Viewpoint


My name is Patrick M McCormick and I have created this blog as a platform for my political views as well as those of select contributors.

I believe that American Politicians have lost sight of their goal: To uphold the Constitution and protect the rights of the people of the United States. They argue and bicker on the floor of their respective houses, positioning themselves for the next election, while they accomplish very little business for the citizens of this country.

Meanwhile our economy is sliding downward. Millions of our precious jobs have have been exported overseas. Our social safety net and other public services are being cut. Our middle class is rapidly disappearing and the numbers of citizens existing below the poverty line is increasing dramatically.

I plan to examine the causes of these terrible changes to our American way of life. Your comments will help us all arrive at some important conclusions.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Our Leaders Fiddle While the Republic Burns

The war of words on the economy escalated today as Vice President Joe Biden dueled with House Minority Leader John Boehner, who earlier today called for the resignation of President Obama's economic team.

It's "very constructive advice and we thank the leader for that," Biden said sarcastically to muted laughter. "For eight years before we arrived in the West Wing, Mr. Boehner and his party ran economy and the middle class literally into the ground."

"Mr. Boehner is nostalgic for those good old days, but the American people are not. They don't want to go back. They want to move forward, and so folks, I'm still waiting for what it is that they are for," Biden said today in a speech to give an update on the Economic Recovery Act.

Speaking in Cleveland earlier today, Boehner berated the "president's job-killing agenda," and called on him to veto an energy bill, the controversial "card check" legislation -- a union-favored bill that Obama has vowed to fight for -- and support the repeal of the health care bill that was signed into law in March.

House Republican attempts at repealing the health care law have been largely unsuccessful.

"This spring, when power changed hands in Britain -- another country racked by red ink -- one Treasury minister left a note for his successor and the note said, 'I am afraid to tell you there is no money left,'" Boehner said. "Well, I am not afraid to tell you there is no money left, we're broke!"

The Ohio Republican pointed to the resignation of Christina Romer as chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, who announced her decision to step down shortly after Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, resigned.

"We have been told that the president's economic team is 'exhausted' -- already, his budget director and his chief economist have moved on or are about to. Clearly, they see the writing on the wall, and the president should too," Boehner said. "President Obama should ask for -- and accept -- the resignations of the remaining members of his economic team, starting with Secretary Geithner and Larry Summers, the head of the National Economic Council."

Seizing on the large budget deficit accumulated during the Bush administration, Biden today accused Boehner of returning to the policies that led to the crisis "from which we are still digging out."

"They gave free rein to special interests to write their own rules at the expense of everyone else, not just the middle class," Biden said.

The top Republican in the House earlier blasted the Obama administration for raising taxes on small businesses and Americans, a charge that Biden denied. Instead, he pointed the finger at Republicans for wanting to extend tax cuts to "Wall Street" and not the "Main Street."

"We've seen this movie before," the vice president said. "And we know how it ends. The American people deserve something different and something better."

The war of words come as a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday shows that Americans are increasingly concerned about jobs and the economy, but want tax cuts extended.

Forty-nine percent of those polled said they wanted to see the Bush tax cuts extended for all Americans, while 31 percent said they should expire for people whose salary is above $200,000. More than half thought that reducing the budget deficit was a bigger priority than lowering taxes.

Seventy-two percent of people polled said they were very worried about unemployment and 67 percent said they were very concerned about government spending, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Only 45 percent approved of the president's performance, according to the poll and his disapproval rating jumped to 52 percent. The president's approval rating was less than 50 percent in August.

1 comment:

  1. I would rather see the Vice President and the Congressman sit down and try to work on one of the problems facing us than have an argument in the press. That is all we get to see lately, arguments, insults and outrageous demands, not cooperation or sincere efforts to improve our economy. Are we paying them to debate their political differences or work to solve national issues?

    We cannot allow our political views to keep us from solving the problems at hand. People are suffering, there are hungry, homeless and unemployed in this land of plenty. It is time for us to ask ourselves, are we Democrats and Republicans first and Americans second, or do the needs of the nation overshadow the ambitions of our political leaders.

    We are a strong and creative people. We have survived a revolution, a civil war, two world wars and the great depression. Now, we find ourselves in a serious financial crisis once more. We could solve our problems with a lot of hard work and cooperation. Instead, our leaders have chosen to bicker over politics while the problems worsen.

    It is time for US, you and me, regardless of our political beliefs, to contact our elected officials and demand that every one of them put politics aside and work together to solve the issues threatening the Republic. If our elected officials lack the desire to cooperate with one another in order to solve these problems, they also lack the ability to lead us.

    Election Day is coming, if you are Republican or Democrat let them know how you feel. If you do not know who your representatives are, I have a link on my blog.

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