Do You Understand the Tea party?

Do You Understand the Tea party?: "

Can anyone help this poor soul from the Republican Operative Understand the Tea Party? Do you understand the tea party???

Help Me Understand the Tea Party: ”

I am a progressive american,I vote democrat, but hopefully only for those not bought by special interests. I have a hard time understanding what the tea party people are angry over. I hear there is anger over taxes, yet in my view, taxes are far to low, but more importantly, taxes are the lowest they have been in 50 years, and even obama has cut taxes back a bit. Why so angry overtax rates when they are so low?

I hear you are angry over the bailout, the stimulus, and other similar programs. The angry around the bailout I understand, but what was the issue with the stimulus? It is made up of tax cuts, extentions on unemployment and medical coverage, and public works, nothing I see objectionable. Why the anger over this? Why is it the tea party is supposed to be angry at wallstreet, yet don’t want any rules to prevent their unethical behavior.

I hear the tea party is angry over the corrupt politicians, yet I hear nothing from the tea party people about cutting the special interests from government, such as campaign

finance reform. Where are the tea partiers on fixing the system?

I hear the tea party is angry over the amount of spending the government is doing. Why wait until we are in a recession to be angry over the spending? It is after all the tried and tested method for reducing and counteracting recessions, deficit spending. What else would you have them do? I imagine you would say tax cuts, but you can’t cut taxes and at the same time expect the government to get out of debt.

Lastly I ask about social freedoms, as I hear the tea party talk about defending the constitution, yetI hear nothing, and have never heard anything from the tea party about the patriot act, or any other time the government has banned social freedoms. does the tea party care more about fighting taxes than social freedoms?

Oh, another thing, I personally view paying taxes as one of the more patriotic things an american can do, why does the tea party not agree with this idea?

This should be enough for now, I would hope for some quality civil responses to my questions.

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Does Obama’s Equal Pay Proclamation Prove He’s A Socialist?

Does Obama’s Equal Pay Proclamation Prove He’s A Socialist?: "

While most would agree that women with characteristics equal to a man should receive similar pay, does Obama’s recent proclamation for National Equal Pay Day prove he’s a Socialist? It’s great that Barack stands up for women’s rights, but it almost feels as if the next proclamation might be equal pay for all plant employees, or equal pay for all business executives. Does that sound like a stretch? What do you think? Please  leave your comments below.

Presidential Proclamation — National Equal Pay Day: ”

A PROCLAMATION

Throughout our Nation’s history, extraordinary women have broken barriers to achieve their dreams and blazed trails so their daughters would not face similar obstacles. Despite decades of progress, pay inequity still hinders women and their families across our country. National Equal Pay Day symbolizes the day when an average American woman’s earnings finally match what an average American man earned in the past year. Today, we renew our commitment to end wage discrimination and celebrate the strength and vibrancy women add to our economy.

Our Nation’s workforce includes more women than ever before. In households across the country, many women are the sole breadwinner, or share this role equally with their partner. However, wage discrimination still exists. Nearly half of all working Americans are women, yet they earn only about 80 cents for every dollar men earn. This gap increases among minority women and those with disabilities.

Pay inequity is not just an issue for women; American families, communities, and our entire economy suffer as a result of this disparity. We are still recovering from our economic crisis, and many hardworking Americans are still feeling its effects. Too many families are struggling to pay their bills or put food on the table, and this challenge should not be exacerbated by discrimination. I was proud that the first bill I signed into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, helps women achieve wage fairness. This law brings us closer to ending pay disparities based on gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, or disability by allowing more individuals to challenge inequality.

To further highlight the challenges women face and to provide a coordinated Federal response, I established the White House Council on Women and Girls. My Administration also created a National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force to bolster enforcement of pay discrimination laws, making sure women get equal pay for an equal day’s work. And, because the importance of empowering women extends beyond our borders, my Administration created the first Office for Global Women’s Issues at the Department of State.

We are all responsible for ensuring every American is treated equally. From reshaping attitudes to developing more comprehensive community-wide efforts, we are taking steps to eliminate the barriers women face in the workforce. Today, let us reaffirm our pledge to erase this injustice, bring our Nation closer to the liberty promised by our founding documents, and give our daughters and granddaughters the gift of true equality.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 20, 2010, as National Equal Pay Day. I call upon all Americans to acknowledge the injustice of wage discrimination and join my Administration’s efforts to achieve equal pay for equal work.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

BARACK OBAMA

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Obama Cracking Down On Wall Street Is Like The Fox Cracking Down On The Hen House

Obama Cracking Down On Wall Street Is Like The Fox Cracking Down On The Hen House: "

With President Obama promising to crackdown on Wall Street recently, the only metaphor I can think of is putting the fox in charge of the hen house. Although Tim Geithner seems somewhat less tainted than his predecessor Hank Paulson, I just don’t believe government has the scruples or cajones to catch up to, let alone stay ahead of, Wall street. Given the recent news surrounding Goldman Sachs, is it a surprise to anyone that the former head of the treasury, Hank Paulson, used to work for them? Not only that, but if you delve deep enough, back in 1972-73 during the Watergate scandal, Paulson used to work under John Erhichlman of the Nixon administration, who was later convicted and went to prison for his role in the matter. If anyone had their hands in the cookie jar, it was Hank Paulson.

Ben Bernanke, head of the Federal Reserve? Don’t get me started on him. Just watch Jim Cramer’s rant from CNBC:



Chris Cox of the SEC? He sat on his rear end taking home his big government paycheck while whistleblowers tried to get him to look at Bernie Madoff but he just ignored them. My point is, until Obama cleans house and puts people in charge that want to get the job done rather than just sit back and collect a fat government paycheck, nothing will change.

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Says We Must Move Forward on Wall Street Reform: ”

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama said that in the wake of the economic crisis Wall Street reform is too important an issue for inaction. The plan moving through Congress will end bailouts, hold Wall Street accountable, and protect consumers, taxpayers and the economy from the kind of abuses that helped bring about the economic crisis. Every day without reform, those abuses, and the system which allowed them, remain in place. It is time to move forward with real reforms for Wall Street.

The audio and video will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 am ET, Saturday, April 17, 2010.

Remarks of President Barack Obama

As Prepared for Delivery

The White House

April 17, 2010

There were many causes of the turmoil that ripped through our economy over the past two years. But above all, this crisis was caused by failures in the financial industry. What is clear is that this crisis could have been avoided if Wall Street firms were more accountable, if financial dealings were more transparent, and if consumers and shareholders were given more information and authority to make decisions.

But that did not happen. And that’s because special interests have waged a relentless campaign to thwart even basic, common-sense rules – rules to prevent abuse and protect consumers. In fact, the financial industry and its powerful lobby have opposed modest safeguards against the kinds of reckless risks and bad practices that led to this very crisis.

The consequences of this failure of responsibility – from Wall Street to Washington – are all around us: 8 million jobs lost, trillions in savings erased, countless dreams diminished or denied. I believe we have to do everything we can to ensure that no crisis like this ever happens again. That’s why I’m fighting so hard to pass a set of Wall Street reforms and consumer protections. A plan for reform is currently moving through Congress.

Here’s what this plan would do. First, it would enact the strongest consumer financial protections ever. It would put consumers back in the driver’s seat by forcing big banks and credit card companies to provide clear, understandable information so that Americans can make financial decisions that work best for them.

Next, these reforms would bring new transparency to financial dealings. Part of what led to this crisis was firms like AIG and others making huge and risky bets – using things like derivatives – without accountability. Warren Buffett himself once described derivatives bought and sold with little oversight as “financial weapons of mass destruction.” That’s why through reform we’d help ensure that these kinds of complicated financial transactions take place on an open market. Because, ultimately, it is a marketplace that is open, free, and fair that will allow our economy to flourish.

We would also close loopholes to stop the kind of recklessness and irresponsibility we’ve seen. It’s these loopholes that allowed executives to take risks that not only endangered their companies, but also our entire economy. And we’re going to put in place new rules so that big banks and financial institutions will pay for the bad decisions they make – not taxpayers. Simply put, this means no more taxpayer bailouts. Never again will taxpayers be on the hook because a financial company is deemed “too big to fail.”

Finally, these reforms hold Wall Street accountable by giving shareholders new power in the financial system. They’ll get a say on pay: a vote on the salaries and bonuses awarded to top executives. And the SEC will ensure that shareholders have more power in corporate elections, so that investors and pension holders have a stronger voice in determining what happens with their life savings.

Now, unsurprisingly, these reforms have not exactly been welcomed by the people who profit from the status quo – as well their allies in Washington. This is probably why the special interests have spent a lot of time and money lobbying to kill or weaken the bill. Just the other day, in fact, the Leader of the Senate Republicans and the Chair of the Republican Senate campaign committee met with two dozen top Wall Street executives to talk about how to block progress on this issue.

Lo and behold, when he returned to Washington, the Senate Republican Leader came out against the common-sense reforms we’ve proposed. In doing so, he made the cynical and deceptive assertion that reform would somehow enable future bailouts – when he knows that it would do just the opposite. Every day we don’t act, the same system that led to bailouts remains in place – with the exact same loopholes and the exact same liabilities. And if we don’t change what led to the crisis, we’ll doom ourselves to repeat it. That’s the truth. Opposing reform will leave taxpayers on the hook if a crisis like this ever happens again.

So my hope is that we can put this kind of politics aside. My hope is that Democrats and Republicans can find common ground and move forward together. But this is certain: one way or another, we will move forward. This issue is too important. The costs of inaction are too great. We will hold Wall Street accountable. We will protect and empower consumers in our financial system. That’s what reform is all about. That’s what we’re fighting for. And that’s exactly what we’re going to achieve.

Thank you.

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