2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumA rousing rejection of Republican radicalism
Posted with permission, and GO OBAMA!
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/03/11004634-a-rousing-rejection-of-republican-radicalism
A rousing rejection of Republican radicalism
By Steve Benen
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Tue Apr 3, 2012 3:29 PM EDT
Almost exactly a year ago, President Obama delivered a high-profile speech on the nation's fiscal future, and used the opportunity to condemn the House Republican budget plan in no uncertain terms. Republicans responded with apoplexy -- Obama hurt their feelings by rejecting their governing philosophy. They can accuse him of being a radical socialist, but if the president responds with a broadside against a plan that eliminates Medicare, he's a big meanie.
If last year's response chastened Obama, it certainly wasn't evident this afternoon. The president spoke for an hour at an Associated Press luncheon, and whatever your perspective, Obama's remarks are well worth watching.
Video @ link~
If you can't watch clips online, the White House has posted a full transcript, but let's take a moment (or two) to highlight what made this speech important.
This was, as advertised, an aggressive, unapologetic condemnation of the Paul Ryan/Mitt Romney budget agenda, and the ideology that led to its creation. Indeed, Obama practically mocked Republicans for having tested their trickle-down philosophy, failing spectacularly, and then becoming even more right wing as a consequence.
"But that's exactly the opposite of what they've done. Instead of moderating their views even slightly, the Republicans running Congress right now have doubled down, and proposed a budget so far to the right it makes the Contract with America look like the New Deal."
The GOP, in other words, tried to implement their vision during the Bush/Cheney era -- massive tax breaks for the wealthy, scaled-back regulations, giving Wall Street free rein -- but instead of learning from their failures, Republicans are intent on repeating them.
Of particular interest, though, was Obama's take, not only on the GOP's right-wing budget plan, but also on the GOP's right-wing trajectory in general.
It dovetails nicely with what we discussed yesterday -- the Republican Party in 2012 bears no resemblance to the Republican Party of years past. From today's speech:
"What leaders in both parties have traditionally understood is that these investments aren't part of some scheme to redistribute wealth from one group to another. They are expressions of the fact that we are one nation. These investments benefit us all. They contribute to genuine, durable economic growth."
Later, in response to a question from a reporter, Obama added:
Cap and trade was originally proposed by conservatives and Republicans as a market-based solution to solving environmental problems. The first President to talk about cap and trade was George H.W. Bush. Now you've got the other party essentially saying we shouldn't even be thinking about environmental protection; let's gut the EPA.
"Health care, which is in the news right now -- there's a reason why there's a little bit of confusion in the Republican primary about health care and the individual mandate since it originated as a conservative idea to preserve the private marketplace in health care while still assuring that everybody got covered, in contrast to a single-payer plan. Now, suddenly, this is some socialist overreach.
"So as all of you are doing your reporting, I think it's important to remember that the positions I'm taking now on the budget and a host of other issues, if we had been having this discussion 20 years ago, or even 15 years ago, would have been considered squarely centrist positions. What's changed is the center of the Republican Party."
Republican leaders issued some press releases this afternoon, complaining that the president's remarks were "tired" and "partisan." None, however, could point to anything Obama got wrong in this speech.
longship
(40,416 posts)No more Mr. Nice Guy.
R&
marsis
(301 posts)Inuca
(8,945 posts)watch it if you can, rather than reading it. The content, the really important part, is of course in the words. But I was impressed by how laser-focused he seemed. This was not a campaign rally speech, it was a very focused and crystal-clear description of his political philosophy. Vey consistent by the way at the core with things we have been hearing since 2007.