Following up on State of the Union pledge, Obama to hold bipartisan White House meeting
By APWednesday, February 3, 2010
Obama to hold bipartisan White House meeting
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will meet with bipartisan congressional leaders at the White House next week as he follows up on a State of the Union address promise.
During his speech, Obama pledged to hold monthly meetings with Democratic and Republican leaders. The White House says Tuesday’s session will focus on jobs and the economy.
Obama has stepped up both his outreach to Republicans and his attacks on the GOP following the Democrats’ loss of a Senate seat in Massachusetts last month. He spoke at a meeting of House Republican lawmakers last week, where each side aired their complaints, often sharply.
Tags: 2010 State Of The Union Address, Barack Obama, District Of Columbia, Events, Executive Branch, Geography, North America, State Of The Union Address, United States, Washington
February 9, 2010: 10:20 am
The Speech he SHOULD Have Given Nine years after we began our war against those who so brutally attacked our country on 9/11. I am here to specifically say to you that our armed services have done your job and you have done your job well. The State of our Union is currently framed fighting two ground wars and restructuring our financial system. As the Commander and Chief I am expected to lead and a leader must make decisions that will take into account all available knowledge and rationality. As your Commander-in-Chief I am announcing the immediate withdrawal of all troops from the Mid-east Theater of operations effective immediately. We urge our allies to do the same. After careful analysis and intensive debate from within and without my administration the decision as to how to proceed in this war is on my shoulders. I take that responsibility and now I give you my rationales and how we will deal with these countries and these threats in the future. A country must determine with careful consideration what its primary and secondary interests are. Failure to determine these priorities leads to poor allocation of important national assets and most importantly how and when to enter into war and when it is necessary to put in harm’s way those men and women of our armed services who are obligated to enforce all lawful and just actions of our country. We entered Iraq under a stated analysis from the Executive Branch of our government that was based upon totally false and misleading information. It was a mistake to have attacked Iraq and it is a mistake to stay there. Iraq has duplicity in this regard; they could have at any time opened up their country to total inspection and disproved these false allegations. They did not and share in the responsibility of the aftermath. We offer no apology but we will now correct that mistake and leave. The stated rationale for our incursion into Afghanistan was to attack the bases from which we were attacked on 9/11 and to arrest those responsible. I have determined that “nation-building” by the United States in Afghanistan is not in our primary interest and therefore order all our military to exit that theater as soon as possible in a manner that will protect our troops. One of the primary strengths of our country is our ability defend ourselves. That takes money and capital. To squander that asset in wars that are not in our primary interest is to damage our national security, not improve it, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have done exactly that over the past eight years. I am going to immediately end the squander of $100 billion/year in this region. Additionally, effective immediately, the United States will end its foreign aid commitments to both Israel and Egypt by 50% over the next three years and to zero after that period. We are ending our troop involvement in South Korea, Okinawa and Germany. In regard to war and our ability to wage it we have two primary advantages: 1. Our technology and, 2. Our asset base of capital and highly educated people. In future conflicts we will use those assets to promote our primary interests. We warn any country that attempts to attack our primary interests that they will be met, not with troops on the ground as they would like, but with a technology that will give them great pause and with collateral damage that will be on the shoulders of those who do not now heed my warning. I warn in no uncertain terms that those who use this reduction in troop exposure will not mean that they are immune to the sting of the United States. I am certain that we will be tested in this regard and we are ready for that test. Additionally, I am removing all U.S. troops from Europe, Okinawa and South Korea. These measures will attempt to bring our fiscal house in order. Finally, in regard to heath care, I am urging the congress to continue to advance the taxing of those with high incomes but at the same time to impose a 3% Federal Health Sales Tax on all purchases up to $1,000 so that every legal person in our country is afforded adequate health care and has an awareness of its costs. If we are successful in squeezing out efficiencies and these taxes are not needed then I am sure Congress will find a way to reduce or eliminate them. But the time of the great “handout” is over. We are going to run a balanced budget. We are gong to pay for things we want up-front, as we go. Our kids and grandkids will not carry our wasteful burden. We are going to put the Social Security system in the black and we are going to eliminate all Federal debt. In regard to immigration I am going to urge only if the Federal Health Tax is approved a complete end to immigration into the United States for a period of 50 years and that those attempting to enter the country illegally may be dealt with by deadly force at our borders. In so doing, our defense capability will be the strongest in the world, the most flexible and if needed, the most feared and respected. I anticipate that the county will intensely debate these new proclamations that I have made here today. Many will disagree. It is the way. But I am the leader of this country; I was elected to guide us for these four years or perhaps longer and the people have a right to see their leader use circumspection and rationality. I do this because I think it is right. |
Axxel Knutson