Posts Tagged ‘Barak Obama’
Get your remote controls ready, folks… political attack ads are about to kick it up a notch.
It’s just weeks before the madcap election year, we are about to get barraged by overdone partisan commercial hackery.
But hold on… there is the occasional original attack ad out there.
This one fits the bill. It is more like a short film (more than 5 minutes in length).
The video explores the idea that Democratic Senator Bob Casey and President Obama are so similar that they must have been separated at birth. It reminds us 2008 when Democratic candidates used similar tactics of tying their opponents to President Bush. Although we have never seen one quite like this.
Do you think this is an effective ad?
Mind your heads, America…
You’re about to hit the ceiling!
As of Monday the United States government has reached its debt ceiling (think of it like a credit card limit).
Though this sounds ominous, reaching the ceiling is more symbolic than substantial. The US treasury will no doubt pull some accounting tricks to allow the US to borrow money until around August 2. By then the Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner will ask Congress
to increase the debt limit in order to protect the full faith and credit of the United States and avoid catastrophic economic consequences for citizens.
Congress will do as Mr. Geithner asks, right? Well, the Republicans are a little grumpy about our national debt right now (remember those tea-partiers?)
They are demanding major spending cuts be made before they support any growth in the US debt.
Call it brinkmanship or aggressive bargaining but Republican Super Star Paul Ryan expects the negotiations to be resolved at the very “last minute.”
So should we be worried America might default on its debt?
Probably not as Calculated Risk astutely notes
The first rule for most politicians is to get re-elected, and the easiest way to guarantee losing in 2012 is to throw the country back into recession. If that happened, I believe the voters would correctly blame the leaders of Congress, and I think Congress knows that too.
Furthermore, Simon Johnson, for Slate, doubts that debate will acheive anything as
If President Obama’s administration plays its hand well, the result will be a last-minute extension of the debt ceiling with no significant concessions. It is unclear how Boehner or anyone else would be able to portray that as a political victory.
Which makes us wonder… is the debt ceiling foolish symbolism or a sign of foolish spending? What do you think (especially those under 30 who’ll paying this debt back for decades to come)?
Thanks to Wikicommons.
President, no, Sheriff Obama, after playing the role of international lawman, has returned his focus to the dusty streets of the Texas town of El Paso.
Yesterday, he spoke on the issue of immigration reform, something especially relevant to a town so close to Mexico (and raging drug war). Obama notes:
we have strengthened border security beyond what many believed was possible.
…Over the past two and a half years, we’ve seized 31 percent more drugs, 75 percent more currency, 64 percent more weapons than ever before.
Because of this increased security Mr. Obama suggests it is now time to pass badly needed reforms as
…Today, the immigration system not only tolerates those who break the rules, but it punishes folks who follow the rules.
It could be expected that such words would stir up support from those calling for immigration reform but some are questioning his sincerity.
Over at Mother Jones, Suzy Khimm notes that
the timing of Obama’s renewed immigration push may give the impression that the move is largely a political ploy to win over Hispanic voters in 2012. Until Obama eases up enforcement and lays out a specific timeline to tackle immigration reform … he may have a tough time coming across as a credible immigration reform advocate.
Even if the President fully means what he says, Democracy in America’s E.G. thinks that his speech sent the wrong message that immigration reform is about national security rather than
an economic phenomenon with costs and benefits. That’s more accurate, less inflammatory, and would give any proposal a better chance of passage.
This has got us wondering. We’re sure that our readers are a diverse crowd, including immigrats, and we would love to know your view. Most likely they are more coherent than ours… so post them up!
From Flickr user mediajorgenyc
Food can solve all problems. Let’s hope it helps Obama and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France work out their problems.
Terror in Moscow. After devastating suicide attacks rocked Moscow Russian officials vow a strong response.
Home grown terrorists. Plot to attack police officers stopped with eight suspects arrested.
Making Bank! The US Government will make billions of dollars due to Citigroup bailout.
Will Sudan divide in two?
Thanks to Wikicommons.
As you read in Part 1…you did read Part 1 right?… US Democrazy took a look at what so-called experts (not us) think of Iraq’s future.
Well, we’ve got another issue where the experts are at odds. In fact, opinions are so divided on this issue that generals and diplomats have gotten themselves into some big time trouble.
So what is this issue? Well, we’ll spell it out for you:
A-F-G-H-A-N-I-S-T-A-N
Thanks to Wikicommons.
That’s right President George H. W. Bush, the father of our previous President, has invited current President to speak at The Bush Presidential Library located at Texas A&M University.
Not only that, but good ole H. W. has asked, in an open letter, that the Texas A&M students act as good hosts. President Bush points out that Obama is coming to campus to speak about community service
not about politics.
This was in response to a planned tea party protest being organized
to make sure Obama gets a very clear TEXAS SIZED MESSAGE to stop the liberal assault on our country.
US Democrazy is glad to see that despite the shrill political divide in much of the country today, there are some Republicans and Democrats longing to partake in civil discussion rather than civil war!
Thanks to Wikicommons.
We at US Democrazy love a full plate (especially on Thanksgiving) but President Obama seems to have taken (or rather been given) more than his share of problems.
To help you keep track, we have a maddening menu of Obama’s plate full of problems. …read more.
President Obama is currently not making many friends (which is great for news-mongers like us at US Democrazy).
So who is the Presidential fighting with now? Bring it on China! …read more.
We at USDemocrazy like to speak out (especially when it’s our turn to wash the dishes). So the question is: when does speaking out become too out spoken?
That’s a question Representative Joe Wilson, of South Carolina, has heard since he shouted his feelings (“You LIE!” to be exact) during President Obama’s speech on health care (see video above). …read more.
