Thune: Obama Victory Lap Flies in the Face of Reality
“The Obama administration has left the American people with a host of problems at home and abroad.”
Click here to watch Sen. Thune’s remarks.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today previewed President Obama’s final State of the Union address while citing many of the burdens placed on the American people by the Obama administration.
Remarks (as prepared for delivery):
“Mr. President, tonight President Obama will come to Congress to deliver his final State of the Union address.
“Which raises the question – what is the state of our union?
“And the truth is, while the strength and spirit of the American people remain a beacon of hope for our future, our country is facing a number of serious challenges:
“Global unrest has grown over the course of the president’s administration, most notably with the rise of ISIS, one of the most brutal terrorist groups in existence.
“On President Obama’s watch, we have experienced the worst economic recovery since the Eisenhower administration, with stagnant wages and millions dropping out of the labor force as the lasting trademark of the Obama economy.
“And American families are seeing their dreams for the future erode, as they struggle under ever-increasing government burdens and a lack of economic opportunity.
“Any serious discussion of the state of our union needs to address these challenges and offer solutions.
“And that is the kind of speech I wish we were going to hear tonight.
“But unfortunately, all indicators suggest that’s not the kind of speech the president plans to give.
“Instead, the president apparently intends to take a victory lap – despite the fact that the American people clearly don’t think there’s much to celebrate.
“A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found that 68 percent of the American people think our country is on the wrong track, and most Americans believe the next generation will be worse off, not better off.
“In a preview of the president’s speech, the White House notes, and I quote, ‘we have made extraordinary progress on the path to a stronger country and a brighter future.’
“But that’s not how the American people are feeling.
“And it doesn’t reflect the reality of the president’s administration.
“The president plans to talk about his supposed economic successes tonight.
“But while our economy has recovered to a certain extent since the recession, it has never fully rebounded.
“Wage growth continues to lag.
“December marked the 77th straight month in which year-over-year hourly wage growth was at or below 2.5 percent.
“Underemployment also continues to be a problem, with millions of Americans continuing to work part-time jobs because they can’t find full-time work.
“Almost five years after the recession ended, the percentage of Americans working full time has still not returned to pre-recession levels.
“While the most commonly mentioned unemployment rate is 5.0 percent, the U-6 unemployment rate, which measures the number of both unemployed workers and underemployed workers, is 9.9 percent.
“Of the unemployed, those who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more — or those considered long-term unemployed — make up 26 percent.
“And labor force participation remains near record lows.
“In short, stagnation has become the new normal for the economy under the Obama administration, and economic opportunities for American families have been few and far between.
“And in addition to the lack of economic opportunity, families have had to shoulder new burdens thanks to the Obama administration.
“Chief among those burdens, of course, is Obamacare, the president’s disastrous health care law, which has failed to reduce the cost of health care, ripped away millions of Americans’ preferred health care plans, forced families onto insurance plans they don’t want and can’t afford, reduced patients’ access to doctors and hospitals, increased taxes, and wasted billions of taxpayer dollars.
“Then there are the burdensome regulations the Obama administration has imposed, which have made it more challenging for businesses large and small to grow and create jobs.
“The Obama Environmental Protection Agency in particular has done more than its fair share to make things difficult for Americans.
“During the course of the Obama administration, this agency has implemented one damaging rule after another, from a massive national backdoor energy tax that would hurt poor and working families the most, to a new rule that would subject ponds and puddles in Americans’ backyards to a complex array of expensive and burdensome regulatory requirements.
“Again and again, I’ve heard from South Dakota farm and ranch families, homeowners, and small businesses about the difficulties they’re facing thanks to the Obama EPA’s massive new regulations.
“Mr. President, if the president’s record on the economy and middle-class opportunity is bad, his record on foreign policy is even worse.
“A White House preview of the State of the Union touts the president’s work to, and I quote, ‘redefine American leadership for the 21st century.’
“During the president’s last year in office, the White House says, and I quote, ‘we can show the world what is possible when America truly leads.’
“Republicans couldn’t agree more that America should truly lead – the problem is that the president’s first seven years in office have generally been distinguished by a lack of leadership.
“Back in June, former President – and fellow Democrat – Jimmy Carter described President Obama’s successes on the world stage as ‘minimal.’
“‘On the world stage, just to be objective about it as I can,’ Carter said, ‘I can’t think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship now than we did when he took over.’
“Neither can I, Mr. President.
“The White House claims the president has ended two wars, yet neglects to mention that since the U.S. withdrew from Iraq, large sections of the country have descended into chaos thanks to ISIS.
“The president’s failure to enforce his red line in Syria when President Bashar al Assad used chemical weapons on his own people and the president’s lack of a strategy to defeat ISIS have contributed to a massive refugee crisis with no easy solution.
“Meanwhile, Assad remains in power and ISIS continues to thrive.
“With the terrorist attacks in Paris in November, ISIS officially expanded its theater of operations beyond the Middle East.
“And as we witnessed in the case of the San Bernardino shooting, as long as ISIS continues to exist, its demented ideology will inspire disturbed individuals to commit acts of terror.
“The United States is in desperate need of a comprehensive strategy to confront the threat posed by ISIS, yet the president has so far made no move to develop one.
“On another foreign policy front, the president has repeatedly touted his nuclear deal with Iran as one of the major foreign policy achievements of his presidency, yet the agreement he signed actually improves Iran’s long-term prospects for developing a bomb.
“And in a clear violation of UN restrictions, Iran recently tested a ballistic missile, demonstrating once again that it has in no way curbed its aggressive behavior.
“Elsewhere, Russian aggression has increased on the president’s watch, and North Korea recently conducted yet another nuclear test.
“Mr. President, the Obama administration has left the American people with a host of problems at home and abroad.
“But once again, it sounds like President Obama’s State of the Union address will fail to offer any substantive solutions.
“More than that, it sounds as if the president will largely ignore the problems.
“And that’s unfortunate.
“The president is missing an opportunity to offer substantive solutions before turning the problems of his administration over to his successors.
“Mr. President, I don’t want to give credence to those Obama administration accusations that Republicans are all ‘doom and gloom.’
“As I said above, I believe that the strength and spirit of the American people mean that the future in America is always bright.
“But realizing that future requires understanding and developing solutions to the problems facing our nation, and that’s something the president is unwilling to do.
“Mr. President, Republicans have worked hard over the past year to make our economy stronger, our government more efficient and accountable, and our nation and our world safer and more secure.
“But there’s a lot more work to be done.
“And we need a partner in the White House who’s willing to meet us halfway.
“We hope the president will use this last year of his presidency to work with us as we seek to address the challenges facing the American people.”
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It is good to see Republicans finally recognizing the brilliance of former President Jimmy Carter. Often Carter is portrayed as the presidency of hostages, high interest rates, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
However, few come to his defense in recognizing the hostage situation in the context of the then recent post Vietnam attitude in our country and the realities of the time with the Cold War. Not to mention, the high interests rates under Carter were a Carter/Volker policy, which eventually brought equilibrium back to the economy in order for the recovery from 1983 to 1987 to happen, until it was brought down by over speculation and a lack of regulation under the Reagan era. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan spoke not of Americas weakness at the time, rather it spoke of the the unraveling of the Soviet Union at the time in hindsight – a Soviet unraveling which was soon to be match by the era of confusion and interregnum leadership in the old Soviet Union, which thankfully and eventually culminated in the rise of Gorbachev and his policies of Perestroika and Glasnost; which in turn, lead to the peaceful ending of the Cold War and the Soviet Union.
But it is not all retrospective thoughts which legitimatize the Carter presidency. Carter was also the president who successfully negotiated the only lasting Middle East peace deal with the Camp David Accords. And the often not mentioned Human Rights agenda under the Carter presidency led to the collapse of many dictatorships throughout South America, resulting in a more democratic reality in those countries today. (Although, many American banks initially suffered from this human rights agenda given their heavy leveraged relationships with those South American countries, like Citibank. But thankfully, states like South Dakota came a long to change their usury laws so banks like Citibank could rebound with massive profits from high interest credit cards and adjoined fees.)
So you are right Senator Thune to quote Carter, because he is credible, but for a Republican to quote Carter shows in a partisan political sense more the sign of desperation or a bottom of the barrel reality than any credible attempt to make a point against the Obama Presidency. Because generally, Carter is not credible to Republicans and those who follow the GOP mantra.
Winston,
President Carter’s statement was an objective statement (“I can’t think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship now than we did when he took over.”)
With a truly objective statement, the person making the statement is mostly irrelevant. Address the substance: Can you think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship than when we did before Obama became President? Does that list exceed the list of those where it has gone backward?
So Thune’s relevant speech is irrelevant too? If a person is not credible, then I tend to not quote him. Troy, I see you as a credible and knowledgable conservative. If you said something I liked politically and I thought I could use to my benefit then I would quote you, but if you were not credible I would stay miles away from you.
So in other words, Carter is not credible, but his objective statement is? Does not Carter’s involvement in the question taint the credibility of the question if Carter is attached to it?
In Thune’s speech, the Senator is trying “to have his cake and eat too,” when it comes to Carter.
As far as your question which is tangent to the point I have made, at best. Yes, with the entire world, because we are the only super power in the world which gives us a built in presence and acceptance and we no longer invade under false premises and hopefully we no longer water board.
After “Dubya” how could anyone make that claim? Heck, Obama got a Nobel Peace Prize for an attitude change in American foreign policy under his leadership…… Even if the claim comes from one some of us might admire more than others do…. No one is always right….
Even the Nobel Prize Committee has regrets that it gave Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. They gave it to him because they thought it would strengthen him politically, which did not happen. But it is supposed to be awarded to someone fordoing the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses. Obama hadn’t even been in office for a year at that time to earn it for any of those reasons.
According to http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009, the prize was given to Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. Wow! I would like to know how he has strengthened domestic or international diplomacy and cooperation between anyone in the world or here at home. He is truly the divider in chief, not a peacemaker.
Oh, I would say pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan for the most part is the work of a peacemaker.
However, the Bush Doctrine is the doctrine which keeps on giving. It has created a political power vacuum in the Middle East which Obama and all future American presidents will have to deal with…. It is this new evident reality, the vacuum that is, that ties America’s hands in many ways. Either we continue the continual war or we leave the Middle East to others.
The real problem is not Isis, Syria, Iran, or even Putin. The problem is the political vacuum that exists there and no one on either side of the aisle is talking about this reality because no one has an answer to it. It’s a political “blackhole” which will either continue to kill our soldiers or destroy our preeminent place on the world stage do to inactivity or involvement…. It’s not “Thanks Obama,” rather it’s “Thanks ‘Dubya'”…..
Pulling out too soon and against the advice of the people who understand military actions and ramifications does not a peacemaker make. Obama is a weakling and the world knows it; just look at Iran’s latest kidnapping of our sailors. They are just spitting in our face because they know they can get away with it.
If Canadian soldiers ended up within our domestic waters we would take custody of them, too. An Iranian spokesman has already claimed that they will be released.
As far as for “pulling out too soon,” I guess I can put you down for the continual war versus inactivity, right?
“One more for the continual war, Next!”
Last I heard, the war hasn’t ended. Of course, even though we lose soldiers there presently, Obama will not admit they were killed in combat. He and you apparently share the same dreamland.
Thanks for proving my point on the continual war…..
‘Even the Nobel Prize Committee has regrets that it gave Obama the Nobel Peace Prize. They gave it to him because they thought it would strengthen him politically, which did not happen.’
How do you know this? Are you a member of the Nobel Prize committee? Curious, springer, do you come from a family ‘with a long line of military service’?
How many Americans were killed weekly in Bushes wars when Obama was elected? How was the economy?
“(“I can’t think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship now than we did when he took over.”)- and the countries we have a strained relationship with hasn’t changed in decades…………so what?
Hey John tell me about the trillion dollar loan voted on by congress.Remember that one.Whoops got to go to basketball game.
Winston,
One can have the opinion Carter was wholly a failed President, not very intelligent, and morally corrupt yet find a statement credible (I do not hold the latter to positions). The dismissal of a statement (especially what is at least on the surface objective) because of one’s opinion of the person is a classic adhominem attack (logic fallacy).
But the “adhominem attack (logic fallacy)” comes from the two worlds the GOP wants to live in from the standpoint of Carters credibility and/or Obama’s foreign policy.
If Palin said something I agreed with, I would never never quote her….. Even if it was an “objective” comment.
–If Palin said something I agreed with, I would never never quote her….. Even if it was an “objective” comment.
Most Americans have the same sentiments when it comes to whatever Obama says. While it may be “objective”, the author/speaker is of such low moral, legal, and cultural regard that it just kills the credibility.
Reps. have their “Palin” problem; Dems have their joke whose punch line is “Obama” . The later of course is truly dangerous to the US and the world..
First of all, thanks for backing my initial point in your first two paragraphs. As far as Obama is concern, you definitely have the right to your own opinions on him, but I strongly disagree…. But I guess it is far to say that you and many other Republicans won’t be quoting President Obama any time soon or ever, right?