Obama’s Speech
President Obama’s speech is scheduled to begin at 1:35 today.
I will try to live blog this in the comments – any commenter help would be greatly appreciated!
Meanwhile, Greg Sargent compiles a list of educated guesses concerning today’s speech:
* Obama set to draw sharp lines? Marc Ambinder reports that the President will lay down a variety of things he cannot accept, such changing Medicare as we know it, or a budget approach that doesn’t ask the rich to pay more. Moderately encouraging…
* Obama to aggressively defend liberal governance? Howard Fineman reports: “Obama will offer viewers and voters a strong defense of the moral role of government.” Also encouraging…
* Setting the bar for Obama: Jonathan Cohn sets the bar at a good place: If Obama isn’t willing to delve into specifics, at a minimum he must frame the budget as a “test of our priorities” and make a “principled, moral case for shared sacrifice.”
* Obama will claim mantle of bipartisanship — for his own vision: An apt prediction from Steve Benen: “the president will present a very different vision, and make it seem like it’s the Simpson-Bowles plan.”
He also includes a White House official email:
President’s proposal will build off of the deficit reduction measures included in his 2012 budget and will borrow from the recommendations of the bipartisan Fiscal Commission he created. The President will lay out four steps to achieve this balanced approach, including: keeping domestic spending low, finding additional savings in our defense budget, reducing excess health care spending while strengthening Medicare and Medicaid, and tax reform that reduces spending in our tax code. The President will make clear that while we all share the goal of reducing our deficit and putting our nation back on a fiscally responsible path, his vision is one where we can live within our means without putting burdens on the middle class and seniors or impeding our ability to invest in our future.
Tags: President Obama
The best I think I can hope for is that Obama will start leaning our way while still pretending not to know us.
what if he announces his candidacy for the republican nomination for president?
Logged onto ABC stream via news.yahoo.com. Newsweenie explaining recent budget deal was a “hopeful sign.” Chorus of other weenies saying “You hit the nail on the head…”
Is it too early to drink?
Obama up… no, not yet…
And let me take a moment to thank anonLIVE!
Obama up now. Jokes, thanks hosts.
Joe Biden in the house… also Geithner, Dir OMB, other brass, members of catfood commission, members of Congress.
Framing… “about the kind of future we want.”
Talking about our country working together for the benefit of each other.
Everyone needs basic measure of security. So we contribute to SS and medicare.
Talking about the damage the tax cuts (prescription drug plan, wars) did to our economy.
Channeling a bit of Mario Cuomo… we all look out for each other…
now a bit of economic history.
blames deficits on programs for middle class, wtf?
Explains even after recovery we will still be in deficit mode… needs factchecking.
Mario Cuomo has left the building.
“being honest about what’s causing our deficit…”
this better be good
Solve problem by…
I’m waiting. This is quite a build up
lots of words, nothing said.
defines discretionary budget, 12%.
Getting around to explaining what causes the deficit.
Cutting the discretionary budget isn’t enough, everything needs to be on the table. (every expense that is… not talking about taxes yet).
OK, keep it coming Mr. Pres…
Ryan plan would lead to a “fundamentally different America” from what we have known in our history, starts outlining what would disappear under Ryan plan.
Calls Ryan plan pessimistic – Good one!
Going after Ryan plan in detail.
“Ends Medicare as we know it” — CHA-CHING!! That’s the way to do it.
Claims Ryan’s plan isn’t a good vision for USA
actually, i take that back. he is FINALLY going after the repukes….. 2 1/2 years late, but i’ll take it
the republican vision “we cant afford to be great”
Moving onto medicare…
THE REPUBLICANS WANT TO TAKE GRANDMA’S HEALTH CARE!!!!!!!!
Says: Ryan plan ENDS medicare. 50 million have to lose HC to reduce deficit.
Says we can afford 1 trillion in tax breaks for wealthy but not medicare, etc
“It’s not right, and it’s not going to happen as long as I’m President.”
“Just waitin’ for it to come around on the old gi-tar”
Working around to tax cuts for the rich…
Ending Medicare etc. to pay for tax cuts for rich “Not going to happen as long as I am President.”
Shared sacrifice
Proposing a more balanced approach
4 trillion in deficit reduction over (4?) years.
Proposal:
1.) keep spending low, cites last weeks budget.
we will invest in med. research, job training, education, etc.
2. Cuts in defense
1. First step: Will invest in… (long list)
2. Find savings in defense
3. Further reduce health care spending in our budget (by reducing cost of health care, not by cutting services.
attacks Ryan’s cap and voucher – Good for Obama!
Says: I will preserve these programs. I will not let medicare become a voucher system – medicaid, won’t tell families to fend for themselves
Onto SS
He refuses to renew tax cuts for the rich again
Tax code: limits itemized deductions for wealthiest Americans.
4. Reduce “tax expenditures” … “I refuse to renew (tax cuts for the rich) again!”
(Apology not accepted!).
calls for reform of individual tax code… eliminating loopholes, lower rates. Also corporate tax code.
here it is, the Obama “tax reform” with the devil in the details.
“debt failsafe” – if in 4 years debt isn’t shrinking, more mandatory spending cuts.
Addresses opponents – “some will argue…”
Warming up for a call for tax increases… let’s see on who
Alludes to tax increases on wealthy, but no specifics … just teasing I think
the P word (progressive)
Yea,yea,yea.Little “o” running again.
He’d stand in a tree, piss in your progressive face and SWEAR it was raining.
now an ode to bipartisanship
Calls fixing the problems patriotism. Wingnut heads exploding by his using that word.
Cuomo returns, plays us out.
Don’t you mean: “I’ll meet you more than half-way.”
And… it’s over.
Don’t you mean: “I’ll meet you more than half-way.”anonLIVE?
AnonLIVE, thank you so much for helping me live blog this.
Newsweenie stunned by how Obama ruled out the particulars of the Ryan plan. I personally didn’t find Obama’s repudiation of the Ryan plan all that firm. Obama has taught me to be suspicious of his claims.
You are welcome.
I’m gonna get stoned for this but I just heard a great speech and I was reminded why I supported Obama. NOT WHILE I’M PRESIDENT.
We’ll see, but if I were rich I’d start to look around for ways to save a bit because it’s gonna be going to DC instead of into a new Lexus or boat or country club membership, or 6 carats on my finger. Wash the old jewelry and put new tires on the Mercedes. It’s time to pay your fair share.
Here’s the transcript.
I was reminded why I supported Obama too. I was also reminded how I got burned. I’ve heard those pledges before.
There was an awful lot of shading and vagueness about what he was actually pledging though. Whenever he got to one of those pledging points he fuzzed up his language about what he was actually pledging. It could still go either way in a backroom deal at the last minute, Obama style.
Obama is apparently unaffected by archival YouTube video of himself promising the opposite of the deals he strikes.
Nonetheless, at least he is saying the right things instead of the wrong things now. That’s something I guess.
agreed A-live (alive… nice)
A year ago i would have been rah-rah about that speech, but ive heard all those words before and seen action BY the president that contradicted those words…. when fellow libs call him out, he berates them. I dont understand why he just cant say the republicans have declared war on the poor and srs. Just say it.
s.b. In “serious” political circles you are not allowed to utter the words “class warfare”. It is as tabu as the F word. It is considered inciting a revolution. Never will be heard from the president. He came as close as he could today.
Not a word on 3 wars! Not a word on Wall Street derivative markets, or corporations not paying a cent in taxes? Who writes this crap for him…soooo out of touch, I am beginning to believe the righties maybe he is a CIA stooge. No mention of the public option saving billions? How much longer will progressives stay lined up with this guy? The bottom line, he will cave, and cave. Mentioning those two right wingers Boweles and Simpson should tell us all we need to know. If we want to change this man, we have to be in his face…he is taking the progressives for granted.
Did Obama just call himself an effing retard that needs to be drug tested?
Seriously – how do you cut health costs without some form of mass public health care?
And how do you pass tax increases for the rich, when 80 Senators just voted for tax CUTS for the rich with your blessing, and you SIGNED it? Are we now supposed to take Obama seriously about tax increases for the rich being on the table?
Obama’s pledges do not hold water.
On the other hand, if he somehow convinces this House to repeal the Obama tax cuts for the rich, it will break the GOP forever.
I really did not find that the speech drew enough bright lines. Obama still seems much too receptive to all sorts of Republican mischief.
I heard a lot about the good government does – which actually surprised me. I also heard how depressingly negative Republicans are about America.
We all know that President Boehner will make the final decisions.
Obama’s 2012 campaign slogan
“Speeches Matter, Change Doesn’t”
Anonlive just hit it
How do you fucking extend tax cuts, after saying YOU WOULDN’T then 3 months later, say they need to go away.
such bullshit.
EVERYONE TOLD HIM AND THEM THIS WOULD HAPPEN. HE’S SUPPOSED TO BE A DEMOCRAT THOUGH AND SAID HE KNEW IT WASN’T GOOD FOR THE DEFICIT.
Weeeeeeeee, enjoy the ride on the bullshit train.
Krugman’s verdict on Obama’s speech: “I could live with this as an end result. If this becomes the left pole, and the center is halfway between this and Ryan, then no — better to pursue the zero option of just doing nothing and letting the Bush tax cuts as a whole expire.”
Obama the centrist. The GOP moves the pole all the way to the right and Obama meets them to the left as a starting point, which is really the center.
Yes, Jason , President Boehner it is.
I am glad that we are back to low unemployment and the wars are over so we can start to focus on the deficit because that is what Americans care about the most.
Be sure to bookmark this page for your retirement:
http://www.consumersearch.com/cat-food/compare
dude! I know!
I’m glad that the people that created this mess have been held accountable. Government has been given back to the people, and bill making no longer happens behind closed doors and on C-Span!
Hardball just now. Marsha Blackburn that right wing twit from Tn…just said, “billionaires are small business owners”, they shouldnt be taxed! Where in the hell does anyone come off with such delusional talk. Small business’s are now the billionaires? I too am so happy all the wars ended, our troops are coming home, and the defense budget which takes 60% of our money~~well, “I will get with Gates and find some more cuts”!! Really. Why not start at the Pentagon who lost 3.9trillion in Sept. 200l, or lost $8.9 billion of funds for Iraq…and by the way where the hell is all those billions GH Bush and George WAR Bush stole from the Iraqi people? Where did all that money go. Where are the investigations into Halliburton who overcharged by billions on all those no bid contracts! Why did the repukes defund the IRS who were supposed to go after the tax cheats? We are a PTSD nation now.
In what can only be described as one of the most partisan, platitudinal and unabashed speeches I’ve ever heard, Obama uses our debt crisis in true demogogical fashion to burnish his own reelection chances via gimmickry and head-in-the-sand vision.
Our protagonist-in-chief unfurled his latest stratagem in a weak attempt at reconciling old wounds from his left flank. Indeed, Obama doubled down with how Bush and the Republicans are to blame for all of our fiscal woes, that our fiduciary predicament is the fault of the wealthy even though Obama himself lectured the Progressive ranks late last year for their “sanctimonious behavior” regarding the aforementioned campaign promise of ending the ‘Bush-era tax cuts’ he earlier espoused as pernicious and good ol’ profligate electioneering.
Republican leaders such as representatives Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor should be outraged at Obama’s hubris and utter disregard as to the seriousness of this matter. Fear-induced litany’s such as the elderly will get sick and die, the young will starve and the poor will get swept into the gutter is not only shameful, it is condescending, spurious and hyperbolic.
Dial 911, Father John is apoplectic!
Father John says: listen to donviti, for he is omnicient!
“Joe Biden in the house… ”
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20110413/i/r1789639965.jpg?x=400&y=289&q=85&sig=2KEMCZDuf5IWVglh2l4lzg–
Obama gives a great speech outlining and defending the progressive vision of government and the usual suspects piss all over it.
Obama gives a great speech outlining and defending the progressive vision of government and the usual suspects piss all over it.
You are right that the speech had an overall Democratic tone. The MSM news jockeys are dumfounded and treating it as a major reversal. I can’t say I disagree.
I’m tired of being seduced and abandoned though. My reaction unfortunately is colored by the fact that he already passed up the chance to do all those things last year. His die-hard supporters excused it because there wasn’t enough Democratic support in the Senate.
Now we have a Republican House, and 80 senators on record voting for tax cuts for the rich.
What makes this go-round any more credible?
And by the way, what a damning indictment of Harry Reid and Senate Democrats, that Obama himself has to promise to be the backstop against cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Harry Reid couldn’t stop a beachball headed his way.
Some of that veto threat action would have been a lot more useful in December when the Senate was busy passing tax cuts for the rich. If the House tax bill had been the Senate’s only choice they would have passed it.
the usual suspects piss all over it.
Don’t worry, it’s just rain. It’s good for you.
I’m tired of how every good thing must be a bad thing in disguise. Can we not be happy for even one day?
The truth is that the outcome will depend on how the election goes. No matter what Obama wants, he will have to deal with Congress. People who are all sad about policy should focus some energy on getting a better Congress.
You can believe his lies for one more day, if that’s what makes you happy. I decided a long time ago that I can be happy without needing to believe in lies and the liars who tell them.
Funny how he couldn’t keep his promises or tell the truth even when he had a “better congress.” I guess that Boner must be a far better Speaker than Pelosi ever was. Imagine that.
Oh, and one way to get a better Congress is to get a better President.
.
Funny how he couldn’t keep his promises or tell the truth even when he had a “better congress.”
Pelosi delivered Obama’s agenda on a silver platter but Obama wouldn’t even try to close the deal. Now he’s back telling us he wants to get it done with the GOP House.
If Obama had given that speech last year, we might have the tax increases on the rich on the books already and start counting the money next week.
It’s cheap to talk progressive when you know it won’t actually be placed on your desk for your signature. More kabuki theater.
It might a good political tactic to lure Republicans out onto the third rail and then turn on the juice, if that’s what Obama has in mind. But that still won’t get legislation passed.
If Obama had a deficit cutting plan, why did he keep it under wraps and let Democrats get savaged over the deficit in the mid-terms?
It is remarkable that I spent yesterday with bated breath watching a speech by a Democratic president to find out if he was going to propose cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Pelosi does not lead the U.S. Senate. I love her but legislation must pass both houses of Congress.
Pelosi does not lead the U.S. Senate. I love her but legislation must pass both houses of Congress.
So you support Pelosi, but you also support Obama when he does the opposite?
I know the Democratic party has room for lots of different viewpoints, but it is remarkable to find them in the same person.
Your right, UI. Unlike Boner, Pelosi didn’t have a President to help her get progressive legislation from the House passed in the Senate. Boner sure is lucky to have a President that helps him get his agenda passed.
lol
Tax code: limits itemized deductions for wealthiest Americans.
Obama’s accountant should explain to him that he (and the “wealthy”) don’t actually get itemized deductions because of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)