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Disrespect! Republicans avoid Obama’s big night
Football comes first for one Republican senator as Obama faces prospect of empty seats tonight
JUST WHAT Barack Obama is up against in his bid to win over the two Houses of Congress tonight with his job creation programme is illustrated by the fact that several Republicans have said they will not be showing up to hear the president's speech.
Here are some of their reasons:
Senator David Vitter of Louisiana (above) will be attending a party to watch his local football team, the New Orleans Saints, play their opening game of the season against the Green Bay Packers. "As a fanatic, I have my priorities," he told Fox News.
Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, a Tea Party member, told ABC TV: "If he sent a written proposal over first, I would go hear him explain it, but frankly right now I'm so frustrated I don't think I'm going to go."
Congressman Paul Broun of Georgia will watch the speech, but from his Washington office where he will tweet his thoughts. He did the same thing during Obama's State of the Union address in January, tweeting: "Mr. President, you don't believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism."
Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois, the president's home state, will avoid the speech because he doesn't want to act as a "prop" for the president.
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida won't be there because his mother is ill. To be fair, she really is ill and he says that’s the only reason for his absence – otherwise he'd be there. ·
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Do I miss something. Borrowing money implies having money to lend. If so, how on earth someone or something managed to amass the obscene sums and lend it back to a irresponsible politicians with little chance of being payed back? You see, the only way possible is by having promissory notes masquerading as money. One can promise to lend and the "borrower" can promise to pay. In between you have goods and services, with the currency called production. That one is REAL. The rest is a grand theft of the millennium devised to enslave you. Jobs, jobs, jobs amount to work cheap, cheaper, cheapest for your masters. I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA
On the first day of work on Thursday for a "super committee" charged with finding $1.2 trillion in new government savings, a member of the panel threatened to quit if defense spending cuts are discussed, underscoring the difficulties ahead.Despite Republican Senator Jon Kyl's surprise disclosure after the panel's inaugural meeting that "I'm off of the committee if we're going to talk about further defense spending," other Republicans worked to put comprehensive tax reform squarely on the agenda and urged bipartisanship.A broad revamp of the U.S. tax code, which hasn't been done in 25 years since the Reagan administration, could include lowering corporate tax rates, eliminating special-interest tax breaks and raising taxes on the wealthy.Besides streamlining tax law, lawmakers hope it will help boost revenues, encourage corporate investment and create new jobs.Kyl's threat overshadowed the tax initiatives and came as many lawmakers were hoping to put their bickering aside, having attacked each other all year over budget priorities amid annual deficits topping $1 trillion.Democratic Senator Patty Murray, a co-chair of the super committee, applauded her colleagues' early show of bipartisanship, saying, "Committee members have refrained from drawing lines in the sand or carving out areas that can't be touched."That quickly changed when Kyl, speaking to some conservative think tanks immediately following the panel's hour-long meeting, said he wouldn't tolerate any more cuts to defense. It was reminiscent of Republican demands in earlier budget talks that tax increases be off the table.U.S. spending on security programs, including defense, was cut by $350 billion as part of a $917-billion deficit-reduction plan enacted last month. But Republicans were devising ways for the Pentagon to escape much of those cuts with diplomatic and foreign aid programs shouldering most of the pain.I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA
He he he I want to laugh at the whole issue. There is no eceonomy. Only sand and blood. So why worry? I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA
Is it just me, or does that senator with the yellow tie look remarkably like a pig?