Next we’re going to hear news reporters tell about the remarkable success the Republicans have had in convincing people that the earth is round, not flat.
The president’s tactical turnabout is a response to the Republicans’ remarkable success during the past two weeks both in influencing the congressional debate over the Democrats’ stimulus plan, and shaping a public image of the bill as pork-laden and ineffective.
Obama then:
Issues are never simple. One thing I’m proud of is that very rarely will you hear me simplify the issues.
Mr. Obama’s recent courtship of Republicans gave way to blunt derision of their ideas for the stimulus, as he tried to raise the political pressure to pass a measure with a price tag of over $900 billion in the Senate.
Republican proposals are “rooted in the idea that tax cuts alone can solve all our problems, that government doesn’t have a role to play, that half measures and tinkering are somehow enough, that we can afford to ignore our most fundamental economic challenges,” the president said in an address at the Department of Energy Thursday. “Those ideas have been tested, and they have failed.”
(The “Obama then” statement is from page 92 of Pocket Obama.)
It’s a good thing we have a First Amendment to protect us from Senator Debbie Stabenow’s ideas about “accountability” and “responsibility.”
SENATOR DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): I think it’s absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it’s called the Fairness Standard, whether it’s called something else — I absolutely think it’s time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves. I mean, our new president has talked rightly about accountability and transparency. You know, that we all have to step up and be responsible. And, I think in this case, there needs to be some accountability and standards put in place.
She doesn’t need to go looking for some other phrase than Fairness Doctrine. There is already one in the dictionary: censorship.
Accountability, responsibility, and standards in speech: Those are things that are prohibited by the First Amendment. Transparency we already have.
Maybe if she didn’t have such a crappy ideology that won’t stand up to scrutiny, she wouldn’t feel such a need to stifle the speech of dissidents.
Pocket Obama (page 47):
My faith is one that admits some doubt
But not, apparently, about his huge stimulus package. News item:
President Obama abruptly changed tactics Wednesday in his bid to revive the economy, setting aside his bipartisan stance and pointedly blaming Republicans for demanding what he cast as discredited “piecemeal measures.”
Related news article: “Is President Barak Obama still Smoking“?
Happy day! My Pocket Obama from Amazon arrived.
One page contains these words:
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form … without permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
The very next page has this:
In order to master the President’s ideology, it is essential to study many of the basic concepts over and over again, and it is best to memorize important statements and apply them repeatedly.
Together we can bring about the next great chapter in the American story.
Together is right. The best way to memorize material like this is together, with other people, preferably all standing in neat rows and columns, looking straight ahead, each holding a Pocket Obama in the left hand, just below chin level.
But there is a problem with this picture. Pocket Obama has no page numbers. It also cites no sources for the quotations, but that is less important. What is important is that without page numbers the group leader cannot say, “Everyone turn to page 32 and recite:”
Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.
But it’s probably just as well. There will always be one person who instead of reciting the above words will recite from a different place, “I won. I will trump you on that.”
I wish President Obama had been thinking of his domestic policies when in his inaugural address he spoke in favor of “the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.”
They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
Humility and restraint are two words that will never apply to the huge pork package sometimes known as a stimulus plan. Unfortunately Obama has the the same hubris with which George W. Bush to war in Iraq, except that this time, it’s taking us to war on our domestic economy.
I see that Obama is desperately trying to get some Republicans to sign on, too, so he can have someone to blame for the failures of his plan. It worked for George W. Bush — in recent years his followers kept pointing to Bush’s congressional critics, pointing out how it was a war they had voted in favor of. So I can see why Obama wants to try the same ploy the other way around.
Or, “Stimulus plan explained.”
I’ve been having trouble figuring out how borrowing massive amounts of money is going to solve a problem caused by too much lending of easy money, with the risks having been underwritten by the federal government.
This morning I got an e-mail that explains how the stimulus plan really works. The subject line was: “Convert Your Car To Run On WATER!!” It contained the following valuable information.
Did you know that you can convert your car to a water-burning car? You can run your car on water, supplemental to gasoline, to increase your car’s fuel efficiency and reduce your fuel costs significantly.
- Works on gas or diesel powered cars, vans, trucks, and SUVs. (Not tested on hybrids)
Your car will become at least 40% more fuel efficient and produce cleaner emissions.- Convert your car for the lowest price. Similar conversion kits cost up to $600 and up!
Works with plain tap water. No need for distilled water or special water additives!- We’ve simplified the process. The steps are easy, and the materials are affordable.
Our easy conversion guide will show you how to use electricity from your car’s battery to separate water into a gas called HHO (2 Hydrogen + 1 Oxygen). HHO, also called Brown’s Gas or Hydroxy, burns smoothly and provides significant energy – while the end product is just H2O! HHO provides the atomic power of Hydrogen, while maintaining the stability of water.
Obama nod to mortgage relief targets root of woes
Ah, yes. That will definitely get to the root of things. It’s sort of like getting to the root cause of crime by setting up an academy where young kids can be abused and tormented into becoming sociopaths, as well as instructed in the finer points of lawbreaking. That would be targetting the root cause of crime.
By Mark Felsenthal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s pledge to help housing with a new financial plan spotlights the root cause of the deep U.S. recession and may earn public goodwill as he balances massive bank bailouts with help for homeowners.
Obama promised on Saturday to lower mortgage costs as part of a financial rescue effort he is unveiling soon to boost the battered economy, which has been slammed by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the harshest decline in growth in more than 20 years and the deepest slump in employment since 1945.
Well, at least the writer is honest enough not to say it’s going to do anything to remove the root cause of the problem.