Obama Calls His Budget Sweeping, Needed Change

WASHINGTON — President Obama described his expansive budget proposal on Saturday as “a threat to the status quo in Washington” and cast himself as a populist crusader willing to do battle with special interests to expand health care, curb pollution and improve education.

I call your attention to the radio address to the nation of today.

He is good, you can almost believe him but listen AND read the text. Also think about what has been done. I keep thinking about his 27 year old speech writer and other 27 year olds I have mentored...it is nice to say lots of stuff but when you have to be prepared to DEMONSTRATE THE INTEGRITY OF YOUR STATEMENTS...that is another thing.

On the other hand, LIMBAUGH WAS IN GREAT FORM TODAY, wish he didn't make so much and would run for President, really, I do. I am less suspect of actors as President than I was in 1979.

http://www.clipsandcomment.com/2009/02/28/video-president-obama-weekly-address-keeping-promises-the-budget-february-28/

I've made it easy, the text is listed verbatim below. If you don't believe this, here is the link. On the surface it sounds good actually but who pays and how, he appeals to the "middle class" but what he has meant so far is the lowest class and the immigrant class which by the way he intends to expand. The editorials in [ ] are mine.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/28/Keeping-Promises/

His actions have been different though: 1. A porky stimulus package full of waste, favoritism and long lasting socialist hooks 2. An EPA that intends to regulate farming dust 3. A treasury secretary that has done nothing but drive the stock market down. 4. A stock market that plunges with his every pronouncement 5. Cabinet nominees that don't pay their own taxes 6. An overt and obvious intent to cook the books on the next national census by simply taking it over 7. A blunder into the closing of Gitmo without the slightest idea of what to do otherwise 8. Iraq told him to stuff his attempt at sophomoric diplomacy 9. A tantrum when anybody questioned his stimulus 10. Wasteful trips on taxpayer dollars that burn obscene amounts of fuel while he tells us to economize and do with less

Somebody ought to be keeping a list of this junk. We'll need it for the impeachment.

Remarks of President Barack Obama Weekly Address Saturday, February 28th, 2009 Washington, DC

Two years ago, we set out on a journey to change the way that Washington works.

We sought a government that served not the interests of powerful lobbyists or the wealthiest few, but the middle-class Americans I met every day in every community along the campaign trail – responsible men and women who are working harder than ever, worrying about their jobs, and struggling to raise their families. [This isn't you, you all make too much and have too much to be counted in this group] In so many town halls and backyards, they spoke of their hopes for a government that finally confronts the challenges that their families face every day; a government that treats their tax dollars as responsibly as they treat their own hard-earned paychecks. [is that what the last $800 billion dollars was?]

That is the change I promised as a candidate for president. It is the change the American people voted for in November. [Only half voted for this, have they no representation or rights] And it is the change represented by the budget I sent to Congress this week. [increasing the budget and debt and deficit by Trillions is responsible?]

During the campaign, I promised a fair and balanced tax code that would cut taxes for 95% of working Americans,[this is a change, it was for 95% of ALL Americans but 95% of all Americans don't pay taxes] roll back the tax breaks for those making over $250,000 a year, and end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas. This budget does that. [and much more like changing depreciation schedules, increasing capital gains, raising inheritance taxes etc.]

I promised an economy run on clean, renewable energy that will create new American jobs, new American industries, and free us from the dangerous grip of foreign oil. This budget puts us on that path, through a market-based cap on carbon pollution that will make renewable energy the profitable kind of energy; through investments in wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient American cars and American trucks. [an appeal that suggests YOU won't have to pay for this, evil CORPORATIONS will]

I promised to bring down the crushing cost of health care – a cost that bankrupts one American every thirty seconds, forces small businesses to close their doors, and saddles our government with more debt. This budget keeps that promise, with a historic commitment to reform that will lead to lower costs and quality, affordable health care for every American. [so how is it that you increase taxes and reduce costs? I call BS on this. I also think the cost of health care is too high but how does this remedy that? How does a $643 billion "downpayment" on health care by the gvmt cut costs?]

I promised an education system that will prepare every American to compete, so Americans can win in a global economy. This budget will help us meet that goal, with new incentives for teacher performance and pathways for advancement; new tax credits that will make college more affordable for all who want to go; and new support to ensure that those who do go finish their degree.

This budget also reflects the stark reality of what we’ve inherited – a trillion dollar deficit, a financial crisis, and a costly recession. [You nor your minions seemed to have any problem doubling that deficit in the first few weeks of office, what are you doing different?] Given this reality, we’ll have to be more vigilant than ever in eliminating the programs we don’t need in order to make room for the investments we do need. I promised to do this by going through the federal budget page by page, and line by line. [last I checked the Congress returns a budget and you don't have line item veto so...?] That is a process we have already begun, and I am pleased to say that we’ve already identified two trillion dollars worth of deficit-reductions over the next decade. We’ve also restored a sense of honesty and transparency to our budget, which is why this one accounts for spending that was hidden or left out under the old rules.

I realize that passing this budget won’t be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington. I know that the insurance industry won’t like the idea that they’ll have to bid competitively to continue offering Medicare coverage, but that’s how we’ll help preserve and protect Medicare and lower health care costs for American families. I know that banks and big student lenders won’t like the idea that we’re ending their huge taxpayer subsidies, but that’s how we’ll save taxpayers nearly $50 billion and make college more affordable. [by taking those same subsidies and giviing them away directly to buy more votes] I know that oil and gas companies won’t like us ending nearly $30 billion in tax breaks, but that’s how we’ll help fund a renewable energy economy that will create new jobs and new industries. [and pass those same tax reductions on to you, the taxpayer in the form of higher costs] In other words, I know these steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business, and I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this:

So am I.

The system we have now might work for the powerful and well-connected interests that have run Washington for far too long, but I don’t. I work for the American people. [really? Apparently only a select number who actually voted for him] I didn’t come here to do the same thing we’ve been doing or to take small steps forward, I came to provide the sweeping change that this country demanded when it went to the polls in November. That is the change this budget starts to make, and that is the change I’ll be fighting for in the weeks ahead – change that will grow our economy, expand our middle-class, and keep the American Dream alive for all those men and women who have believed in this journey from the day it began.

Thanks for listening.

"I came to provide the sweeping change that this country demanded when it went to the polls in November."

Saul Alinsky on "Change"...
From Rules for Radicals, Alinsky outlines his strategy in organizing, writing:

"There's another reason for working inside the system. Dostoevsky said that taking a new step is what people fear most. Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and change the future. This acceptance is the reformation essential to any revolution."

Saul Alinsky, The Latter Rain (LatterRain.com is a "Liberation Theology" commie-left website -etl)
http://latter-rain.com/ltrain/alinski.htm
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"The Communist Party USA views the 2008 elections as a tremendous opportunity to defeat the policies of the right-wing Republicans and to move our country in a new progressive direction.

The record turnout in the Democratic Presidential primary races shows that millions of voters, including millions of new voters, are using this election to bring about real change. We wholeheartedly agree with them."

http://cpusa.org/article/articleview/907/1/4/
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A Landslide Mandate For Change

Congratulations on an extraordinary history making election!

We can think back with pride to decades of hard work toward our strategic goal of a big enough, broad enough and united enough labor and all-people’s movement that could overcome the ultra-right blockage to all progress. That all people’s movement has come to life, it is dynamic and it has the potential to keep growing.

The election of Barack Obama and a strengthened Congress creates new conditions in our country. There is now the possibility to shift gears and move forward. This new day requires us to further develop our tactics in order to continue to deepen and broaden labor and people’s unity.

There are thousands of experiences that we all have had in these momentous days, some large, some small, all of which express the enormity of change in thinking and readiness for involvement that is underway and that steels us for the battles ahead.

The tears of joy we all shared as crowds gathered to watch the election results here and throughout the world dramatize the new moment we are in.

http://cpusa.org/article/articleview/991/1/154/
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"Barack Obama told supporters that
'change has come to America' as he
claimed victory in a historic presidential election."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/election.president/index.html

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