Donald Trump thanked former President Barack Obama in a condescending fashion for leaving so many judicial posts and asked, “Why the hell did he leave that?” The former reality show star seems totally unaware that his party blocked confirmations during the Obama administration. Continue reading “Donald Trump gets schooled fast for asking why Obama left so many judicial vacancies (VIDEO)”
Tag: Obama
Obama to speak out if Trump ends DACA
Former President Barack Obama is said to be considering speaking out against Donald Trump’s alleged plan to scrap the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). The president will reportedly announce on Tuesday a plan to end the Obama-era program within the next six months, a move those close to Obama say the former president will… Continue reading “Obama to speak out if Trump ends DACA”
The grand bargain
President Obama’s decision to join Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Elizabeth Warren in calling for expansion of Social Security is a big win for the left wing of the Democratic Party. Liberal Democrats and their allies in the labor union movement put this idea on the table several years ago to try to kill off enthusiasm from centrist Democrats for reducing Social Security benefits. Their strategy worked.
But in addition to a tactical win for the left, Obama’s turnabout on Social Security is the result of a cycle of tactical ineptitude on the part of the American conservative movement.
Five years ago, conservatives had the opportunity to get a Democratic president to sign legislation that would have substantially cut entitlement spending. In exchange, they were asked to agree that high-income Americans should pay higher taxes. They refused, thinking in part that preventing Obama from scoring a bipartisan achievement would make him easier to beat in 2012.
Obama was reelected anyway. Taxes on high-income households went up anyway. And now the politics of entitlement spending have shifted drastically to the left. The Republican Party’s 2016 nominee says he opposes cuts in Social Security benefits, and mainstream Democrats have flipped away from Obama’s openness to cuts to the position that benefits should be enhanced.
‘Balanced’ reporting? That’ll be the day
Paul Krugman uses facts to skewer the myth of balanced reporting every chance he gets, but do you think NYT’s reporters and editors — even though the facts are available — will ever run a story headlined “Romney campaign based on falsehoods”? More here.
‘Australia’ (Happy Boxing Day)
We’ll surf like they do in the USA
We’ll fly down to Sydney for a holiday
On sunny Christmas Day…
In other eras there were dream destinations for young people with no money or job prospects. Where do they go now? California? Florida? Hoho. More here.
Talking with voters, walking with CEOs
What will it mean to American voters that Barack Obama has signed into law three trade deals that will destroy up to 159,000 American jobs at approximately the same time he promised to get serious about job creation at home? More here.
Obama’s latest victim — the EPA
The treachery continues, but it’s hard to imagine what the endgame is. The smog decision is a new low…