After a tough few weeks President Barack Obama took his healthcare message to a group of men and women who essentially became his employees a few months ago – workers at a General Motors plant in Lordstown , Ohio – and was buoyed by the fact that amongst the blue collar workers there he seemed to find praise and support, and not only just for his health care reforms.
The president’s visit to the Lordstown plant – which primarily manufactures small cars in the GM fleet – was his first to a General Motors facility since he and his government took defacto control of the company as a part of the auto industry bailout earlier this year.
This is a plant that has been doing very well of late. The Cash for Clunkers plan depleted the GM inventory of smaller vehicles and just a day before the President’s arrival 150 laid off workers had returned to work, with a 1,000 more due to clock back in over the next three weeks, to help meet the demand, including getting ready for the launch of the Chevy Cruze, a compact, high mileage vehicle due to be launched next year.
Amid thunderous applause, the President once again made it clear it had never been his intention to end up running a car company as part of his duties as Commander –in –chief "It wasn't on my to-do list. It wasn't even something on my want-to-do list.” he said. However he continued “for me to just let the auto industry collapse, to vanish, would have done unbelievable damage."
But during his speech at Lordstown and another later in the day at an AFL-CIO union convention in Pittsburgh, the President admitted he did need something from the auto workers now in return for his actions to help save their ailing industry and their jobs ; their support for his agenda, especially his health care reform plans.
Sounding far more like the confident man who rallied crowds behind him during the 2008 elections Barack Obama told the union workers assembled in Pittsburgh "As long as you've got an ounce of fight in you, I've got a ton of fight in me. I’ve said it before: I'm skinny, but I'm tough. So give it for me, guys."
And they do seem willing. According to John Sweeney, who is the outgoing president of the AFL-CIO "We in this room are the wind at his back."
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tea Party Protestors Hit the Capitol in Force.
The conservative advocacy group the Tea Party Express wrapped up their nationwide tour by staging a huge protest at the Capitol on Saturday.
Protestors who made the trip carried a number of signs and placards that made no bones about their opinions. Some of the slogans read “I didn’t vote for this Obamanation” and “Fire the Czars”. Others carried depicting the President as an African witch doctor and there was great deal of Nazi imagery on display.
Although the march stretched for blocks and was attended by thousands of people, no violence or civil disobedience was reported. The Tea Party Express tour began back in August in Sacramento, CA and has visited 30 cities.
According to the organizers of the Tea Party Express and other related events their movement is currently focusing on three main objectives Defeat President Barack Obama's health care reform efforts, win back the House and Senate in 2010 for the Republican Party and take the White House in 2012.
The movement has no acknowledged leader and organizers will admit that they are still searching for the right person. Some think that former Governor Sarah Palin would make a good choice but others feel that she carries too much negative baggage.
For now the regular speakers at most rallies, including the one in the Capitol on Saturday, are a charismatic activist called Debbie Johns, whose signature cry of “You can have our country when you pry it from our ... cold ... dead ... fingers!" is the common rallying cry for crowds, and a former radio personality, Mark Williams. They both work for Our Country Deserves Better, a political action committee that under wrote the Tea Party Express tour.
The people who gather at the Tea party rallies are often a colorful and eclectic bunch, whose messages and beliefs sometimes border on the extreme. Nazi imagery is abundant which can be off putting to some of the more conservative marchers and it is not unusual to see members carrying weapons in full view of the crowds in the states where open carry is permitted.
While the protestors were voicing their vehement opposition to health care reform in Washington President Obama was hundreds of miles away in Minneapolis, speaking once more at a town hall meeting on the issue.
He raised a laugh when he made a wry mention of his speech on Wednesday before a joint session of Congress, during which Rep Joe Wilson now infamously proclaimed “You Lie”. "I can already see that this crowd is a lot more fun," he told the audience.
Protestors who made the trip carried a number of signs and placards that made no bones about their opinions. Some of the slogans read “I didn’t vote for this Obamanation” and “Fire the Czars”. Others carried depicting the President as an African witch doctor and there was great deal of Nazi imagery on display.
Although the march stretched for blocks and was attended by thousands of people, no violence or civil disobedience was reported. The Tea Party Express tour began back in August in Sacramento, CA and has visited 30 cities.
According to the organizers of the Tea Party Express and other related events their movement is currently focusing on three main objectives Defeat President Barack Obama's health care reform efforts, win back the House and Senate in 2010 for the Republican Party and take the White House in 2012.
The movement has no acknowledged leader and organizers will admit that they are still searching for the right person. Some think that former Governor Sarah Palin would make a good choice but others feel that she carries too much negative baggage.
For now the regular speakers at most rallies, including the one in the Capitol on Saturday, are a charismatic activist called Debbie Johns, whose signature cry of “You can have our country when you pry it from our ... cold ... dead ... fingers!" is the common rallying cry for crowds, and a former radio personality, Mark Williams. They both work for Our Country Deserves Better, a political action committee that under wrote the Tea Party Express tour.
The people who gather at the Tea party rallies are often a colorful and eclectic bunch, whose messages and beliefs sometimes border on the extreme. Nazi imagery is abundant which can be off putting to some of the more conservative marchers and it is not unusual to see members carrying weapons in full view of the crowds in the states where open carry is permitted.
While the protestors were voicing their vehement opposition to health care reform in Washington President Obama was hundreds of miles away in Minneapolis, speaking once more at a town hall meeting on the issue.
He raised a laugh when he made a wry mention of his speech on Wednesday before a joint session of Congress, during which Rep Joe Wilson now infamously proclaimed “You Lie”. "I can already see that this crowd is a lot more fun," he told the audience.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
South Carolina Rep Shouts “You Lie” as Obama Speaks on Health Care.
President Barack Obama’s advisors had promised that his speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening to address the state of his healthcare reform plans would be an impassioned and powerful one and there are few that would say that he did not deliver.
One major point he made was his desire that the opposing sides of the debate could “disagree without being disagreeable.” At least one member of the audience did not seem to agree with that statement though.
Rep. Joe Wilson, who is from South Carolina, interrupted the speech when he shouted “ You Lie!” and punctuated his point with an aggressive looking finger point when President Obama said that his healthcare reforms would not include coverage for illegal aliens. The tantrum caused the President to pause and direct his attention to the heckler, responding “That’s not true” before carrying on with his prepared remarks.
Seated behind the President both Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi looked visibly shocked by the outburst and after the speech was over Senator John McCain, the man defeated in the Presidential election by Obama, called for Rep. Wilson to make an immediate public apology.
Rep Wilson did make a formal statement some time later saying that "While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility." It is reported that he also called the White House personally to apologize. The man who took the call, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, accepted the apology on behalf of the President according to senior Obama aides.
Although his was the most noticeable act of displeasure Rep Wilson was not the only one to resort to some less than civil behavior during the President’s 45 minute speech.
Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas wore a sign fastened around his neck for the course of the speech which read “What Bill?” and when President Obama called on Republicans in the audience to share their reform ideas with him a small group of them raised stacks of paper above their heads.
Online reaction to Rep Wilson’s action by the public was swift and mainly derogatory. Within just a few minutes of his being identified as the heckler someone altered his Wikipedia entry to read "He is a [expletive] that called the President of the United States a liar on national television and has no respect for the office he holds." The site’s editors quickly removed the entry only for it to be replaced by another, even harsher one. They then decided to disable the editing feature for the entry for the time being.
On Twitter user after user posted Tweets encouraging the public to contact Rep. Wilson’s office to express their displeasure. However very quickly visitors to the official http://www.joewilson.house.gov/ website found it disabled and the phone lines to his office either rang busy or rang on and on without the usual voicemail message cutting in.
One major point he made was his desire that the opposing sides of the debate could “disagree without being disagreeable.” At least one member of the audience did not seem to agree with that statement though.
Rep. Joe Wilson, who is from South Carolina, interrupted the speech when he shouted “ You Lie!” and punctuated his point with an aggressive looking finger point when President Obama said that his healthcare reforms would not include coverage for illegal aliens. The tantrum caused the President to pause and direct his attention to the heckler, responding “That’s not true” before carrying on with his prepared remarks.
Seated behind the President both Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi looked visibly shocked by the outburst and after the speech was over Senator John McCain, the man defeated in the Presidential election by Obama, called for Rep. Wilson to make an immediate public apology.
Rep Wilson did make a formal statement some time later saying that "While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility." It is reported that he also called the White House personally to apologize. The man who took the call, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, accepted the apology on behalf of the President according to senior Obama aides.
Although his was the most noticeable act of displeasure Rep Wilson was not the only one to resort to some less than civil behavior during the President’s 45 minute speech.
Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas wore a sign fastened around his neck for the course of the speech which read “What Bill?” and when President Obama called on Republicans in the audience to share their reform ideas with him a small group of them raised stacks of paper above their heads.
Online reaction to Rep Wilson’s action by the public was swift and mainly derogatory. Within just a few minutes of his being identified as the heckler someone altered his Wikipedia entry to read "He is a [expletive] that called the President of the United States a liar on national television and has no respect for the office he holds." The site’s editors quickly removed the entry only for it to be replaced by another, even harsher one. They then decided to disable the editing feature for the entry for the time being.
On Twitter user after user posted Tweets encouraging the public to contact Rep. Wilson’s office to express their displeasure. However very quickly visitors to the official http://www.joewilson.house.gov/ website found it disabled and the phone lines to his office either rang busy or rang on and on without the usual voicemail message cutting in.
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