Barack Obama suffers "...a historical rebuff of a sitting president by Congressional leadership"

Mike Florio, a lowly NFL analyst, gets it right...

In what is being described as a historical rebuff of a sitting president by Congressional leadership, Barack Obama has been blocked by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio; pictured) from addressing a joint session of the nation’s legislative body on September 7, at which time a presidential debate will be conducted in California. And so the President has caved, moving the speech to Thursday, September 8.

And that sets up a direct conflict with the commencement of the 2011 NFL regular season, with the Saints facing the Packers at Lambeau Field that same night.

It remains to be seen whether NBC will cover the speech in lieu of the game, which is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET. If ABC, CBS, and FOX all choose to broadcast the address and NBC opts to send any interested members of its audience to MSNBC and/or CNBC, the ratings for the NFL opener could go through the roof.

So, the Saints will get a chance to embarrass not only the reigning NFL champion Packers in front of an unexpectedly monster audience; they can embarrass Barack Obama in the ratings.

BHO does deserve it, his being a SCOAMF and all.

GO SAINTS~!

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Various reactions to "Barack the Mad"'s pathetic debt Speech

Fred Thompson...

MSNBC's Chris Matthews: President Obama is "doing what Reagan did." Yeah - making people not want to re-elect a Democrat President. #tcot

From the Daily Caller

Sen. Orrin Hatch...

“The President spoke of consensus and compromise,” said Hatch in a statement, “but when has he ever brought people together?”

Sen Roy Blunt...

“Our problem in Washington isn’t that we’re taxing too little — it’s that we’re spending too much. Unfortunately, the President’s repeated calls for higher taxes will not encourage job creators to grow their businesses and hire more workers.”

Sen Lindsey Graham...

“President Obama has never committed to any plan that will stop America from becoming Greece. [T]he only hope I see where we avoid becoming a debtor nation,” Graham added, “is passage of a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment.”

Sen Rand Paul...

“Political scare tactics and smoke-and-mirror ‘deals’ won’t solve our debt problem, and in fact will likely cause a larger one by forcing the downgrading of our debt rating.”

Rep. Tom Price (Ga)...
[the president] “continues to sow the seeds of division in this nation by lining his misleading rhetoric with the tenants of class warfare.”

Can't find Sen. Lamar Alexander's or Bob Corker's immediate reactions. Sen. Corker is supposed to be on the radio (Ralph Bristol's show) at 8:05 AM today. Listen live online (WWTN 99.7).

BEST FOR LAST! From the LA Times...

New polls confirm Obama's Democratic base crumbles

With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said:

"I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition."

This is political treason 469 days before a presidential election. Yes, yes, this is just a crusty old New England independent for now, albeit one who caucuses loyally with Harry Reid's Democratic posse.

To be sure, 30 months after he returned to home cooking, George W. Bush still gets majority blame for the economy.

But here's the breaking news for wishful Democrats: George W. Bush isn't running for anything but exercise.

"More than a third of Americans now believe that President Obama’s policies are hurting the economy, and confidence in his ability to create jobs is sharply eroding among his base," the Post reports. ...

Strong support among liberal Democrats for Obama's jobs record has plummeted 22 points from 53% down below a third. African Americans who believe the president's measures helped the economy have plunged from 77% to barely half.

Obama's overall job approval on the economy has slid below 40% for the first time, with 57% disapproving. And strong disapprovers outnumber approvers by better than two-to-one.

Ahhhh, it's nice to smell the 'Primary' talk early in the mornings, isn't it?

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Speaker Boehner's epic smackdown of Barack Obama, the video.

Best speech of the night, 7/25/11.

Good evening. I’m John Boehner. I serve as Speaker of the whole House — of the members of both parties that you elect. These are difficult times in the life of our nation. Millions are looking for work, have been for some time, and the spending binge going on in Washington is a big part of the reason why.

Before I served in Congress, I ran a small business in Ohio. I was amazed at how different Washington DC operated than every business in America. Where most American business make the hard choices to pay their bills and live within their means, in Washington more spending and more debt is business as usual.

I’ve got news for Washington – those days are over.

President Obama came to Congress in January and requested business as usual — yet another routine increase in the national debt limit — we in the House said ‘not so fast.’ Here was the president, asking for the largest debt increase in American history, on the heels of the largest spending binge in American history.

Here’s what we got for that spending binge: a massive health care bill that most Americans never asked for. A ‘stimulus’ bill that was more effective in producing material for late-night comedians than it was in producing jobs. And a national debt that has gotten so out of hand it has sparked a crisis without precedent in my lifetime or yours.

The United States cannot default on its debt obligations. The jobs and savings of too many Americans are at stake. What we told the president in January was this: the American people will not accept an increase in the debt limit without significant spending cuts and reforms. And over the last six months, we’ve done our best to convince the president to partner with us to do something dramatic to change the fiscal trajectory of our country…something that will boost confidence in our economy, renew a measure of faith in our government, and help small businesses get back on track.

Last week, the House passed such a plan, and with bipartisan support. It’s called the ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’ Act. It CUTS and CAPS government spending and paves the way for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, which we believe is the best way to stop Washington from spending money it doesn’t have. Before we even passed the bill in the House, the President said he would veto it.

I want you to know I made a sincere effort to work with the president to identify a path forward that would implement the principles of Cut, Cap, & Balance in a manner that could secure bipartisan support and be signed into law. I gave it my all.

Unfortunately, the president would not take yes for an answer. Even when we thought we might be close on an agreement, the president’s demands changed.

The president has often said we need a ‘balanced’ approach — which in Washington means: we spend more…you pay more. Having run a small business, I know those tax increases will destroy jobs.

The president is adamant that we cannot make fundamental changes to our entitlement programs. As the father of two daughters, I know these programs won’t be there for them and their kids unless significant action is taken now.

The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen. You see, there is no stalemate in Congress. The House has passed a bill to raise the debt limit with bipartisan support. And this week, while the Senate is struggling to pass a bill filled with phony accounting and Washington gimmicks, we will pass another bill – one that was developed with the support of the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Senate.

Obviously, I expect that bill can and will pass the Senate, and be sent to the President for his signature. If the President signs it, the ‘crisis’ atmosphere he has created will simply disappear. The debt limit will be raised. Spending will be cut by more than one trillion dollars, and a serious, bipartisan committee of the Congress will begin the hard but necessary work of dealing with the tough challenges our nation faces.

The individuals doing this work will not be outsiders, but elected representatives of the people, doing the job they were elected to do as outlined in the Constitution. Those decisions should be made based on how they will affect people who are struggling to get a job, not how they affect some politician’s chances of getting reelected.

This debate isn’t about President Obama and House Republicans … it isn’t about Congress and the White House … it’s about what’s standing between the American people and the future we seek for ourselves and our families. You know, I’ve always believed, the bigger government, the smaller the people. And right now, we have a government so big and so expensive it’s sapping the drive of our people and keeping our economy from running at full capacity.

The solution to this crisis is not complicated: if you’re spending more money than you’re taking in, you need to spend less of it.

There is no symptom of big government more menacing than our debt. Break its grip, and we begin to liberate our economy and our future. We are up to the task, and I hope President Obama will join us in this work. God bless you and your families, and God bless America.

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