To begin with, the sequester is all about the amount of spending growth over last years budget. We are ultimately talking about $85 billion dollars. Now consider the fact that Obama has been spending like a drunken sailor on shore leave at the tune of $5.8 trillion in his first term. Think about that for a moment……………… Finished contemplating that? Ok.
So we have this drunken sailor running around like Chicken Little, attempting to scare the country into believing the world is going to end over an $85 billion reduction in the increase of spending over last year. Yet now we learn from CNN that he is giving the Syrian rebels $60 million. You think maybe he should begin reducing his spending by saying no the Muslim Brotherhood terrorists, who controls the rebels which are fighting Assad in Syria? By the way, these are the very same terrorists who are also indiscriminately murdering Christians.Before you go any further, I strongly advise you to watch this short video (4 min) with Comedian Adam Carolla. Adam offers some great advice on how we as humans can start taking responsibility for things in our lives. It is a video I wish all politicians, especially Obama, would watch. After all, they all claim they only want to make the world a better place to live in. Well Adam gives some good advice on how we all can make sure that the life we live, will be one that leaves the world a better place after we are gone than it was before we arrived.
Interesting how the MSM has been allowing this sailor to get away without accepting any responsibility for the sequester plan that kicked in on March 1. After all, it's Obama who personally approved of the plan he is now blaming Republicans for. The plan was devised by House Budget director Jack Lew and White House legislative affairs director Rob Nabors. They then approached Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid with their proposal on July 27, 2011 precisely at 2:30 p.m. So the architects of this sequestration got Harry Reid to get House Speaker John Boehner to go along with it.
Rob Nabors has told others that they checked with the president before going to see Reid. Mandatory sequestration was the only action-forcing mechanism they could devise. Nabors has said, “We didn’t actually think it would be that hard to convince them” — Reid and the Republicans — to adopt sequestration. “It really was the only thing we had. There were not a lot of other options left on the table.”
In fact, the final deal reached between Vice President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in 2011 included an agreement that there would be no tax increases in the sequester in exchange for what the president was insisting on:
An agreement that the nation's debt ceiling would be increased for 18 months, so Obama would not have to go through another such negotiation in 2012, when he was running for reelection.White House Budget director Jack Lew stated in his confirmation hearing that the White House staff went back to the 1984 sequestration plan that Senator [Phil] Gramm and Senator [Warren] Rudman worked on as a basis for having a consequence
Now, the president asks that a substitute for sequester include not just spending cuts but also new revenue, he is once again asking for more spending, more taxes and is changing the game plan. This was not in the sequestration plan adopted in the Budget Control Act of 2011.
No one should be surprised by the way Obama has been accusing Republicans for this. After all, it is what he has been doing for over 4 years now. Below are some comments from Obama on various subjects where he blames others for the problem.
Oil PricesThere are many more, but I cannot list them. So I'll just list some news headlines that indicate how he blames everybody but himself for everything that is wrong. No links, but if you want to check them out, just Google them.
"The key thing that is driving higher gas prices is actually the world's oil markets and uncertainty about what's going on in Iran and the Middle East, and that's adding a $20 or $30 premium to oil prices."
- March 23, 2012
Solyndra
"Obviously, we wish Solyndra hadn't gone bankrupt. Part of the reason they did was because the Chinese were subsidizing their solar industry and flooding the market in ways that Solyndra couldn't compete. But understand, this was not our program per se. Congress-Democrats and Republicans-put together a loan guarantee program."
- March 22, 2012
Afghanistan
"When I came into office there has been drift in the Afghanistan strategy, in part because we had spent a lot of time focusing on Iraq instead. Over the last three years we have refocused attention on getting Afghanistan right. Would my preference had been that we started some of that earlier? Absolutely. But that's not the cards that were dealt. We're now in a position where, given our starting point, we're making progress."
- March 14, 2012
Iran
"When I took office, the efforts to apply pressure on Iran were in tatters. Iran had gone from zero centrifuges spinning to thousands, without facing broad pushback from the world. In the region, Iran was ascendant."
- March 4, 2012
The Economy
"We've made sure to do everything we can to dig ourselves out of this incredible hole that I inherited."
- February 23, 2012
The Deficit:
"We thought that it was entirely appropriate for our governments and our agencies to try to root out waste, large and small, in a systematic way. Obviously, this is even more important given the deficits that we've inherited and that have grown as a consequence of this recession."
- November 9, 2011
"When I first walked through the door, the deficit stood at $1.3 trillion, with projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. If we had taken office during ordinary times, we would have started bringing down these deficits immediately."
- February 1, 2010
The Debt:
"Look, we do have a serious problem in terms of debt and deficit, and much of it I inherited when I showed up."
- August 8, 2011
"I inherited a big debt."
- March 29, 2011
Unemployment:
"We inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression, a banking system on the verge of meltdown. We had lost 4 million jobs by the time I was sworn in and would then lose another 4 million in the few months right after I was sworn in before our economic policies had a chance to take root."
- May 10, 2011
The BP Gulf Oil Spill
"In this instance, the oil industry's cozy and sometimes corrupt relationship with government regulators meant little or no regulation at all. When Secretary Salazar took office, he found a Minerals and Management Service that had been plagued by corruption for years -- this was the agency charged with not only providing permits, but also enforcing laws governing oil drilling."
- May 27, 2010
Decline of the nuclear stockpile
"Among the many challenges our administration inherited was the slow but steady decline in support for our nuclear stockpile and infrastructure, and for our highly trained nuclear work force." (This one was offered up on Obama's behalf by Vice President Biden).
- January 29, 2010
The Election of Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.)
"The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office. People are angry, and they're frustrated. Not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years, but what's happened over the last eight years."
- January 20, 2010
Anti-Americanism
"I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies, and a belief that on certain critical issues, America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. And this has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for collective inaction."
- September 23, 2009
The Financial Crisis
"We inherited a financial crisis unlike any that we've seen in our time. This crisis crippled private capital markets and forced us to take steps in our financial system --- and with our auto companies --- that we would not have otherwise even considered."
- June 1, 2009
- Obama Blames Arab Spring and Japan's Earthquake on Struggling Economy and Job Situation, August 5th, 2011.
- Obama Blames Messy Democracy for His Failed Policies, August 3rd, 2011; remarks by the president at a DNC event.
- Obama Blames Congress for US Debt Mess; Obama news conference, June 29th, 2011.
- Obama Blames Republicans for Slow Pace on Immigration Reform, July 25th, 2011.
- Obama Blames Media for Lack of Compromise in Washington; remarks by Obama at a town hall meeting July 22nd, 2011.
- Obama Blames Technology for Struggling Economy; June 14th, 2011, NBC Today interview.
- Obama Blames Oil Spectators for High Oil Prices; April 19th, 2011, remarks by Obama at a town hall meeting.
- Obama Blames Reagan for America's Out of Control Debt and Spending; remarks by President Obama April 13th, 2011, Federal News Service.
- Obama Blames Bush and Congress for Lack of Fiscal Discipline, April 13th, 2011; remarks by Obama, Federal News Service.
- Obama Blames Bush-Congress for Putting Off Tough Decisions, August 17th, 2010; remarks at a fundraiser for Patty Murray.
- Obama Blames Bush for Tax Cuts, Deficits; Obama town hall meeting on the economy in Racine, Wisconsin, June 30th, 2010.
- Obama Blames Bush for Deficits, June 8th, 2010; remarks by Obama at a second fundraising reception for Senator Barbara Boxer.
- Obama Blames GOP for Events that Led to Gulf Oil Spill; remarks by President Obama June 3rd, 2010, Federal News Service.
- Obama Blames Republicans for America Not Being Able to Solve Problems; remarks by President Obama June 3rd, 2010, Federal News Service.
- Obama Blames Corporations for Everybody's Problems, June 3rd, 2010, Federal News Service. He said, "If you're a Wall Street Journal bank or an insurance company or oil company, you pretty much get to play by your own rules regardless of the consequences for everybody else."
- Obama Blames Bush for Overall Standing of American Economy, April 19th, 2010, at a fundraising reception for Senator Boxer.
- Obama Blames Bush, Congress for Deficits, February 1, 2010, delivering remarks on the budget.
- Obama Blames Bush for Regulatory Policies; January 17th, 2010, remarks by the president at an event with attorney general Martha Coakley in Massachusetts.
- Obama Blames Bush for Overall Standing of Economy and American Standing, April 19th of 2010. Obama delivering remarks at a fundraising reception for Senator Boxer and the DNC.
- Obama Blames Bush and Congress for Deficits, February 1st, 2010, in remarks delivered on the budget.
- Obama Blames Bush for Regulatory Policies, January 17th, 2010, remarks by the president at an event with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley.
- Obama Blames Wall Street Fat Cats for Economic Disaster, December 13th, 2009, CBS News' 60 Minutes.
- Obama Blames Bush for Overall Economy, September 27th, 2009, remarks by the president at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's annual dinner.
- Obama Blames Bush for Stifling Unions, September 7th, 2009; remarks by the president at the AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic.
- Obama Blames Bush for Prescription Drug Bill; remarks by the president, health insurance reform town hall, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, August 11th, 2009.
- Obama Blames Bush for Jobs, July 22nd, 2009; news conferences by the president.
- Obama Blames Bush for Failure to Recognize Europe's Leading Role in the World, April 3rd, 2009; remarks by President Obama at a Strasbourg [France] town hall, and in those remarks he said this: "So we must be honest with ourselves. In recent years we've allowed our alliance to drift. I know that there have been honest disagreements over policy, but we also know that there's something more that has crept into our relationship." "In America there's a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world, instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive of you." That's Barack Obama, speaking in Europe at Strasbourg, blaming Bush for a failure to recognize Europe's leading role in the world, April 3rd, 2009.
- Obama Blames Bush for Deficits, February 23rd, 2009; Obama delivering opening remarks at fiscal responsibility summit.
- Candidate Obama Blames Fox News for his Elitist Label, New York Times, October 2008.
- Candidate Obama Blames Fox News for Likely Loss in Kentucky Primary, May 2008.
- Candidate Obama Blames Washington for High Gas Prices, April 25th, 2008; remarks of Senator Barack Obama, press availability on energy plan, 25 April 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment