From the Oval office last week
Promoting what he called a "balanced" plan to reduce the nation's $14 trillion-plus debt, President Obama said today that budget cuts should not target infrastructure that he said is already crumbling and threatening economic growth.
[color=#0000FF]CRUMBLING? DOES HE KNOW OF INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS CRUMBLING? HE SHOULD REPORT IT WITH SPECIFICS. [/color]
<img src="http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/the-oval/2011/04/19/aa-obamax-inset-community.jpg">
Citing the 2007 collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis, Obama told a town hall in Virginia that improvements must be made to all the nation's bridges, roads, and airports.
THE ROADS THAT I DRIVE ON ARE IN GOOD SHAPE. THEY EVEN REPAVE ROADS THAT DON'T NEED REPAVING.
"We cut transportation by another third, and what's going to happen to America?," Obama said. "We're just going to have potholes everywhere? We're just going to have bridges collapsing everywhere? Are we going to continue to have airports that are substandard?"
HE MAKES IT SOUND AS IF ALL OF THE BRIDGES IN THE US WILL COLLAPSE TOMORROW AT 5:00 PM.
EXAGGERATION TO MAKE A POINT OR TO SCARE THE PUBLIC INTO THINKING THAT THEY "BETTER PAY UP NOW OR ELSE!"
The president also said that wealthier Americans are willing to pay higher taxes to address the nation's fiscal problems without hurting infrastructure, education, and other programs to help the economy overall.
WHO? NAMES PLEASE? HE MADE 1.7 MILLION AND ONLY GAVE 14% TO CHARITIES. THAT LEAVES HIM WITH A GUARANTEED LIFE INCOME AND HE STILL NEEDS 1.4 MILLION TO LIVE ON?
"I want to live in a society that's fair," he said. "Not just out of charitable reasons, but because it improves my life."
IS IT FAIR FOR SOME PEOPLE AND NOT FOR OTHERS NOW? DOES HE FEEL THAT HE IS NOT TREATED FAIRLY? HOW WILL THIS IMPROVE HIS LIFE? LIST 10 THINGS THAT WOULD IMPROVE THE LIVES OF ANY AMERICAN. WHAT COMES TO MIND FIRST. PEACE COMES TO MY MIND FIRST. HEALTH SECOND. EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES THIRD (I EDUCATE MYSELF DAILY). FINISH THE LIST AND STATE HOW EACH ONE WILL IMPROVE YOUR LIFE.
Some highlights:
10:33 a.m. -- The president greets about 550 people, mostly students, gathered at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale. He's not very far from D.C., but he tells the crowd, "this gives me a chance to get out of the immediate environs of Washington."
10:37 a.m. -- Obama touts his debt cutting plan, saying it cuts spending and reduces annual budget deficits. "America has to start living within its means," Obama says, otherwise the debt will [has] severely damage the economy. He also talks about "shared responsibility," including cuts to the defense budget as well as domestic programs. Also "reform of the tax code" -- including a bigger share for "the wealthiest Americans." All these proposals draw big applause from the college-age audience.
GOOGLE "DEFENSE SPENDING BY COUNTRY" AND THEN CLICK ON IMAGES ON THE LEFT. THEN GOOGLE "DEFENSE SPENDING BY YEAR" AND CLICK ON IMAGES ON THE LEFT. LOOK FOR A DEFENSE SPENDING VERSES DEBT AND IT WILL BE HARD TO FIND. HE WANTS TO RAISE THE DEBT CEILING OVER 15 TRILLION. REMEMBER THAT THE DEFICIT IS HOW MUCH PUT ON THE 'CREDIT CARD' (COMMIT TO PAY OTHER COUNTRIES MOSTLY) EVERY YEAR. THE BALANCE ON THE CREDIT CARD IS OUR DEBT. IT TOTALS OVER 15 TRILLION. WELL OVER $50,000 PER TAXPAYER. AND HE WANTS TO RAISE THAT. OH AND BY THE WAY HE DOESN'T SEEM TO WANT TO TAX THE OIL COMPANY PROFITS.
THE GOVERNMENT PUT UP A TAX-RECEIPT CALCULATOR (
HTTP://WWW.WHITEHOUSE.GOV/ISSUES/TAXES/TAX-RECEIPT ) THAT MAKES IT APPEAR THAT DEFENSE SPENDING IS ONLY 26% OF THE BUDGET. GOOGLE "DEFENSE SPENDING" IN QUOTES AND CLICK ON IMAGES. THE BUDGET IS 59% TO DEFENSE!
10:45 a.m. -- Obama says he plans "some tough cuts to some worthy programs," but maintains essentials like education, energy, and research and development. His education plans draw the most applause. Says it would be "huge mistake" to "balance the budget on the backs of students."
HE HAS BEEN PRESIDENT SINCE 2008. WHAT HAS DONE SO FAR FOR EDUCATION?
10:50 a.m. -- Obama: "The debate isn't whether we reduce our deficits -- the debate is how we reduce our deficits."
He also expresses confidence the parties will come together, despite their vast differences.
Question time.
10:54 a.m. -- A college student asks how much the eduction budget will get dinged by his plan to cut deficits by $4 trillion over 12 years.
Obama says he wants the education budget to draw up, earning applause. That includes community colleges such as this one, he notes. He also stresses that education money should be tied to better school performance: "We need more money, but we also need more reform."
What does 'more reform' mean? Will he only increase spending if we have 'more reform'?
11:00 a.m. -- A man who says he has lived overseas notes that Medicare won't pay for treatment abroad.
Obama uses the question to blast Republicans plans for Medicare, saying it will cost services to all Americans.
I thought he campaigned on single payer health care.
11:08 a.m. -- A woman who says she's eight years from Social Security wonders: Will it be there then?
Obama says the big drivers of deficits are health care costs, including Medicare and Medicaid. Social Security is easier to solve, he says as he assures the woman it will be there when she retires.
It won't be there at the rate it is going. He should present the lady with a graph and some numbers.
Even if nothing is done, Obama says recipients should get at least 75 cents on the dollar, as the system starts paying out more money than it takes in. Obama says "modest changes" and "tweaking" will address that concern. Notes there are no Social Security taxes above a little more than $100,000 of annual income.
So he is saying that we loose! Do you want to pay in to a system that will only return 75 cents for every dollar you pay in?
11:12 a.m. -- A student asks about clean energy programs, citing the specters of high gas prices and dependence on foreign oil.
Obama discusses his energy plans, one he says is based on "long term solutions" that are diverse. That includes domestic oil production, but that will only dent the problem. So the U.S. should look at trying to develop alternatives such as bio-fuels and electric cars.
Should? What has he been doing. He continues to say we should, or we are going to next year. What has his administration accomplished since 2008?
Other possible alternative sources of energy: Coal, which is plentiful but pollutes the atmosphere; solar and wind power, which are still expensive; and natural gas, which is still difficult to extract from the ground.
"The point is, there's not going to be a single silver bullet," Obama says.
In other words "I don't know what we are going to do!"
11:23 a.m. -- Last question: A woman asks about the "Gang of Six," a group of senators who are developing their own cut-the-debt plan.
Obama says there is a "huge opportunity to work together" on this problem. For one thing, everyone agrees it's a problem. The question is, "how do we do it." Obama says his approach is "balanced" between program cuts and taxes. Says most wealthy Americans are willing to pay more for a better society and fiscal situation.
"I want to live in a society that's fair," he says, noting that Republicans want to cut the wealthy's taxes even further.
At another point, Obama talks about the need to upgrade U.S. infrastructure, citing the recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
Otherwise, "what's going to happen America?" Obama said. "We're just going to have pot holes everywhere -- we're gonna have bridges collapsing everywhere?"
From: The Oval
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