Obama: GOP ‘Willing To Walk Away From The Needs Of Our Doctors And Our Seniors’
In this weekend’s YouTube address, President Obama discussed the potential pay cut for Medicare doctors, which requires Congressional action to prevent it from happening. In his address, Obama targeted Senate Republicans for threatening to filibuster a vote.
“Since 2003, Congress has acted to prevent these pay cuts from going into effect. These votes were largely bipartisan, and they succeeded when Democrats ran Congress and when Republicans ran Congress – which was most of the time,” said Obama. “This year, a majority of Congress is willing to prevent a pay cut of 21% — a pay cut that would undoubtedly force some doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients altogether. But this time, some Senate Republicans may even block a vote on this issue. After years of voting to defer these cuts, the other party is now willing to walk away from the needs of our doctors and our seniors.”
Boehner: Log On To Our Website And Tell Congress How To Cut Spending
In this weekend’s Republican address, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) promoted the House Republicans’ “America Speaking Out” website, playing up the issue of spending cuts.
“Too many in Washington forget that we work for the people, not the other way around. Taxpayers are just fed up, and they want us to stop spending their hard-earned money,” said Boehner. “That’s why, through the America Speaking Out project, Republicans are providing Americans with a megaphone to make their voices heard and help build a better, more responsive government. If you have an idea to cut wasteful Washington spending, log on to AmericaSpeakingOut.com right now and start a discussion about it.”
Obama Blasts GOP For Hypocrisy On His Reaction To Oil Spill
In an interview with the Politico, President Obama hit back at his Republican critics who have called for greater government action on the BP oil spill. “Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying ‘do something’ are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much,” Obama said. “Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our freedoms.”
Obama Takes a Hard Line Against Leaks to Press
The New York Times reports on how the Obama administration has cracked down on leaks to the press by government agents, as evidenced by the prosecution of former National Security Agency employee Thomas Drake: “In 17 months in office, President Obama has already outdone every previous president in pursuing leak prosecutions. His administration has taken actions that might have provoked sharp political criticism for his predecessor, George W. Bush, who was often in public fights with the press. Mr. Drake was charged in April; in May, an F.B.I. translator was sentenced to 20 months in prison for providing classified documents to a blogger; this week, the Pentagon confirmed the arrest of a 22-year-old Army intelligence analyst suspected of passing a classified video of an American military helicopter shooting Baghdad civilians to the Web site Wikileaks.org.”
Documents Show Kagan A Political Pragmatist
The Associated Press reports: “Newly released documents from the Clinton White House provide glimpses into how Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan approached a number of controversial issues, including abortion, assisted suicide, religious freedom and strategies to defend the president in scandals that later led to his impeachment. And while the papers demonstrate that Kagan shared the president’s liberal views, they also reveal her to be a politically aware pragmatist who often ran interference for her boss as he tried to maneuver a middle course between liberal allies and conservative foes.”
DCCC Seeking Savvy K Street Reinforcements
Roll Call reports that House Democrats are recruiting lobbyists to assist key members with their campaigns: “Lobbyists may be persona non grata on the campaign trail, but that hasn’t stopped the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from tapping K Street’s brain trust to try to retain the majority. Facing a tough political cycle, the DCCC is redoubling its efforts to enlist K Streeters to help its most vulnerable ‘Frontline’ program Members with fundraising, messaging and campaign strategy.”
Hillary Clinton: Americans ‘Welcoming of Immigrants’ But Also Want Laws Enforced
In an interview on Ecuadorian TV, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that President Obama is hoping for an immigration reform bill this year. She also said that Americans are not becoming more xenophobic. “What we believe is that Americans have always been welcoming of immigrants, but they also want to see the laws enforced,” said Clinton, also adding: “We need laws that recognize the reality that we have many millions of people who are contributing to our country, they’re working, their children are attending and graduating from school.”
Graham: It’s Not Obama’s Fault That He Can’t Cap The Oil Leak
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that President Obama should not be blamed for the failure to cap the BP oil leak, though he is also critical of the administration’s response. “We’re trying everything under the sun to stop the leak and it’s not his fault that we can’t find a way to cap it,” said Graham, also adding: “I would give him fairly low marks in terms of responding to the consequences of the spill, but stopping the leak, nobody could do any better.”
