Senate GOP Hammers Obama’s State of Union, Pre-Delivery
EmailCongress isn’t quite rolling out the welcome mat for President Obama tonight.
In an election year leaving little room for pleasantries, Senate Republicans offered a harsh assessment of what they interpret President Obama’s State of the Union address will represent tonight: a campaign speech.
“It’s hard not to feel a sense of disappointment even before tonight’s speech is delivered because while we don’t yet know all the specifics, we do know the goal,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor today, “the goal isn’t to conquer the nation’s problems. It’s to conquer Republicans. The goal isn’t to prevent gridlock, but to guarantee it.”
Stemming from President Obama’s “We Can’t Wait” campaign, McConnell said the message coming from the White House is that the president has “given up” on Congress and has decided to try now to “convince” Americans that the unstable economy is Congress’ fault and not his administration’s.
“My message is this,” McConnell said, “this debate isn’t about what congress may or may not do in the future. It’s about what this president has already done. The president’s policies are now firmly in place. It’s his economy now. We’re living under the Obama economy.”
McConnell says that the only one the president should blame is himself.
“Any CEO in America with a record like this after three years on the job would be graciously shown the door. This president blames the managers instead. He blames the folks on the shop floor. He blames the weather. Well, you’re certainly within your rights to walk away from the legislative process if you like, Mr. President. You can point the finger all you like, but you can’t walk away from your record.”
Mocking president Obama’s State of the Union address last year in which the “Win the Future” theme was prevalent, McConnell said it’s clear that the president’s goal has changed this year.
“Win the future. This year he just wants to win the next campaign.”
Republicans similarly blasted President Obama’s planned focus on income inequality in his speech tonight. Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, said it’s “un-American.”
“I think some of these comments are very damaging,” Lee said at a press conference, “I think they’re harmful. I don’t think it’s a good idea to pit Americans one against another, to divide the country when the acerbic rhetoric of class warfare. This is un-American and it’s not helpful.”
Mitt Romney issued his own remarks about the president’s State of the Union today.
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Re: “I don’t think it’s a good idea to pit Americans one against another, to divide the country when the acerbic rhetoric of class warfare. This is un-American and it’s not helpful.” says Gop senator Lee. Since the neo-fascists Republicans are masters at turning Americans against one another, using class warfare, and being un-American, they haven’t any reason complain.
Posted by: Cassandra | January 24, 2012, 1:27 pm 1:27 pm
Re: “I don’t think it’s a good idea to pit Americans one against another, to divide the country when the acerbic rhetoric of class warfare. This is un-American and it’s not helpful.” says GOP senator Lee. Since the neo-fascists Republicans are masters at turning Americans against one another, using class warfare, prejudicial rhetoric, and being un-American, they haven’t any reason complain.
Posted by: Cassandra | January 24, 2012, 1:30 pm 1:30 pm
hahaha – it’s only “un-American” to talk about the historic gap between the wealthy and the rest of the United States for those who bow and scrape to the wealthy.
Posted by: green.goddess | January 24, 2012, 1:38 pm 1:38 pm
It has been 1000 days since Obama’s senate has passed a budget. But why should that matter to him and the dems. It’s an American law. Guess it doesn’t apply to them.
Posted by: Zman | January 24, 2012, 1:56 pm 1:56 pm
In reading this article it almost sounds like The Republicans have had NO HAND in the current state of things. In 2003 they did not cut the tax levels to an unsustainable level. McConnell has not brought on a record number of filibusters to block almost every piece of legislature. He did not declare that his number one goal was to unseat the President in 2012. The Republicans did not hold up extending Bush’s tax cuts for those with taxable income under $250,000 until they got the 1% their cut. Yeah,right!
Posted by: pksk531 | January 24, 2012, 2:10 pm 2:10 pm
Most Americans agree, Obama should resign today! Like any bad CEO who has failed to get the job done, Obama needs to step down before the whole country is destroyed be his failed policies!
$5 Trillion in new debt!
12 Million more Americans on Food Stamps!
Millions still unemployed!
Over 1,000 days without a Budget!
Billions of tax dollars wasted on Obama’s Green Agenda!
Axed Keystone LX along with thousands of jobs!
Just to name a few failures!
Posted by: BIG JIMMY | January 24, 2012, 2:15 pm 2:15 pm
Big Jimmy:’Sounds like you listen to too much Limbaugh and Hannity who blame Obama for any and everything even if what they say is misinformation. For example, he didn’t “axe” the oil pipeline. He delayed it because the study period was too short for a full analysis. If you’d start paying attention to real news reporters, you’d learn more of the facts instead of anti-Obama hate speech. On the other hand, maybe you’re not interested in facts.
Posted by: Mikeyboy | January 24, 2012, 2:36 pm 2:36 pm
BIG JIMMY
Should President Bush have resigned? He ran the national debt from 0 to 8 trillion. At the end of his term we were losing 1/2 million jobs a month.
Of course there are more people on food stamps, we’re in the middle of a recession or should we just let them all go hungry.
1.000 days without a budget? The republicans can’t agree on things as simple as the tax reduction extension and Boehner is too weak to get anything thru the House.
Keystone is a gift to the oil companies, not the amount of “American” jobs you think. If you want to count Canadians and Chinese jobs be my guest.
Posted by: tmferretti | January 24, 2012, 2:46 pm 2:46 pm
tmferretti, The Iranian oil minister was cheering when Obama killed Keystone XL! That was Obama’s gift to Iran!
The Unions and the American workers got the shaft!
Thanks Obama!
Posted by: BIG JIMMY | January 24, 2012, 3:35 pm 3:35 pm
Why do liberals have to be so hateful, nasty and divisive. I don’t get it. Don’t they realize that if they were to push this country to the limit, and the liberals get what they want – civil war, that they would be destroyed? It wouldn’t even be a contest. It is one of the strangest forms of suicide I’ve ever heard of.
Posted by: stew | January 25, 2012, 9:10 am 9:10 am
Wow, Republicans. Project much? Sen. Lee says, ” I don’t think it’s a good idea to pit Americans one against another” when that’s exactly what the right has been doing with fearmongering and gridlock. Sen. McConnell says, ” Well, you’re certainly within your rights to walk away from the legislative process if you like, Mr. President.” You mean like the House has been doing since 1/21/2009, fighting tooth and nail to make sure nothing gets done that isn’t exactly how the GOP wants it? McConnell even says his #1 goal is to make the President a 1 termer.. and yet he says Obama’s plan is “the goal isn’t to conquer the nation’s problems. It’s to conquer Republicans.” If that was really the plan (and I do NOT concede that point at all!) then he’d merely be playing by the same rules you’ve avowed yourself of to the press.
The GOP distortions are so far over the top it’s pathetic. Stop listening to Faux News, Limbaugh and Beck. The echo chamber is telling you EXACTLY what you want to hear and for all the cries of “let’s work together”, it takes two to tango and the GOP has made any progress on any front whatsoever a nightmare in the kindest of terms.
Stop pretending the Keystone pipeline is a risk-free jobs boon. The jobs aren’t all American, they’re planning to use Chinese steel, there are many (MANY) points of data showing how damaging oil disasters are (Exxon Valdez? Gulf drilling? That’s just -2-) and all the pipeline does is reduce the long term costs of oil transportation to permit Canadian firms to sell to ANY buyer, not just the US. Once it’s built, what happens to the trucking jobs transporting that oil. Did no one factor in those job LOSSES to go with the TEMPORARY job gains? Not the GOP, that’s not a good talking point.
I mean, seriously. Conservatives, is this a willful effort to be ignorant or does it just come naturally to you?
Posted by: DGSolar | January 25, 2012, 9:20 am 9:20 am
Obama is a devout Muslim Kenyan who is not legally our president. It was Bush who got Bin Laden. Reagan is a God. Am I doing this right?
Posted by: Tush Rimbaugh | January 25, 2012, 9:23 am 9:23 am
Big Jimmy? Seriously? Obama saying no to Keystone was a gift to Iran? I say it was a gift to the US. Mitigate risk to the aquifer, protect jobs (what did you think would happen to the truck/train companies that currently move that oil?), and once again not promptly fold to GOP irrational demands. Are you so ready to trade some Union jobs for new, temporary ‘jobs of the moment’?
Posted by: DGSolar | January 25, 2012, 9:26 am 9:26 am
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor today, ‘the goal isn’t to conquer the nation’s problems. It’s to conquer Republicans. The goal isn’t to prevent gridlock, but to guarantee it.’”
“In an interview with the National Journal’s Major Garrett, McConnell candidly acknowledged that he feels his “single most important” job is to defeat President Obama in 2012:
MCCONNELL: The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” -http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2010/10/25/126242/mcconnell-obama-one-term/
Posted by: Stephen | January 30, 2012, 12:02 pm 12:02 pm