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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

State of the Response? Divided on Party Lines

Saul Loeb/AFP/Pool
It took less than five minutes for Republicans to begin taking apart President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.
With Obama only a tenth of the way through the hourlong speech, Speaker John Boehner’s office slammed him over his position on the Keystone XL pipeline.
“Obama Keystone Decision Destroys Manufacturing and Construction Jobs, Surrenders Energy Security to China,” the Ohio Republican’s team charged in an email to reporters.
The hit, one of 14 blast emails sent during the address, was part of a rapid-response effort by Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that provided a real-time rebuttal to Obama’s speech and previewed his party’s post-address response.
It was a familiar ritual, but also a sign that Obama’s stated goal in the speech of overcoming Washington partisanship is dead on arrival. Republicans by and large criticized the president, saying the speech — which often sounded more like a stump speech than traditional State of the Union address — was divisive and full of tired ideas, while Democrats praised the speech’s tone and its specific policy proposals.
In a statement following the speech, Boehner hammered Obama.
“Unable to run on his record, the president has regrettably turned to blame and division when what’s needed is a united effort to promote small business job creation,” he said.
In a statement, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor echoed the criticism.
“What the American people heard tonight is that the President’s latest vision relies on the same failed policies that haven’t worked to recover the economy or get people back to work,” the Virginia Republican said.
“When something doesn’t work, you change it. Instead of continuing the failed policies of President Obama that we know don’t work, let’s try something new. We can do better,” he added.
House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (Texas) dismissed Obama’s rhetoric on jobs and the economy and accused the president of using the address to make a campaign pitch based on class warfare.
“It was just too little too late. More of the same,” Hensarling said. “We’ve got a president who can’t run on his record, so we heard a lot about the politics of division and envy.”
Rep. Michele Bachmann was also harsh in her criticism, arguing that Obama “needs to follow the Constitution, given to us by the founders, and its one true fairness guide — equal protection under the law.”
“America was not founded on redistribution of wealth, but on free markets and the idea that everyone is entitled to the fruits of their labors,” the Minnesota Republican said.
Other Republicans, however, took a more measured approach.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) said that although he doesn’t mind optimism, the speech lacked specifics on how Obama would deal with jobs and unemployment issues.
“He missed the biggest challenges that we have as a country,” Alexander said. “We’re in trouble. We have persistent unemployment.”
Republican Policy Committee Chairman Tom Price (Ga.) gave perhaps the most tempered response to Obama’s address, calling the speech “disappointing.”
“I agreed with 80 percent of what he said, but I disagree with about 80 percent of his actions,” Price added, arguing that Obama’s rhetoric doesn’t match his actions, particularly on health care policy.
Unsurprisingly, Democrats had a markedly different opinion of Obama’s performance, giving the president generally high marks.
“Tonight, the president delivered a strong vision to the American people of an economy that’s built to last, that ensures a thriving middle class, that promotes fairness for working families, and that reignites the American dream,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) said in a statement.
In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) praised Obama’s performance.
“President Obama offered common-sense solutions that will create jobs and put our country on a path to economic fairness. The policies proposed by the President will narrow the inequality gap in our country while making America a leader in clean energy technology, and continue the revival of our manufacturing sector,” Reid said.
The Senate’s top Democrat also took a shot at his GOP colleagues, saying, “We need Republicans to work with us, and refrain from turning straightforward issues into all-or-nothing battles. I am optimistic that this year, Republicans will turn away from the Tea Party, and listen to the American people instead.”
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin batted away criticism accusing Obama of simply giving a partisan, political speech. Obama “went out of his way to keep it at an issue level,” the Illinois Democrat said, adding that the president laid out ideas that “a majority of Americans” could support.
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer also praised the speech, arguing that Obama “asked us to envision the stronger union we can achieve together.”
“The plan he laid out is rooted in the same values of fairness and responsibility that have enabled generations of Americans to climb ladders of opportunity and pass their faith in the American dream on to their children,” the Maryland Democrat added.
Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver said he was particularly happy with Obama’s proposals for high school graduation and foreclosure mitigation, and discounted the address’s political nature.
“Obviously it had some political components to it, but he repeated the theme of cooperation,” the Missouri Democrat said.
House Ways and Means ranking member Sander Levin (Mich.) was particularly pleased with the address.
“I think he was very specific ... on the domestic side, about two-thirds of it is in the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee,” he said.
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (Mont.) said he was happy with Obama’s call for a speedy resolution to the lingering question of extending a popular payroll tax cut.
“It gave [chances of passage] a little extra boost,” Baucus said.

Representative Giffords Farewell Tributes







Jan 25, 2012

U.S. House of Representatives
Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), submitted her letter of resignation to Speaker Boehner on the dais. Members paid tribute to her service and career, and Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz read Gifford's resignation letter.

On January 8, 2011, Representative Giffords was shot in the head in a Tucson supermarket parking lot at a public meeting with constituents.

Somalia rescue shows honed special operations capability




Breaking Down the Hostage Rescue in Somalia

Tactical Analyst Ben West discusses a recent hostage rescue raid in Somalia and the conditions that made it possible.

 



 The daring raid that rescued two kidnapped aid workers in Somalia is the latest example of the growing capabilities of U.S. special operations forces, whose skills have been forged during more than a decade of war, much of it in the shadows.

Danish Refugee Council, via AP
 Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, left, and American Jessica Buchanan were freed by U.S. military forces in a nighttime raid Wednesday in Somalia



An elite SEAL team parachuted into Somalia early Wednesday local time, crept quietly to the hijackers' camp and killed nine of them before bundling the two aid hostages on a waiting helicopter to be extracted. No Americans were injured.
The raid was conducted by members of SEAL Team 6, the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May. The unit is an elite group of highly trained men who specialize in counterterrorism missions.
The small but lethal teams are designed to drop into an area undetected and carry out missions quickly and efficiently. The operations require detailed planning and intense training.
"It does show a very mature capability and an increased confidence," said Derek Reveron, professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College. "That to me is the bigger legacy of the past 10 years."
Pentagon press secretary George Little said the gunmen who were holding the hostages were heavily armed with explosives nearby.
American aid worker Jessica Buchanan and Poul Thisted, a Dane, were flown to safety after the raid. They had been held since October.
President Obama knew the hostages had been rescued before he entered the House to deliver the State of the Union speech Tuesday. He didn't publicly mention the raid, but as he entered the House chamber he pointed to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and said, "Good job tonight."
Immediately after the speech, Obama telephoned Buchanan's father from the Capitol to tell him that she was safe and "on her way home," according to the White House.
The decision to launch the mission was hastened because of concerns over Buchanan's health, U.S. officials said. "We wanted to act," Vice President Biden said on NBC's Today show.
The president authorized the raid Monday night after meeting with counterterrorism adviser John Brennan in his residence.
Somalia is a largely lawless country where gangs of pirates and kidnappers have been operating with near impunity. The Pentagon said it was not clear whether the armed gang who held the two aid workers also operated as pirates in addition to kidnapping. The gunmen were not considered members of Islamic terrorist groups who also operate in Somalia.
The U.S. government has launched drone strikes against terrorist targets in Africa, but putting troops on the ground is rare. In 1993, Somalia became a symbol of U.S. military impotence in the face of Third World threats after a fierce gunbattle occurred between U.S. forces and local militias, which prompted the U.S. withdrawal.
On Wednesday, U.S. forces proved they could carry out a mission in Somalia.
"As commander in chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts," Obama said in a statement. "This is yet another message to the world that the United States of America will stand strongly against any threats to our people."

Thousands march on Washington to protest 'Roe'



 Annual Rally in Opposition to Roe v. Wade

Jan 23, 2012

March for Life | Education and Defense Fund
Elected officials, clergy, and activists held their annual March for Life rally on the National Mall marking the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade
 
 


 
 
Ryan Phillips says he believes every life is sacred. And so Monday morning, he and about 70 of his classmates at Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, Tenn., boarded buses headed for Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life.
They joined thousands of protesters who marched from the National Mall to the Supreme Court in chilly, soggy weather in the annual call for an end to abortion in the USA. The march is held every year since 1974 to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal nationwide.
"We live in a culture of death," said Phillips, a senior who says he has attended the march 10 years in a row. "We'd like that to end."
   
By Jacquelyn Martin, AP
Two women pray at the top of the U.S. Supreme Court steps in Washington on Sunday.
Tim Forbes, dean of campus ministry and student life at Father Ryan High School in Nashville, spent Monday in the nation's capital with about 100 students from the Catholic school's Respect Life club. The group started their day at a youth rally that drew about 20,000 to Washington, D.C.'s Verizon Center arena, Forbes said. Then they hit the streets.
"It was cold and wet, but a spiritual high," Forbes said after the march. He said the event allowed students to show their enthusiasm for life in general and not just their opposition to abortion.
"This is an issue where they can cheer. They can be teenagers — but they can also be involved in a movement that can make a difference," he said.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told the throng gathered Monday afternoon on the muddy National Mall that he's one of 12 children.
"I'm sure it wasn't easy for our mother to have 12 of us, but I'm glad we're all here," Boehner said. "I've never considered being 'pro-life' a label or a political position. It's just who I am."
Several dozen members of Congress addressed the rally and were cheered by participants, many of whom carried signs reading: "I Vote Pro-Life First" and "Defund Planned Parenthood." Signs endorsing Republican presidential contenders were less evident, although some favored Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., urged anti-abortion-rights voters to unite behind the eventual Republican nominee. "We don't have the luxury of disunity or nominee disappointment or apathy," Smith said.
Americans remain strongly divided on abortion. A Gallup Poll last year showed that 49% of respondents identified themselves as "pro-choice," while 45% called themselves "pro-life."
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a statement that politicians supporting the March for Life were ignoring more pressing issues.
"Anti-choice politicians and their allies promised to focus on creating jobs, yet they are attacking a woman's right to choose at near-record levels," Keenan said.
Smietana also reports for The Tennessean in Nashville. Contributing: The Associated Press.
 

House Republicans Leadership Reaction to State of the Union




House Republican Agenda

Jan 24, 2012

U.S. Capitol
House Republicans spoke about President Obama's State of the Union address, happening later in the evening.

Mitt Romney State of the Union Address Rebuttal




Jan 25, 2012

Romney Presidential Campaign
Republican 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union Address. In his remarks Mr. Romney, referring to the president's recent visit to Walt Disney World, was "in fantasyland" again, and "detached" from America's problems.

Mr. Romney spoke at the American Douglas Metals Company in Orlando, Florida.

Mitt Romney's failed plan to 'fix' campaign financing;

Democracy 21
Statement of Fred Wertheimer

Washington Post Editorial: 
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Below is an editorial from today's Washington Post entitled,"Mitt Romney's failed plan to 'fix' campaign financing."
According to the editorial:
MITT ROMNEY HAS a prescription for the super PAC problem: Allow political candidates to collect unlimited donations, instead of having the funds funneled to supposedly independent groups. “Let campaigns then take responsibility for their own words,” Mr. Romney said at Monday’s debate.
The editorial continues:
Mr. Romney’s cure not only threatens to be worse than the disease, it wouldn’t necessarily cure the disease. The $5 million check to the super PAC supporting the candidate is bad enough - it creates the reality or appearance of a candidate beholden to a particular donor. Unlimited donations to candidates would be worse.
According to Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer:
The removal of limits on contributions to candidates would return us to the system of legalized corruption and bribery that existed before the Watergate scandals.
Congress recognized this when it enacted the candidate contribution limits in the wake of the Watergate scandals, the worst campaign finance scandals in modern history.
The Supreme Court recognized this when in the landmark case of Buckley v. Valeo (1976), it upheld the constitutionality of the contribution limits, stating they were necessary “ to deal with the reality or appearance of corruption inherent in a system permitting unlimited financial contributions.”
The Romney proposal to eliminate candidate contribution limits would, in the words of the Supreme Court, establish a system that is “inherently corrupt.”


The Washington Post
Mitt Romney's failed plan to 'fix' campaign financing
Editorial

MITT ROMNEY HAS a prescription for the super PAC problem: Allow political candidates to collect unlimited donations, instead of having the funds funneled to supposedly independent groups. “Let campaigns then take responsibility for their own words,” Mr. Romney said at Monday’s debate.
He raises an intriguing question: Given the Supreme Court’s flawed interpretation of the First Amendment - that campaign spending equals speech; that independent expenditures on behalf of candidates, even by corporations, therefore cannot be limited - would the campaign finance system be better off with a regime of no limits plus full and timely disclosure of donations? In other words, a world where the $5 million check can go directly to the candidate? As Mr. Romney put it, “Wouldn’t it nice to have people give what they would like to to campaigns, and campaigns could run their own ads and take responsibility for them?”
No. Mr. Romney’s cure not only threatens to be worse than the disease, it wouldn’t necessarily cure the disease. The $5 million check to the super PAC supporting the candidate is bad enough - it creates the reality or appearance of a candidate beholden to a particular donor. Unlimited donations to candidates would be worse. Candidates would be implicated in soliciting these mega-checks, further undermining public confidence in the system. The pressure would be on to allow unlimited contributions by corporations and labor unions directly to candidates; currently, they are permitted, in the aftermath of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, to give to super PACs. The Republican National Committee is already arguing in federal court that the ban on corporate contributions to individual candidates should be declared unconstitutional.
Moreover, the attractiveness of the super PAC would be diminished but not eliminated, for the very reason that Mr. Romney notes: The PACs offer a useful, look-ma-no-hands vehicle to do candidates’ dirty work. Why assume these groups would disappear if contribution limits for candidates were eliminated?
Mr. Romney’s suggestion is superficially appealing because fixing the current mess seems so difficult. A constitutional amendment isn’t likely; neither is a total change of heart by the Supreme Court. The FEC is dysfunctional, and Congress is gridlocked on this issue.
Despite all that, trying to fix what’s broken makes more sense than breaking the system further. Tighter rules on coordination could be written to prevent wink-and-nod interactions between candidates and super PACs, such as, for example, Mr. Romney’s appearance at an event sponsored by the super PAC supporting him. The flawed disclosure schedule could be improved.
The emergence of the candidate-specific super PAC, dedicated to the interests of a particular politician, puts a different gloss on the Supreme Court’s wrongheaded notion that independent expenditures do not pose a corruption risk. Even this court might be persuaded to uphold legislation treating these entities, staffed by the candidates’ longtime advisers, as arms of the campaign.

Senate Democratic Leadership Reaction to State of the Union Address




Jan 25, 2012

U.S. Senate | Radio and Television Gallery
Senate Democratic leaders spoke about President Obama's previous evening State of the Union address.

State of the Union Statuary Hall Interviews




Jan 24, 2012

U.S. Senate U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Capitol | Statuary Hall
Following President Obama's State of the Union address, members of Congress spoke to reporters about their reactions to the speech.

State of the Union Union Republican Response



Jan 24, 2012

Republican Party
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels gave the Republican Party response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. He criticized the president's economic policies and divisiveness, saying "no feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant effort to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others." The speech was delivered from the War Memorial in Indianapolis.


Transcript of Mitch Daniels' State of the Union Response


The following is a transcript of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ Republican response to the State of the Union address, as prepared for delivery.
The status of “loyal opposition” imposes on those out of power some serious responsibilities: to show respect for the Presidency and its occupant, to express agreement where it exists. Republicans tonight salute our President, for instance, for his aggressive pursuit of the murderers of 9/11, and for bravely backing long overdue changes in public education. I personally would add to that list admiration for the strong family commitment that he and the First Lady have displayed to a nation sorely needing such examples.
On these evenings, Presidents naturally seek to find the sunny side of our national condition. But when President Obama claims that the state of our union is anything but grave, he must know in his heart that this is not true.
The President did not cause the economic and fiscal crises that continue in America tonight. But he was elected on a promise to fix them, and he cannot claim that the last three years have made things anything but worse: the percentage of Americans with a job is at the lowest in decades. One in five men of prime working age, and nearly half of all persons under 30, did not go to work today.
In three short years, an unprecedented explosion of spending, with borrowed money, has added trillions to an already unaffordable national debt. And yet, the President has put us on a course to make it radically worse in the years ahead. The federal government now spends one of every four dollars in the entire economy; it borrows one of every three dollars it spends. No nation, no entity, large or small, public or private, can thrive, or survive intact, with debts as huge as ours.
The President’s grand experiment in trickle-down government has held back rather than sped economic recovery. He seems to sincerely believe we can build a middle class out of government jobs paid for with borrowed dollars. In fact, it works the other way: a government as big and bossy as this one is maintained on the backs of the middle class, and those who hope to join it.
Those punished most by the wrong turns of the last three years are those unemployed or underemployed tonight, and those so discouraged that they have abandoned the search for work altogether. And no one has been more tragically harmed than the young people of this country, the first generation in memory to face a future less promising than their parents did.
As Republicans our first concern is for those waiting tonight to begin or resume the climb up life’s ladder. We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have nots; we must always be a nation of haves and soon to haves.
In our economic stagnation and indebtedness, we are only a short distance behind Greece, Spain, and other European countries now facing economic catastrophe. But ours is a fortunate land. Because the world uses our dollar for trade, we have a short grace period to deal with our dangers. But time is running out, if we are to avoid the fate of Europe, and those once-great nations of history that fell from the position of world leadership.
So 2012 is a year of true opportunity, maybe our last, to restore an America of hope and upward mobility, and greater equality. The challenges aren’t matters of ideology, or party preference; the problems are simply mathematical, and the answers are purely practical.
An opposition that would earn its way back to leadership must offer not just criticism of failures that anyone can see, but a positive and credible plan to make life better, particularly for those aspiring to make a better life for themselves. Republicans accept this duty, gratefully.
The routes back to an America of promise, and to a solvent America that can pay its bills and protect its vulnerable, start in the same place. The only way up for those suffering tonight, and the only way out of the dead end of debt into which we have driven, is a private economy that begins to grow and create jobs, real jobs, at a much faster rate than today.
Contrary to the President’s constant disparagement of people in business, it’s one of the noblest of human pursuits. The late Steve Jobs — what a fitting name he had — created more of them than all those stimulus dollars the President borrowed and blew. Out here in Indiana, when a businessperson asks me what he can do for our state, I say “First, make money. Be successful. If you make a profit, you’ll have something left to hire someone else, and some to donate to the good causes we love.”
The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy, or cancels a perfectly safe pipeline that would employ tens of thousands, or jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature, is a pro-poverty policy. It must be replaced by a passionate pro-growth approach that breaks all ties and calls all close ones in favor of private sector jobs that restore opportunity for all and generate the public revenues to pay our bills.
That means a dramatically simpler tax system of fewer loopholes and lower rates. A pause in the mindless piling on of expensive new regulations that devour dollars that otherwise could be used to hire somebody. It means maximizing on the new domestic energy technologies that are the best break our economy has gotten in years.
There is a second item on our national must-do list: we must unite to save the safety net. Medicare and Social Security have served us well, and that must continue. But after half and three quarters of a century respectively, it’s not surprising that they need some repairs. We can preserve them unchanged and untouched for those now in or near retirement, but we must fashion a new, affordable safety net so future Americans are protected, too.
Decades ago, for instance, we could afford to send millionaires pension checks and pay medical bills for even the wealthiest among us. Now, we can’t, so the dollars we have should be devoted to those who need them most.
The mortal enemies of Social Security and Medicare are those who, in contempt of the plain arithmetic, continue to mislead Americans that we should change nothing. Listening to them much longer will mean that these proud programs implode, and take the American economy with them. It will mean that coming generations are denied the jobs they need in their youth and the protection they deserve in their later years.
It’s absolutely so that everyone should contribute to our national recovery, including of course the most affluent among us. There are smart ways and dumb ways to do this: the dumb way is to raise rates in a broken, grossly complex tax system, choking off growth without bringing in the revenues we need to meet our debts. The better course is to stop sending the wealthy benefits they do not need, and stop providing them so many tax preferences that distort our economy and do little or nothing to foster growth.
It’s not fair and it’s not true for the President to attack Republicans in Congress as obstacles on these questions. They and they alone have passed bills to reduce borrowing, reform entitlements, and encourage new job creation, only to be shot down time and time again by the President and his Democratic Senate allies.
This year, it falls to Republicans to level with our fellow citizens about this reality: if we fail to act to grow the private sector and save the safety net, nothing else will matter much. But to make such action happen, we also must work, in ways we Republicans have not always practiced, to bring Americans together.
No feature of the Obama Presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others. As in previous moments of national danger, we Americans are all in the same boat. If we drift, quarreling and paralyzed, over a Niagara of debt, we will all suffer, regardless of income, race, gender, or other category. If we fail to shift to a pro-jobs, pro-growth economic policy, there will never be enough public revenue to pay for our safety net, national security, or whatever size government we decide to have.
As a loyal opposition, who put patriotism and national success ahead of party or ideology or any self-interest, we say that anyone who will join us in the cause of growth and solvency is our ally, and our friend. We will speak the language of unity. Let us rebuild our finances, and the safety net, and reopen the door to the stairway upward; any other disagreements we may have can wait.
You know, the most troubling contention in our national life these days isn’t about economics, or policy at all. It’s about us, as a free people. In two alarming ways, that contention is that we Americans just can’t cut it anymore.
In word and deed, the President and his allies tell us that we just cannot handle ourselves in this complex, perilous world without their benevolent protection. Left to ourselves, we might pick the wrong health insurance, the wrong mortgage, the wrong school for our kids; why, unless they stop us, we might pick the wrong light bulb!
A second view, which I admit some Republicans also seem to hold, is that we Americans are no longer up to the job of self-government. We can’t do the simple math that proves the unaffordability of today’s safety net programs, or all the government we now have. We will fall for the con job that says we can just plow ahead and someone else will pick up the tab. We will allow ourselves to be pitted one against the other, blaming our neighbor for troubles worldwide trends or our own government has caused.
2012 must be the year we prove the doubters wrong. The year we strike out boldly not merely to avert national bankruptcy but to say to a new generation that America is still the world’s premier land of opportunity. Republicans will speak for those who believe in the dignity and capacity of the individual citizen; who believe that government is meant to serve the people rather than supervise them; who trust Americans enough to tell them the plain truth about the fix we are in, and to lay before them a specific, credible program of change big enough to meet the emergency we are facing.
We will advance our positive suggestions with confidence, because we know that Americans are still a people born to liberty. There is nothing wrong with the state of our Union that the American people, addressed as free-born, mature citizens, cannot set right. Republicans in 2012 welcome all our countrymen to a program of renewal that rebuilds the dream for all, and makes our “city on a hill” shine once again.

State of the Union Union Republican Response





Jan 24, 2012

Republican Party
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels gave the Republican Party response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. He criticized the president's economic policies and divisiveness, saying "no feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant effort to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others." The speech was delivered from the War Memorial in Indianapolis.

Transcript of Mitch Daniels' State of the Union Response


The following is a transcript of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ Republican response to the State of the Union address, as prepared for delivery.
The status of “loyal opposition” imposes on those out of power some serious responsibilities: to show respect for the Presidency and its occupant, to express agreement where it exists. Republicans tonight salute our President, for instance, for his aggressive pursuit of the murderers of 9/11, and for bravely backing long overdue changes in public education. I personally would add to that list admiration for the strong family commitment that he and the First Lady have displayed to a nation sorely needing such examples.
On these evenings, Presidents naturally seek to find the sunny side of our national condition. But when President Obama claims that the state of our union is anything but grave, he must know in his heart that this is not true.
The President did not cause the economic and fiscal crises that continue in America tonight. But he was elected on a promise to fix them, and he cannot claim that the last three years have made things anything but worse: the percentage of Americans with a job is at the lowest in decades. One in five men of prime working age, and nearly half of all persons under 30, did not go to work today.
In three short years, an unprecedented explosion of spending, with borrowed money, has added trillions to an already unaffordable national debt. And yet, the President has put us on a course to make it radically worse in the years ahead. The federal government now spends one of every four dollars in the entire economy; it borrows one of every three dollars it spends. No nation, no entity, large or small, public or private, can thrive, or survive intact, with debts as huge as ours.
The President’s grand experiment in trickle-down government has held back rather than sped economic recovery. He seems to sincerely believe we can build a middle class out of government jobs paid for with borrowed dollars. In fact, it works the other way: a government as big and bossy as this one is maintained on the backs of the middle class, and those who hope to join it.
Those punished most by the wrong turns of the last three years are those unemployed or underemployed tonight, and those so discouraged that they have abandoned the search for work altogether. And no one has been more tragically harmed than the young people of this country, the first generation in memory to face a future less promising than their parents did.
As Republicans our first concern is for those waiting tonight to begin or resume the climb up life’s ladder. We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have nots; we must always be a nation of haves and soon to haves.
In our economic stagnation and indebtedness, we are only a short distance behind Greece, Spain, and other European countries now facing economic catastrophe. But ours is a fortunate land. Because the world uses our dollar for trade, we have a short grace period to deal with our dangers. But time is running out, if we are to avoid the fate of Europe, and those once-great nations of history that fell from the position of world leadership.
So 2012 is a year of true opportunity, maybe our last, to restore an America of hope and upward mobility, and greater equality. The challenges aren’t matters of ideology, or party preference; the problems are simply mathematical, and the answers are purely practical.
An opposition that would earn its way back to leadership must offer not just criticism of failures that anyone can see, but a positive and credible plan to make life better, particularly for those aspiring to make a better life for themselves. Republicans accept this duty, gratefully.
The routes back to an America of promise, and to a solvent America that can pay its bills and protect its vulnerable, start in the same place. The only way up for those suffering tonight, and the only way out of the dead end of debt into which we have driven, is a private economy that begins to grow and create jobs, real jobs, at a much faster rate than today.
Contrary to the President’s constant disparagement of people in business, it’s one of the noblest of human pursuits. The late Steve Jobs — what a fitting name he had — created more of them than all those stimulus dollars the President borrowed and blew. Out here in Indiana, when a businessperson asks me what he can do for our state, I say “First, make money. Be successful. If you make a profit, you’ll have something left to hire someone else, and some to donate to the good causes we love.”
The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy, or cancels a perfectly safe pipeline that would employ tens of thousands, or jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature, is a pro-poverty policy. It must be replaced by a passionate pro-growth approach that breaks all ties and calls all close ones in favor of private sector jobs that restore opportunity for all and generate the public revenues to pay our bills.
That means a dramatically simpler tax system of fewer loopholes and lower rates. A pause in the mindless piling on of expensive new regulations that devour dollars that otherwise could be used to hire somebody. It means maximizing on the new domestic energy technologies that are the best break our economy has gotten in years.
There is a second item on our national must-do list: we must unite to save the safety net. Medicare and Social Security have served us well, and that must continue. But after half and three quarters of a century respectively, it’s not surprising that they need some repairs. We can preserve them unchanged and untouched for those now in or near retirement, but we must fashion a new, affordable safety net so future Americans are protected, too.
Decades ago, for instance, we could afford to send millionaires pension checks and pay medical bills for even the wealthiest among us. Now, we can’t, so the dollars we have should be devoted to those who need them most.
The mortal enemies of Social Security and Medicare are those who, in contempt of the plain arithmetic, continue to mislead Americans that we should change nothing. Listening to them much longer will mean that these proud programs implode, and take the American economy with them. It will mean that coming generations are denied the jobs they need in their youth and the protection they deserve in their later years.
It’s absolutely so that everyone should contribute to our national recovery, including of course the most affluent among us. There are smart ways and dumb ways to do this: the dumb way is to raise rates in a broken, grossly complex tax system, choking off growth without bringing in the revenues we need to meet our debts. The better course is to stop sending the wealthy benefits they do not need, and stop providing them so many tax preferences that distort our economy and do little or nothing to foster growth.
It’s not fair and it’s not true for the President to attack Republicans in Congress as obstacles on these questions. They and they alone have passed bills to reduce borrowing, reform entitlements, and encourage new job creation, only to be shot down time and time again by the President and his Democratic Senate allies.
This year, it falls to Republicans to level with our fellow citizens about this reality: if we fail to act to grow the private sector and save the safety net, nothing else will matter much. But to make such action happen, we also must work, in ways we Republicans have not always practiced, to bring Americans together.
No feature of the Obama Presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others. As in previous moments of national danger, we Americans are all in the same boat. If we drift, quarreling and paralyzed, over a Niagara of debt, we will all suffer, regardless of income, race, gender, or other category. If we fail to shift to a pro-jobs, pro-growth economic policy, there will never be enough public revenue to pay for our safety net, national security, or whatever size government we decide to have.
As a loyal opposition, who put patriotism and national success ahead of party or ideology or any self-interest, we say that anyone who will join us in the cause of growth and solvency is our ally, and our friend. We will speak the language of unity. Let us rebuild our finances, and the safety net, and reopen the door to the stairway upward; any other disagreements we may have can wait.
You know, the most troubling contention in our national life these days isn’t about economics, or policy at all. It’s about us, as a free people. In two alarming ways, that contention is that we Americans just can’t cut it anymore.
In word and deed, the President and his allies tell us that we just cannot handle ourselves in this complex, perilous world without their benevolent protection. Left to ourselves, we might pick the wrong health insurance, the wrong mortgage, the wrong school for our kids; why, unless they stop us, we might pick the wrong light bulb!
A second view, which I admit some Republicans also seem to hold, is that we Americans are no longer up to the job of self-government. We can’t do the simple math that proves the unaffordability of today’s safety net programs, or all the government we now have. We will fall for the con job that says we can just plow ahead and someone else will pick up the tab. We will allow ourselves to be pitted one against the other, blaming our neighbor for troubles worldwide trends or our own government has caused.
2012 must be the year we prove the doubters wrong. The year we strike out boldly not merely to avert national bankruptcy but to say to a new generation that America is still the world’s premier land of opportunity. Republicans will speak for those who believe in the dignity and capacity of the individual citizen; who believe that government is meant to serve the people rather than supervise them; who trust Americans enough to tell them the plain truth about the fix we are in, and to lay before them a specific, credible program of change big enough to meet the emergency we are facing.
We will advance our positive suggestions with confidence, because we know that Americans are still a people born to liberty. There is nothing wrong with the state of our Union that the American people, addressed as free-born, mature citizens, cannot set right. Republicans in 2012 welcome all our countrymen to a program of renewal that rebuilds the dream for all, and makes our “city on a hill” shine once again.

State of the Union Address


Jan 24, 2012

U.S. Senate U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Capitol | Statuary Hall
In his third State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama outlined his priorities for legislative action and priorities for the American people. He opened his address by celebrating the return of combat troops from Iraq, and later outlined his policy toward the Middle East and Asia. Near the end of his remarks he also made a plea to Congress to address economic inequality.
In his remarks he focused on the economy and economic recovery efforts, saying "the state of the union is getting stronger." He also proposed a bluprint for boosting American manufacturing, called for tax reforms, urged Congress to invest in innovation, and announced a program to investigate fraud in the mortgage industry.Other topics included international trade, education, clean energy, and partisan politics in Washington.
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The Main Republican Super PACs

 the Click on the pics for each of  Super PACs ads

 Ron Paul Parade by South Florida Grassroots! – Jan 15 2012


Winning Our Future | Best Friends

 






Reagan (FL) - Restore Our Future


TRUE CONSERVATIVE

 

"Fake Mitt Romney" (super PAC ad)


Press



YouTube Video: Endorses Ron Paul Days before Iowa Caucus


Fake Mitt Romney DES MOINES, IOWA (January 2, 2012)
A unique YouTube presentation titled "Fake Mitt Romney Endorses Ron Paul" has a spokesman named "Fake Mitt Romney". The presentation was produced by Endorse Liberty, a super PAC supporting Ron Paul.
The video is available at: http://www.EndorseLiberty.com/FakeMitt
The video begins with a costumed actor saying, "I am Fake Mitt Romney, which makes me remarkably like the real Mitt Romney... I took a break from picking up a check at Goldman Sachs to talk to you, America." He then asks viewers to skip the video, because they will most likely change their vote to Ron Paul after watching.
"With the impersonation, we wanted to exaggerate Romney’s most defining features" says Stephen Oskoui, Co-founder of Endorse Liberty. "Writing our script was easy, because the real Mitt Romney is as much an actor as the guy in our video. It seems like everything he says is filtered through focus groups. We also wanted to point out that Romney’s top contributors are all banks like Goldman Sachs that took billions in bailouts from American taxpayers. Contrast that with Ron Paul’s top contributors; the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Navy."
After the introduction, viewers then transition to a 10 minute presentation featuring Ron Paul speaking on the House floor over the past 30 years. The presentation shows that Ron Paul predicted the housing market bubble and the economic collapse. Viewers also see interviews with U.S. military veterans explaining why Ron Paul receives more donations from active duty military servicemen and women than all the other candidates combined, including President Obama.
When the presentation finishes, Fake Mitt Romney returns to the screen. "Look, a lot of people have labeled me a flip-flopper. Maybe I am, maybe I’m not, but after watching that video, one thing is for sure; I am endorsing Ron Paul for President." Fake Mitt Romney continues by asking viewers to also endorse Ron Paul. "If you are still undecided about Ron Paul" he says, "click this video." Viewers are led to another presentation, "to see why the mainstream media and we big government establishment Republicans don’t support Ron Paul, but our troops overwhelmingly support him, and I now see why they don’t support me!"
Fake Mitt Romney wraps up with the advice, "Your friends are not going to get this message from the mainstream media, so please endorse Ron Paul to share this message with your friends." He ads, "To clarify, I am still running. I just won’t be voting for myself. I am Fake Mitt Romney and I approve this message." The video finishes with his phone ringing. He picks up and reads the caller-ID. "Goldman Sachs, I better let them know."
About Endorse Liberty
Endorse Liberty is an alliance of entrepreneurs, inventors and creators who have come together to promote the cause of liberty as the founding principle that powers America.
Liberty is the foundation of American culture. We believe America can regain its place as the world's role model. We endorse and promote leaders who champion liberty.
Press Contact
press@endorseliberty.com

The Evolution of Super PAC Attack Ads in This Campaign Season -- VIDEO

By Barrett Holmes Pitner Updated: January 9, 2012 | 4:02 p.m. January 9, 2012 | 2:55 p.m. In early August, satirist Stephen Colbert and his super PAC, Making a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, launched the political-attack-ad season with this hilariously confusing commercial targeting Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the Ames Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa. The Ames Straw Poll is a write-in election so confusing Gov. Rick Perry with Colbert’s fictitious Rick Parry could have proven surprisingly costly for the candidate.


On Dec. 21, Make Us Great Again, a super PAC supporting Perry, aired its first negative ad throughout Iowa. However, this 30-second commercial did not target the intentional misspellings of the Colbert’s super PAC, but focused on two of his legitimate presidential rivals, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. Make Us Great Again increased its ad buy in Iowa to $175,000 to run this ad, and they also intend to air it in South Carolina.



In late December, Endorse Liberty, a super PAC backing Texas Rep. Ron Paul, started running online commercials with actors lampooning the other Republican presidential hopefuls.
On Jan. 1, they launched a 12-minute video featuring “Fake Mitt Romney” in which the fake candidate supports the real Paul. It has already received more than 200,000 views on YouTube.



Despite the humor and effectiveness of some of these attack ads, the candidate who has benefited the most from the influence of super PACs is undoubtedly Romney. Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney super PAC, has spent roughly $3 million airing ads supporting Romney and predominately attacking Gingrich in Iowa and New Hampshire, and recently has committed to a $2.3 million ad buy in South Carolina.



Gingrich has not taken these attacks lying down, and he has seen how damaging they can be since most analysts agree that Restore Our Future’s attack ads contributed to his fall from potential front-runner to a fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.
Recently, Gingrich-supporting super PAC Winning Our Future received a $5 million contribution from a wealthy Gingrich supporter—some reports say he may increase his contribution to $20 million before the end of the campaign. Winning Our Future has already released a 1-minute commercial attacking Mitt Romney.



Want to stay ahead of the curve? Sign up for National Journal’s AM & PM Must Reads. News and analysis to ensure you don’t miss a thing.

State of the Union Address

Transcript is in previous blog......,




Jan 24, 2012

U.S. Senate U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Capitol | Statuary Hall
In his third State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama outlined his priorities for legislative action and priorities for the American people. He opened his address by celebrating the return of combat troops from Iraq, and later outlined his policy toward the Middle East and Asia. Near the end of his remarks he also made a plea to Congress to address economic inequality.
In his remarks he focused on the economy and economic recovery efforts, saying "the state of the union is getting stronger." He also proposed a bluprint for boosting American manufacturing, called for tax reforms, urged Congress to invest in innovation, and announced a program to investigate fraud in the mortgage industry.Other topics included international trade, education, clean energy, and partisan politics in Washington.







2012 Player Guide(campaign finance rules)


Players Guide 2012
The 2012 campaign cycle marks the first presidential election since the 2010 Supreme Court ruling that allowed corporations and unions to spend more freely in federal elections. The loosened campaign finance rules, coupled with an intense competition between the two major parties, have served only to embolden independent political groups that hope to influence the 2012 races.
Below is a list of most major groups that have been active or expect to be active in the 2012 federal elections. Many of these groups can accept unlimited donations. Others can accept unlimited donations and avoid disclosing their donors. There’s even a new breed of so-called independent groups that advocate solely for a single presidential candidate.
Who are these groups and who’s behind them? Click on the links below to find out.
The groups below were selected based on the amount they have spent, or say they plan to spend, or the media attention they have attracted. It is not a comprehensive list, and additional groups will be added as the campaign season unfolds.

AFL-CIO

Large federation of labor unions is strongly Democratic.
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American Action Network / American Action Forum

Founded by a former Republican senator and a former GOP House aide. Leans GOP/Right-center.
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American Crossroads/Crossroads GPS

Conservative-leaning group founded with help from Karl Rove and former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie.
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American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Labor union representing 1.6 million employees including health care workers, corrections officers and sanitation workers. Leans Democratic.
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American Future Fund

Republican-leaning group formed by Iowa political figures.
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Americans for Job Security

Pro-business group whose president is the former head of the New Hampshire Republican Party.
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Americans for Prosperity

A conservative group founded by billionaire businessman and political activist David Koch.
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Americans United for Change

Americans United for Change is a liberal group whose message closely mirrors that of the Obama White House.
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Concerned Women for America

A public policy women’s organization that promotes biblical principles.
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Democracy for America

A liberal-leaning group founded by former DNC chairman Howard Dean.
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Ending Spending

A fiscally conservative group founded by J. Joe Ricketts, a businessman who also founded Ameritrade.
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House Majority PAC

A new “super PAC” focused on returning Democrats to the majority in the House.
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Make Us Great Again

Make Us Great Again is a “super PAC” supporting Rick Perry’s presidential bid.
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Patriot Majority USA

A liberal-leaning group founded by a Democratic political strategist and heavily funded by labor unions.
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Priorities USA/Priorities USA Action

Liberal-leaning group founded by ex-White House staffers Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney to counter American Crossroads/Crossroads GPS.
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Progressive Change Campaign Committee

A liberal-leaning group founded by a MoveOn.org strategist, a former labor organizer and an Internet activist.
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Red White and Blue Fund

A pro-Rick Santorum “super PAC” started by a political adviser to former Iowa Rep. Jim Nussle.
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Republican Majority Campaign

Republican Majority Campaign is a conservative group headed by a California attorney who was featured in an infomercial that asked “Where was President Obama born?”
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Restore Our Future

A “super PAC” created by Republican Mitt Romney’s former campaign staffers to support his presidential candidacy.
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Santa Rita Super PAC

A “super PAC” backing Rep. Ron Paul for president. It was created by a Paul donor and fundraiser.
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Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Labor union representing 2.1 million health care, government and property management workers.
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U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Lobbying group representing business interests. Leans Right-center.
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Winning Our Future

Winning Our Future is a “super PAC” supporting the candidacy of Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
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