5 Questions Americans
Want
Answered
Obama
Holds A Town Hall On The Economy, And There Are A Few Things Americans Want To
Know…
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“In The Afternoon, The
President Will Participate In A CBS News Townhall Meeting On The Economy At The
Newseum In Washington, DC.”(Lynn Sweet, “President
Obama official schedule and guidance, May 11, 2011. Poetry night,” The
Chicago Sun Times’ “Sweet” Blog,
5/11/11)
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5 QUESTIONS FOR
OBAMA
1. President
Obama, You Still Have Not Presented A Credible Plan To Reduce The Deficit And
Have Instead Fallen Back On Partisan Attacks. Is This Contributing To Why
Americans No Longer Trust Your Ability To Manage The
Budget?
2. Gas
Prices Have Doubled From When You Took Office. When Will You Stop The Policies
Your Administration Has Put In Place That Discourage Domestic Energy
Production?
3. You
Promised To Save Millions From Foreclosure Yet Your Housing Program Was A
Failure And Now The Housing Market Is In The Midst Of A “Double Dip.” Why Has
Your Administration Largely Ignored Struggling Homeowners?
4. Your
National Labor Review Board Is Denying Boeing The Right To Open A Plant In South
Carolina That Will Create At Least A Thousand Jobs. Will You Defy Your Union
Bosses And Condemn This “Shocking And Frightening Display Of Washington
Interference?”
5. Just
Last Year You Were Intensely Critical Of Outside Campaign Spending Groups, Now
Your Own Campaign And Former Aides Are Encouraging Them To Assist Your
Reelection. How Can You Prioritize Political Convenience Over Something You
Believe To Be “A Threat To Our Democracy?”
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1. President
Obama, You Still Have Not Presented A Credible Plan To Reduce The Deficit And
Have Instead Fallen Back On Partisan Attacks. Is This Contributing To Why
Americans No Longer Trust Your Ability To Manage The
Budget?
58 Percent Of Americans Disapprove Of
Obama’s Handling Of The Deficit With 47 Percent Strongly
Disapproving.
(Washington Post/ABC News Poll, 1001 A, MoE
3.5%,4/14-17/11)
· Only 39 Percent Of Americans Approve Of
Obama’s Handling Of The Deficit. (Washington Post/ABC News Poll, 1001 A, MoE
3.5%,4/14-17/11)
“Obama Has No
Plan To Balance The Budget — Ever.” (Robert Samuelson, Op-Ed,
“Obama Abdicates On The Budget,” The Washington
Post, 4/24/11)
“We Aren’t
Having This Debate, And President Obama Is Mainly To Blame. His Recent Budget
Speech At George Washington University Was A Telling Model Of Evasion,
Contradiction And Deception.” (Robert Samuelson, Op-Ed,
“Obama Abdicates On The Budget,” The Washington
Post, 4/24/11)
CBS News' Mark Knoller: "Even if every provision of President
Obama's deficit reduction plan is enacted - and he concedes it won't be -
there still won't be a
balanced budget on the horizon. And the National Debt will continue to
expand by trillions of dollars." (Mark Knoller, "Obama
Deficit Reduction Plan Leaves Deficits," CBS News, 4/13/11)
Instead, Obama’s Supposed Budget Proposal
Was Nothing More Than A “Reelection Speech.” “President Barack Obama gave a terrific
reelection speech Wednesday. It wasn’t billed as that. It was supposed to be a
number-packed speech about budgeting and spending and all manner of fiscal
gobbledygook.”(Roger Simon, “Barack
Obama To Soak Rich, Please Democrats,” Politico, 4/13/11)
· NBC’s First Read: “Yet The Speech Also
Was Inconsistent By Blasting The GOP Idea But Then Calling For Both Sides To
Still Come Together.”(NBC’s “First Read,”
4/14/11)
· The
Atlantic’s Clive
Crook: “The Speech Was More Notable For Its Militant--Though
Ineffectual--Hostility To Republican Proposals Than For Any Fresh Thinking Of
Its Own.”
(Clive Crook, “Obama’s
Speech Was A Waste Of Breath,” The Atlantic,
4/13/11)
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2. Gas
Prices Have Doubled From When You Took Office. When Will You Stop The Policies
Your Administration Has Put In Place That Discourage Domestic Energy
Production?
Gasoline Prices Have Doubled Since Obama
Took Office. “Feeling
pain at the pump? Gas prices have doubled since Mr. Obama took
office.” (James S. Robbins,
“Gasoline Up 100% Under Obama,” The Washington Times’ “Water Cooler” Blog, 3/30/11)
Obama’s Anti-Drilling Policies Will
Result In A Loss Of 375,000 Barrels Of Oil Per Day This Year. “[T]he Obama administration stopped
awarding permits for deep-water drilling until late February. The drilling
suspension, along with a new, slower permitting process, will result in the loss
this year of about 375,000 barrels of oil a day, according to energy consultancy
Wood Mackenzie. That is roughly equivalent to one-third of the production in
Libya that remains shut down because of political turmoil
there.” (Angel Gonzalez, “Spill's
Toll On Oil Output Grows Clearer,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/20/11)
Obama’s Dragged Out Policies On Approving
New Drilling Permits Essentially Created A “Permatorium.” “In the months after lifting the ban, the
administration slowed drilling permits to a crawl, effectively creating what
some have called a ‘permatorium.’ Dismayed by the delays, in February U.S.
District Court Judge Martin Feldman tried to force the administration to act on
seven pending permits, calling the inaction on permits ‘increasingly
inexcusable.’ Permitting has picked up recently, thanks in part to increasing
political pressure, but remains far below pre-spill levels.” (Joseph Mason, Op-Ed,
“Time For A Cease-Fire In The War On Oil,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/25/11)
In December 2010, The Obama
Administration Moved Beyond The Gulf And Banned Offshore Oil Drilling Along Most
Of The U.S. Coastline. “Interior Secretary Ken
Salazar announced Wednesday afternoon that the Obama administration will not
allow offshore oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico or off the Atlantic
and Pacific coasts as part of the next five-year drilling plan, reversing two
key policy changes President Obama announced in late March.” (Juliet
Epstein, “Obama Administration Reimposes Offshore Oil Drilling Ban,”
The Washington Post,
12/1/10)
Obama’s EPA Decision Not To Grant An Air
Permit To Shell Is Costing Alaskans Jobs And Americans Vital
Energy. “Shell’s biggest
impediment has been obtaining an air permit from the Environmental Protection
Agency for temporary exploration operations off the Alaska coast, Odum said.
‘The delay is frustrating and disappointing and it undermines confidence in the
American regulatory system,’ he said. ‘Beyond that, you might call it
irresponsible. Thousands of men and women were counting on those jobs, local
businesses were counting on the revenue and communities were counting on the tax
boost.’” (Kim Chipman, “Shell Says
Slow U.S. Drill Permits In Alaska ‘Irresponsible’,” Bloomberg,
4/26/11)
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3. You
Promised To Save Millions From Foreclosure Yet Your Housing Program Was A
Failure And Now The Housing Market Is In The Midst Of A “Double Dip.” Why Has
Your Administration Largely Ignored Struggling Homeowners?
PROMISE: President Obama Promised That
His Housing Program Would Prevent 7 to 9 Million Families From Foreclosure.
“And we will pursue the
housing plan I'm outlining today. And through this plan, we will help between 7
and 9 million families restructure or refinance their mortgages so they can
afford—avoid foreclosure.” (President Barack Obama,
Remarks On The Home Mortgage Industry In Mesa,
Arizona, 2/18/09)
FACT: Only One In Four Of 2.7 Million
Homeowners Seeking Assistance From Obama’s Mortgage Relief Plan Succeeded In
Getting Their Payments Reduced. “Just one in four of the 2.7 million
homeowners who sought to participate in the Obama administration's signature
mortgage assistance program have succeeded in getting their monthly payments
reduced.” (Alan Zibel and Louise
Radnofsky, “Only 1 In 4 Got Mortgage Relief,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/28/11)
Inspector General Neil Barofsky, Who
Oversaw HAMP, Said That The Program “Continues To Fall Short Of Any Meaningful
Standard Of Success.” “The program has faced sharp criticism.
Neil Barofsky, the departing special inspector general overseeing the program,
has faulted the administration for launching it with inadequate analysis and
only partially developed guidelines. This led to delays and confusion, and the
program ‘continues to fall short of any meaningful standard of success,’ he said
a report released in January.” (Alan Zibel and Louise
Radnofsky, “Only 1 In 4 Got Mortgage Relief,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/28/11)
“It's Official. Home Prices Have Double
Dipped Nationwide, Now Lower Than Their March 2009 Trough, According To A New
Report From Clear Capital.”(Diana Olick, “National
Home Prices Double Dip,” CNBC, 5/5/11)
“Home
Values Posted The Largest Decline In The First Quarter Since Late 2008,
Prompting Many Economists To Push Back Their Estimates Of When The Housing
Market Will Hit A Bottom.”(Nick Timiraos, “Home
Market Takes A Tumble,” The Wall Street Journal,5/9/11)
The Oregonian: “Economists Who Once Predicted That
Prices Would Bottom Out Sometime This Year Now Are Saying, Well, Maybe In
2012.” “Lenders have
filed more than 300,000 foreclosures against American families every month for
almost two years. As long as that's occurring, the housing numbers will stay
bleak. Home prices nationally have fallen for 57 consecutive months. …
Economists who once predicted that prices would bottom out sometime this year
now are saying, well, maybe in 2012. ” (Editorial, “American
Housing: Underwater And Still Sinking,” The Oregonian, 5/9/11)
Home Values Have Fallen Due To “An
Abundance Of Foreclosed Homes.” “Home values fell 3% in the first
quarter from the previous quarter and 1.1% in March from the previous month,
pushed down by an abundance of foreclosed homes on the market, according to data
to be released Monday by real-estate website Zillow.com.”(Nick Timiraos, “Home
Market Takes A Tumble,” The Wall Street Journal,5/9/11)
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4. Your
National Labor Review Board Is Denying Boeing The Right To Open A Plant In South
Carolina That Will Create At Least A Thousand Jobs. Will You Defy Your Union
Bosses And Condemn This “Shocking And Frightening Display Of Washington
Interference?”
The National Labor Relations Board Has
Declared That Boeing Opening A New Plant In South Carolina Would Be
“Illegal.” “At issue is
whether Boeing, which is slated to open a plant this summer in North Charleston
and create thousands of jobs, can legally do so. The National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB) contends in a complaint recently filed against Boeing that the
company can’t open its plant in ‘right to work’ South Carolina because the move
is allegedly motivated by an attempt to avoid strikes and thus intimidate Boeing
workers elsewhere.”(Kathleen Parker, Op-Ed,
“The NLRB Fires A Shot South Carolina Can’t Ignore,” The Washington Post, 4/22/11)
Boeing Has “Already Poured Billions Into
The Facilities And Have Hired 1,000 Workers.” “Boeing, a vital U.S. company, wants to
build a plant in South Carolina and bring good-paying manufacturing jobs to the
state. They've already poured billions into the facilities and have hired 1,000
workers. But the NLRB filed a lawsuit last month to force Boeing back to
Washington state, where workers would be represented by a union.” (Editorial, “Killing
Jobs In South Carolina,” The Denver Post, 5/2/11)
Savannah Morning
Herald: The
NRLB’s Action Against Boeing Is “A Shocking And Frightening Display Of
Washington Interference.” “In a shocking and frightening display
of Washington interference, the National Labor Relations Board has taken
unprecedented legal action against The Boeing Company to prevent it from
expanding production in the Palmetto State. Why? Because the federal board
claims that a private company that creates jobs in a right-to-work state like
South Carolina is engaging in an ‘unfair labor practice.’”(Editorial, “Boeing
Plant: Job Killing In S.C.,” The Savannah Morning Herald, 5/5/11)
· Savannah Morning
Herald: The
NLRB’s Action “Is An Attack On States That Have Faster Job Growth And Faster
Income Growth Than Forced Unionism States.” “The attempt by the NLRB to block Boeing
is an attack on states that have faster job growth and faster income growth than
forced unionism states. Mr. Obama must live up to his pro-job promise and show
that right-to-work states are part of America, too.”(Editorial, “Boeing
Plant: Job Killing In S.C.,” The Savannah Morning Herald,
5/5/11)
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5. Just
Last Year You Were Intensely Critical Of Outside Campaign Spending Groups, Now
Your Own Campaign And Former Aides Are Encouraging Them To Assist Your
Reelection. How Can You Prioritize Political Convenience Over Something You
Believe To Be “A Threat To Our Democracy?”
Obama Called Outside Spending Groups “A
Threat To Our Democracy.” OBAMA: “Now, that’s not just a threat
to Democrats -- that’s a threat to our democracy. Every American business
and industry deserves a seat at the table, but they don’t get to a chance to
buy every chair. We’ve seen what happens when they do. They put the entire
economy at risk and every American might end up suffering.” (President Barack Obama,
Remarks At Campaign Event, Philadelphia, PA,
10/10/10)
· OBAMA:
“And thanks to a Supreme
Court decision called Citizens United, they are being helped along this year by
special interest groups that are spending unlimited amounts of money on
attack ads -- attacking folks like Patrick Murphy, attacking folks like Joe
Sestak -- just attacking people without ever disclosing who’s behind all
these attack ads. You don’t know. It could be the oil industry. It could be
the insurance industry. It could even be foreign-owned corporations. You don’t
know because they don’t have to disclose.” (President Barack Obama,
Remarks At Campaign Event, Philadelphia, PA,
10/10/10)
· Obama: Don’t “Let Special Interests Drown
Out The Voices Of The American People.” OBAMA: “So you can’t let it happen.
Don’t let them hijack your agenda. The American people deserve to know who’s
trying to sway their elections. And you can’t stand by and let special
interests drown out the voices of the American people.” (President Barack Obama,
Remarks At Campaign Event, Philadelphia, PA,
10/10/10)
Now Obama’s Former Deputy Press Secretary
Is Organizing Two Groups Which Will “Take Advantage Of Campaign Finance
Loopholes President Obama Had Previously Decried.” “Former Obama deputy press secretary
Bill Burton announced the long-expected formation of Priorities USA and
Priorities USA Action, twin groups that will take advantage of campaign finance
loopholes President Obama had previously decried.” (Michael O’Brien, “Obama
Alumni Launch New Outside Group To Boost Reelection,” The Hill’s
“Briefing Room” Blog, 4/29/11)
· Burton
Left The Administration To Found The Groups After Attacking The Conservative
Groups He’s Emulating.
“Obama and many of his top White House officials (including Burton, who left the
administration to co-found Priorities USA), had decried the unchecked spending
by conservative groups in the 2010 election, using the closing weeks of the
campaign to launch high-profile attacks against Crossroads and the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce, in particular.” (Michael O’Brien, “Obama
Alumni Launch New Outside Group To Boost Reelection,” The Hill’s
“Briefing Room” Blog, 4/29/11)
The Groups Will Abandon Obama’s Rules
Against Special Interest Donations While They Spend Money For His
Reelection. “To
According to Burton, the organizers debated abandoning the president’s rule
against donations from lobbyists and political action committees and accepting
secret donations. They ultimately concluded that ‘the Supreme Court changed the
rules and made this a completely different environment’ and ‘we won’t be boxed
in by a double standard.’” (Jeanne Cummings,
“Exclusive: New Dem Money Group To Take On GOP,” Politico, 4/29/11)
Source: Republican National Committee Research www.gop.com
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