In fairness to Mr. Rubio, what he’s saying isn’t any different from what everyone else in his party is saying. But that, of course, is what’s so scary.
For here we are, more than five years into the worst economic slump since the Great Depression, and one of our two great political parties has seen its economic doctrine crash and burn twice: first in the run-up to crisis, then again in the aftermath. Yet that party has learned nothing; it apparently believes that all will be well if it just keeps repeating the old slogans, but louder.
It’s a disturbing picture, and one that bodes ill for our nation’s future.
Krugman on Rubio’s speech. Dude nails the problem with Rubio’s offering Tuesday night.
A look at some of the claims in his State of the Union speech, a glance at the Republican counterargument and how they fit with the facts:
OBAMA: “After years of grueling recession, our businesses have created over 6 million new jobs.”
THE FACTS: That’s in the ballpark, as far as it goes. But Obama starts his count not when he took office, but from the point in his first term when job losses were the highest. In doing so, he ignores the 5 million or so jobs that were lost on his watch, up to that point.
The wire service also examined Sen. Marco Rubio’s televised response on behalf of the Republican Party, and takes both men to task for some less-than-accurate statements during the State of the Union and GOP response on Tuesday night.
One of the best ways to encourage growth is through our energy industry. Of course, solar and wind energy should be part of our energy portfolio. But God also blessed America with abundant coal, oil, natural gas. Instead of wasting more taxpayer money on so-called clean energy companies like Solyndra, let’s open up more federal lands for safe and responsible exploration.Senator Marco Rubio, challenging President Obama’s call for green energy investment and call-to-arms on climate change. Obama actually did laud American energy production, oil and natural gas included, but this is one issue on which there isn’t much common ground between the two parties. As such, one man’s “investment” is another’s “waste.”
As you heard from him tonight, his solution to almost every problem is for America to tax more, borrow more, and spend more. …The idea that more taxes and more government spending is the best way to help hardworking middle class taxpayers – that’s an old idea that’s failed every time it’s been tried. More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back.Senator Marco Rubio, dismissing President Obama’s State Of The Union calls for investment and government reforms in the GOP response tonight.
President Obama, departing the Senate chamber following his State Of The Union address, once again in the thick of one of the biggest, and perhaps most deferential autograph-seeking mobs youy’ll ever see. What did you guys think?
We are citizens. It’s a word that doesn’t just describe our nationality or legal status. It describes the way we’re made. It describes what we believe. It captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations, that our rights are wrapped up in the rights of others, and that well into our third century as a nation, it remains the task of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors of the next great chapter of our American story. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless these United States of America.President Obama, closing out the first State of the Union address of his second term.
Gabby Giffords deserves a vote. The families of Newtown deserve a vote. The families of Aurora deserve a vote. The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence – they deserve a simple vote.President Obama, urging congress—more specifically, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives, to put his gun control proposals to a vote.
When any American, no matter where they live or what their party, are denied [the right to vote] because they can’t afford to wait for five, or six, or seven hours to cast a ballot, we are betraying our ideals. So tonight I’m announcing a non-partisan commission to improve the voting experience in America, and it definitely needs improvement. …we can fix this, and we will. The American people demand it, and so does our democracy.President Obama, calling for reforms to the voting process.This was foreshadowed in a single line during his victory speech on election night 2012 (“we have to fix that”), and as Obama explained, attorneys from both his campaign and that of his opponent, Mitt Romney, will participate in the effort.
…an AIDS free generation is within our reach.President Obama, echoing remarks by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, that medical advancements, prevention and education could usher in a new era, free from the scourge of AIDS.
President Obama touched pointedly on nuclear armaments just now, stating that the North Korean government needed to halt “provocations” like yesterday’s nuclear test and meet their international obligations, and saying he’d continue working with Russia to pare down the volume of nuclear arms in our respective arsenals.
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
Congrats Tumblr!
Don’t screw this up Yahoo.
In 2007, I was...
I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
By the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over.President Obama, delivering a line that drew hearty applause. The Afghanistan War, as demonstrated during the 2012 presidential campaign, is actually an issue on which botht he Democrats and GOP have had some second thoughts in recent years. If and when it ends next year will not elude one dubious distinction, though – it’s already the longest war in U.S. history.
Right now, leaders from business, law enforcement, faith communities, all agree. Now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform. Now is the time. Time to get it done.President Obama, calling for comprehensive immigration reform, subsequently citing his administration’s increase of “boots on the ground” along the Mexican border. He did seek to strike a balance between liberal and conservative dialogues on immigration, however, stating that undocumented immigrants would go “to the back of the line.”
President Obama just called for increased spending on infrasture, speficially saying he’d move to make necessary repairs on the scores of under-maintained bridges throughout the country. He also called to make pre-school available to every child in America: “Every dollar we invest in early childhood education can save seven dollars later on, …Let’s do what works, and make sure none of our kids start the race of life already behind.”
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