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Sat May 5, 2012, 11:47 PM

ProSense (98,232 posts)

Obama: use half the "money we’re no longer spending at war" to "rebuild America."

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I don’t think we should prioritize things like more tax cuts for millionaires while cutting the kinds of investments that built a strong middle class.

That’s why I’ve called on Congress to take the money we’re no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the other half to rebuild America.

Because we’ve got more jobs to create. More students to educate. More clean energy to generate. More entrepreneurs with the next great idea, just looking for their shot at success. We’ve got to invest in things like education and medical research. We’ve got to build newer, faster transportation and communication networks. And we’ve got to secure the care and benefits our veterans have earned, so that we serve them as well as they have served us.

- more -

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/05/weekly-address-new-chapter-afghanistan

26 replies, 1970 views

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26 replies	Author	Time	Post
Obama: use half the "money we’re no longer spending at war" to "rebuild America." (Original post)	ProSense	May 2012	OP
K/R (nt)	NYC_SKP	May 2012	#1
Add it to the savings from Social Security cuts	MannyGoldstein	May 2012	#2
Obama is going	ProSense	May 2012	#3
Use half of our "savings" to pay down debt?	dkf	May 2012	#4
For	ProSense	May 2012	#5
who said it was OK to use the money for senseless war?	Skittles	May 2012	#6
That would	ProSense	May 2012	#12
as a talking point, that is an utter FAIL	Skittles	May 2012	#26
Who says its okay to use for war? That was such a waste. Please don't get me started.	dkf	May 2012	#10
I read	ProSense	May 2012	#13
Doing a scatter shot into all these things won't make a dent in any one of them.	dkf	May 2012	#17
You have no idea what you're talking about.	ProSense	May 2012	#20
I agree the deficit is huge	Yuugal	May 2012	#7
The private sector is now back up to where it was re: employment. .	dkf	May 2012	#18
Huh?	ProSense	May 2012	#21
CHART: Under Obama, Economy Has Recovered All Private Sector Jobs Lost During Bush Recession	dkf	May 2012	#22
Do you understand what you're seeing?	ProSense	May 2012	#23
You commie! (jk :) - n/t	coalition_unwilling	May 2012	#24
Good to hear. Too bad it's so close to an election.	Edweird	May 2012	#8
I hope they send out some highway money soon I've got 2 failing bridges up the street.	Historic NY	May 2012	#9
one half for debt reduction and the other half for infrastructure	bigtree	May 2012	#11
Isn't it also possible that by using half the money to	Tennessee Gal	May 2012	#14
k&r...	spanone	May 2012	#15
YES, PLEASE, Mr Obama.	sibelian	May 2012	#16
Yes, please (nt)	varelse	May 2012	#19
K & R	Scurrilous	May 2012	#25

Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sat May 5, 2012, 11:49 PM

NYC_SKP (48,849 posts)

1. K/R (nt)

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Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sat May 5, 2012, 11:54 PM

MannyGoldstein (21,454 posts)

2. Add it to the savings from Social Security cuts

and raising the eligibility age for Medicare and we're talking serios cash.

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Response to MannyGoldstein (Reply #2)

Sun May 6, 2012, 12:02 AM

ProSense (98,232 posts)

3. Obama is going

"Add it to the savings from Social Security cuts and raising the eligibility age for Medicare and we're talking serios cash."

...to cut eleventeen trillion dollars from Social Security.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002648942

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Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sun May 6, 2012, 12:26 AM

dkf (32,621 posts)

4. Use half of our "savings" to pay down debt?

Last edited Sun May 6, 2012, 12:28 AM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

So you are in debt up to your eyeballs, you cut some expenses and that is now savings that you can spend?

OMG.

He needs to be honest and say he wants to borrow more money to spend on things he thinks will benefit us in the future. Please don't try to con us into thinking we have "saved" anything.

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Response to dkf (Reply #4)

Sun May 6, 2012, 12:33 AM

ProSense (98,232 posts)

5. For

Use half of our "savings" to pay down debt?

So you are in debt up to your eyeballs, you cut some expenses and that is now savings that you can spend?

OMG.

He needs to be honest and say he wants to borrow more money to spend on things he thinks will benefit us in the future. Please don't try to con us into thinking we have "saved" anything.

...the deficit hawk in you:

Mr. Obama gets too little credit. He has done more to rein in long-run deficits than any previous president.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/opinion/18krugman.html

If it was OK to use the money for 11 years of war, then there should be no problem to use it to rebuild America.

Priorities.

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Response to ProSense (Reply #5)

Sun May 6, 2012, 01:24 AM

Skittles (86,325 posts)

6. who said it was OK to use the money for senseless war?

oh right

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Response to Skittles (Reply #6)

Sun May 6, 2012, 08:51 AM

ProSense (98,232 posts)

12. That would

"who said it was OK to use the money for senseless war?"

...be the people who used it for "senseless war."

I mean, unless the last 11 years were imaginary, the money was used for war.

It's seems a bit idiotic to now argue against using that money for to create jobs and rebuild America.

Is that the point of the objection?

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Response to ProSense (Reply #12)

Sun May 6, 2012, 07:56 PM

Skittles (86,325 posts)

26. as a talking point, that is an utter FAIL

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Response to ProSense (Reply #5)

Sun May 6, 2012, 03:21 AM

dkf (32,621 posts)

10. Who says its okay to use for war? That was such a waste. Please don't get me started.

Get out of Afghanistan, stay out of Iraq, and let Israel fight its own battles.

If we want to invest, get us off of oil and onto solar, which was what we should have done from the get go. But I doubt that will happen as it doesn't seem to have been any priority at a time when we had the votes and we used it to entrench big health insurance. Bah.

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Response to dkf (Reply #10)

Sun May 6, 2012, 08:54 AM

ProSense (98,232 posts)

13. I read

"If we want to invest, get us off of oil and onto solar, which was what we should have done from the get go. But I doubt that will happen as it doesn't seem to have been any priority at a time when we had the votes and we used it to entrench big health insurance. Bah."

...the OP again, and it's definitely about investing in the country. So what's your point?

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Response to ProSense (Reply #13)

Sun May 6, 2012, 09:20 AM

dkf (32,621 posts)

17. Doing a scatter shot into all these things won't make a dent in any one of them.

We don't have the focus to do renewables properly as it should have been our Apollo mission. Instead we get half assed investments in failed ventures that should have been helped by incentives which create demand but weren't.

Obama's execution on transitioning to renewables is abysmal.

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Response to dkf (Reply #17)

Sun May 6, 2012, 09:30 AM

ProSense (98,232 posts)

20. You have no idea what you're talking about.

It shows.

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Response to dkf (Reply #4)

Sun May 6, 2012, 01:25 AM

Yuugal (2,073 posts)

7. I agree the deficit is huge

But Obama is right on this. When you have high unemployment and the private sector can't or won't hire, IMHO the govt has to spend the cash(even if borrowed) to create jobs to help the recovery along. Spending borrowed money sucks if it is for war, because taking out a $20 shed with a 2 million dollar missile is just a waste of 2 million dollars.

Spending that same 2 million creating jobs to repair a 2 billion dollar bridge not only creates jobs, but saves more money than letting the bridge fall down because no one wanted to maintain it......and then having to build a new bridge. A stitch in time saves nine is a good rule of thumb when it comes to infrastructure.

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Response to Yuugal (Reply #7)

Sun May 6, 2012, 09:27 AM

dkf (32,621 posts)

18. The private sector is now back up to where it was re: employment. .

The decline in jobs is solely due to the government sector.

The States are trying to clean up their balance sheets. It would be ironic if the Federal Government takes that on and puts the entire country in a worse financial position.

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Response to dkf (Reply #18)

Sun May 6, 2012, 09:31 AM

ProSense (98,232 posts)

21. Huh?

"The private sector is now back up to where it was re: employment. .

The decline in jobs is solely due to the government sector."

Again, you have no idea what you're talking about.

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Response to ProSense (Reply #21)

Sun May 6, 2012, 09:53 AM

dkf (32,621 posts)

22. CHART: Under Obama, Economy Has Recovered All Private Sector Jobs Lost During Bush Recession

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014113386

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Response to dkf (Reply #22)

Sun May 6, 2012, 10:21 AM

ProSense (98,232 posts)

23. Do you understand what you're seeing?

The chart shows the jobs lost between 2009 and today, during the Obama Presidency, have returned to the economy. It does not show the job losses between 2007 and 2009, which are in the millions.

It also does not show the jobs needed to keep pace with population growth. It's a chart of simple numbers.

Goverment job losses, while significant, are about 5 percent of the total jobs lost during the recession.

If all public sector jobs were reinstated and doubled, it would likely result in about 1.2 million jobs. To return to normal the economy would need to add about 8 million jobs on top of that.

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Response to Yuugal (Reply #7)

Sun May 6, 2012, 10:29 AM

coalition_unwilling (14,180 posts)

24. You commie! (jk :) - n/t

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Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sun May 6, 2012, 01:52 AM

Edweird (8,570 posts)

8. Good to hear. Too bad it's so close to an election.

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Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sun May 6, 2012, 02:50 AM

Historic NY (19,731 posts)

9. I hope they send out some highway money soon I've got 2 failing bridges up the street.

one built before the invention of the automobile and the other so bad they are epoxying steel plates over the ones that already rusted away. It seems it became an emergency all of a sudden.

The stopped pedestrian traffic on the old one already. Mind you these are both on the key north south route.

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Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sun May 6, 2012, 08:43 AM

bigtree (49,257 posts)

11. one half for debt reduction and the other half for infrastructure

Last edited Sun May 6, 2012, 08:44 AM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

good plan . . . "That's what this election is all about."

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Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sun May 6, 2012, 08:57 AM

Tennessee Gal (6,160 posts)

14. Isn't it also possible that by using half the money to

rebuild America will create jobs, thus increasing the number of Americans working and taxable income will generate more funds to pay on the debt?

Just asking.

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Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sun May 6, 2012, 08:58 AM

spanone (72,124 posts)

15. k&r...

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Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sun May 6, 2012, 09:02 AM

sibelian (2,840 posts)

16. YES, PLEASE, Mr Obama.

These are things that I LIKE.

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Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sun May 6, 2012, 09:29 AM

varelse (4,062 posts)

19. Yes, please (nt)

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Response to ProSense (Original post)

Sun May 6, 2012, 11:31 AM

Scurrilous (24,652 posts)

25. K & R

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