10/17/09 President Barack Obama Weekly Radio Address

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17TH, 2009 AT 12:01 AM
Weekly Address: Taking the Insurance Companies on Down the Stretch
Posted by Jesse Lee
As the health insurance reform debate enters into its final stages in Congress, the President denounces the desperate and deceptive last-ditch efforts of the health insurance companies to derail it.

read the transcript

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

________________________________________________
For Immediate Release            October 17, 2009

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Calls Hails Progress on Health Insurance Reform Despite Defenders of the Status Quo

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama praised the progress that has been made on health insurance reform, and spoke out against those who defend the status quo in order to score political points and protect their profits.  With reform the closest it has ever been to becoming law, the insurance companies are rolling out deceptive ads, paying for misleading studies, and flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists.  Now, Washington needs to serve the American people, not the special interests.

  October 17, 2009 , 10:44 am

The Saturday Word: Health Care Battles

By Janie Lorber

"President Obama defended his health care overhaul against the health insurers with renewed gusto Saturday morning after a week in which insurance companies circulated reports and ran advertisements deeply critical of his plans.

“They’re filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads. They’re flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists and campaign contributions. And they’re funding studies designed to mislead the American people,” Mr. Obama said adding firepower to Congressional Democrats’ already hostile responses. “It’s smoke and mirrors. It’s bogus. And it’s all too familiar. Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, “Take one of these, and call us in a decade.”

"His comments were the latest sign that the relationship between insurance companies and the administration has deteriorated after months of cooperation.

"On Friday the White House backed away from restrictions laid in September that prohibited insurance companies from warning Medicare recipients of potential cuts to their program in the health care overhaul. The administration also cited one company in particular, Humana, for violating Medicare rules, saying the company had misled its beneficiaries to derail the plan."

Obama Chastises "Dishonest" Health Insurers

By REUTERS

Published: October 17, 2009

 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "U.S. President Barack Obama lashed out on Saturday against the "deceptive and dishonest" efforts of health insurance companies, who he said are trying to kill healthcare reform, no matter the cost to the country.

The Democratic president's push to overhaul the $2.5 trillion (1.528 trillion pound) U.S. healthcare industry, his top domestic policy priority, received a big boost this week when the Senate Finance Committee approved its version of a reform measure with the support of Republican Senator Olympia Snowe.

"Many experts expect some version of a healthcare bill will pass this year, but there are still major disagreements on details including whether the measure will include a government-run insurance program, the "public option."

"For the first time ever, all five committees in Congress responsible for health reform have passed a version of legislation," Obama said in his weekly radio address. "As I speak to you today, we are closer to reforming the health care system than we have ever been in history."

"However, he acknowledged the overhaul still must clear significant hurdles before becoming law. "And there are still those who would try to kill reform at any cost," he said.

"The history is clear: for decades rising health care costs have unleashed havoc on families, businesses and the economy. And for decades, whenever we have tried to reform the system, the insurance companies have done everything in their considerable power to stop us."

BATTLE LEAPED IN INTENSITY THIS WEEK

"The battle over reform between angry Democrats and health insurers leaped in intensity when the industry trade group America's Health Insurance Plans issued a report on Monday, on the eve of the finance committee's vote, saying Senate healthcare legislation would lead to increases in annual insurance premiums of as much as $4,000 by 2019.

"Democrats denied the findings, citing a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that said the Finance Committee bill would make health coverage affordable to millions of Americans who do not have it and slow the growth of healthcare costs.

"In fact, the insurance industry is rolling out the big guns and breaking open their massive war chest -- to marshal their forces for one last fight to save the status quo," Obama said.

"They're filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads. They're flooding Capitol Hill with lobbyists and campaign contributions. And they're funding studies designed to mislead the American people," he said.

Democratic leaders in Congress began work this week on merging the various committees' proposals on healthcare while keeping party liberals and moderates -- and Snowe -- happy.

"Senate Republicans demanded Democrats allow more time to debate the details of the sweeping plan. Obama has set the end of the year as his goal for passing a measure that would begin to slow increases in healthcare costs, regulate the insurance market and expand health coverage without increasing the federal budget deficit.

"Health insurers' shares dropped this week after news of the finance committee's vote.

"Obama vowed an overhaul will go through.

"Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, 'Take one of these, and call us in a decade.' Well, not this time," Obama said.

(Editing by Todd Eastham)

Obama Praises Senate Committee's Health Care Vote

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 

Published: October 17, 2009 

 

 

 WASHINGTON (AP) -- "Pushing back against his critics, President Barack Obama says overhauling the health care system, while helping millions of people, also will test whether policy makers can ''serve the national interest despite the unrelenting efforts of the special interests.''

"The administration is trying to build momentum for the president's overhaul effort after the Senate Finance Committee voted 14-9 this week for a bill that would extend health care coverage to millions of people. One Republican, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, supported the bill, and the measure faces considerable opposition from the health care industry, labor unions and large business organizations.

''The history is clear: For decades rising health care costs have unleashed havoc on families, businesses and the economy,'' the president said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. ''And for decades, whenever we have tried to reform the system, the insurance companies have done everything in their considerable power to stop us.''

"The health insurance industry released a study earlier this week concluding that the Finance Committee bill -- one of five competing House and Senate health care measures -- would raise premiums significantly for millions of people who already have health coverage.

"The report drew intense criticism from the White House, congressional Democrats and other advocates of the bill who deemed the study a last-ditch effort to sway public opinion against the measure.

"Obama said he would not abide ''those who would bend the truth or break it to score political points and stop our progress as a country.'' He accused the industry of ''filling the airwaves with deceptive and dishonest ads,'' sending money and lobbyists to Capitol Hill and paying for studies ''designed to mislead the American people.''

"The insurance industry responded Saturday, saying it supports a comprehensive, bipartisan overhaul of the system but that separate studies recently found that some of the existing proposals will increase significantly health care costs for families and employers.

''Reform needs to work and deliver on the promise made to the American people that everyone will have quality, affordable coverage,'' Karen Ignagni, president of the industry group America's Health Insurance Plans, said in a statement.

"The bills moving through Congress generally would require most Americans to buy insurance, provide federal subsidies to help lower-income people afford coverage and help small businesses defray the cost of extending coverage to their workers.

"The measures would bar insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions and limit their ability to charge higher premiums based on age or family size. Expanded coverage would be paid for by cutting hundreds of billions of dollars from future Medicare payments to health care providers. Higher taxes also are included in the bills.

"Republican opponents say the bills will increase costs for patients, further job losses and give the government more of a say in who gets medical care, and what kind.

''Americans inherently know government interference drives costs up, not down,'' Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said in the GOP's weekly message. ''The massive health care plans being crafted behind closed doors in Washington will ultimately allow the government to decide what doctors we can see, what treatments the government thinks you deserve and what medicines you can receive.''

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                          White House Photo, Pete Souza_10-17-09

10/03/09 President Barack Obama Weekly Radio Address

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release October 3, 2009

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Explains

How Health Insurance Reform Will Strengthen America’s Small Businesses

WASHINGTON – "In this week’s address, President Barack Obama spoke of how the rising costs of health care are stifling America’s small businesses, and how reform will strengthen these businesses and the economy. Small businesses create roughly half of all new jobs, but they also pay up to 18 percent more for the very same insurance plans as larger businesses. Too many have been forced to cut benefits, drop coverage, shed jobs, or shut their doors entirely. Health insurance reform is integral to laying a new foundation for our economy so that small businesses can grow and create new jobs."

read the transcript

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3RD, 2009 AT 12:00 AM
Weekly Address: Health Reform Urgent for the Economy
Posted by Jesse Lee

"The President discusses ongoing efforts to spur job creation. He also explains why health insurance reform is needed not just for long-term economic stability, but in the immediate future, discussing statistics on how costs will continue to skyrocket and hurt small businesses even next year."

President Obama shown waiting to give his 10/03/09 Weekly Radio Address

White House Photo, Samantha Appleton

All material used in this post provided by The White House 

09/26/09 President Barack Obama Weekly Radio Address

 Recorded on his way back from the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, the President discusses how engagement produced tangible results in several areas.

 read the transcript

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH, 2009 AT 12:30 AM
Weekly Address: Progress with the G-20 in Pittsburgh

Posted by Jesse Lee
"Recorded literally on his way back from the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, the President uses his Weekly Address to recap the progress made during the intensive discussions with world leaders. From an historic agreement to reform the global financial system, to groundbreaking commitments on reducing subsidies to fossil fuels worldwide, to unity in standing against threats to world peace -- engagement produced tangible results in several areas."

President Obama also addressed the reduction of nuclear weapons: "The United States is meeting our responsibilities by pursuing an agreement with Russia to reduce our strategic warheads and launchers. And just as we meet our responsibilities, so must other nations, including Iran and North Korea.

"Earlier this year, we imposed tough, new, sanctions on North Korea to stop their efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. And we will continue to stand with our allies and partners to press North Korea to move in a new direction.

"This week, we joined with the United Kingdom and France in presenting evidence that Iran has been building a secret nuclear facility to enrich uranium. This is a serious challenge to the global nonproliferation regime, and continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion. That is why international negotiations with Iran scheduled for October 1st now take on added urgency.

"My offer of a serious, meaningful dialogue to resolve this issue remains open. But Iran must now cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and take action to demonstrate its peaceful intentions.

"On this, the international community is more united than ever before. Yesterday, I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our European allies in condemning Iran’s program. In our meetings and public statements, President Medvedev of Russia and I agreed that Iran must pursue a new course or face consequences. All of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and Germany, have made it clear that Iran must fulfill its responsibilities.

"Iran’s leaders must now choose – they can live up to their responsibilities and achieve integration with the community of nations. Or they will face increased pressure and isolation, and deny opportunity to their own people.

"These are the urgent threats of our time. And the United States is committed to a new chapter of international cooperation to meet them. This new chapter will not be written in one week or even one year. But we have begun. And for the American people and the people of the world, it will mean greater security and prosperity for years to come."


The Associated Press reported that: "The White House responded to the development by urging Iran's complete and immediate cooperation with the IAEA. ''After hiding this site from the international community for years, full transparency is essential, and it is time for Iran to play by the rules like everyone else,'' White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

Obama said in his address that evidence of Iran's building the underground plant ''continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion'' that jeopardizes global nonproliferation.

"Ahead of Thursday's international talks with Iran in Geneva, Obama said the world ''is more united than ever before'' on this issue. Those negotiations, he said, ''now take on added urgency.''

Iran's failure to comply with international inspectors raised the potential of tougher economic penalties, although Obama and administration officials did not rule out military action.

''My offer of a serious, meaningful dialogue to resolve this issue remains open,'' Obama said, urging Tehran to ''take action to demonstrate its peaceful intentions.''

"Evidence of the clandestine facility was presented Friday by Obama and the leaders of Britain and France at the G-20 economic summit in Pittsburgh. The news overshadowed developments on regulating financial markets and reducing fossil fuel subsidies.

"Soon after, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, at his own news conference, urged Iran to cooperate, as did Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei. He, however, did not endorse penalties against Tehran.

"At a news conference in New York, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country had done nothing wrong and Obama would regret his actions.

''What we did was completely legal, according to the law. We have informed the agency, the agency will come and take a look and produce a report and it's nothing new,'' he said.

"Ahmadinejad said the plant -- which Iranian officials say was reported to nuclear authorities as required -- wouldn't be operational for 18 months. But he sidestepped a question about whether Iran had sufficient uranium to manufacture a nuclear weapon."

President Barack Obama Makes His First Address to the United Nations General Assembly

In his first address to the UN General Assembly, the President denounces reflexive anti-Americanism and calls on the world's leaders to recognize the common challenges we face.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2009 AT 1:23 PM
"Real Change is Possible"
Posted by Jesse Lee

"In this morning's speech to the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama covered a range of topics—all under the umbrella of his desire for leaders to recognize the "common future" of a world in which "the interests of peoples and nations are shared."

(President Barack Obama addresses the General Assembly of the UN in New York, Wednesday,
September 23, 2009.   Official White House photo by Samantha Appleton.)

"He took the opportunity to reflect upon his first nine months in office, highlighting his administration's priorities and looking forward to challenges ahead:

"On my first day in office, I prohibited -- without exception or equivocation -- the use of torture by the United States of America.  (Applause.)  I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed, and we are doing the hard work of forging a framework to combat extremism within the rule of law.  Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example.

"We have set a clear and focused goal:  to work with all members of this body to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies -- a network that has killed thousands of people of many faiths and nations, and that plotted to blow up this very building.  In Afghanistan and Pakistan, we and many nations here are helping these governments develop the capacity to take the lead in this effort, while working to advance opportunity and security for their people.

"In Iraq, we are responsibly ending a war.  We have removed American combat brigades from Iraqi cities, and set a deadline of next August to remove all our combat brigades from Iraqi territory.  And I have made clear that we will help Iraqis transition to full responsibility for their future, and keep our commitment to remove all American troops by the end of 2011.

"I have outlined a comprehensive agenda to seek the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.  In Moscow, the United States and Russia announced that we would pursue substantial reductions in our strategic warheads and launchers.  At the Conference on Disarmament, we agreed on a work plan to negotiate an end to the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons.  And this week, my Secretary of State will become the first senior American representative to the annual Members Conference of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

"Upon taking office, I appointed a Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, and America has worked steadily and aggressively to advance the cause of two states -- Israel and Palestine -- in which peace and security take root, and the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians are respected.

"To confront climate change, we have invested $80 billion in clean energy.  We have substantially increased our fuel-efficiency standards.  We have provided new incentives for conservation, launched an energy partnership across the Americas, and moved from a bystander to a leader in international climate negotiations.
To overcome an economic crisis that touches every corner of the world, we worked with the G20 nations to forge a coordinated international response of over $2 trillion in stimulus to bring the global economy back from the brink.  We mobilized resources that helped prevent the crisis from spreading further to developing countries.  And we joined with others to launch a $20 billion global food security initiative that will lend a hand to those who need it most, and help them build their own capacity.

"We've also re-engaged the United Nations.  We have paid our bills.  We have joined the Human Rights Council.  (Applause.)  We have signed the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  We have fully embraced the Millennium Development Goals.  And we address our priorities here, in this institution  -- for instance, through the Security Council meeting that I will chair tomorrow on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and through the issues that I will discuss today.

"This is what we have already done.  But this is just a beginning.  Some of our actions have yielded progress.  Some have laid the groundwork for progress in the future.  But make no mistake:  This cannot solely be America's endeavor.  Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone.  We have sought -- in word and deed -- a new era of engagement with the world.  And now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.

"The President also outlined the "Four Pillars" he believes are "fundamental to the future that we want for our children": "non-proliferation and disarmament; the promotion of peace and security; the preservation of our planet; and a global economy that advances opportunity for all people." 

(President Barack Obama addresses the General Assembly of the UN in New York, Wednesday,
September 23, 2009.   Official White House photo by Samantha Appleton.)

"In closing, the President offered a fresh take on the crucial choice that faces the international body:

"In short, the United Nations can be an institution that is disconnected from what matters in the lives of our citizens, or it can be an indispensable factor in advancing the interests of the people we serve.

"We have reached a pivotal moment.  The United States stands ready to begin a new chapter of international cooperation -- one that recognizes the rights and responsibilities of all nations.  And so, with confidence in our cause, and with a commitment to our values, we call on all nations to join us in building the future that our people so richly deserve." 

All text and photos provided by the White House

09/19/09 President Barack Obama Weekly Radio Address

read the transcript


SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2009 AT 12:01 AM
Weekly Address: Progress in the Global Economy
Posted by Jesse Lee
With the next G20 Summit approaching in Pittsburgh, the President goes over the progress in stemming a global economic crisis. He discusses the impact of the Recovery Act, and pledges that "lobbyists for big Wall Street banks" will not prevent real reform for the future, including a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Courtesy The White House-THE BRIEFING ROOM • THE BLOG

Obama Lays Out G-20 Economic Goal

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 19, 2009

Filed at 7:22 a.m. ET  

WASHINGTON (AP) -- "President Barack Obama says the world's leading economic powers have made progress in stabilizing the global financial system but much work remains to produce needed jobs and growth.

"'The good news is that we've made real progress since last time we met -- here at home and around the world,'' Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. The G-20 summit in Pittsburgh next week comes five months after the group of 20 nations with the world's leading and emerging economies met in London.

"Obama said it will offer a good chance for a ''checkup to review the steps each nation has taken -- separately and together -- to break the back of this economic crisis.'' He recalled that the April meeting came at the height of the crisis.

"Obama noted several steps have been taken to spur the U.S. economy, pointing to the stimulus package, efforts to unlock frozen credit markets and free more loans for people investing in homes, cars, education or financing small businesses. And he said other nations have been challenged to address underlying problems that caused a deep global recession.

"But Obama said his administration knows that ''stopping the bleeding isn't nearly enough. We know we still have a lot to do here at home to build an economy that is producing good jobs for all those who are looking for work today.

''"And we know we still have a lot to do, in conjunction with nations around the world, to strengthen the rules governing financial markets and ensure that we never again find ourselves in the precarious situation we found ourselves in just one year ago.''

"He said it's essential that the U.S. government update the rules governing financial firms and markets.

''"At next week's G-20 summit, we'll discuss some of the steps that are required to safeguard our global financial system and close gaps in regulation around the world -- gaps that permitted the kinds of reckless risk-taking and irresponsibility that led to the crisis,'' he said.

"He said another important step for the U.S. is establishment of a consumer protection agency that would be intended to protect people from signing up for mortgages they can't afford and contracts they can't understand.

"Lobbyists for big financial institutions are working to stop these changes, said Obama, who added that it's critical to follow through on the changes.

''"We cannot let the narrow interests of a few come before the interests of all of us,'' he said. ''We cannot forget how close we came to the brink, and perpetuate the broken system and breakdown of responsibility that made it possible.''" 

President Barack Obama During his Weekly Radio Address of  September 19th 2009: White House Photo, Pete Souza 

09/12/09 President Barack Obama Weekly Radio Address

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2009 AT 2:00 AM
Weekly Address: Losing Insurance Can Happen to Anybody
Posted by Jesse Lee
"The President discusses a staggering new report from the Treasury Department indicating that under the status quo, around half of all Americans under 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next ten years. He pledges not to allow this future to unfold: "In the United States of America, no one should have to worry that they'll go without health care – not for one year, not for one month, not for one day. And once I sign my health reform plan into law – they won't."

09/05/09 President Barack Obama Weekly Radio Address

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2009 AT 12:01 AM
Weekly Address: Labor Day and Fair Rewards for Hard Work
Posted by Jesse Lee
"With Labor Day approaching, the President commits to rebuilding the economy so that a lifetime of hard work leads to a comfortable retirement, and explains his proposal to help to get there."
read the transcript

Obama Outlines Retirement Initiative  
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: September 5, 2009 

WASHINGTON — "President Obama, noting that millions of Americans do not have enough savings to cover their retirement, announced a package of initiatives on Saturday to spur increased savings.

"The administrative actions, which do not require new legislation from Congress, are intended to make it easier and more automatic for people to put money into tax-advantaged retirement accounts.

""The fact is, even before this recession hit, the savings rate was essentially zero, while borrowing had risen and credit card debt had increased," Mr. Obama said in his weekly radio address. "Half of America's work force doesn't have access to a retirement plan at work. And fewer than 10 percent of those without workplace retirement plans have one of their own."

"Mr. Obama outlined four new initiatives, all of which are based on new behavioral research on ways to encourage people to save in a systematic way.

"One key finding in that research is that people are more likely to contribute to a retirement savings account, like an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, if they are enrolled automatically. Workers have usually had to sign up for the plan, something that large percentages of people either postponed or never did at all.

"Under automatic enrollment plans, employees are automatically signed up unless they explicitly ask not to participate.

"Many large and medium-size companies have already adopted automatic enrollment plans, but White House officials said the new initiative was aimed at very small firms that often use a simpler system called the "simple I.R.A."

"Under the new initiative, the Labor Department will publish new guidance for small businesses on how to use automatic enrollment for the simplified plans. It will also encourage employers to institute an automatic "step up," which increases a person's saving rate each year or with each raise.

"In a second move, Mr. Obama said the Internal Revenue Service would allow people to check a box on their tax returns and receive their tax refunds in the form of United States savings bonds. White House officials said there are about 100 million tax refunds each year, and the average is about $2,000.

"In a third change, the government will make it easier for employees to contribute the money for unused vacation time and overtime to their retirement accounts. At the moment, most employers simply cash out the extra time and give the money to their workers.

"Mr. Obama said the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service were also publishing an easy-to-read guide to help people understand the arcane rules governing retirement plans when people change jobs.

"White House officials said the new initiatives would go into effect immediately and come on top of two related proposals that Mr. Obama sent to Congress as part of his budget.

"One would compel all but the smallest employers to offer retirement savings plans, and the other would expand the saver's tax credit, which matches a family's savings up to $1,000 a year."

Reprinted from September 5, 2009 edition of The New York Times

The Bizarre Things Cons Will Say to Celebrate the Protection of the Status Quo

 

Sherman, aka David Brooks, under Dr. Peabody's directions, attempts to engage the lever that controls the Way Back Machine

It is truly touching and really adds to the feeling of 'we're all in this mess that we Republicans created and now we are ready to move on by blaming our misdeeds on the Democrats and President Obama' speak out for the best interests of the American nation when such noted voices as the ever-resourceful David Brooks make their opinions known.

It is truly heartwarming to read the right wing lackey, David Brooks offer his assessment of President Obama's challenge to keep independent voters in line.But wait a minute; is there an election looming, do the Republicans have any less than daffy solutions to the nation's health care crisis ready to present to the nation and become legislation that creates a groundswell of public support and bi-partisan backing that it would need to become law?

No.

Brooks is such a mastermind of cogent political analysis. He has easily figured out the reason for Obama's "failure of leadership.' It is simply the dead weight that Obama must carry around his skinny neck that goes by the distinction of being the "liberal leadership in Congress." However inappropriate and untrustworthy the liberals might seem, Brooks points out that they are even worse. You see, it is according to Brooks extensive use of referencing his opinions with examples of a Congress out of control and in the throes of existing only for the benefits of staying in power and filling their legislative bills with layers of pork barrel spending; all the while, the president has been consumed by his own demons; his blind devotion to increasing spending and consolidating power in the hands of the chief executive.

But just wait a plutocratic and evangelical moment here!. Mr. Brooks has done too good of a job in his research. In fact he has acted in such a blatantly heavy-handed manner that he has pushed too had on the lever that controls the Way Back Machine and has actually landed several years earlier, right in the midst of the post-1992 presidential era of George Bush!

I am shocked and dismayed that Mr. Brooks has made such a careless mstake without even realizing it!

It seems Brooks is oblivious, either intentionally or by some cosmic misdirection of time when he disregards his error and gleefully proceeds by diminishing President Obama's popular appeal, getting it confused with the public support of  the half-wit who got us into the pickle jar that Obama and the Democrats are now trying to extricate themselves from without destroying the nation.because of the mind-boggling series of blunders perpetrated by Mr. Obama's predecessor - some sort of a Marlboro Man reject who never quite grasped the significance that he was the president of the United States for eight years.

Nevertheless, in Brooks impeccable approach to providing political commentary he stabs deeply into the flesh of Obama like some modern day Brutus thrusting his sharp and pointy knife of contempt for Obama's brave attempt to right the ship of state that had been left to drift along on the uncertain currents of the last eight years.

Proud of his "reasoned" analysis, Brooks unleashes the equivalent of his Shiva, destroyer of political interventions: "Anxiety is now pervasive. Trust in government rose when Obama took office. It has fallen back to historic lows. Fifty-nine percent of Americans now think the country is headed in the wrong direction."

Brooks continues his outright assault by gleefully adding: "The public's view of Congress, which ticked upward for a time, has plummeted. Charlie Cook, who knows as much about Congressional elections as anyone in the country, wrote recently that Democratic fortunes have "slipped completely out of control." He and the experts he surveyed believe there is just as much chance that the Democrats could lose more than 20 House seats in the next elections as less than 20.

"There are also warning signs in the Senate," opines Brooks. "A recent poll shows Harry Reid, the majority leader, trailing the Republican Danny Tarkanian, a possible 2010 opponent, by 49 percent to 38 percent." Brooks is only too happy to add his glum assessment: "When your majority leader is down to a 38 percent base in his home state, that's not good."

Brooks pounds away, stressing that: "The public has soured on Obama's policy proposals. Voters often have only a fuzzy sense of what each individual proposal actually does, but more and more have a growing conviction that if the president is proposing it, it must involve big spending, big government and a fundamental departure from the traditional American approach."

Brooks is gushing with a litany of vindictive, 'I told you so's! In his most absent- minded Maoist proclamation, he chortles of  a triumphant moment for Republican ideals; that given enough rope, Obama and the Democrats have hung themselves from the rafters of big government they have created and now flail about kicking into the empty air about them as their 'socialist'  populism draws down on them and tightens the noose about their neck and takes the breath out of all that phony Obama optimism.of just a few short months ago.

Overtaken by his overblown assessment of Obama's inevitable demise Brooks turns to some highly questionable analysis: "Driven by this general anxiety, and by specific concerns, public opposition to health care reform is now steady and stable. Independents once solidly supported reform. Now they have swung against it. As the veteran ( and highly partisan Republican operative who poses as a legitimate student of public opinion, the so-called) pollster Bill McInturff (who) has pointed out, public attitudes toward Obamacare exactly match public attitudes toward Clintoncare when that reform effort collapsed in 1994."

Hooray, let us all rejoice in the triumph of traditionalist, Republican protected maintenance of the status quo!

Certainly things can only get better if we don't allow them to change!

But if anything one might argue that Brooks represents, he knows how to count votes and he is clearly afaraid that the Democrats might use their significant numbers and simply push through health care without (gasp) consulting with Republican obstructionists. The very idea that the Democrats might yet achieve health care reform based on the rule of their majority smacks of an un-Americanism that every minority Republican fears most.

Brooks warns the Democrats that such a legislative move would be suicidal for the majority party. Just because they have more members on their side of the aisle in the House and Senate does not give Democrats the right to act as a ruling party!

In his own very perverse way; Brooks portrays himself as attempting to save the Democrats from themselves and from their duty as the majority party to engage in legislative efforts to effect political change that benefits all Americans. Brooks answer is for the Democrats to simply do nothing and work to maintain the status quo; something the Republicans have worked tirelessly for decades to succeed at.

Just to lighten the mood of his absorbing and cogent political analysis, Brooks interjects a bit of levity by seemingly warning the Democrats that it would be wrong to increase the public debt. However, Brooks inexplicably fails to mention the Republicans expert ability to turn Clinton's surplus of 1992 into a deficit for no apparent reason other than to accomplish the feat. Now if Brooks had mentioned that sleigh of hand trickery by the Republicans, he might have better succeeded in pulling a real belly whopper but he failed to do so and in turn condemned himself to the realm of political punditry.

Into which he quickly steps to provide this bit of advice: "This is a country that has always been suspicious of centralized government. This is a country that has just lived through an economic trauma caused by excessive spending and debt. Most Americans still admire Obama and want him to succeed. But if he doesn't proceed in a manner consistent with the spirit of the nation and the times, voters will find a way to stop him.

"The president's challenge now is to halt the slide. That doesn't mean giving up his goals. It means he has to align his proposals to the values of the political center: fiscal responsibility, individual choice and decentralized authority.

"Events have pushed Barack Obama off to the left. Time to rebalance."

One has to admire brooks persistence which he maintains to the very end of his commentary; and that is; ignore the squawkers on the left and maintain the status quo as practice by the Republicans when they held the majority and Obama will be able to stay in office for another four years beyond the end of his current term.

And for good measure, Brooks fails to add, Obama should work harder to keep the public from acquiring a complete grasp of reality by terrorizing the population and creating evil doers and a world filled with America haters; oops, there goes that over aggressive hand on the lever that controls the Way Back Machine!

Eulogy for a Lion: Remarks by President Barack Obama on the Late Senator Edward Kennedy

 

 (President Barack Obama attends the funeral mass for Senator Edward Kennedy at the Basilica of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, Massachusetts, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009.
Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

The President's full remarks at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Roxbury, Massachusetts:
 

"THE PRESIDENT:  Your Eminence, Vicki, Kara, Edward, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, members of the Kennedy family, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

     "Today we say goodbye to the youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy.  The world will long remember their son Edward as the heir to a weighty legacy; a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; and the lion of the United States Senate -- a man who graces nearly 1,000 laws, and who penned more than 300 laws himself.

     "But those of us who loved him, and ache with his passing, know Ted Kennedy by the other titles he held:  Father.  Brother.  Husband.  Grandfather.  Uncle Teddy, or as he was often known to his younger nieces and nephews, "The Grand Fromage," or "The Big Cheese."  I, like so many others in the city where he worked for nearly half a century, knew him as a colleague, a mentor, and above all, as a friend.

     "Ted Kennedy was the baby of the family who became its patriarch; the restless dreamer who became its rock.  He was the sunny, joyful child who bore the brunt of his brothers' teasing, but learned quickly how to brush it off.  When they tossed him off a boat because he didn't know what a jib was, six-year-old Teddy got back in and learned to sail.  When a photographer asked the newly elected Bobby to step back at a press conference because he was casting a shadow on his younger brother, Teddy quipped, "It'll be the same in Washington."

     "That spirit of resilience and good humor would see Teddy through more pain and tragedy than most of us will ever know.  He lost two siblings by the age of 16.  He saw two more taken violently from a country that loved them.  He said goodbye to his beloved sister, Eunice, in the final days of his life.  He narrowly survived a plane crash, watched two children struggle with cancer, buried three nephews, and experienced personal failings and setbacks in the most public way possible.

     "It's a string of events that would have broken a lesser man.  And it would have been easy for Ted to let himself become bitter and hardened; to surrender to self-pity and regret; to retreat from public life and live out his years in peaceful quiet.  No one would have blamed him for that.

     "But that was not Ted Kennedy.  As he told us, "…[I]ndividual faults and frailties are no excuse to give in -- and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves."  Indeed, Ted was the "Happy Warrior" that the poet Wordsworth spoke of when he wrote:

     "As tempted more; more able to endure,
     As more exposed to suffering and distress;
     Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.

     "Through his own suffering, Ted Kennedy became more alive to the plight and the suffering of others -- the sick child who could not see a doctor; the young soldier denied her rights because of what she looks like or who she loves or where she comes from.  The landmark laws that he championed -- the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, immigration reform, children's health insurance, the Family and Medical Leave Act -- all have a running thread.  Ted Kennedy's life work was not to champion the causes of those with wealth or power or special connections.  It was to give a voice to those who were not heard; to add a rung to the ladder of opportunity; to make real the dream of our founding.  He was given the gift of time that his brothers were not, and he used that gift to touch as many lives and right as many wrongs as the years would allow.

     "We can still hear his voice bellowing through the Senate chamber, face reddened, fist pounding the podium, a veritable force of nature, in support of health care or workers' rights or civil rights.  And yet, as has been noted, while his causes became deeply personal, his disagreements never did.  While he was seen by his fiercest critics as a partisan lightning rod, that's not the prism through which Ted Kennedy saw the world, nor was it the prism through which his colleagues saw Ted Kennedy.  He was a product of an age when the joy and nobility of politics prevented differences of party and platform and philosophy from becoming barriers to cooperation and mutual respect -- a time when adversaries still saw each other as patriots.

     "And that's how Ted Kennedy became the greatest legislator of our time.  He did it by hewing to principle, yes, but also by seeking compromise and common cause -- not through deal-making and horse-trading alone, but through friendship, and kindness, and humor.  There was the time he courted Orrin Hatch for support of the Children's Health Insurance Program by having his chief of staff serenade the senator with a song Orrin had written himself; the time he delivered shamrock cookies on a china plate to sweeten up a crusty Republican colleague; the famous story of how he won the support of a Texas committee chairman on an immigration bill.  Teddy walked into a meeting with a plain manila envelope, and showed only the chairman that it was filled with the Texan's favorite cigars.  When the negotiations were going well, he would inch the envelope closer to the chairman.  (Laughter.)  When they weren't, he'd pull it back.  (Laughter.)  Before long, the deal was done.  (Laughter.)

     "It was only a few years ago, on St. Patrick's Day, when Teddy buttonholed me on the floor of the Senate for my support of a certain piece of legislation that was coming up for vote.  I gave my pledge, but I expressed skepticism that it would pass.  But when the roll call was over, the bill garnered the votes that it needed, and then some.  I looked at Teddy with astonishment and asked how had he done it.  He just patted me on the back and said, "Luck of the Irish."  (Laughter.)

     "Of course, luck had little to do with Ted Kennedy's legislative success; he knew that.  A few years ago, his father-in-law told him that he and Daniel Webster just might be the two greatest senators of all time.  Without missing a beat, Teddy replied, "What did Webster do?"  (Laughter.)

     "But though it is Teddy's historic body of achievements that we will remember, it is his giving heart that we will miss.  It was the friend and the colleague who was always the first to pick up the phone and say, "I'm sorry for your loss," or "I hope you feel better," or "What can I do to help?"  It was the boss so adored by his staff that over 500, spanning five decades, showed up for his 75th birthday party.  It was the man who sent birthday wishes and thank-you notes and even his own paintings to so many who never imagined that a U.S. senator of such stature would take the time to think about somebody like them.  I have one of those paintings in my private study off the Oval Office -- a Cape Cod seascape that was a gift to a freshman legislator who had just arrived in Washington and happened to admire it when Ted Kennedy welcomed him into his office.  That, by the way, is my second gift from Teddy and Vicki after our dog Bo.  And it seems like everyone has one of those stories -- the ones that often start with "You wouldn't believe who called me today."

     "Ted Kennedy was the father who looked not only after his own three children, but John's and Bobby's as well.  He took them camping and taught them to sail.  He laughed and danced with them at birthdays and weddings; cried and mourned with them through hardship and tragedy; and passed on that same sense of service and selflessness that his parents had instilled in him.  Shortly after Ted walked Caroline down the aisle and gave her away at the altar, he received a note from Jackie that read, "On you the carefree youngest brother fell a burden a hero would have begged to been spared.  We are all going to make it because you were always there with your love."

     "Not only did the Kennedy family make it because of Ted's love -- he made it because of theirs, especially because the love and the life he found in Vicki.  After so much loss and so much sorrow, it could not have been easy for Ted to risk his heart again.  And that he did is a testament to how deeply he loved this remarkable woman from Louisiana.  And she didn't just love him back.  As Ted would often acknowledge, Vicki saved him.  She gave him strength and purpose; joy and friendship; and stood by him always, especially in those last, hardest days.

     "We cannot know for certain how long we have here.  We cannot foresee the trials or misfortunes that will test us along the way.  We cannot know what God's plan is for us.

     "What we can do is to live out our lives as best we can with purpose, and with love, and with joy.  We can use each day to show those who are closest to us how much we care about them, and treat others with the kindness and respect that we wish for ourselves.  We can learn from our mistakes and grow from our failures.  And we can strive at all costs to make a better world, so that someday, if we are blessed with the chance to look back on our time here, we know that we spent it well; that we made a difference; that our fleeting presence had a lasting impact on the lives of others.

     "This is how Ted Kennedy lived.  This is his legacy.  He once said, as has already been mentioned, of his brother Bobby that he need not be idealized or enlarged in death because what he was in life -- and I imagine he would say the same about himself.  The greatest expectations were placed upon Ted Kennedy's shoulders because of who he was, but he surpassed them all because of who he became.  We do not weep for him today because of the prestige attached to his name or his office.  We weep because we loved this kind and tender hero who persevered through pain and tragedy -- not for the sake of ambition or vanity; not for wealth or power; but only for the people and the country that he loved.

     "In the days after September 11th, Teddy made it a point to personally call each one of the 177 families of this state who lost a loved one in the attack.  But he didn't stop there.  He kept calling and checking up on them.  He fought through red tape to get them assistance and grief counseling.  He invited them sailing, played with their children, and would write each family a letter whenever the anniversary of that terrible day came along.  To one widow, he wrote the following:

     "As you know so well, the passage of time never really heals the tragic memory of such a great loss, but we carry on, because we have to, because our loved ones would want us to, and because there is still light to guide us in the world from the love they gave us."

     "We carry on.

     "Ted Kennedy has gone home now, guided by his faith and by the light of those that he has loved and lost.  At last he is with them once more, leaving those of us who grieve his passing with the memories he gave, the good that he did, the dream he kept alive, and a single, enduring image -- the image of a man on a boat, white mane tousled, smiling broadly as he sails into the wind, ready for whatever storms may come, carrying on toward some new and wondrous place just beyond the horizon.  May God bless Ted Kennedy, and may he rest in eternal peace."  (Applause.)

Remembering Senator Edward M. Kennedy Slide show: 

 
 

President Barack Obama and Senator Ted Kennedy participate in a national service event at The SEED School of Washington, D.C., where H.R. 1388, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act was signed April 21, 2009. The legislation tripled the size of AmeriCorps and provides new service opportunities for millions of Americans at all stages of their lives.

  Sen. Ted Kennedy and his wife Vicki wave to the audience during "Some Enchanted Evening: A Musical Birthday Salute to Senator Edward M. Kennedy" at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., March 8, 2009. 

  

President Barack Obama meets with former President Bill Clinton, Sen. Ted Kennedy and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office April 21, 2009. 

President Barack Obama and Sen. Ted Kennedy enter the East Room of the White House to attend the second session of a Health Care Summit with members of Congress March 5, 2009.

 

Sen. Ted Kennedy, along with White House Domestic Policy Council Director Melody Barnes, left, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), second from right, and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) listen during a Health Care Summit second session in the East Room of the White House March 5, 2009. Sen. Kennedy's son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), is seated in second row at left.

President Barack Obama listens as Sen. Ted Kennedy addresses a Health Care Summit second session with members of Congress in the East Room of the White House March 5, 2009. 

President Barack Obama talks alone with Sen. Edward Kennedy in the Green Room of the White House March 5, 2009. 

President Barack Obama and Sen. Ted Kennedy participate in a national service event at The SEED School of Washington, D.C., April 21, 2009.

President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Medal of Freedom to Kara Kennedy, accepting the award on behalf of her father, Sen. Ted Kennedy, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House August 12, 2009. The Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor.

  

President Barack Obama and Sen. Ted Kennedy walk down the South Lawn sidewalk at the White House April 21, 2009. 

Pictures and Text Courtesy of The White House

08/29/09 President Barack Obama Weekly Radio Address

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29TH, 2009 AT 12:13 AM
Weekly Address: Lessons and Renewal Out of the Gulf Coast
Posted by Jesse Lee
"The President discusses the steps being taken to finish the job of recovery from Hurricane Katrina as the fourth anniversary approaches. He points to local citizens working hard alongside responsible government to make real progress in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and pledges that the lessons of Katrina will not be forgotten."
read the transcript

Obama Vows to Speed Hurricane Katrina Recovery Effort
By HELENE COOPER
Published: August 29, 2009

OAK BLUFFS, Mass. — "President Obama used his weekly radio address on Saturday to note the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, pledging to work to advance the recovery effort along the Gulf Coast and announcing that he would visit New Orleans before the end of the year.

"None of us can forget how we felt when those winds battered the shore, the floodwaters began to rise and Americans were stranded on rooftops and in stadiums," Mr. Obama said. "Over a thousand people would lose their lives. Over a million people were displaced. Whole neighborhoods of a great American city were left in ruins. Communities across the Gulf Coast were forever changed. And many Americans questioned whether government could fulfill its responsibility to respond in a crisis, or contribute to a recovery that covered parts of four states."

Mr. Obama said he had coordinated the recovery effort across federal agencies and state and local governments. "No more turf wars," he said.

"I have also made it clear that we will not tolerate red tape that stands in the way of progress, or the waste that can drive up the bill," Mr. Obama said, adding, "Government must be a partner, not an opponent, in getting things done."

"He said his administration had put in place dispute-settlement programs in an effort to speed up the recovery.

"In addition, he said, the government has freed up hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance that has not been distributed.

"As we rebuild and recover, we must also learn the lessons of Katrina, so that our nation is more protected and resilient in the face of disaster," Mr. Obama said.

"That means continuing to rebuild hundreds of miles of levees and floodwalls around New Orleans," Mr. Obama said, "and working to strengthen the wetlands and barrier islands that are the Gulf Coast's first line of defense."

08/22/09 President Barack Obama Weekly Radio Address

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22ND, 2009 AT 12:01 AM
Weekly Address: Myths and Morality in Health Insurance Reform

Posted by Jesse Lee
"President Obama debunks the myths around health insurance reform, and discusses the public option proposal in which many of them are rooted -- but he focuses his address on the stark moral and historical turning point at which we find ourselves: "This is our chance to march forward. I cannot promise you that the reforms we seek will be perfect or make a difference overnight. But I can promise you this: if we pass health insurance reform, we will look back many years from now and say, this was the moment we summoned what's best in each of us to make life better for all of us. This was the moment we built a health care system worthy of the nation and the people we love. This was the moment we earned our place alongside the greatest generations. And that is what our generation of Americans is called to do right now."

read the transcript

The New York Times, The Caucus:

August 22, 2009, 9:11 am
Saturday Word: Myth Busters
By Janie Lorber

"President Obama seems to be starting his own version of Discovery Channel's MythBusters. For the second consecutive week Mr. Obama used his weekly address to dispel what he called the "outrageous myths" circulating about his health care proposal.

"Among the rumors he set out to quash: the idea that illegal immigrants will be covered, that abortions will be funded by taxpayer dollars, and that so-called "death panels" will be formed to decide who receives treatment.

"He also addressed the public option, the future of which has caused a bit of controversy. Liberal Democrats and Speaker Nancy Pelosi say the House will not pass a bill without the government run health plan, while the more conservative "Group of Six"—the three Republican and three Democratic senators developing the finance committee's version of the bill—is seriously considering a system of health insurance cooperatives as an alternative.

"The public option question dominated conversation in Washington this week and Mr. Obama doesn't seem to like its pre-eminence.

""This one aspect of the health care debate shouldn't overshadow the other important steps we can and must take to reduce the increasing burdens families and businesses face," he said in the weekly address, which he recorded Friday before departing on a weeklong vacation."

Obama to health care critics: end `phony claims'

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE (AP)

WASHINGTON — "President Barack Obama is challenging critics of his push to overhaul the health care system to stop making "phony claims" about proposals now the subject of intense coast-to-coast debate.

""This is an issue of vital concern to every American, and I'm glad that so many are engaged," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. "But it also should be an honest debate, not one dominated by willful misrepresentations and outright distortions, spread by the very folks who would benefit the most by keeping things exactly as they are."

""So today, I want to spend a few minutes debunking some of the more outrageous myths circulating on the Internet, on cable TV and repeated at some town halls across this country," the president said.

"Obama said the overhaul would not cover illegal immigrants nor use taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions, and he does not intend a government takeover of health care — as critics have claimed at contentious town hall-style meetings with members of Congress.

"He also took a swipe at "death panels," an idea former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin introduced on her Facebook page.

""As every credible person who has looked into it has said, there are no so-called death panels — an offensive notion to me and to the American people," Obama said. "These are phony claims meant to divide us."

"Obama angered his liberal base this past week after seeming to suggest he would be OK with a plan that didn't have a government-run health insurance option.

""This is one idea among many to provide more competition and choice, especially in the many places around the country where just one insurer thoroughly dominates the marketplace," Obama said. "Let me repeat: It would be just an option; those who prefer their private insurer would be under no obligation to shift to a public plan."

08/08/09 President Barack Obama Weekly Radio Address

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8TH, 2009 AT 12:01 AM
Weekly Address: Necessary Reform, Absurd Attacks
Posted by Jesse Lee
The President calls health insurance reform critical to our nation's long-term economic strength and dispels the outlandish rumors being promoted by those who are defending the status quo.
read the transcript

Aug 8, 1:01 PM EDT
Obama says `worst may be behind us' on recession
By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- "Using better-than-expected jobs numbers to press his top domestic priority, President Barack Obama is arguing that overhauling the health care system is essential to the country's economic well-being.

"Republicans countered that the high unemployment rate - 9.4 percent in July - shows how families and businesses are struggling and that Obama's reliance on a large government role in expanding health coverage is the wrong approach.

"A net total of 247,000 jobs were lost last month, the fewest in a year and a drastic improvement from the 443,000 that vanished in June as the U.S. tries to pull out from the worst recession since World War II.

"We've begun to put the brakes on this recession and ... the worst may be behind us," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday. He cited Friday's Labor Department report that showed a dip in unemployment, but said, "We must do more than rescue our economy from this immediate crisis. We must rebuild it stronger than before."

"He added: "We must lay a new foundation for future growth and prosperity, and a key pillar of a new foundation is health insurance reform."

"It's a pitch that comes as the Democratic-controlled Congress struggles to write a health care plan that meets Obama's goals of expanding coverage to millions of uninsured while reining in exploding costs.

""So far they have produced a measure that they cannot sell even to their own members," Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said in a jab at majority Democrats. "The only thing bipartisan, so far, is the opposition."

"With lawmakers embarking on a month long summer break, opponents and supporters of various proposals under consideration are waging fierce campaigns. Obama is redoubling his effort to explain his positions to a public that polls say is becoming increasingly wary he can deliver on his promise to revamp health care.

"The president argued that Congress was close to finalizing "real health insurance reform" but, as he has for weeks now, he warned against listening to opponents who he said were spewing misleading information and outlandish claims to defeat "the best chance of reform we have ever had."

"Obama was getting a boost from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who as first lady led the failed effort in the 1990s to overhaul health care.

"In an interview with CNN set to air Sunday, Clinton called Congress' latest work on the issue "a very healthy process," though she acknowledge serious differences in viewpoints that must be bridged.

"Even so, she said: "I actually agree that at the end of the day, with all of this negotiation and back and forth, you know, we're going to come up with something" and "my hope is that it's going to be meaningful enough to make a difference ... on the cost side."

"Countering the Democratic position, Bob McDonnell, the Republican nominee for Virginia governor, argued that the new Labor Department report was "yet another reminder that families and small businesses are struggling as unemployment remains high."

"In the GOP's response address, McDonnell sought to draw distinctions between Republicans and Democrats on economic and health care policy.

"As Republicans, we believe you create jobs by keeping taxes and regulation low, and litigation at a minimum. Americans succeed when government puts in place positive policies that encourage more freedom, and more opportunity," he said.

"McDonnell also said that, unlike Democrats, Republicans are committed to helping the uninsured - "not through nationalizing the system with a costly government-run plan, but rather by supporting free-market incentives and helping small-business owners make coverage more accessible and affordable, and ensuring that Americans can keep their individual private policies."