Obama Promotes Clean Energy Development In Web Address
This weekend’s YouTube address was recorded during President Obama’s visit this past week to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, with Obama promoting the clean energy technology produced by Orion Energy Systems.
“And as we can see here in Manitowoc, we need to ensure that we are promoting innovation – especially in promising areas like clean energy. This is going to be key to growing our economy and helping businesses create jobs,” said Obama. “Orion, for example, was able to open with the help of small business loans and incentives that are creating demand for clean energy technologies like wind power and solar panels. That’s why I’ve proposed a bigger tax credit for the research that companies do. And to give these companies the certainty of knowing there will be a market for what they sell, I’ve set this goal for America: by 2035, 80 percent of electricity should come from clean energy.”
Ron Johnson: ‘Big Government Is Blocking Job Creation’
This weekend’s Republican address was delivered by freshman Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who was a businessman in plastics manufacturing before he ran for the Senate in 2010. “For the last 31 years, I have been running a plastics manufacturing plant in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. As a manufacturer, I have learned to identify and attack the root cause of a problem, not spend my time addressing mere symptoms,” said Johnson.
“Huge deficits, slow economic activity, high unemployment, and woefully inadequate job creation are severe symptoms of the problem. They are not the root cause. The ever expanding size, scope, and cost of government is. This is what we must address. This is what I hope the President has come to realize. I hope the President and his allies in Congress accept a simple truth: big government is blocking job creation, not helping it. The sooner Washington ends its dependence on more spending, the sooner our economy will see real growth.”
White House To Release Budget On Feb. 14
Reuters reports: “President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for fiscal 2012 will be released on February 14, an administration official said on Friday, setting up a tough fight with Republicans who vow to cut spending.”
With Jay Carney At The Podium, Obama Hopes To Reset Press Relationship
The Hill reports: “President Obama’s decision to tap Jay Carney as his new press secretary completes a series of White House personnel changes meant to mend dysfunctional relationships…The thinking inside the West Wing is that Carney, a longtime reporter and bureau chief for Time magazine who knows what it’s like to be a reporter, will smooth over relations with network executives and editorial page editors in addition to daily reporters at the White House.”
For GOP Hopefuls, A Race Before The Race
The Washington Post reports on how prospective Republican presidential candidates have set up state-based PACs throughout the country, enabling wealthy donors to give multiple maximum donations: “The state-based funds are among several creative – and perfectly legal – strategies embraced by potential GOP presidential contenders as they lay the groundwork for 2012. The efforts amount to an aggressive and sophisticated preliminary campaign, in which candidates exploit incentives and gaps in the nation’s patchwork election system.”
For Governors, Medicaid Looks Ripe For Slashing
The New York Times reports: “Hamstrung by federal prohibitions against lowering Medicaid eligibility, governors from both parties are exercising their remaining options in proposing bone-deep cuts to the program during the fourth consecutive year of brutal economic conditions. Because states confront budget gaps estimated at $125 billion, few essential services — schools, roads, parks — are likely to escape the ax. But the election of tough-minded governors, the evaporation of federal aid, the relentless growth of Medicaid rolls and the exhaustion of alternatives have made the program, which primarily covers low-income children and disabled adults, an outsize target.”
Pentagon Releases Guidelines For Repealing Gay Policy
Reuters reports: “New Pentagon rules allowing gays to serve openly in the military prohibit separate bathroom facilities based on sexual orientation and say that not all benefits will be extended to same sex dependents. The Pentagon issued new guidelines on Friday as a first step to ending the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy that forces gays to keep their preferences secret in order to serve in the military.”
Right’s New Weapon: Constitutional Force
Politico reports on the wide-reaching trend of conservative state attorneys general who are filing lawsuits on constitutional grounds, against federal policies such as health care, immigration, gun control and more. “This has been brewing for decades, and it just needed a catalyst to set it off. The Obama health care package happened to be that catalyst,” said Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R). “It emboldened us to assert states’ rights with regard to an array of different issues in which we are feeling that the federal government has overstepped its bounds.”
