Obama's Address Light On Areas Of Agreement, Heavy On Imperial Campaign-Style Rhetoric
Disappointing 2014 SOTU |
The House reconvened at 10 AM today. The House already agreed without objection to on H. Res. 39 — "Electing Members to certain standing committees of the House of Representatives."
Bills that may be considered today:
H.R. 161 - "To provide for the timely consideration of all licenses, permits, and approvals required under Federal law with respect to the siting, construction, expansion, or operation of any natural gas pipeline projects."
H.R. 36 - "To amend title 18, United States Code, to protect pain-capable unborn children, and for other purposes."
H.R. 161 — "To provide for the timely consideration of all licenses, permits, and approvals required under Federal law with respect to the siting, construction, expansion, or operation of any natural gas pipeline projects."
Yesterday, the House passed by voice vote H. Res. 37 — "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives condemning the recent terrorist attacks in Paris that resulted in the deaths of seventeen innocent persons and offering condolences to those personally affected by this cowardly act."
Today, Speaker Boehner invited Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress on February 11, 2015. This would be Prime Minister Netanyahu’s third appearance before a joint meeting of Congress, and his second during Boehner’s speakership.
Israeli forces Sunday launched an airstrike on a convoy in Syria, killing 11 people. Among the dead were six Iranian military officers, including General Mohammed Allahdadi, and several top Hezbollah commanders. The airstrike was carried out in response to "high-level intelligence" indicating that a significant terrorist attack, or perhaps even an invasion of northern Israel, was imminent. Iran is vowing a "crushing response" in retaliation for the Israeli airstrike.
The Speaker said, “Prime Minister Netanyahu is a great friend of our country, and this invitation carries with it our unwavering commitment to the security and well-being of his people. In this time of challenge, I am asking the Prime Minister to address Congress on the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life. Americans and Israelis have always stood together in shared cause and common ideals, and now we must rise to the moment again.”
The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today. The Senate resumed consideration of S.1, the bill to authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Votes on amendments to S.1 are planned for this afternoon.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 57-42 to table (kill) an amendment from Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) that would have banned the export of any petroleum products transported by the pipeline, 53-46 to table an amendment from Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), which would have required all construction materials originate in the U.S., and 94-5 to adopt an amendment from Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) which establishes a package of energy efficiency standards.
Following President Obama’s State of the Union address last night, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “The biggest problem is the President made a speech that made it look like he’s going to run for office again. His time for running is over. His time for governing is here. And in order to accomplish things over the last two years of the Obama Administration, he needs to work with the Republican Congress. Much of what he did tonight, you know, new taxes, new spending is sort of the same old thing that we've heard over the last six years. What I had hoped was the President was going to focus on areas of possible agreement. There are a few: trade, tax reform, infrastructure—those are the things we need to be concentrating on and let the next election occur in 2016.”
In the Republican Address to the Nation, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) touched on those same themes. She said, “There’s a lot we can achieve if we work together. Let’s tear down trade barriers in places like Europe and the Pacific. Let’s sell more of what we make and grow in America over there so we can boost manufacturing, wages, and jobs right here, at home. Let’s simplify America’s outdated and loophole-ridden tax code. Republicans think tax filing should be easier for you, not just the well-connected. So let’s iron out loopholes to lower rates — and create jobs, not pay for more government spending. The President has already expressed some support for these kinds of ideas. We’re calling on him now to cooperate to pass them.”
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much talk from the president last night about areas of cooperation. As ABC’s Rick Klein noted, “Obama made no mention of the fact that voters rejected his party in November, in historic fashion. He did not reference the new Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, or the man who sat over his left shoulder as he has at every State of the Union since 2011, House Speaker John Boehner. If anything, the president sketched an economic agenda designed to provoke rather than accommodate Republicans -- programs that include vast new spending and higher taxes on the wealthy.”
Andrea Lafferty, President, Traditional Values Coalition offered insights on President Obama's SOTU not noted by traditional news sources. "The President gave a State of the Union address large on promises but short on real answers to the problems we face. He offered no new ideas and presented warmed over presentations meant to appeal to a political base without tackling issues with long-term solutions.
"President Obama proposed over $320 billion in new taxes including a tax on a college savings program used by millions of Americans to afford a better life for themselves and their children. For the President to propose raiding savings and hiking taxes on families at a time when they are still trying to find stability in this economy shows his complete disregard for the struggles we face.
"On national security, the President avoided any real attention to the threat Islamists present our country and completely ignored the sequestration that would cut our military and devastate our ability to defend ourselves.US leadership abroad has been lacking and that vacuum has allowed extremists groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda and their proxies to take advantage of the President's failed policies. We need to let our allies, the world and the American people know that the United States is ready and capable of leading again to help create long-term stability and security.
"The President made clear last night that he will continue to test the Constitutional limits of his authority and expand the Imperial Presidency to enact his worldview on all of us. Obama has shown a complete disregard for the will of the American voters who voted for a change last November and sent a clear message that the President's policies and agenda are putting us in the wrong direction."
Even The New York Times wrote, “Watching an emboldened Mr. Obama, it would have been easy to forget that he was standing there just two months after the biggest electoral repudiation of his presidency. Indeed, with economic indicators on the rise and his own poll numbers rebounding slightly, he made no reference at all to the midterm elections, offered no concessions about his own leadership and proposed no compromises to accommodate the political reality.”
The president made that clear as he continued to disparage the Keystone XL pipeline, which after 6 years of delay and study by the Obama administration, the Republican Congress is trying to finally authorize. As Sen. Ernst said, “President Obama has been delaying this bipartisan infrastructure project for years, even though many members of his party, unions, and a strong majority of Americans support it. The President’s own State Department has said Keystone’s construction could support thousands of jobs and pump billions into our economy, and do it with minimal environmental impact.
“We worked with Democrats to pass this bill through the House. We’re doing the same now in the Senate. President Obama will soon have a decision to make: will he sign the bill, or block good American jobs?”
That decision will show whether the president is really committed to working on a bipartisan basis to find areas of agreement that can help the country move forward.
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