BUSH: "Well, let me just said that obviously tonight we’re going to hear some phony numbers about what I think and what we ought to do. People need to know that, over the next 10 years, there’s going to be $25 trillion of revenue that comes into our Treasury, and we anticipate spending $21 trillion. And my plan says, “Why don’t we pass $1.3 trillion of that back to the people who pay the bills?” Surely we can afford 5 percent of the $25 trillion that are coming into the Treasury to the hard- working people who pay the bills." --- Bush was giving that tax break to the wealthy based on future surpluses that never materialized. This is essentially what Romney's tax plan is all about now: Look into my crystal ball and see how a republican president like me will raise so much revenue that we can preemptively lower taxes on the wealthy!!!!!
The problem I have with this opinion is that it isn't Obama who treated the Republicans as opponents since the moment he took office, it was exactly the other way around. The ONLY thing you need to look at is cloture votes to see that the GOP made it their political strategy to oppose absolutely everything proposed by Obama, no matter how reasonable.
I do not vote for GOP everything. I vote for people and their ideas. I vote all over the board when I vote. I look into who will be my local and state and federal reps and vote on what I see from each candidate. There is probably a reason why the GOP threatens to filibuster when they were the minority. They did it quite a bit but Demos have been guilty of it too. I don't agree with everyone's tactics. But I also noticed that Obama didn't follow through with a lot of the things he was promising during his first campaign that had little to do with Repugs.
The Democrats used the filibuster, about the same as the recent historical average, as your chart showed. However, look at that last line, after the Democrats took the Senate the last time, and you will see that the first year after it happened, the Republicans nearly doubled the historical average. That is pretty compelling evidence that the people choosing not to work with the other party were the Republicans in Congress, not the President. No President does. However, he did get through the ONE thing he said he definitely would (healthcare reform), and spent nearly all his political capital to get that done in the 6 week window where he had a filibuster proof majority. There were plenty of promises that Obama made and he followed through on quite a few of them. Perhaps you should look at some media outside the echo chamber if you want to ACCURATELY assess the job that Obama has done.
One thing that effects me and several other I know is immigration reform. This is something he promised to do as soon as he came into office. I have friends that have spent thousand of dollars on lawyers to come to America legally and I like what Romney said about simplifying the process for legal residents.
If you would like to know why immigration reform hasn't been addressed, look no further than the cloture vote graph you posted along with your support for GOP Senators. They are the reason that Obama had to end run them with the executive order regarding people who would have been covered by the DREAM Act. It is like you just ignore all the things the Republicans do and just blame everything on Obama. You can cure this malady by refusing to watch Fox "News," (and their surrogates) they are lying to you (this is the case even if you only watch Fox surrogates, so please spare me the "I don't watch Fox" claim, you consume the bullsh!t off their mountain and both of us know it).
I also consume the crap from CNN and MSNBC and CNBC and CBS and NBC and ABC and BBC and PBS. I'm sure I'm leaving out a few. I'm sort of a news junkie. When it comes to the DREAM Act I helped support it but when it was introduced again it was full of other crap that is stupid and makes it harder to be passed. Both groups sometimes will present a good bill or act and it sounds great but then add a bunch of crap to it. They know a bill like that won't pass but they do it any way to get Political favor and being able to tell voters these people hate America because they voted against this wonderful bill but the reason they voted against it is it is filled with other crap that no one wants to pass expect for lobbyists and special interest groups.
I am happily divorced from any video "news" content. The only such footage I will consume is CNN during hurricane coverage. I am also a much more informed person than the people who think that MSNBC or Fox actually have journalists working for them.
1. Don't you have to be a member of Congress to propose legislation? 2. Obama planned the details of the mission? Why are we even paying those guys who built the replica site in NC and practiced on it for months? 3. Is Obama Santa Claus or Superman or both (or any president for that matter)?
Can anyone remember any time in history where a President has not been given credit for a military success? Carter took the heat for the botched Iran rescue, it wasn't blamed on the military. The president has always gotten the credit and/or taken the blame. If you want to absolve Obama of any credit for getting Bin Laden, then you have to remove any blame for the Benghazi attacks. You can't have it both ways. Sorry to hijack the thread.
1. Not budget related. The President's budget comes from the President. Thus the name. 2. Yes, Obama planned details of the mission. He over ruled other options of the mission and decided on the details that were used. 3. That has nothing to do with what I'm claiming, history, or the current situation. However, I believe he isn't Santa Claus just one of the helpers.
As I've said from the outset, all administrations suffer loss of life-- especially in this era of terror. My major criticism is about the politically-motivated coverup that I see happening. Some see it; some don't. What's new?
1. I thought we were talking about taxes? 2. So he is Superman? 3. What happened to the Separation of Church and State?
1. Yes, and the president who wants income revenue from taxes will plan those details accordingly and tell his party in congress in an effort to make it happen. It's how leadership works. 2. Those are your words, not mine. 3. He can have a moonlighting job as Santa's helper as long as he doesn't use govt. equipment to help him get it done.
The President can propose whatever he wants in a budget. It by no means it will PASS the House and Senate particularly when the controlling party of the House has absolutely no intention of passing any bills that provide any help or change because typically any such bill costs money nor with the the minority group of the Senate has decided to overrun a weak Senate Majority Leader who was too nice to modify the cloture rules for the same purpose. The President can only open the door for the them, he cannot force them through the open door. The problem is that people don't want to have to blame a group of people when it is easier to blame one person. Why is this ludicrous? Because the national support for Congress is at some of the lowest points ever in history, yet most of the incumbents will retain their position. How is that not beyond idiotic.
I've been saying all along that the President can't make congress pass anything. However it is idiotic to pretend like the President doesn't need a plan, and can just have general ideas.
When you cannot write the bill and are at the mercy of a separate group to agree to the bill before it can go anywhere, all you are left with is general ideas. If you go up to a group of stubborn people with a firm plan, and they shoot you down for 3.5 years, what are you supposed to do? Keep making new firm plans that they keep shooting down or go to them with general ideas and trying to create at least something instead of nothing? Then when you go to them with general ideas, and try to work with them, basically put their hands in their ears while saying "I can't hear you. You are a socialist and the worse person ever in the history of mankind." What are supposed to do? I understand, he should have just come out and said kick Congress out and give me people who will actually sit down and have a conversation and discussion. That is your firm plan. Who would vote for him then?
CIVICS 101 The Legislative Branch was envisioned by the Founders to provide a "check and balance" on both the Executive and Judicial Branches of the federal government. Separate voices. Separate tenures. Separate powers. Each provides a check and balance on the other two branches. Any presidential candidate can/may have a specific idea but all he can do is influence and persuade... well maybe cajole and intimidate are also on the table.
