President Obama did his best to shift his administration's focus to the economy today during a speech at Illinois' Knox College by blaming the anemic economy on Republicans and "phony scandals."
As predicted, Obama gave America the same speech he's been giving for five years, saying the country needs more infrastructure spending due to crumbling roads and bridges, that we must fight poverty, that CEOs are making too much money while the poor suffer etc. He even went so far as to tout "saving the auto industry" one week after Detroit filed for bankruptcy.
"Today, five years after the start of that Great Recession, America has fought its way back. Together, we saved the auto industry, took on a broken health care system, and invested in new American technologies to reverse our addiction to foreign oil and double wind and solar power," Obama said. "Together, we put in place tough new rules on big banks, and protections that cracked down on the worst practices of mortgage lenders and credit card companies. We changed a tax code too skewed in favor of the wealthiest at the expense of working families, locking in tax cuts for 98% of Americans, and asking those at the top to pay a little more."While Obama claims America is "back," 50 million people are on food stamps and 23 million people are unemployed. The healthcare system is starting to collapse as doctors leave their practices and gas is on average $3.68 per gallon. It isn't just the rich Obama has asked to "pay a little more." In January, he raised taxes on everyone. And finally, big banks are getting bigger.
After claiming the country was on the right track economically, Obama proceeded to blame Republicans for "distractions" and "phony" scandals coming out of Washington.
"With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball. And I am here to say this needs to stop. Short-term thinking and stale debates are not what this moment requires. Our focus must be on the basic economic issues that the matter most to you – the people we represent," Obama said.
Funny, I'm not sure the IRS targeting American citizens (with the help of one of Obama's political appointees) for political purposes or four dead Americans killed in Benghazi count as "phony" but hey, "what difference, at this point, does it make?" And speaking of distractions, apparently taking the time to personally call pro-abortion Wendy Davis, Sandra Fluke and the first openly gay NBA player Jason Collins while opining on local crime cases, playing golf and going on numerous vacations doesn't count when it comes to deflecting attention away from anything but the disastrous and stagnant economy.
I'll leave you with this from liberal Washigton Post blogger Ezra Klein:
That was a lot of hype for very little policy http://t.co/hwBPRoTzdC
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) July 24, 2013