Video: Pres. Obama’s Q&A At Republican House Conference

President Obama recently attended the Republican House Conference where he took questions from republican house members. It was unprecedented for a president to go into the “lions (or gopher’s) den” and answer criticisms or concerns.   It was a really exciting affair no matter if you’re republican or democrat.  Here’s the full video and the question and answer session starts after his opening remarks at around time 20:00.

Pres. Obama, once again showed why people liked him to begin with. He is not only a policy wonk, he’s quick on his feet and the fact that he didn’t need a teleprompter, really refutes the republican argument against him.

In my opinion, if you listen to the republican’s questions they seem to be asking the same questions and throwing in talking points.  They all seem to ask, “Don’t you know about our ideas?”.  The issue is that we do know about their ideas.  Their ideas are just ideas if they can’t offer ways on how to implement them.  I think republicans have a few good and basic ideas.  For example, tort-reform and insurance across state lines.  But, as a whole, they are unwilling to compromise, they fight back with slogans and sound bites like “death panels” or “socialism”, which gets us no where.  Case in point was when Rep. Jeb Hensarling gave a loaded talking point, which will most likely be used during the campaign.  Nonetheless, Pres. Obama slams him,

I think the GOP knew this was a mistake to even have this question and answer session.  Pres. Obama was able to breakdown all the republican talking points and future campaign slogans.  He looked like an adult while the house republicans looked like whiny kids.  Here’s Luke Russert reporting that a house republican told him that he thought letting the cameras in the conference was a mistake,

Other proof of this might be the fact that republican news network, Fox News, cut out of Pres. Obama’s Q&A just to attack him.

It’s pretty obvious that Pres. Obama came out looking good, I mean…he only had the facts on his side!  But no matter what side of the aisle you support, one must admit this was a spectacle that our democracy needs more of.  Not only is it informative, because the republicans did get their points across even though Pres. Obama pretty much refuted them, but it’s a debate that was fun to watch.  All I know is that it has been a great few days for democrats, first the State of the Union (which was awesome) but now, this (which is more awesome).  What more could we ask for?  Now lets get back to business.

Bookmark or Share this post

Random Opinions

Scapegoating Bernanke

So for whatever reason, after a year of the Obama administration democrats want Ben Bernanke out.  Only a few democrats have come out in support while others are either opposed or not taking a position.  The economy would have been ten times worse without him.  Democrats and republicans need to put forth better policies to help the economy.  Of course, since 2010 elections are approaching, no one wants to admit their shortcomings.

What The Hell Is Wrong With A Spending Freeze…

…on certain unnecessary (at least for now) things.  The far left seems to be up and arms about a spending freeze that Pres. Obama plans to implement.  The Maddows and Olbermanns of the world seem to not like balancing the budget.  Granted, a spending freeze won’t solve our problems, but it will help save money that can be best used in other places.  I truly don’t get it.  Maybe you (reader) can explain the problem here.  Especially seeing as how we have little details yet on what spending will be frozen.

Conservatives v. Conservatives

Glenn Beck called out conservative activist James O’Keefe for wiretapping Landrieu’s office.  He called him insanely stupid and illegal.  Hopefully more conservatives will speak out against such actions but I doubt it.  I’d like to make a prediction that conspiracy theories will start to fly.  I mean, conservatives love to place blame on anyone else that isn’t conservative.  Case in point, Rep. King,

Ahhh…the hypocrisy…  Meanwhile, Fox News, the biased conservative “news” network, is sticking up for O’Keefe.

Crist

Will he ever get with the times and switch to the democratic party?  The speculation is up since Crist plans on joining Pres. Obama during his Tampa visit, even though he’s in a tough race for the Senate republican primary and it looks like he won’t be the republican to win it.  Crist is like Schwarzenegger…..politician with an identity crisis.

Well, that’s it and don’t forget to watch the State of the Union address.  Oh and I’ll get back to regularly blogging when I’m not being so busy

Bookmark or Share this post

Scott Brown Thinks Pres. Obama Born Out Of Wedlock

Brown is just another Teabagging Limbaugh Republican.  This video surfaced from a 2008 interview showing that Scott Brown is just another rightwing lunatic. It’s important to realize that this was during the time where the rightwing fringe lunatics were claiming that Pres. Obama was not a “real American”. Obviously those nutjob conspiracy theorists were wrong and Scott Brown went right along with them.

Video was found and made popular by BlueMassGroup.  This FALSE claim that Obama was born out of wedlock is primarily used but those that are Birthers.  You know, the ones that think Obama was born in Kenya and that his birth certificate is fake.  Scott Brown is another republican obviously heavily influenced by the birther movement. What a disgrace to have someone like this in the Massachusetts senate seat.

Bookmark or Share this post

Scott Brown Sides With Big Banks But Not 9/11 Workers

No surprise that now the campaign between him and Martha Coakley is heating up, we’re starting to find out that Scott Brown isn’t just another pretty face and nude model.  He’s another slime politician that would rather side with Big Banks that are not willing to pay back the money tax payers used to bail them out.  We’re also finding out that he was only 1 of 3 state senators to vote against funding 9/11 workers.  Link to roll call is below,

Scott Brown votes “NO” on funding for 9/11 workers

I’m sure Big Banks that most likely gave him a nice loan on all FIVE of his houses are very precious to him but his priorities are not what people of Massachusetts need.  This is from Boston.com,

She challenged her opponent to take a position on President Obama’s new proposal for a bailout tax on the nation’s largest banks for up to 10 years, designed to recoup taxpayers’ investment in the recovery.

“I would support this proposal because it holds the largest Wall Street firms accountable for their abuses that caused millions of people to lose their jobs, as well as it works to recover the hard-earned taxpayer dollars of the middle class,” Coakley said in a statement. Asked by a reporter, Brown initially declined to state his position on Obama’s proposal. Later, his campaign released a statement saying he opposes it. “Scott Brown is opposed to higher taxes, especially in the midst of a severe recession,” his campaign said. “Martha Coakley’s tax-raising policies will make it harder to get our economy back on the right track.”

Wow, so either he doesn’t know what’s going on in Washington right now or he’s truly on the side of Big Banks.  Either way, I think he needs to go back to just being a model because obviously, as mentioned earlier on this blog, he’s not really “well-versed” on the issues.  I know exactly what his plans are if he goes to Washington.  It’s to sit in Congress, hang out with lobbyists and do nothing.  Like most republican senators, he’ll just oppose whatever the president says without reading the bills, so he can fit in with the rest of his fellow republicans.  Meanwhile, Martha Coakley has been known to fight against the corruption on Wall Street.

Another senator that puts the needs of wall street fat cats over the needs of average Americans just wanting to help others is not what’s needed in Congress.   The underlying issue here is why does Scott Brown think Wall Street shouldn’t pay back money the tax payers gave them?  Are bonuses more important than the person that needs gas to get to work, the person that’s living on only 1-2 small meals a day, or the person that’s struggling to find money for their kids’ college?  This is the question that people in Massachusetts have to ask themselves when they go to the polls.

Bookmark or Share this post

Scott Brown and Martha Coakley On The Issues

Visual proof alone will tell you the most important difference between Scott Brown and Martha Coakley is that Scott Brown lacks understanding and specificity of the issues.  Before I continue here’s a snapshot of their senate websites, as you see, Scott Brown’s site looks as though he doesn’t have much to offer.  Click to images to enlarge,

Here’s their positions on a couple of many important issues.

Economy

Scott Brown’s position and goals on this issue boils down to 3 sentences.  His first sentence is “I am a free enterprise advocate who believes that lower taxes can encourage economic growth.”.  If only he had some substance.  I’m pretty sure many people are free enterprise advocates, but what does that mean?  What does he plan to do in order to lower taxes and increase growth?  He offers nothing!  But on a side note, the guy is a struggling man that has to pay bills for all FIVE of his houses.  He also chooses to NOT tax Big Banks and NOT get tax payer money back.  He also voted against Red Cross aid that is now helping people in Haiti.

Martha Coakley has a plan for middle class and small business relief.  She also has ideas on how to regulating the financial markets, providing security and predatory lending.   A major issue which she talks about is bring jobs back to her state.  Coakley has brought millions of dollars back to her state by fighting Wall Street.

Health Care

Scott Brown’s stance is to basically kill the bill and not offer any alternatives.  On his site, I can’t really pinpoint anything that he’d offer that’s better than the current legislation.  EDIT:  Whoops, just found out, Scott Brown doesn’t provide health insurance for his campaign staffers.  Guess we know his position on health care is…no health care.

Martha Coakley mentions 3 goals, expanding coverage, reducing costs and providing quality health care.  It’s also about accountability within the health care system and providing a means for the system to be efficient.

These aren’t the only differences between you, I recommend anyone who votes in MA to look at the substance and not the smoke and mirrors.  It’s important to see what you’re getting before you vote.  With Scott Brown, his stances on issues are very generic, easy campaign slogans, stuff we have all heard before.  At least with Coakley, you see what you’re getting, you can hold her accountable because she has told you where she stands.

Scott Brown looks nice, sounds nice, but the substance is greatly lacking along with his accomplishments.  And remember, though it’s hard to find the word “republican” on Scott Brown’s site, he is one and he’s providing the same republican who’s going to sit in Congress and be an obstructionist and do nothing for his state, like most republicans right now are.

To read more:

Marth Coakley’s Site

Scott Brown’s Site

Bookmark or Share this post

Scott Brown Scared Of Pres. Obama?

Scott Brown doesn’t seem to be fit for a little political competition.  Which doesn’t look good when he’s a politician and all.  How will he be able to fight for the people of Massachusetts if he doesn’t “like” that this Senate race is getting tough.

Scott Brown has voice his opinion that he doesn’t think Pres. Obama should campaign for Martha Coakley (his competitor).  This is from the Boston Herald,

“He should stay away and let Martha and I discuss the issues one on one,” Brown said. “The machine is coming out of the woodwork to get her elected. They’re bringing in outsiders, and we don’t need them.”

If anything this just shows that Pres. Obama is still seen a major competition for the GOP.  His concerns didn’t help because Pres. Obama is indeed coming to Massachusetts.

Bookmark or Share this post