Obama budget proposal under fire in GOP address
(CNN) – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama spoke on U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, while Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers used the Republican response to hammer the budget proposal he sent to Congress on Monday.
The president made no mention of his budget, and in his remarks - taped at the Washington state Boeing plant he visited Friday - said that the U.S. is making progress toward becoming a more desirable place for manufacturing.
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"It's now getting more expensive to do business in places like China," he said. "Meanwhile, America is more productive than ever. And companies like Boeing are realizing that even when we can't make things cheaper than China, we can make things better. That's how we're going to compete globally."
He argued for the manufacturing tax policy changes he outlined in his State of the Union address in January.
"No company should get a tax break for outsourcing jobs. Instead, tax breaks should go to manufacturers who set up shop here at home," Obama said. "Bigger tax breaks should go to high-tech manufacturers who create the jobs of the future. And if you relocate your company to a struggling community, you should get help financing that new plant, that new equipment, or training for new workers."
"And Congress should send me that kind of tax reform right away," he continued, mirroring a theme of urgency from his January address.
McMorris Rodgers - whose district does not include the Everett, Washington, plant that Obama visited Friday - argued that the president's budget would instead make the country less competitive with manufacturing giants such as China.
"Instead of leading the effort to bring down our debt and make tough choices, the president is proposing that we spend more and more," she said. "All his wasteful spending puts us deeper in debt to China. All his tax hikes would destroy jobs and make it tougher to compete with China."
His $3.8 trillion proposal, she said, reneges on Obama's promise to halve federal deficits by the end of his first term.
"He won't even come close," she said. "Because of the president's failure to control spending, the government will run trillion-dollar deficits in each of his four years in office. President Obama's broken promises have left our country broke."
The administration predicted that under this proposal, the deficit would reach $1.3 trillion, then drop to $901 billion in 2013.
And McMorris Rodgers argued that the spending cuts are not new sacrifices, but previously negotiated cuts and mirage.
"More than half of the proposed 'savings' in the president's budget for the next year - about $2 trillion - are already law," she said. "These savings come from the Budget Control Act - the bill congressional Republicans insisted that the president sign last year in response to his demand for an increase in the nation's debt limit."
She continued, "Another almost $1 trillion in 'savings' comes from what we call the 'war gimmick' - money that was never requested and will never be spent on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those aren't real savings."
Capitol Hill is expected to be quiet in the week ahead, as the House and Senate voted on Friday to extend the payroll tax cut, unemployment benefits and Medicare reimbursements.
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90% of the defict comes from the two bush wars and unpaid for bush tax cuts that will expire this year. If you really think Obama came up with a 14.5 trillion dallar defict in three years, your just falling for the usual republican propaganda, blame it all on the other guy and their out rite lies. Dem land slide coming. Republicans have no credability what so ever and now we have Jen bush poping up his head in the press because everybody knows romney is a bafoon and unelectable.
If the elected republicans had not waged all out war against Obama at the expense of the American people, our unemployment would be lower, our debt lower, our credit rating would not have been down graded, and the republicans would not have had to attack workers, public employees, women, poor, minorities, consumer safety regulations, senior, veterans, the post office, etc.
I found out that 50% of seniors did not know that their social security and medicare were social programs. That explains why they also did not know that other forms of socialism that we depend on are critical to our survival: our military, veterans administration, post office, public schools, police, firemen, teachers, national parks, interstate highways and bridges, libraries, along with all our consumer safety regulations.
I wonder why McMorris Rodgers did not spend the time explaining why the republicans do not think women should have control over their uteruses.
Where is the news here? The President can report progress – the GOP/TP denies that there is progress because facts don’t matter to them. But, they sure do to us. Much better to keep a President that has shown success in ALL areas and works specially hard for 99% of the people than any of these “candidates” and the GOP/TP that are just tearing the country down working exclusively for the 1%!.
In a lay man's plain English Language, "GOP is plain idiotic and stupid. So do not elect these idiots of republican party".
This election is about Rich v/s Middle Class America.
President Obama speaks in positive terms of American manufacturing & growth.
Rep. McMorris Rogers unfortunately falls into negativity & criticism without offering solutions. The Ryan 'budget' she supported would give more of the same disastrous tax cuts to the rich off the backs of American seniors by privatizing Medicare. No thanks.
Is this anything new? Regardless of whether these teapublikans agree with it it's coming from the President and their god forbid that they agree to anything that will help the country as long as it makes him a one term president (which, BTW, good luck with what's left of your clown car of four now).
After all, the village idiot from Texas wasted billions of dollars on one particular war that had absolutely nothing to do with WMDs. Let's not forget the lives lost on both sides while he now sits at home in Midland drinking away the days.
If Bush had asked for and received the "tax holiday" the screams from the dope addled left and the liberally biased media would be overwhelming, yet the most incompetent, inept, corrupt, union toady president we have ever had decides to rob the social security fund to buy the next election from the NEA educated, non working, non taxpaying, welfare frauds and everyone calls it a great victory for him. Must be nice to have the liberally biased press so bought and paid for.
Stay strong Mr. President!
GOP – they've got NOthing!