On Capitol Hill this year, one of President Obama's most troublesome critics has been Senator Obama.
President Obama, for instance, wants Congress to raise the national debt limit. But his opponents have brought up a statement that then-Sen. Barack Obama made in 2006: The first-term Democrat representing Illinois said that merely debating a debt-limit increase was "a sign of leadership failure."
"Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that the buck stops here," Obama said then. "Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. . . . I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit." But it was politically expedient, then.
In April, Obama told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that his vote against raising the debt ceiling had been a mistake. He appealed to the current Congress to vote yes, saying that Sen. Obama was a bad example to follow.
President Obama now insists that he had the right to dispatch U.S. forces to the conflict in Libya without authorization from Congress.
"The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation," Obama said four years ago.
"Senator Barack Obama would be among the Obama administration's fiercest critics," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker Boehner. "In 2007, he urged Congress to stand up to the White House, but now . . . he's hiding behind the claim that there's nothing hostile about bombs, missile strikes and Predator drones." Didn't we used to have an Irony Meter here? In the shop again?
Asked about the apparent contradictions last week, a White House spokesman said that "the president has already explained his position on each of these issues, and we will let those responses speak for themselves." We already answered that question. Next!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/26/2011 12:47 ||
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With trips that began two months after he took office, President Obama has devoted more than half of his out-of-town private-business visits to promoting a single industry: clean technology, which the president says will lead the nation back to economic prosperity. So what's standing in the way, Mr. President?
In all, Obama has visited 22 clean-tech projects on 19 separate trips, all emphasizing economic recovery and a $90 billion stimulus program to promote energy independence. Fracking? Did those frackers contribute?
Obama's unwavering focus has helped him fulfill a campaign pledge to push clean tech, from solar energy and wind power to electric vehicles. But by emphasizing a sector in which the risks are high, the president has prompted questions on Capitol Hill and from industry about the wisdom of his singular strategy and his political ties to some of the companies chosen for federal attention. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
The most attention has focused on Solyndra, a Silicon Valley solar company that ran into financial trouble after receiving a $535 million federal loan guarantee commitment. Last week, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee pressed the OMB to account for its role in the selection. Obama visited Solyndra's factory in May 2010, only weeks after it became public that independent auditors had questioned whether it could remain a "going concern."
Better take a seat and swallow the beverage in your mouth...
Some of the biggest investors in Solyndra, which makes easy-to-install solar panels, were venture capital funds associated with Tulsa billionaire George Kaiser, a key Obama fundraiser.
There was intense competition for clean-tech stimulus dollars. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said his agency reviewed 50,000 applicants and chose 5,000, a 90 percent rejection rate. So any links to contributions are merely coincidental!
A White House spokesman said these connections were purely coincidental. Numerous factors -- including location, accessibility to airports and media accommodations -- help decide where Obama will travel, the spokesman said. See? Coincidental! Oh, wait. He said "trips". The Prez has only visited half of those who got the boodle. What about the selections?
Some of Obama's factory appearances have had a distinctly political feel. The trips have taken him to states where he did well in 2008 and where his message of a rebounding job market is helping set the stage for his reelection campaign.
Contrary to the GAO report, the department met every requirement for the Solyndra transaction," an Energy Department spokesperson said, adding that all reviews were completed before any taxpayer money was obligated. However..
Solyndra announced in November that it would close its older factory and reduce its workforce by 127 people. Plant expansion plans were put on hold.
This year, the Energy Department's inspector general criticized the agency for learning from ClimateGate by not maintaining e-mails discussing selections of loan-guarantee winners, and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, led by Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), began investigating Solyndra's selection. At a hearing last week, Republicans criticized the Office of Management and Budget for not answering questions and suggested that they may resort to subpoenas.
In July, Obama lauded its technology in a Kansas City speech, and days later, Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis showed up at Celgard to signal more good news: Since Obama's visit, the company had added 40 workers. Amid this flurry of White House interest, some competitors questioned why Celgard warranted so much attention. Somebody has to get the attention. If you can't reward your friends, what good is a free and transparent society?
"Generally, we're concerned with what kind of due diligence the administration did before throwing out that kind of money and attention," said Bryan Godber, vice president of Trojan Battery, which faced the prospect of higher prices for Polypore products. "They are giving some companies massive advantages over others."
During the official visits, federal regulators were pursuing a case against Celgard's parent company, Polypore. Obama's visit came a month after an administrative judge agreed that Polypore's purchase created an illegal monopoly and that it must sell the competitor. The case is under appeal.
However...
Polypore has seen its stock rise more than tenfold during Obama's tenure -- from $4.15 a share in November 2008 to more than $64 a share in May 2011 -- largely because of the booming market for electric vehicles. Private-equity firm Warburg Pincus has seen its original $300 million investment more than triple in value and recently has been locking in gains with stock sales. (More than $253,000 was raised for Obama in 2008 from Warburg employees and their families, campaign finance records show.)
Obama came to the plant this January, the day after a State of the Union address in which he declared that the nation faces a "Sputnik moment" in its quest for innovation. Orion, a publicly traded company, counts among its largest institutional investors a firm run by John Rogers Jr., a longtime friend and Obama fundraiser. A spokesman for the fund said Rogers played no role in the Obama visit.
Some of Orion's competitors said they could only wish for such a moment of glory. Mark Eubanks, president of Cooper Lighting in Atlanta, estimated that his company sells six times more energy-efficient lighting than Orion, but it is based in a Republican stronghold.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/26/2011 12:17 ||
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#1
If you can't reward your friends, what good is a free and transparent society?
LOLA!
BTW, someone holler if they can find me a nice 3 day a week green job job job job job job job*, I tire of my brown job and I want to hep society, wether they want it or not.
* $26/hr since my hours will be cut for the good of society, also should have exempty health-care plan, walking distance, good companionships and no damn hippies. Must be pet friendly and all smoking
Posted by: S ||
06/26/2011 16:58 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
"Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that the buck stops here," Obama said then. "Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. . . . I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit."
Obama came to the plant this January, the day after a State of the Union address in which he declared that the nation faces a "Sputnik moment" in its quest for innovation. Orion, a publicly traded company, counts among its largest institutional investors a firm run by John Rogers Jr., a longtime friend and Obama fundraiser. A spokesman for the fund said Rogers played no role in the Obama visit.
