The President calls on Republicans in Congress to put scoring political points aside, and instead to focus on solving the problems facing the nation. At the time of this address, the Republican leadership is blocking progress on a bill to boost the economy, retain jobs for teachers and cops, and help people buy their first home; another bill which would hold oil companies accountable for any disasters they cause by removing the current $75 million liability cap; and 136 highly qualified men and women who have been nominated to government positions.
Yes, the GOPers are blocking things.. there is nothing new about this. But I think the President should have mentioned the Democrats who are blocking these same things. They just can't seem to get the message we want them to act like Democrats not DINO's and block things we need and the President has asked for to get things moving.
I know we are proud of the fact we don't march in lock-step like the GOPers do... however once in a while it might be a good thing if we did.
With doctors facing deep cuts in their reimbursements from Medicare unless Congress acts to correct long-standing problems, the President calls on Senate Republicans to stop blocking the remedy and pledges to work toward a permanent solution. The cuts would potentially mean widespread trouble for seniors getting needed care.
I have been hearing and seeing an AD on the TeeVee Machine for the last couple of weeks about this from the AMA.. Once again, the Rethugs in Congress are being their obstructionist selves.
They were the ones crying about cutting Medicare and how badly the Health Reform was going to hurt doctors and seniors and now, they are the ones potentially hurting Doctors and Seniors.
It is all based on the premise if we obstruct enough, we will win again. That's the bottom line. Please call your Congress Critter and let them know how you feel. It is very important we protect our Seniors and the Doctors. They don't get paid much by Medicare and if this cut goes through, there will be more doctors not accepting Medicare. It is already hard to find a doctor who will take NEW Medicare patients. My doctor will not accept new ones.... just because of the pay rate and the paperwork involved with claims.
None of us are getting younger... and we will all need Medicare when we retire.... Think about that, and think about your parents and others who are getting ready to file for Medicare and will be unable to find a doctor, or will not be able to choose the doctor they want.
Speaking from Grand Isle, Louisiana, the President discusses the hardships local residents and small business owners are facing as a result of the BP oil spill. He pledges to make sure those responsible do not shortchange them.
In his weekly address, President Barack Obama underscored his commitment to helping the people of the Gulf Coast recover and rebuild from the BP oil spill that has threatened their livelihoods. On Friday, the President heard from local residents and small business owners about the hardships that they are facing as a result of this catastrophe. The Administration has mobilized the largest response to an environmental disaster of this kind in the history of our country to clean up the BP oil spill. Additionally, the federal government is working to ensure that BP and other companies are held accountable for damages and that aggressive new standards are put into place to avoid a disaster in the future.
The only problem I have with this.... it is still being called a spill..... It's not a spill, it is a gusher.
I hope this will shut up the talking heads saying the President is too detached. They forget this president speaks from his heart and his mind and not his gut... He doesn't wear them on his sleeve.
I remember during the campaign this same thing was being said over and over... He can't win because he doesn't connect with the people. Well, he did win and I believe he does connect with people.
The administration is on the ground and has been since the rig blew... Now the National Guard has been deployed... which is what some have said they wanted. The pictures from the scene are devastating.
MSNBC has a page which shows lots of information and pictures if you want to look at them. I know most have seen them, but just to show again and again what this is doing, we need to look at them again. Please check them out...
This is a wake up call... We need clean energy. I urge each of you to contact your senators to get this done. If this doesn't do it.. I don't believe anything will.
Today is the day we honor the fallen heroes of our wars. It has been morphed into honoring all dead, but the historical accuracy is that it is to honor the members of the military that have given the ultimate sacrifice.
I have to say, I don't like war, however, this isn't about war, it is about the men and women who have chosen to fight. Some voluntarily, some drafted. All heroes.
Here is a video I received from Military for Obama. It is of a 3rd grade class and it is beautiful.
Here is the statement which accompanied the email I got.
A third grade teacher, from Tussing Elementary in Colonial Heights, Virginia, wrote this song and taught it to her third-grade students and now it is on you tube! At the end of the song you can even order the sheet music! I hope this sweeps our Country and gets sung in all our schools!
Here is the video.
I hope you take a moment and remember the sacrifice of these heroes. If you are going to a cemetery to lay flowers on someone's grave.. take an extra to put on a military grave site. Even if you don't know them.. HONOR THEM.
Ahead of Memorial Day, the President asks all Americans to join him in remembering and honoring our men and women in uniform who have died in service to the country.
No matter how you feel about war, please take the time to honor the fallen warriors.
One easy way to see what the US government is doing to coordinate its response to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is by looking at the Joint Information Center Twitter account. For those who are so busy complaining about the lack of responsiveness, it might be helpful to see what is actually being done and the number of coordinated federal, state, and local responses in coordination with businesses, media, and residents of the area.
He goes on to provide the twitter feed for just the last 24 hours. It shows how many have been sent down to the Gulf Coast and pictures of the gusher itself.
Things like this:
Sec. Salazar & Sec. Napolitano to lead bipartisan Senate delegation to LA to inspect response to the BP #oilspill Press Release .
This press release names Kendra Barkoff (DOI), (202) 208-6416 and Clark Stevens (DHS), (202) 282-8010 as the points of contact for the information.
WASHINGTON—At the direction of the President, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will visit Louisiana on Monday to inspect the ongoing response to the BP oil spill, accompanied by a bipartisan Senate delegation.
Secretary Salazar, Secretary Napolitano and the Senate delegation will conduct a flyover of the affected areas; discuss the latest response efforts in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast with federal officials leading the effort as well as BP representatives; and meet with local community and industry leaders.
The Senate delegation accompanying Secretary Salazar and Secretary Napolitano will include: Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Senator David Vitter (R-LA).
He goes on to say this about this press release:
Note that Vitter and Landrieu will make the trip to represent Louisiana, which is most adversely affected. But I'm also seeing that we've got a 4:2 ratio of Dems to Republicans in this bipartisan group, with Durbin, Bingaman, and Whitehouse triple-teaming Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Durbin's in the home state of BP (formerly Amoco) and I can remember him giving Amoco a hard time a decade ago regarding price gouging of gas in Chicago. I trust that while Durbin is a pro-business guy, he's also going to be using his clout as a top member of the Judiciary Committee regarding the future of any regulation. (Remember that the Dems are battling Republican opposition to increasing the cap on damages from $75 million to somewhere in the billions of dollars - and Murkowski has been vocally opposed to raising the caps because of the potential negative impact on smaller oil and gas companies.) Bingaman, for his part, has been hard on BP execs in his role on the Energy committee. He chaired a meeting 2 weeks ago on the issue of the spill and cleanup efforts. And Whitehouse, for his part, serves on the Environment Committee as well as the Judiciary Committee and has a bully pulpit on the push for green energy legislation as well as corporate regulation.
I don't know if anyone on Daily Kos has written about this flyover, or the continuing push in the Senate to increase the caps on damages caused by this and future spills. But it seems evident to me that the Salazar-Napolitano trip is designed to pressure Murkowski into dropping her block on moving the bill forward.
That's just the first couple of things.. The entire diary is worth a read... Please check it out by clicking HERE.
I really don't see what else the President can do... He is and has been sending his best people to watch, listen and learn and to check what BP is actually doing.
Someone in the comment section said he should get on TeeVee and make a major speech about it... Not sure how that will show anything... He has spoken out a few times... but this person wanted a Prime Time Speech... That sure won't stop the gusher nor will it show anything to clean it up. So what would be the purpose of him doing such a thing.... You tell me.
Thanks all... I hope you read this and make note of the location where this is found. It is worth taking the time to look it all over.
The President announces that the independent commission he created for the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling will be chaired by former Florida Governor and Senator Bob Graham and former EPA Administrator Bill Reilly. He promises accountability not just for BP, but for those in government who bore responsibility.
Since I have been seeing so much about the President not doing anything on the oil spill... I guess this is a good thing for those people. I think it is a great thing in the list of what has been done already. We need to get to the bottom of the cause for this horrible disaster. Then if BP, TransOcean and of course we already know Haliburton is a criminal organization, but if we find it was due to negligence, which is what everyone seems to be pointing toward, they must be prosecuted and must have to pay for everything.
I read a blurb somewhere yesterday.. and I am sorry I don't remember where I read it... That BP may lose it's license to drill in the US. That may be the best thing to happen out of this. If they are and have been the root cause of this spill, and their response has been terrible. Of course, one reason is they don't want to plug it, they want to continue to harvest the oil.
Now, the effort to plug it is being delayed until Tuesday at the earliest. This should have been the FIRST thing they did... was plug it and then drill their side well... .but nope that wouldn't have allowed them to continue to harvest while they dicked around.
Let me know what you think.. Am I correct in my thinking? Do you see the same things I am seeing?
