And the truth is, over the past ten months, I’ve often had to report distressing news during what has been a difficult time for our country.
I wonder why he had to add, “and the truth is”. It almost makes it seem as if most of the other stuff he’s talking about isn’t the truth.
It’s like when someone says, “I’ll be honest with you … ” Like what they’ve already said isn’t them being honest.
We learned that the economy grew for the first time in more than a year and faster than at any point in the previous two years.
This is good news right?
It is easy to forget that it was only several months ago that the economy was shrinking rapidly and many economists feared another Great Depression.
You yourself continually used that phrase, Mr. President – you and your team were/are alarmists like every other politician.
Now, economic growth is no substitute for job growth.
That, my friends, is truth in it’s purest form.
And we will likely see further job losses in the coming days, a fact that is both troubling for our economy and heartbreaking for the men and women who suddenly find themselves out of work.
Like me; I will be out of a job come January 2010.
Based on reports coming in from across America – as shovels break ground, as needed public servants are rehired, and as factories whir to life – it is clear that the Recovery Act has now created and saved more than one million jobs.
That’s why the Recovery Act was designed to help small businesses expand and create jobs.
Is that why most of the money went to large banks and Wall Street? Seems to me that the Recovery Act was designed to bail out the greedy lawless CEOs and major corporations.
I also announced that we’ll be taking additional steps through our Financial Stability plan to make more credit available to the small local and community banks that so many small businesses depend on
So small businesses may be under his control as well?
I see this administration sticking its finger into places where it shouldn’t. There are some aspects of life that the federal government should stay away from. It doesn’t need to own everything.
I have a feeling that President Obama’s team may take the credit for the success of the latest scare movie, Paranormal Activity and how it owns Hollywood.
The first meeting of the G-20 nations in April came at the height of the global financial crisis – a crisis that required unprecedented international cooperation to jumpstart the world’s economies and help break the downward spiral that enveloped all our nations.
Jumpstart the largest banks and Wall Street – the main culprits of this fiasco.
in effect, a five-month checkup to review the steps each nation has taken – separately and together – to break the back of this economic crisis.
So there will be a lot of accusations flying around about who isn’t doing enough.
In February, we enacted a Recovery Act, providing relief to Americans who need it, preventing layoffs, and putting Americans back to work.
From my view, the only Americans who were provided relief were the ones who caused this mess. And as far as putting Americans back to work, I’m losing my job!
And we’ve challenged other nations to join us
Like China; we’ve asked them to pretty much own our sorry excuse for a federal government.
we can now say that we have stopped our economic freefall.
Yet unemployment is at an all-time high and spending is out of this world.
Not surprisingly, lobbyists for big Wall Street banks are hard at work trying to stop reforms that would hold them accountable and they want to keep things just the way they are.
Yet you bend over backwards to give them the money they never should have gotten in the first place.
I’ve been moaning and complaining about this job ever since I began this blog. I was hoping I would have moved on by now – both physically and emotionally.
But here I am; in the same location, doing the same thing. But here’s the catch! They’re cutting my hours and salary in half and wanting me to do the same amount of work.
I want out of this place!
I thought I would be working with a new company and new faces…I don’t get it.
To top it off, my spouse’s job is going away. Well that’s not exactly true – they’re taking away the salary.
So here we are Mr. President Obama. You promised us recovery! You promised jobs! You promised a better America and all that you have to show for your promises is higher debt and higher unemployment.
Can you imagine what the outcry would’ve been like if this had happened under President Bush?!?! As it is, we’re seeing your approval ratings plummet. You’re finally seeing how people cannot stomach promises that aren’t kept.
You’re dragging this country under with your recovery plan and you actually think things are getting better.
You’re insulting to the American people – correction, the American people who are wise enough to see a fraud.
Harsh words for a President? Maybe but until I see the results you promised, I’ll be on your back like a crack cocaine monkey. When those results do come in, I’ll be more than happy to eat crow and spend however long apologizing.
Here we go with another Weekly Address that you can read here.
Today, I’d like to talk with you about a subject that I know is on everyone’s mind, and that’s the state of our economy.
As opposed to every other weekly address right?
The report showed that in the first few months of this year, the recession we faced when I took office was even deeper than anyone thought at the time.
He’s setting himself up as the savior of the recession…here it comes…
the economy has done measurably better than expected. And many economists suggest that part of this progress is directly attributable to the Recovery Act.
Tada! Our hero.
putting people back to work rebuilding and renovating roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals.
I may be wrong, but I haven’t seen anyone doing this kind of work in my state.
when we receive our monthly job report next week, it is likely to show that we are continuing to lose far too many jobs in this country.
What? Does this mean your plan has failed? You were supposed to save our jobs.
And I won’t rest until every American who wants a job can find one.
There’s your quote. President Obama will not get any sleep for the four to eight years he is in office.
eventually, businesses will start growing and hiring again.
After promoting the “great work” he did oversees, President Obama says,
my thoughts are on the state of our economy at home. And that’s what I want to talk to you about today.
Hasn’t the majority of these addresses been about your thoughts on our economy here at home?
At the time, we were losing, on average 700,000 jobs a month.
You know the problems with averages is they are skewed to serve the one speaking about them.
We also passed the largest and most sweeping economic recovery plan in our nation’s history.
Please read this as, “Largest debt in the nation’s history”.
The Recovery Act wasn’t designed to restore the economy to full health on its own
Please read this as, “So don’t blame me that things haven’t picked up like I promised they would”.
And it’s led to new jobs building roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects, thousands of which are only beginning now. In the months to come, thousands more projects will begin, leading to additional jobs.
Then why is it that the national unemployment rate is going up? Where are these new jobs? What is the basis of the NUR? And a few months? In a few months people will be out of everything.
I realize that when we passed this Recovery Act, there were those who felt that doing nothing was somehow an answer.
I don’t remember anyone saying they felt doing nothing was the answer; I do remember people saying your plan was not the answer. They wanted to act, just not in such an extreme way.
Today, some of those same critics are already judging the effort a failure although they have yet to offer a plausible alternative.
Which is what the Democrats did when the Republicans were in power. It’s always a give and take with the two parties. You blame the other for the tricks you did in the past yourselves.
And the rest of the address is more of the same old blather we’ve heard ever since President Obama took office so I won’t dive into it.
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a historic piece of legislation that will open the door to a clean energy economy and a better future for America.
It would be interesting if Presidents gave the whole truth. What if he were to add the fact that it barely passed.
The energy bill that passed the House will finally create a set of incentives that will spark a clean energy transformation in our economy.
The businesses that take on these incentives will tax the consumer (us) and we will pay more. So the question is, do you want to pay more for cleaner air?
And most importantly, it will make possible the creation of millions of new jobs.
You know, we’ve heard this phrase over and over with The Obama Administration. Has anyone experienced this creation of new jobs? As far as I know, people are still losing their jobs. I’m (with many Americans) getting fed up with being told the same lies from this President.
Make no mistake: this is a jobs bill.
Lie #2. This is a tax bill.
In California, 3000 people will be employed to build a new solar plant that will create 1000 permanent jobs.
So 2000 of those people will be out of work?
this legislation will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy.
I’ll believe it when my senses tell me (i.e. see it, smell it, taste it).
Don’t believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth. It’s just not true.
Words no longer mean what they used to Mr President. They were the magic button on the campaign trail, but now that you’re our President, we want to see the facts and results. I won’t believe a word of it until I experience it.
to our constituents, to our children, to God’s creation, and to future generations.
Because they’re the ones who will be paying out the wazoo!
Vice President Biden gave these remarks before a Cabinet meeting on Monday. Let’s take a look and dissect it.
Vice President Biden:
In a little more than a hundred days, I think your Cabinet has done a pretty good job, Mr. President, on the Recovery Act.
Pretty good? Just pretty good? I would take those words to be an insult, especially coming from Biden who is known for his sharp retorts.
I think we’ve put in place — or they’ve put in place a pretty strong platform upon which we can begin to build this new economy.
Did you catch that little “oops” moment? First he said “we’ve put in place” then corrected himself and said the Cabinet put in place. But we may have stumbled upon the truth that it’s all Obama’s pulling of the strings. Which isn’t that big a deal if things work.
95 percent of the families in America are now receiving a tax break, and they’re seeing it in their paycheck every month.
Once again, I must be part of that 5% that hasn’t been seeing that tax break in my paycheck and I have a low-paying job.
And, Mr. President, a couple of weeks ago — and you’ve authorized me, and I thank the Cabinet for doing this, to call a Cabinet meeting once a week.
Right here you see Joe Biden will run in eight years. He’s a power-hungry mogul.
The 10 most significant of those projects, Mr. President, we’ve put in this book that we’re going to give you — it’s called “Roadmap to Recovery” — here.
I’ll need to see a copy of that book.
in the next hundred days, Mr. President, we think we’re going to grow the jobs by another 600,000.
Keep track of that number.
And on a side note, do you see how Vice President Biden continues to say “Mr. President”? It’s like he thinks we’ll forget who he’s talking to. It’s like when the crazy Christians pray to God and say “Father, God” every other word. But that’s another rant for another time.
Here are some of the Roadmap’s projects:
the Cabinet members — they believe they’re going to be able to put 5,500 law enforcement officers on the street during this summer.
Doesn’t seem like a big number does it?
Health and Human Resources:
They’re going to enable us, the states, to create and build on 1,129 health care centers in eight states and eight territories, providing service to approximately 300,000 additional people.
Interior: 107 new park projects that are underway that are going to make a real difference. A lot them have to do with energy savings, Mr. President, using high-tech energy standards.
Veterans: 90 veterans’ medical centers across the country are going to see improvements in their facility. Access and caring for veterans is better and is going to begin this summer.
We’re going to start, in the Department of Agriculture, 200 new waste water and waste projects in rural America.
Transportation: We’re going to begin work and rehabilitation on 80 — 98 airports, 1,500 highway locations throughout the country.
And at EPA, Mr. President, we’re going to accelerate the clean-up on 21 super-fund sites that exist on the national priority list.
Education: 135,000 education-related jobs, including teachers, principals, administrators and staff support
We’re going to create, at Labor, 125,000 summer jobs
Are these government jobs? I’d like to see what these summer jobs look like.
the Defense Department, they’re going to initiate 2,300 construction and rehabilitation projects on 359 military facilities across the country.
There you go. Take another look at what’s going to happen during the summer and tell me what you think.
Congress is preparing to introduce and debate health reform legislation that is the product of many months of effort and deliberation. And if you’re like any of the Americans I’ve met across this country who know all too well that the soaring costs of health care make our current course unsustainable, I imagine you’ll be watching their progress closely.
Where can we go in order to watch their progress closely? Is there a website we can go to and watch the proceedings? (this site is all that I’ve found so far.)
Within a decade, we’ll spend one dollar out of every five we earn on health care – and we’ll keep getting less for our money.
How crazy does that sound? I’d like to see the data you looked at to come up with that number please.
some of these improbable allies committed to cut national health care spending by two trillion dollars over the next decade.
Well, I suppose that’s something to celebrate - but let’s do more okay?
I conveyed to Congress my belief that any health care reform must be built around fundamental reforms that lower costs, improve quality and coverage, and also protect consumer choice. That means if you like the plan you have, you can keep it. If you like the doctor you have, you can keep your doctor, too. The only change you’ll see are falling costs as our reforms take hold.
This all sounds really encouraging. I’d like to see how our power-hungry lawmakers make this a reality.
And I am absolutely convinced that if we keep working together and living up to our mutual responsibilities; if we place the American people’s interests above the special interests; we will seize this historic opportunity to finally fix what ails our broken health care system, and strengthen our economy and our country now and for decades to come.
President Obama continues to speak on how “we keep working together” while the truth is, there are many who aren’t working with the President and his party. And those who aren’t have no voice. There are so many voices behind President Obama’s that no one will hear the opposition.
I refused to let these companies [GM & Chrysler] become permanent wards of the state, kept afloat on an endless supply of taxpayer money.
Instead of them being wards of the state, they are now owned by the state. How convenient.
if GM and Chrysler and their stakeholders were willing to sacrifice for their companies’ survival and success; if they were willing to take the difficult, but necessary steps to restructure, and make themselves stronger, leaner, and more competitive, then the United States government would stand behind them.
Stand behind them and pull their hands behind their backs and tie them off with baler twine. I like this metaphor, keep it going.
The original restructuring plans submitted by GM and Chrysler earlier this year did not call for the sweeping changes these companies needed to survive — and I couldn’t in good conscience proceed on that basis.
Instead, you took control of them to make them change.
The 60 days GM had to submit its revised plans have now elapsed, and I want to say a few words about where we are and what steps will be taken going forward.
Sixty days. Sixty days for GM to come up with a major reconstruction. Sounds like a George W. Bush ultimatum to me.
I became convinced that if Chrysler were willing to undergo a restructuring, and if it were able to form a partnership with a viable global car company, then Chrysler could get a new lease on life.
What do you mean by a “viable global car company”? Are you suggesting we ditch the American brand?
Just 31 days after Chrysler’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, a court has approved the Chrysler-Fiat alliance, paving the way for a new Chrysler to emerge from bankruptcy in the next few days.
It begins with Chrysler and ends with the WORLD!!! (insert evil laugh)
GM will start building a larger share of its cars here at home, including fuel-efficient cars. In fact, if all goes according to plan, the share of GM cars sold in the United States that are made here will actually grow for the first time in three decades.
This is what I like to see. I want to see this actually happening.
Considering GM’s extensive operations within their borders, the governments of Canada and Ontario have agreed to do their part with an investment in GM’s future, and I want to thank them for doing so. I also want to thank the government of Germany for working diligently to reach a Memorandum of Understanding on the sale of a major stake in GM’s European Division and for providing interim funding that will make it possible for that transaction to be finalized.
At least three governments are putting money into General Motors – quite impressive.
That’s why our government will be making a significant additional investment of about $30 billion in GM — an investment that will entitle American taxpayers to ownership of about 60 percent of the new GM.
You can’t honestly think that we believe that. It’s not the taxpayers who have ownership. The real ownership is the Federal Government of The United States. The taxpayers are just fronting the bill. We’ll have absolutely no say in how it’s used. Don’t feed us that drivel.
These steps have put our government in the unwelcome position of owning large stakes in private companies for the simple and compelling reason that their survival and the success of our overall economy depend on it.
Why not just let them die? Why did the government have to step in? Maybe it would be better for crooks to lose once in a while.
They [a board of directors] — and not the government — will call the shots and make the decisions about how to turn this company around.
And this board will answer to the government. We all see through it Mr President.
The federal government will refrain from exercising its rights as a shareholder in all but the most fundamental corporate decisions.
I’m sure you’ll find ways to call any number of decisions, “a most fundamental corporate decision”.
And I want to remind everyone that if you are considering buying a GM car during this period of restructuring, your warrantees will be safe and government-backed.
This might just be the first ever Presidential commercial for a product.
Difficult days lie ahead. More jobs will be lost. More plants will close. More dealerships will shut their doors, and so will many parts suppliers.
How many people are going to commit suicide because of what you just said?
And that’s why I’m calling on Congress to pass fleet modernization legislation that can provide a credit to consumers who turn in old cars and purchase cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars.
Hopefully it will be worth it. I want the credit to be advantageous. If so, I may be inclined to turn in my Kia for a GM automobile.
