Free Republic

Obama campaign: Consumers ‘don’t blame’ the president for gas pricesBy Ben Geman - 03/02/12 10:26 AM ET A top official with President Obama’s reelection campaign expressed confidence Friday that consumers won’t punish Obama politically for rising gas prices and touted “significant accomplishments” on energy, including tougher auto mileage rules. “They don’t blame the president. They understand what’s going on with the global marketplace,” said Stephanie Cutter, the president’s deputy campaign manager, on MSNBC. “But they also acknowledge that we have to do everything we can to make sure that America is independent and not tied to foreign oil and they...

Senator Obama: Rising gas prices are President Bush’s fault! President Obama: Rising gas prices are someone else’s fault! ,,,,,,, President Barack Obama will try to head off the political impact of rising gasoline prices as Republicans vow to make the price at the pump an issue in the 2012 election campaign. Obama plans events this week focusing on his administration’s efforts to expand domestic exploration and development of alternative energy sources to combat cyclical spikes in gas prices. He’s going to blame China, Iran, speculators, people who fail yo properly inflate their tires and get tune ups, anybody but himself....

Everyone who's ever gone to school should know how to spell "school." But someone who plastered a school crossing sign on the street in front of a New York City high school got it wrong. The New York Post reports ( http://nyp.st/zzfXDj) that the big white letters in front of Marta Valle High School on the Lower East Side say "SHCOOL X-NG."

ANALYSIS/OPINION: There is one person — one American among the 300 million of us — who is not to blame for the state of the union. Everyone else, each of you, in some small or large way, bears some share of the blame, but not this guy. Not one little bit. This guy is Barack Obama. He is not the least bit to blame for the dismal state of the U.S. economy. George W. Bush is, for sure, and that evil Dick Cheney, oh, no doubt. House Speaker John A. Boehner — evil, too — is, of course, to blame....

<p>Sen. Dick Lugar said challenges by Tea Party candidates are partly to blame for the Republicans not having a majority in the Senate.</p> <p>“Republicans lost the seats before in Nevada and New Jersey for example and Colorado where there were people who claimed that they wanted somebody who was more of their Tea Party aspect, but in doing so they killed off the Republican chances for majority,” he said. “This is one of the reasons why we have a minority in the Senate right now.”</p>

Dems, White House blame Tea Party, say GOP shifted on tax cutBy Alicia M. Cohn - 12/19/11 09:45 AM ET The White House and Senate Democrats are going into overdrive to blame the possible death of a payroll tax cut on House Republicans and the Tea Party. The messaging effort comes ahead of a Monday night vote in the House, which is expected to reject a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut that was approved by the Senate on Saturday. In separate appearances on morning talk shows, White House officials and senior Democrats sought to portray Speaker John Boehner...

"Layoffs too often became permanent, not part of the business cycle. And these changes didn't just affect blue collar workers. If you were a bank teller or a phone operator or a travel agent, you saw many in your profession replaced by ATMs and the internet," President Obama said at a campaign event in Kansas.

Italy's new technocrat government on Sunday night adopted an aggressive €30bn (£26bn) austerity package in a bid to stave off the crisis enveloping the country. Prime minister Mario Monti’s coalition gave the green light to the package of tax hikes and pension reforms after bringing forward a cabinet meeting scheduled for today. “We have had to share the sacrifices, but we have made great efforts to share them fairly,” Mr Monti said. The wide-ranging budget cuts are aimed at shoring up Italy’s strained finances and stemming the sovereign debt crisis that threatens to engulf the eurozone. Mr Monti, who said...

For some reason, Barack Obama has decided that part of his path to re-election will involve blaming his failures on the American people, who can be insulted into loving him again. This narrative involves convincing us that the American spirit was so degenerate by 2008 that not even the dazzling skills of the LIghtworker could save us… at least, not in a mere four years. In September, Obama declared that it was his unhappy duty to preside over “a great, great country that has gotten a little soft, and we didn’t have that same competitive edge that we needed over...

For some reason, Barack Obama has decided that part of his path to re-election will involve blaming his failures on the American people, who can be insulted into loving him again. This narrative involves convincing us that the American spirit was so degenerate by 2008 that not even the dazzling skills of the LIghtworker could save us… at least, not in a mere four years. In September, Obama declared that it was his unhappy duty to preside over “a great, great country that has gotten a little soft, and we didn’t have that same competitive edge that we needed over...

The Traveling President is on another international tour. This time to the South Pacific. He is going TO give assurances to South Pacific nations in regard to their economic concerns. As for our economic concerns, the President is is telling the American people that Asia’s production and exporting of goods to our country, that we are supposed to buy with money from jobs we don't have, will create American jobs. Huh? Somehow he still does not believe that American production of goods and the export of those goods for other countries to buy creates American jobs. Good jobs for middle...

WCCO-TV of Minnesota, one of the several local news stations to interview the president, asked Obama when it is time for him to start blaming himself for economic woes. Relevant transcript below: WCCO-TV correspondent: "When I finally did have a chance to talk to President Obama one-on-one, I asked him at what point does the economy become his fault and not his predecessor's?" President Barack Obama: "It's always my responsibility. I'm less interested in allocating blame then just making sure that we're taking every step we need to, to move the economy forward. And, you know, traditionally after big financial...

Barney Frank Unhappy With Occupy Wall Streeters Who ‘Blame Me For Consequence Of Their Not Voting’by Colby Hall | 8:17 am, October 18th, 2011 On Monday night Rachel Maddow explained how the Occupy Wall Street movement defied some traditional party lines, or in her words, protesters “aren’t exactly delighted with Democrats either.” She then introduced Rep. Barney Frank, who shared some frustrations with the protesters, saying “I’m unhappy when people didn’t vote last time blame me for the consequences of their not voting.” Frank echoed the thoughts made last week by former Gov. Ed Rendell who basically asked where were...

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain had harsh words for the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and the people who blame Wall Street for their financial situations. Cain would also claim that the “Occupy Wall Street” protests are possibly a planned distraction to make people forget about President Obama’s role in handling the economy. Talking Points Memo reports: Cain went on to blame the unemployed for their woes, saying, “if you don’t have a job and you’re not rich, blame yourself!”: CAIN: I don’t have facts to back this up, but I happen to...

As the Congressional hearing on the failed solar energy manufacturer Solyndra gets under way, it's already clear that the Obama administration is prepared to fall back on a tried and tested strategy: blaming Bush. In prepared testimony released ahead of the hearing before the House Energy and Commerce committee, the director of the Department of Energy's loans office, Jonathan Silver, emphasizes that the program that eventually granted a $535 million loan guarantee to the troubled firm was created during the Bush administration. Not only that, Silver says,

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's use of a rare joint session of Congress to deliver a jobs speech on Thursday reflects a political strategy to try to blame Republicans for an economy at risk of sliding back into recession. The choice of venue -- the Republican-controlled House of Representatives -- is aimed at sending a clear message to voters that if his plan to reduce high unemployment is blocked by Congress, it is Republicans and not the White House standing in the way of job growth. Obama's speech is part of a 2012 election strategy to shift some of the...

A day after clashing with a tea party activist, President Obama Tuesday told crowds here that it was “a faction in Congress” that was to blame for blocking economic progress. At a rural jobs forum, Mr. Obama ticked off a list of pending bills that he said would create jobs. “The only thing that’s preventing us from passing the bills I just mentioned is the refusal of a faction in Congress to put country ahead of party,” the president said in a thinly veiled reference to House Republicans backed by the tea party. “That has to stop.” ... Mr. Obama...

Did you ever know anyone who no matter what happens it is never their fault? We all have met people like this. Most of these people were children or immature adults. We have one in the White House now.

Makes me want to puke..

I got home about, oh, I don't know, two o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday. I was exhausted, and I sat down and I started catching up on some stuff, and I got a note saying ranking member wanted to talk to me. So the ranking member called and spelled out the deal here -- what it was, and why it was a winner, and the best we could do with the one-third government that we control and all that -- and the best thing is that we're assured now of avoiding default. I remember saying that there isn't gonna...