or splitting arrows in two with one of his own.
Dude is the real Arrow, so better hope you haven’t failed your city.
Watch: Everything you know about archery is a lie—and this dude can prove it ‹ truthseekerdaily.com.
Read MoreBad Lip Reading: NFL 2015 (Video)
Another NFL Bad Lip Reading to help feed your fix for this football-less week.
Watch: “NFL 2015″ — A Bad Lip Reading of The NFL – YouTube.
Read MoreObama State of the Union 2015 Address Recap & Video
President Obama delivered the annual State of the Union address to Congress, and while the speech obviously hit all the Foreign policy and Domestic unrest buttons, the crux of Obama’s address dealt with strengthening the middle class and helping 99% of the country recover from the recession that only the top 1% has yet to recover from (and flourish).
Republicans not-so-shockingly hated on the Tax-the-Rich aspects of Obama’s plans, but the President wisely laid out a path to progress that opposition to will come off as purely political and anti- middle class.
As Obama humorously pointed out, “I have no more campaigns to run.” The Republican side of the chamber cheered, to which he responded with a smile: “I know because I won both of them.”
The Orator-in-Chief is clearly not spending his next 2 years as a lame duck. This infuriates Republicans who routinely insist the recent 2014 midterm elections somehow nullify the 2012 Presidential elections. Apparently, the twice-elected President isn’t allowed to do finish his 4 year term because a Congressional election happened in the meantime. Half our government really needs a Civics lesson.
In an ideal government, now that the Exec branch laid out its plans, Congress would DEBATE and NEGOTIATE to find the best way to accomplish the goals. Unfortunately, reality will show that negotiation will consist of a big SCREW YOU, and nothing will get done at all. Because Amurika.
While this State of the Union won’t be remembered for any HUGE declarations, it is still a good example of a strong progressive vision, as well as a plan from a leader that wants to see America progress to be the land of liberty and opportunity for ALL of us promised by our Founders.
Watch the full speech above, or read the full transcript below.
Read: State of the Union 2015: Full transcript – CNN.com.
READ: State of the Union 2015 fact check – POLITICO.
Watch: Obama State of the Union 2015 Address: President’s [FULL] SOTU Speech Today on 1/20/15 – YouTube.
Read More