Pirate's Cove

The conversation for NMP Obama’s Weekly Address probably went something like

O.: I want to yammer on about corporate jets

Staff: OK, that’s good, because Americans are really concerned about them. You should probably mention Independence Day

O.: You mean that right wingnut holiday? Is that this weekend? What’s it about?

S.: It’s Monday, Mr. President. Same day as your daughters birthday. And means a lot to the flag lovers

O.: Really? Oh, well, stick it on the ‘prompter

And we get

Right now, there are a lot of folks who are still struggling with the effects of the recession.  They’re wondering how they’d deal with an unexpected expense if their car breaks down.  They’re worried about layoffs. They’re not sure if they can help their kids pay for college. And for many families, these challenges were around long before the recession hit in 2007.

Like, always, but, obviously, this is an attempt to offset the Right side point about Democrats taking over Congress in 2007, and blaming Bush and the GOP.

I ran for President because I believed in an America where ordinary folks could get ahead; where if you worked hard, you could have a better life.  That’s been my focus since I came into office, and that has to be our focus now.  It’s one of the reasons why we’re working to reduce our nation’s deficit.  Government has to start living within its means, just like families do.  We have to cut the spending we can’t afford so we can put the economy on sounder footing, and give our businesses the confidence they need to grow and create jobs.

All About O. Yet, perhaps he has learned something, and that government has to “start living within its means.”

The good news is, Democrats and Republicans agree on the need to solve the problem.  And over the last few weeks, the Vice President and I have gotten both parties to identify more than $1 trillion in spending cuts.  That’s trillion with a ‘t.’  But after a decade in which Washington ran up the country’s credit card, we’ve got to find more savings to get out of the red.  That means looking at every program and tax break in the budget – every single one – to find places to cut waste and save money.  It means we’ll have to make tough decisions and scale back worthy programs.  And nothing can be off limits, including spending in the tax code, particularly the loopholes that benefit very few individuals and corporations.

Face palm. “Spending in the tax code.” That means tax hikes. But, I sort of agree: let’s look at every tax break. How about looking at some of those tax free funds that benefit millionaires? We should look at those, too.

Now, it would be nice if we could keep every tax break, but we can’t afford them.  Because if we choose to keep those tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, or for hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners, or for oil and gas companies pulling in huge profits without our help – then we’ll have to make even deeper cuts somewhere else.  We’ve got to say to a student, ‘You don’t get a college scholarship.’  We have to say to a medical researcher, ‘You can’t do that cancer research.’ We might have to tell seniors, ‘You have to pay more for Medicare.’

Yes, he is going to yammer about this for quite some time, apparently. Much like his slurpee and driving into a ditch points, he seems to love the corporate jet thing. Good thing Obama doesn’t receive all sorts of tax free perks, like a private chef, a country vacations estate, use of jumbo jets, a rent free McMansion, and a $50,000 entertainment budget. Taxpayer funded, and tax free, trips around the world. People in the private sector have to pay tax on the value of private jet trips. I’m not saying Obama should pay a tax on them, he won the job of POTUS, even if he doesn’t act like one, but, it is rather hypocritical of him to complain when he jumps on AF1 to make a quick jaunt to a fundraiser.

On Monday, we celebrate Independence Day, the day we declared a new nation, based on revolutionary idea: that people ought to determine their own destiny; that freedom and self-governance weren’t gifts handed to us by kings or emperors, but the rights of every human being.  We’ve learned in the years since that democracy isn’t always pretty.  We have arguments.  We disagree.  But time and again we’ve proven that we could come together to solve problems.  We remember that while we may not see eye-to-eye on everything, we share a love for this country and a faith in its future.  That’s the spirit we need to harness now.  That’s how we’ll meet this challenge and reach a brighter day.  Thanks for listening, and have a wonderful fourth of July.

So good of him to finally mention Independence Day….wait, what was that thing about people determining their own destiny? Freedom and self-governance? How does that jibe with ObamaCare and the individual mandate? And corporate jets? Raising taxes? Hey, wasn’t part of the Declaration of Independence about taxes?

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent

Humph.

We also have the requisite photo of Obama looking snooty, which comes from the video.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.