Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address United States Capitol Washington, D.C.
9:10 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:
Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq. Together, we offered a final, proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought — and several thousand gave their lives.
We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world. (Applause.) For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. (Applause.) For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country. (Applause.) Most of al Qaeda’s top lieutenants have been defeated. The Taliban’s momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home.
These achievements are a testament to the courage, selflessness and teamwork of America’s Armed Forces. At a time when too many of our institutions have let us down, they exceed all expectations. They’re not consumed with personal ambition. They don’t obsess over their differences. They focus on the mission at hand. They work together.
Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example. (Applause.) Think about the America within our reach: A country that leads the world in educating its people. An America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs. A future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t so tied to unstable parts of the world. An economy built to last, where hard work pays off, and responsibility is rewarded.
We can do this. I know we can, because we’ve done it before. At the end of World War II, when another generation of heroes returned home from combat, they built the strongest economy and middle class the world has ever known. (Applause.) My grandfather, a veteran of Patton’s Army, got the chance to go to college on the GI Bill. My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth.
A friend sent me the essay below and when I read it I knew I had to share it on this blog. The author, Mr Robert J. House, in his 70’s, is a retired professional man of Black African descent,who came of age before, during, and through the civil rights 1960’s.
His thoughts on the election of Barack Obama and how it changes the paradigm:
Some have asked what I think, so I thought I would add my two cents worth. I’m amazed at how calm I was when at 11PM election night, MSNBC made the announcement.
Of course there was a great sense of pride, but true to my nature after a pause, the wonderment came, what will it all mean? When Barack Obama walked out with his family, my emotions were a misting in my eyes, and a chill, followed by a warm glow of fulfillment. I was amazed at how much he has aged, coupled with the sadness etched on his face by the loss of his grandmother.
Women shaped his life, as is the reality for many of the black men of our generation who “amounted to anything” . I know that was the case for me – it has been both a blessing and a challenge.
For America, and the world, his election is a daunting task. We all know about the Two Wars, the economy, failing education, crumbling infra-structures and a health care system that borders on genocide for the poor and disenfranchised.
All this coupled with our damaged reputation around the world. My question is, will America “step up” and support this new young president and begin to seriously address and fix these problems or will some Americans, particularly those out of power,or those possessed with racial and cultural hatred coupled by fear and fueled by lack of economic opportunity, rather see this country fail than give this “n***** ” a chance to succeed?
The thing is, those who would strongly withhold their support fail to take into consideration that when they had power and access, they failed, because they could not or were not equipped to handle the issues.
For we Americans of “Black African descent”, the days coming are going to be particularly challenging and life altering times. I’m reminded of Tavis Smiley’s annual forum on the “State of Black America” and how last year, he got “pissed” because Obama would not attend. My thoughts are that that forum dwindled in effectiveness (other than a place to complain) because the lack of jobs, poor education, poor infrastructure, the cost of energy and the overall economy now affected all ethnicity.
Our task will be to understand our particular place in American society and our responsibility to that place and ourselves. Unlike other “minorities” we are unique in that we do not have a typical ancestral and cultural core that we can identify and cling to.
The Latinos (not to be confused with Hispanics), Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, etc) Eastern Europeans, Middle Eastern (Iran, Iraq, Egyptians, Laotians, Syrians, etc) all have their separate cultural identity from dress, language, food, religious worship, role of women, etc. These immigrant minorities came here of their own free will. Whereas our ancestors, for the most part, came here against their will.
This stripped from us ancestral and cultural identity, aspects that would sustain us though generations. The vast majority of us cannot identify what country or continent we came from and only assume we must come from one of the west African countries. But we do have a uniqueness that sets us apart and makes us “first among equal” of the immigrant groups.
Our african ancestors built this country and we have the blood, sweat, tears and the scars to prove it. For me, for all of us, this is the country of our ancestors and Barack Obama’s election as it’s Chief Executive is the manifestation of our ownership, our pride of ownership, our inclusion.
With his election to the presidency, Barack Obama has shone the bright light on our ownership and it is our responsibility to do all that we can to protect and enhance it. We cannot, with any conviction, no longer say that we cannot succeed, not be responsible for and to our families (particularly our children), not be stewards of our communities, not establish meaningful and worthwhile relationships because “the man won’t let us”.
Truth be told, we are “the man” and it is past time (particularly for our men) to prepare and act like it!
Not all of us will go to college, achieve noteworthy status, or get rich, but all of us have something to offer.
It’s only when we fail to try and take our place in ensuring our ownership that we tear down those who work hard, sacrifice, get knocked down and get back up and keep on trying. In God’s time he sent the world Barack Obama, loaded his back like a country mule and told him to keep stepping. We can do no less.
The DAVISReport
Posted by www.EileenDavis.blogspot.com The Davis Report – The Voice of Central Virginia and the Capital City
Are you confused? I know I am. Unsure from the beginning, I grudgingly supported this financial bailout fiasco, believing the money moguls in D.C. who said we had to.
Turns out they don’t know what they are doing either?! Now instead of using all that big money to cover failed mortgages we will be paying off car loans and credit card debt-WHAT? What a mess!
This article below tries its best to break it down- have the aspirin handy, you’ll need it…
President-Elect Barack Obama Holds First Press Conference
Transcript of the news conference:
Obama:Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you very much.
This morning, we woke up to more sobering news about the state of our economy. The 240,000 jobs lost in October marks the 10th consecutive month that our economy has shed jobs. In total, we’ve lost nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, and more than 10 million Americans are now unemployed.
Tens of millions of families are struggling to figure out how to pay the bills and stay in their homes. Their stories are an urgent reminder that we are facing the greatest economic challenge of our lifetime, and we’re going to have to act swiftly to resolve it.
Now, the United States has only one government and one president at a time. And until January 20th of next year, that government is the current administration.
I’ve spoken to President Bush. I appreciate his commitment to ensuring that his economic policy team keeps us fully informed as developments unfold. And I’m also thankful for his invitation to the White House.
Immediately after I become president, I’m going to confront this economic crisis head on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families, and restore growth and prosperity.
And this morning, I met with members of my Transition Economic Advisory Board, who are standing behind me, alongside my vice president-elect, Joe Biden.
They will help to guide the work of my transition team, working with Rahm Emanuel, my chief of staff, in developing a strong set of policies to respond to this crisis. We discussed in the earlier meeting several of the most immediate challenges facing oureconomyand key priorities on which to focus on in the days and weeks ahead.
First of all, we need a rescue plan for the middle class that invests in immediate efforts to create jobs and provide relief to families that are watching their paychecks shrink and their life savings disappear.
A particularly urgent priority is a further extension of unemployment insurance benefits for workers who cannot find work in the increasingly weak economy.
A fiscal stimulus plan that will jump-start economic growth is long overdue. I’ve talked about it throughout this — the last few months of the campaign. We should get it done.
Second, we have to address the spreading impact of the financial crisis on the other sectors of our economy: small businesses that are struggling to meet their payrolls and finance their holiday inventories; and state and municipal governments facing devastating budget cuts and tax increases.
We must also remember that the financial crisis is increasingly global and requires a global response.
The news coming out of the auto industry this week reminds us of the hardship it faces, hardship that goes far beyond individual auto companies to the countless suppliers, small businesses and communities throughout our nation who depend on a vibrant American auto industry.
The auto industry is the backbone of American manufacturing and a critical part of our attempt to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
I would like to see the administration do everything it can to accelerate the retooling assistance that Congress has already enacted. In addition, I have made it a high priority for my transition team to work on additional policy options to help the auto industry adjust, weather the financial crisis, and succeed in producingfuel-efficient carshere in the United States of America.
And I was glad to be joined today by Governor Jennifer Granholm, who obviously has great knowledge and great interest on this issue.
I’ve asked my team to explore what we can do under current law and whether additional legislation will be needed for this purpose.
Third, we will review the implementation of this administration’s financial program to ensure that the government’s efforts are achieving their central goal of stabilizing financial markets while protecting taxpayers, helping homeowners, and not unduly rewarding the management of financial firms that are receiving government assistance.
It is absolutely critical that the Treasury work closely with the FDIC, HUD, and other government agencies to use the substantial authority that they already have to help families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.
Finally, as we monitor and address these immediate economic challenges, we will be moving forward in laying out a set of policies that will grow our middle class and strengthen our economy in the long term. We cannot afford to wait on moving forward on the key priorities that I identified during the campaign, including clean energy, health care, education, and tax relief for middle-class families.
My transition team will be working on each of these priorities in the weeks ahead, and I intend to reconvene this advisory board to discuss the best ideas for responding to these immediate problems.
Let me close by saying this. I do not underestimate the enormity of the task that lies ahead. We have taken some major action to date, and we will need further action during this transition and subsequent months.
Some of the choices that we make are going to be difficult. And I have said before and I will repeat again: It is not going to be quick, and it is not going to be easy for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that we are in.
But America is a strong and resilient country. And I know we will succeed, if we put aside partisanship and politics and work together as one nation. That’s what I intend to do.
With that, let me open it up for some questions. And I’m going to start right here with you.
Question:Thank you, Mr. President-elect. I wonder what you think any president can accomplish during their first 100 days in office to turn the economy around? How far can you go? And what will be your priorities on day one?
Obama:Well, I think that a new president can do an enormous amount to restore confidence, to move an agenda forward that speaks to the needs of the economy and the needs of middle-class families all across the country.
I’ve outlined during the course of the campaign some critical issues that I intend to work on.
We have a current financial crisis that is spilling out into rest of the economy, and we have taken some action so far. More action is undoubtedly going to be needed. My transition team is going to be monitoring very closely what happens over the course of the next several months.
The one thing I can say with certainty is that we are going to need to see a stimulus package passed either before or after inauguration.
We are going to have to focus on jobs, because the hemorrhaging of jobs has an impact, obviously, on consumer confidence and the ability of people to — to buy goods and services and can have enormous spillover effects.
And I think it’s going to be very important for us to provide the kinds of assistance to state and local governments to make sure that they don’t compound some of the problems that are already out there by having to initiate major layoffs or initiate tax increases.
So there are some things that we know we’re going to have to do, but I’m confident that a new president can have an enormous impact. That’s why I ran for president.
Question:(off-mike) … from House Democrats that the stimulus package may be in trouble, that it’s going to be a hard time getting out of a lame-duck session. Are you still confident that you would be able to get something done before you actually take office?
Obama:I want to see a stimulus package sooner rather than later. If it does not get done in the lame-duck session, it will be the first thing I get done as president of the United States.
Question:Senator, for the first time since the Iranian revolution, the president ofIransent a congratulations note to a new U.S. president. I’m wondering if, first of all, if you responded to President Ahmadinejad’s note of congratulations and, second of all, and more importantly, how soon do you plan on sending low-level envoys to countries such as Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, to see if a presidential-level talk would be productive?
Obama:I am aware that the letter was sent. Let me state — repeat what I stated during the course of the campaign.
Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon I believe is unacceptable. And we have to mount a international effort to prevent that from happening.
Iran’s support of terrorist organizations I think is something that has to cease.
I will be reviewing the letter from President Ahmadinejad, and we will respond appropriately. It’s only been three days since the election. Obviously, how we approach and deal with a country like Iran is not something that we should, you know, simply do in a knee- jerk fashion. I think we’ve got to think it through.
But I have to reiterate once again that we only have one president at a time. And I want to be very careful that we are sending the right signals to the world as a whole that I am not the president and I won’t be until January 20th.
Question:Picking up what we were just talking about, your meeting with President Bush on Monday. When — he is still the decider, obviously, stating the obvious. When you disagree with decisions he makes, will you defer? Will you challenge? Will you confront? And if it becomes confrontational, could that rattle the markets even more?
Obama:Well, President Bush graciously invited Michelle and I to — to meet with him and First Lady Laura Bush. We are gratified by the invitation. I’m sure that, in addition to taking a tour of the White House, there’s going to be a substantive conversation between myself and the president.
I’m not going to anticipate problems. I’m going to go in there with a spirit of bipartisanship and a sense that both the president and various leaders in Congress all recognize the severity of the situation right now and want to get stuff done.
And, you know, undoubtedly there may end up being differences between not just members of different parties, but between people within the same party.
The critical point and I think the critical tone that has to be struck by all of us involved right now is the American people need help. This economy is in bad shape. And we have just completed one of the longest election cycles in recorded history.
Now is a good time for us to set politics aside for a while and think practically about what will actually work to move the economy forward. And it’s in that spirit that I’ll have the conversation with the president.
Question:Thank you, Mr. President-elect. With the country facing two wars and a financial crisis, do you think it’s important for you to move especially quickly to fill key cabinet posts, such as treasury secretary and secretary of state?
Obama:When we have an announcement about cabinet appointments, we will make them. There is no doubt that I think people want to know who’s going to make up our team.
And I want to move with all deliberate haste, but I want to emphasize “deliberate” as well as “haste.” I’m proud of the choice I made of vice president, partly because we did it right. I’m proud of the choice of chief of staff, because we thought it through.
And I think it’s very important, in all these key positions, both in the economic team and the national security team, to — to get it right and not to be so rushed that you end up making mistakes.
I’m confident that we’re going to have an outstanding team, and we will be rolling that out in subsequent weeks.
Question:Yes, sir. To what extent — to what extent are you planning to use your probably pretty great influence in determining the successor for your Senate seat? And what sort of criteria should the governor be looking at in filling that position?
Obama:This is the governor’s decision; it is not my decision.
And I think that the criteria that I would have for my successor would be the same criteria that I’d have if I were a voter: somebody who is capable; somebody who is passionate about helping working families in Illinois meet their — meet their dreams.
And I think there are going to be a lot of good choices out there, but it is the governor’s decision to make, not mine.
Lynn Sweet?
Question:Mr. President-elect …
Obama:What happened to your arm, Lynn?
Question:I cracked my shoulder running to your speech on election night.
Obama:Oh, no.
(Laughter)
Question:(inaudible)
Obama:I think that was the only major incident during the — the entire Grant Park celebration.
Question:Thank you for asking. Here’s my question. I’m wondering what you’re doing to get ready. Have you spoke to any living ex-presidents, what books you might be reading?
Everyone wants to know, what kind of dog are you going to buy for your girls? Have you decided on a private or public school for your daughters?
Obama:Let — let me list those off.
In terms of speaking to former presidents, I’ve spoken to all of them that are living. Obviously, President Clinton — I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances.
I have re-read some of Lincoln’s writings, who’s always an extraordinary inspiration.
And, by the way, President Carter, President Bush, Sr., as well as the current president have all been very gracious and offered to provide any help that they can in this transition process.
With respect to the dog, this is a major issue. I think it’s generated more interest on our Web site than just about anything.
We have — we have two criteria that have to be reconciled. One is that Malia is allergic, so it has to be hypoallergenic. There are a number of breeds that are hypoallergenic.
On the other hand, our preference would be to get a shelter dog, but, obviously, a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me. So — so whether we’re going to be able to balance those two things I think is a pressing issue on the Obama household.
And with respect to schools, Michelle will be — will be scouting out some schools. We’ll be making a decision about that in the future.
Question:You are now privy to a lot of intelligence that you haven’t had access to before, in fact, much of what the president sees, I’m sure all of it.
First of all, do you — what do you think about the state of U.S. intelligence, whether you think it needs beefing up, whether you think there’s enough interaction between the various agencies?
And, second of all, has anything that you’ve heard given you pause about anything you’ve talked about on the campaign trail?
Obama:Well, as you know, if — if there was something I had heard, I couldn’t tell you. But…
Question:(off-mike)
Obama:I have received intelligence briefings. And I will make just a general statement.
Our intelligence process can always improve. I think it has gotten better. And, you know, beyond that, I don’t think I should comment on the nature of the intelligence briefings.
That was a two-parter. Was there another aspect to that?
Question:Well, just whether — you know, absent what you’ve heard…
Obama:OK, I get you.
Question:… whether anything has given you pause.
Obama:I’m going to skip that.
Question:Mr. President-elect, do you still intend to seek income tax increases for upper-income Americans? And if so, should these Americans expect to pay higher taxes in 2009?
Obama:The — my tax plan represented a net tax cut. It provided for substantial middle-class tax cuts; 95 percent of working Americans would receive them.
It also provided for cuts in capital gains for small businesses, additional tax credits. All of it is designed for job growth.
My priority is going to be, how do we grow the economy? How do we create more jobs?
I think that the plan that we’ve put forward is the right one, but, obviously, over the next several weeks and months, we’re going to be continuing to take a look at the data and see what’s taking place in the economy as a whole.
But, understand, the goal of my plan is to provide tax relief to families that are struggling, but also to boost the capacity of the economy to grow from the bottom up.
I know all of us are holding our breath for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to wow America all over again during her vice-presidential debate with Delaware’s Sen. Joe Biden Thursday night.
One newspaper has called Mrs. Palin’s debating skills “formidable.” The New York Times says she’s a confident debater. In fact, the Obama campaign, calling her a “terrific debater,” is thinking of suspending the vice-presidential portion of the fall campaign.
I thought, maybe, we should imbibe a little her recent series of triumphant interviews with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric:
Couric: You’ve cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?
Sarah Palin: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and, on our other side, the land-boundary that we have with Canada. It’s funny that a comment like that was kinda made to . . . cari . . . I don’t know, you know . . . reporters.
Couric: Mocked?
Palin: Yeah, mocked, I guess that’s the word, yeah.
Couric: Well, explain to me why that enhances your foreign-policy credentials.
Palin: Well, it certainly does, because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of. And there…
Couric: Have you ever been involved in any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?
Palin: We have trade missions back and forth, we do. It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia. As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there, they are right next to our state.
Ms. Couric then brought up the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, suggesting the money could be better spent by regular Americans. Mrs. Palin burst forth in incandescent rhetoric. Her answer was nothing short of historic in its scope and grasp of policy details, mastery of nuance:
COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?
PALIN: That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, we’re ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it’s got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.
As I am in the habit of doing, I fired off this e-mail to a family friend working overseas this morning:
Can you believe what’s going on here? The country is going down the tubes.
* * *
In some countries I know, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (he cashed out from Goldman Sachs in 2006 with half a billion dollars) would already be shot by now and George Bush would have already fled the country.
There’s a problem with our democracy when the perps are proudly walking around, insisting we hand them unfettered access to more money, or else they’ll take down the economy. And then, they follow through on that threat.
Here’s my friend’s response:
Hi, Michael:
I am distressed by what’s going on multiple levels. On a personal level, we have lost lots of money — at least on paper. I have refused to sell anything we set aside for our retirement (only a few years away for me, but looking longer now!!!), because once you sell, that confirms the paper loss, but the sliding markets came so fast it was hard to keep up with them (not when we ordinary working folk have such stressful jobs to keep up with!!!).
On other levels, I am filled with disgust to now realize what a party Wall Street had at our expense these last 10 years — inventing these reckless new investment vehicles filled so much with mortgages sold to people who the sharpies knew would not be able to afford to pay them back — but which they came up with a term for, “sub-prime,” that somehow made it seem okay. (Once again, the U.S. media, like it did on Iraq, blew it on this story. We always do a decent job after the shit hits the fan, but never before; then again, Americans never pay attention until it is too late.)
The party appears to have been at our expense because so many banks bought those investment vehicles and these are the banks that the government is now rescuing because those investment vehicles failed when mortgages went south when, lo and behold, people defaulted on their mortgages.
And no one in government was watching. The credit agencies that approved all of these deals in glowing reports to potential investors were not regulated by the government, not in any substantive way because of the de-regulation era promoted by Bush, both houses of Congress, McCain and to some extent, Clinton. The credit agencies were in cahoots with the companies that brought these investment deals to market because they had financial relationships with them.
In effect, for a decade on Wall Street, there was no official watchdog. It was party time. How could anyone in their right mind expect people in pursuit of profit to not do whatever they can to pursue as much profit as they can?
Especially when no one is watching!
I am of a mixed mind about the rescue package. I understand the taxpayer revolt against it, but I do worry about the collapse of the banking system, meaning the credit system. If banks cannot loan money to one another, or to businesses, then the economy stops. Some signal of faith needs to be given. Whether this package is the right one I am not sophisticated enough to know, but we are teetering on the edge of a disaster is my gut feeling. Too bad it is happening when The House is up for re-election in a month, and every member knows that his or her re-election, as never before, is virtually solely dependent on this one vote, something we have not seen in our lives.
What has also emerged in all of this is that we need a leader, and clearly Obama is that man. McCain’s alleged suspension of his campaign and silent attempt to resolve the crisis, along with his selection of the Alaskan moose, are disasters. The polls show even dim-witted Americans coming to this conclusion. We can only hope it is true, because we need a leader.
Serrano Votes Against Wall Street Bailout – NY Times BlogShare, Yesterday at 8:31pm
Four of New York State’s 29 representatives voted no on the $700 billion economic bailout package that the House of Representatives rejected on Monday in a historic vote, 228 to 205. The four no votes from New York State came from three Democrats — José E. Serrano of the Bronx, Kirsten E. Gillibrand from the Albany area, and Maurice D. Hinchey of south-central New York — and one Republican, John R. Kuhl Jr. of central-western New York. (See the roll call.)
Mr. Serrano, a Bronx Democrat and the only House member from New York City to vote no, explained his decision in a phone interview:
I felt it was not a situation where you should be giving large amount of money to be administered by the same people who caused the problem. I just felt it was not right to begin with.
Second, I didn’t find enough provisions that satisfied me in terms of the oversight. In so many ways it was just giving them a blank check.
I represent the poorest district in the nation, located within the richest nation and within walking distance of the wealthiest district in the nation, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
When Wall Street was doing great and these guys were giving each other $50 million bonuses, I couldn’t see anything happen to the Bronx that made me say, ‘Wow, there’s some good from what’s happening on Wall Street.’ So now, they want $700 billion — which could amount to over $1 trillion, and who knows how much more later on – and that debt would be incurred by the people of the South Bronx, directly or indirectly.
Next year, when we want to increase funding for education, health care or veterans affairs – or just keep them at the same level – we will be told that we can’t because we can’t pay down the debt.
Despite strong pressure from the House leadership, Mr. Serrano added, “I couldn’t in good conscience” support the rescue package.
Mr. Serrano acknowledged that Wall Street’s collapse could hurt Main Street even further. If so, “do my constituents suffer?” he asked rhetorically, replying, “Yes, but what was presented to us did not help my constituents at all. It in fact put them at risk, because it would saddle them with debt. Where was Wall Street when we were cutting the taxes of zillionaires and driving up the debt?”
Senator McCain just doesn’t get it.
He doesn’t understand that the storm hitting Wall Street hit Main Street long ago.
That’s why his first response to the greatest financial meltdown in generations was a Katrina-like response.
Sort of stood there.
Said the fundamentals of the economy are strong.
That’s why he’s been shifting positions these last two weeks, looking for photo ops, trying to figure out what to say and what to do.
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”
George W. Bush, 2002
Just after the September 11th terrorist attacks occurred, George W. Bush went before the nation and made the case that he needed unprecedented authority — budgetary and military — to take on the threats poised at the well-being and safety of the country.
Now with the current economic crisis in the United States, Bush is yet again asking for unprecedented powers and budget.
What happened after 9/11?
We saw no-bid contracts given to firms like Halliburton. We saw $9 billion of U.S. taxpayer money “go missing” through the Coalition Provisional Authority. We saw abuses of power, the expansion of secrecy, and the promulgation of norms that seemed to be the very antithesis of what America stands for.
A nation’s values and its deep DNA are really only knowable and observable during times of crisis — when it’s tough to stand up for codes that seem a heavy burden during tough times.
We are in a crisis again — and the Bush administration is again asking Americans to forgo fundamental values.
