President Obama's Weekly Address, January 23, 2010 (Video and Transcript)

Fighting for the Public Against Special Interests

The President talks about his first year fighting against special interests and barring lobbyists from his Administration, as well as the fight to come in the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision.


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President Obama pitches that he will fight for you at a Ohio Town Hall Meeting (Video)

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Keith Olbermann's Special Comment of the Supreme Court ruling on corporations can spend unlimited money in federal campaigns (Video)

Since when are corporations PEOPLE....no matter what side of the aisle you are on, this decision is bad for democracy and will silence PEOPLE. Corporations will have their hand picked people in office bought and sold. Chief Justice Roberts will go down as one of the worst justices EVER for this decision.



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RESIGNATION TIME: Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, Rahm Emanuel must go

First off, I am glad that President Obama has decided to challenge banks, it is ABOUT TIME. Is it too late? For me, too early to decide, but devil is always in the details and until we see BOLD ACTION, it is another wait and see time for this White House.

Action against these banks should have happened DAY ONE when he stepped into the White House, not Day Two of Year Two.

Poll numbers and losing that senate seat in Massachusetts can be a huge wake up call that you can not ignore. Public anger is real, so the eyes are on President Obama and his action on this. Not words, ACTION. This means calling congress out by NAME if need be, going all over this country to make sure the public KNOWS what all this mean, no more too cute by half words, but this in lay man speak so my average Joe neighbor GET IT, it means using the power of the presidency as never before.

If Obama does not do this, the Democratic Party will be painted (as it already is starting to be) as the friends of Wall Street. Who wants to run on that one?

Tim Geithner needs to go. He never should have been confirmed. Today's revelation has shown us that maybe, just maybe, this White House is starting to NOT LISTEN TO GEITHNER. The move to back the Paul Volcker populist plan on reigning in these banks was a much needed breath of fresh air. Again, elections have consequences and I am really hoping it means the end of Geithner. Tim Geithner is compromised, always has been. His alliance has always been with Wall Street and these banks. It has been his bad advice to this administration and lack of movement that has now painted this White House as "Friends of Wall Street". He has not been honest or forthcoming of his past with this industry and it has spilled over to the street. He needs to go and I mean yesterday.

President Obama ask for his resignation and let the door knob hit him.

Larry Summers has advised this White House and President in horrible fashion. He and Geithner works in tandem, that means protecting the big banks and Wall Street. Remember, it was the arrogance of Larry Summers who proclaimed the "recession is over".



For this statement alone, he should have been ASKED, PRONTO for his resignation. How in the holy hell can you go to the American Public whose lives are in turmoil with unemployment, home loss, money loss, wages loss, no jobs around and have your number one man say this? HE NEED TO GO.

President Obama ask for his resignation and just remind yourself, "A bad choice for these times."

Rahm Emanuel has been NOT LIKED by many Democrats. Let's put it this way, for me, I tolerated him because President Obama has the right to pick and choose who he puts in his White House and Cabinet. But when they don't deliver, turn on members of the party with nasty rhetoric, misread the populus on what they wanted for healthcare, it is time to go. I state this because healthcare was to be Barack Obama's signature piece, we all know this, look at it now? Whether you agree with what it is about, if you even understand it, it was handled atrociously. And who is left with egg on his face? The President of the United States.

President Obama ask for his resignation and tell him good luck in running for Mayor of Chicago

I am a former member of the Navy, a proud member, when 16:30 arose on the 1MC one word was stated, "Sweepers".

It is time for President Obama to perform sweepers, instill and put people in these jobs that will serve him justice, pick up the pieces, listen to the public and move on.

Having a president out of touch when the anger is so intense is not a good thing, especially for us, but retooling and some fucking firing is a step in a right direction to getting his message back on track.

Finally, President Obama, taking your suit coat off and rolling up your sleeves to start fighting is not only justified but much NEEDED right now from you, FOR US.

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Bad news from the Supreme Court, "Corporations run this country" (Video)

If you think corporations run this country, not only are you correct but now corporations can spend millions to back any federal election. If you think congress is bought and sold, you are correct, they are.





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President Obama announces "The Volcker Rule" for big banks (Video)

This is a good start, now back it up with ACTION.


Transcript

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Barack Obama is out of touch.

Barack Obama conveyed to Robert Gibbs that he was surprised and frustrated by the Massachusetts race.

One question to our president, "Are you hiding under a rock?"

This utter statement speaks VOLUMES of Barack Obama.

It says to me, as a friend wrote to me in an email:

What Obama said through Gibbs was that he was "Surprised and Frustrated" about this election.

What does that say?

"Surprised" = I wasn't listening to the voters

"Frustrated" = Don't blame me

Where are his damn advisors and are they telling him the damn truth???

As we continue to parse over the Massachusettes election, remember who won here. A teabagger in fake Independent clothing, denouncing his Republicanism and embraced the public's frustration of Washington, D.C. not doing anything. And he won.

Barack Obama is in a danger zone. And all these people on this site who continue to say he can do no wrong continues to lead us to down a more ugly path. It is time to wake up, we are in trouble.

The loss of Ted Kennedy's senate seat is one of a larger issue, the issue of voter anger. The very same independents that voted with us are now voting against us and the question must be why?

There are four things that have stuck out for me as I have been listening to many people on the ground since the summer. These four things are what Barack Obama campaigned on.

* Fixing the housing situation

* Stopping the bailouts * Reel in spending

* Put in place finanacial regulations on the banks that brought this country to the brink

* Work on the economy and create jobs

The question now is this, "Has he done anything?" We saw the answer yesterday from Massachusetts and it is NO.

The public is not stupid. They are struggling and have been waiting. But we, the Democrats used our political capital for a health care bill, no insurance bill that is favored for the insurance companies and NOT US. In poll after poll this country wanted a public option, the independents wanted it, the democrats wanted it but this damn congress and White House was so entrenched with the lobbyists and insurance companies that they totally ignored it and us.

A disaster for failure.

Now the President is frustrated?

This is a weak statement, assessment, answer or whatever you want to call it. Barack Obama it is time to reboot and it starts in your White House.

Get rid of Rahm Emanuel, Jim Messina, Tim Geithner and David Axelrod.

Why?

What have they produced? Not a damn thing but continue to point you to the direction of disaster.

How this White House is so out of touch is unbelieveable. Utterly, unbelievable.

Stop the whining, complaining or shock. The mood of this country and its anger has been out here for months. You saw it first hand this summer when the teabaggers took over the health care debate, your communication and message has not been able to recover since.

Show some damn leadership. I mean, how often does this need to be written. There is no fear from you and your congress knows this. Howard Dean said it best:



The Democrats and you must get tougher.

People are fed up. They voted you and the Democrats into office with a mandate and to make changes. When people continue to perceive and look at you and the Democrats doing nothing, why should they continue to vote for you?

Massachusetts said it all. If you want to continue to cater to King Lieberman, Queen Snowe, Countess Collins and President Nelson with the Republicans it is a diasater for November.

You have about three months to start making decisive moves, changes and decisions. Your speech making days are over. Don't get me wrong, you are the best orator out there, but continuing these speeches with empty promises and no action the public can see means nothing.

Folks this is our president, we put him in office. At the same token, it is our government and we have every right to let them know how we feel. The days of "It is not Barack Obama's fault" is over. He is the leader of our party and look where he led us.

If we are not strong enough to acknowledge problems, then many have more crying days to come. If you thought yesterday was bad, continue on this disastrous path and November will make you go hide in a cave.

Again, the days of Rahm Emanuel, Jim Messina, Tim Geithner, Larry Summers should be OVER. Reboot time and boot them OUT.

Reality is a bitch, but this is our reality and we need to fix it.

Update [2010-1-20 14:13:14 by icebergslim]:

Stopping the bailouts is dubious. As Obama voted for the TARP monies, he has since monitored it. But the message is clear from the public. They did not like bailing out the banks, Wall Street, AIG, etc. They don't like the bonuses then and now. And this has hardened many on this administration and its relationship with Wall Street.

Update [2010-1-20 14:27:7 by icebergslim]:

Obama says hold off for HCR until Brown is seated.

For all those who say push this health insurance plan through, it is not to be. Do you think we will get anything with this decision? Again, sigh.... and this is for many levels....

Update [2010-1-20 14:49:4 by icebergslim]:

Labor will not support house passing senate bill as is

Update [2010-1-20 15:8:19 by icebergslim]:

You left out firing Tim Kaine and rehiring Dean

AMEN on that one, AMEN...

Cross-posted @ Daily Kos

AND...

"Massachusetts voters who backed Barack Obama in the presidential election a year ago and either switched support to Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown or simply stayed home, said in a poll conducted after the election Tuesday night that if Democrats enact tougher policies on Wall Street, they'll be more likely to come back to the party in the next election.

A majority of Obama voters who switched to Brown said that "Democratic policies were doing more to help Wall Street than Main Street." A full 95 percent said the economy was important or very important when it came to deciding their vote.

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Howard Dean, "Democrats are not tough enough" NO SHIT. (Video)

One of the worst decisions was not keeping Howard Dean around. Coakley's loss is her fault and that of the DNC, which is run by Tim Kaine. Again, Democrats did not show up to vote in a solid blue Democratic State. This says volume.



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Democrats this says it all....unless we find a spine and wake the hell up...

I'm old. I can't do this much longer.

I thought we were running to daylight. I thought people had a clue. I thought wrong.

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Jon Stewart fed up with the Democrats. What else is new. (Video)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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The one with the JUICE is the one who usually wins.

The one with the JUICE is the one who wins.

We all know this from working for Democrats in 2008. We had the juice, we had the message of "Change", we had the foot soliders, we had massive volunteers, we had Barack Obama.

Now we need to really look at the Democratic Party and ask the tough questions of, "What happened?" If we don't and just continue to say, "Aw another awful candidate, just a state thing is political suicide."

People out here are angry and they are angry at us. We need to fix it and I mean fast.

A lot has happened this past year and to be honest the public has a right to be angry.

I live in a swing district in Illinois and I worked very hard in getting Republicans and Independents to vote Democrat. One thing I will never forget is one Independent who looked me in the eye and said, "Are the Democrats going to make a difference? Will I see change?" Well, I have heard a lot from Sally, the Independent, and it is NOT NICE.

The one thing the Democrats campaigned on was change, for me this means you don't continue or do the same thing as the last regime. For all the things that have happened this year, many in the public think this is business as usual. That NOTHING has changed.

One thing Sally stated was that she did not want her money, our tax dollars to continue to bail out these banks, Wall Street. She was and still is outraged about this because as I have heard repeatedly, "Where is our bailout? Where are the jobs? When will it stop?"

Democrats, the anger is real.

To have the Obama White House, perceived to be cozy with Wall Street is disaster and not good going forward. The issues for many in the public is that of "sick and tired of health care", "no jobs", "continuing these wars when we have no money", "unfairness of Wall Street to My Street". These issues are valid and we are doing a disastrous job at addressing them.

I spoke to my sister in law, yesterday, who is out of work and things are tighter than a tick in her home. While she commends the President on health care, she does not equate that unless you have a job. The disconnect of health care to the average American is real and the White House and Democrats have done a poor job in communicating the upside of this issue. Sure, all of us reading this blog are political animals, but some of the other members of our family are not. They look at the real and what is happening to them daily. For many in this country is it jobs, unemployment. For my sister in law, not having a job means, not having health care. So, for her the economy is number one, not health care. And yes, I have argued the fact but the reality is that she is looking at her budget, one income lost, trying to hold on, and that means having a living wage as in a job.

The health care debate has exhausted everyone. At this point many moved on from this issue, biting nails at having something for the Democrats to run on, or just don't care anymore. This is not good at all, overall. People are tired of it, many don't understand it, and they don't trust it. This is the White House and Democrats fault as in not communicating to the public why this bill is in their best interest. When you campaign on health care like congress and have on your website the national federal exchange, which is the public option, but have the nerve to tell the public that you did not campaign on the public option? Barack Obama you lost some votes there, along with credibility. You need to fix that. Oh, by the way, ditching the public option has demoralized your base. I hope this can be fixed going forward.

Giving Wall Street everything was a major mistake. This is the second year that the average Joe and Josetta have to watch on television how the financial firms on Wall Street and the banks have made RECORD PROFIT OFF OUR MONEY, but My Street do not have shit to show for it. I think the Obama Administration was too cozy, loosy goosey with the banks and Wall Street. This Administration thought that Wall Street would do the right thing and open up the lending in this country. But they have not. What incentive did we give a handful of CEOs to do so? When they crashed and burned who did they run to? And who opened the purse strings with no pre-conditions? Sure, President Obama wants to implement a tax, but will it go through the congress? Most of the banks have paid the money back; they continue to give the American Public a big "F and U". For this issue alone, the American Public is not asleep at the wheel. They fully understand those who have, continued to have, and the rest who have not. In the end, they feel it is unfair. And they are right. Want to stoke anger and resentment? Just use Wall Street every time and have your party looked upon as cozy with them; you will lose a lot of elections with this formula. Wall Street and Banks need regulatory restraints, new laws, until this happens it is continued lip service from the White House and these banks will continue to screw the American Public over.

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS.

The Democrats were put in office because we are supposed to be known as being good with the economy and bringing it back. Did this White House get the memo? While many Americans have been patient with the health care dialogue and have just gotten tired of it, they have not stopped worrying about this economy and wondering if their job will be cut next. Unemployment is 10% right now. I don't expect it to go down but back up. Underemployment is 15-20%. We have over 15 million people unemployed. What is the White House or Democrats doing? I ask this because that is what my sister in law wants to know? Where are the jobs at? Are they coming back? But more importantly are we creating any new jobs? These are valid questions. Many in the country do not believe that congress is on the ball about this economy or jobs. The quickest way to lose voters is when they have to balance their checkbook monthly. And we are losing these voters because we are not moving fast enough. Bread and butter issues matter, it impacts people directly, if we cannot address this than we deserve to lose some seats. The Obama White House and the Democrats need to get out of that bubble and put their ears to the ground. People are mad.

Lack of Leadership

The Democrats period. And tonight seeing this circular gun firing at each other, no discipline, no respect, nothing even before the polls closed for Coakley says a lot. Democrats better get back to being Democrats or we will see more elections like this.

Democratic Obstructionists, wooing the hierarchy of Republicans and the bipartisan thingy...

Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Blanche Lincoln....

They have dragged this health care battle out. Joe Lieberman should have been dealt with, up front but was given a pass. How could the Democratic Leadership actually BELIEVE that this man could have been trusted is beyond me? Turning the health care bill over to senate finance committee was a bad idea. As we see, we ended up with the Baucus Bill anyway, an insurance company dream. Don't forget courting Countess Collins and Queen Snowe brought us not a damn vote. And the bipartisan thingy that this White House ran to? They need to give it up and after tonight, FOR GOOD. Remember, we can invite Republicans to the dance, but if they do not RSVP, the dance goes on without them.

Can we wake up finally? I know we have to deal with these senators but when was any whip used to them? When did they feel the wrath of the White House on them? These people have been courted and what have we gotten back? Just a lack luster disastrous health care bill is all. And this is suppose to be historic? Good luck selling that one.

The Republicans.

Scott Brown winning Ted Kennedy's seat says a couple of things to me. First, the people of Massachusetts loved the late Ted Kennedy, but they have moved on. We saw that by Brown winning. Second, this upset does not say anything for the Republican Party. What have they offered? For every issue that we tackled, they have offered nothing. Third, this win was a wakeup call to Democrats. As painful as this loss is this is a wakeup call for Democrats to start listening to its base and independents. This loss does not mean the country is turning to the Republicans, I know that from talking to my Independent and Republican friends regularly, it means we need to do what we said we were going to do from the campaign in 2008 and dammit, DELIVER. Also, one other note, Scott Brown did not run as a Republican. It was effective, he faked being independent and people fell for it. For Brown not to fess up being a Republican is a note. A note that this is how Republicans, going forward, will campaign. The name "Republican" is still very toxic, why I state that the public is not jumping for joy to vote Republican across this country.

Martha Coakley.

I knew Coakley was toast when my husband and I were watching one of the political shows and Coakley stated that Curt Schilling was a Yankee fan. Well, my husband and I both looked at each other and said, "She's toast." I am from Chicago; my father took us to Wrigley Field many times when I was little. My father still today talks of the "Summer of 1969" when the Cubs were ahead in September to win the pennant and the New York Mets came from behind and won. I knew all the players of the 1969 team, had their pictures on my wall, knew their stats, for me if I was a Boston Red Sox fan, I would have been pissed. I know for some it does not mean anything, but for Red Sox fans, YES IT DID. It means if she does not even know that, a basic Red Sox fundamental, then is she in touch with the other stuff. In the end, Coakley ran a piss poor campaign and acted like she did not have to ask anyone for their vote, that they were just going to give it to her. Well, we see that no election should be taken for granted and the Massachusetts Democratic Party, along with the DNC also should be slapped for not having this race on the radar to save it in time.

Lastly

The public likes President Obama, we all do, but what many have seen this past year is not what he said he would do as Candidate Obama. Democrats and the White House needs to take this very seriously. People are mad and they have every right to be. Democrats, we have time to get people back, but the thing is does the Obama White House and the DC Democrats get the message? Until we see that a message was gotten, expect more of this. Hopefully, the bubble in DC will burst very soon.

So, did all this sorta spread up to Massachusetts? I think so. In fact, this anger has been out there for some time now. I live in Illinois and I here plenty of it from my friends. Remember, the voter registration in Massachusetts is 2 to one over the Republicans or even higher, but it was the Democrats that did not come out to vote.

We need to remember what made people vote Democrat in 2008. So far, we have performed a very lackluster job. I really hope that this election woke some people up in congress and 1600 PA AVE, because we never, ever should have lost the late Senator Ted Kennedy's seat. That is a travesty that we all have to eat.

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Martin Luther King Jr, "I Have a Dream" (Video)

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President Obama's speech at Vermont Avenue Baptist Church service commemorating ML King Day (Video)

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Michelle: Her First Year as First Lady (Video)

From The Today Show:



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