Quote: President Obama singled out House Republican Leader John Boehner in a Wisconsin speech Wednesday, hammering the GOP lawmaker for appearing to compare the financial crisis to an "ant."
It's been a while since the president called out an individual member of Congress during remarks, but with a banking overhaul bill on the verge of coming for a full and final vote in Congress, Obama ripped into Boehner for telling the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that the legislation is like "killing an ant with a nuclear weapon."
Obama, in his prepared remarks for a Racine, Wis., town hall set for Wednesday afternoon, said he was "stunned" by the comment.
Comon repubs, your making this too easy.......... watch the talking points please.
Quote: "That's right. He compared the financial crisis to an ant. The same financial crisis that led to the loss of nearly 8 million jobs. The same crisis that cost people their homes and their [life] savings," Obama said. "Well, if the Republican leader is that out of touch with the struggles facing the American people, he should come here to Racine and ask people if they think the financial crisis was an ant. ... These Americans don't believe the financial crisis was an ant."
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said in response that the president should have better things to do than take shots at Boehner.
"The president should be focused on solving the problems of the American people -- stopping the leaking oil and cleaning up the Gulf, scrapping his job-killing agenda, repealing and replacing ObamaCare -- instead of the House Republican leader's choice of metaphors," Steel said in an e-mail.
Steel also clarified the metaphor, saying it wasn't meant to minimize the financial crisis but to point out that "Washington Democrats have produced a bill that will actually kill more jobs and make the situation worse."
That's not how the White House took it. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that the statement shows how "out of touch" the Republican leadership is.
The president is using remarks during his trip to push for passage of the banking reform bill, which is expected to come up for a vote in the House on Wednesday but has been pushed back in the Senate beyond the July 4 recess that the president had hoped would serve as a deadline for passage.
But the trip to Racine also is meant to highlight the city's rebound with the help of $22.5 million in federal stimulus dollars provided through the Recovery Act.
FOXNews.com - Obama Blasts Boehner for Likening Bank Overhaul Bill to Nuking an 'Ant'
Checking in Milwaukee.........
Quote: Without naming Boehner, Obama said that if he is so "out of touch with the struggles facing the American people, he should come here to Racine and ask people if they think the financial crisis was an ant. He should ask the men and women who've been out of work for months at a time. He should ask the Americans who send me letters every night that talk about how they're barely hanging on."
Obama also made reference to the Gulf Coast oil spill. He said Republicans were opposed to raising the limit on what companies such as BP have to pay for such environmental disasters. And, he said, they were opposed to the $20 billion fund that is expected to be used to compensate Gulf Coast residents and businesses.
And in a reference to U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican who called the assistance fund "a tragedy," Obama said: "A tragedy? A tragedy is what the people of the Gulf are going through right now. That's the tragedy. And our government has a responsibility to hold the corporations accountable that caused it. They want to take us backwards. We want to move forward."
In advance of Obama's visit, the White House said that the Recovery Act had created or saved 59,000 jobs through March 2010. In addition, more than $6.4 billion in recovery funds had been made available to Wisconsin, and that more than $4.1 billion had been spent.
Also, the White House said that 457 transportation projects had been obligated in the state, totaling more than $643 million, and that 2,356 Recovery Act-based small business loans had been given to small businesses in the state.
The White House also said that, because of the Making Work Pay tax credit, 2.2 million working families in Wisconsin will receive $1.2 billion in tax relief, and that more than 730,000 residents had received expanded unemployment benefits. In addition, more than one million seniors, veterans and other high-need residents had received one-time economic relief payments of $250, totaling more than $254 million.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party of Wisconsin sent out a news release Wednesday morning, saying Obama needs to answer for some of the state's economic troubles, including Racine's 14.2% unemployment rate.
The Republicans also criticized a U.S. Export-Import Bank decision to deny loan guarantees to Bucyrus International Inc., a decision that could put 1,000 jobs at risk, according to the company. Bucyrus announced later Wednesday morning that the company struck a deal that provides the loan guarantees and saves the jobs.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott K. Walker said the Obama administration found a way to "sweep in at the last hour" to save the jobs, but that he would improve the state's business climate more broadly.
"While we're pleased the Export-Import Bank is reconsidering their decision to deny loan guarantees to Bucyrus, it's not enough for President Obama, Governor Doyle, and Mayor Barrett to sweep their consistent support of radical environmental job killing policies under the rug in time for their joint photo op today in Racine," he said.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/97481014.html
Last edited by jeffkrol; 06-30-2010 at 10:44 AM.