Marco Rubio steps in it.

[muttly]

Mitch McConnell said his first priority was to see him fail as President, before he even knew his policies,what was that about?

I think this might be what you're referring to. I'm not a real fan of McConnell or to some extent Politifact, but they provided context here.

With the looming possibility of Democrats losing their grip on the House and possibly even the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections, President Barack Obama took some time in his weekly address on Oct. 30, 2010, to talk about the need to work in a bipartisan way to solve the country's most pressing issues, such as the weak economy.

But Obama said a couple recent comments from Republican leaders weren't a good harbinger.

"Whatever the outcome on Tuesday, we need to come together to help put people who are still looking for jobs back to work," Obama said.

"On these issues -- issues that will determine our success or failure in this new century -- I believe it’s the fundamental responsibility of all who hold elective office to seek out common ground," Obama said. "It may not always be easy to find agreement; at times we’ll have legitimate philosophical differences. And it may not always be the best politics. But it is the right thing to do for our country.

"That’s why I found the recent comments by the top two Republican in Congress so troubling. The Republican leader of the House actually said that "this is not the time for compromise." And the Republican leader of the Senate said his main goal after this election is simply to win the next one."

We're fact-checking the last part, the claim that "the Republican leader of the Senate said his main goal after this election is simply to win the next one."

It's based on a comment Sen. Mitch McConnelll made in an interview with the National Journal's Major Garrett on Oct. 29, 2010: "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."

So McConnelll said it. But we think some further context is in order.

McConnell said he had been studying the history of presidents who suffered big defeats in midterm elections in Congress, but then won re-election in two years anyway. McConnelll said he doesn't want Republicans to repeat the same mistakes that allowed that to happen.

"After 1994, the public had the impression we Republicans overpromised and underdelivered," McConnell said. "We suffered from some degree of hubris and acted as if the president was irrelevant and we would roll over him. By the summer of 1995, he was already on the way to being re-elected, and we were hanging on for our lives."

McConnell said Republicans need to treat the midterm elections as "the first step in retaking the government."

It was in that context that McConnell said, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."

Garrett asked if that meant "endless, or at least frequent, confrontation with the president?"

Said McConnell, "If President Obama does a Clintonian backflip, if he’s willing to meet us halfway on some of the biggest issues, it’s not inappropriate for us to do business with him."

In other words, in the very same interview, McConnell said that he'd be willing to work with Obama if Obama is "willing to meet us halfway." That's called compromise. And that sounds very much in the spirit of Obama's call to "seek out common ground."

The other comment Obama referred to came from House Leader John Boeher in a radio interview with Sean Hannity on Oct. 27, 2010. It was made in the context of the health care bill, in response to retiring Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) saying it wouldn't be a good idea to repeal the bill. "This is not a time for compromise," Boehner said. "...We're going to do everything -- and I mean everything -- we can do, to kill it, stop it, slow it down." We think Obama's comment leaves the impression Boehner's "not a time for compromise" statement was more general in nature -- as opposed to being specifically targeted at the health care bill.

As for McConnell's comment "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president," that sounds an awful lot like Obama's summation that "his main goal after this election is simply to win the next one." But while McConnell said it, Obama left out an important detail -- that McConnell also said in the same interview that he is willing to meet the president halfway. That leads us to a ruling of Half True.

 

[Yowpuggy]

Do you have his quote and when he said it?

The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.

-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, quoted in National Journal, November 4, 2010

Their story line is that there must be some villain out there who’s keeping this administration from succeeding.

-McConnell, appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," October 23, 2011

I wasn't that shocked by McConnell's original statement. Heck, I even appreciated the candor. But if you're going to make the president's failure your top goal -- and if you're going to brag about it -- you really can't get upset when the president blames you for it.

 

[muttly]

The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.

-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, quoted in National Journal, November 4, 2010

Their story line is that there must be some villain out there who’s keeping this administration from succeeding.

-McConnell, appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," October 23, 2011

I wasn't that shocked by McConnell's original statement. Heck, I even appreciated the candor. But if you're going to make the president's failure your top goal -- and if you're going to brag about it -- you really can't get upset when the president blames you for it.

See previous post for context .

 

[muttly]

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2...r-fraud-doj-sues-state-to-stop-purging-rolls/

 

[LDB]

Wanting him to be one term isn't wanting him to fail, other than to fail to be re-elected. More of the left misquoting and relabeling things.

 

[Turtle]

Imagine that. One political party having a goal of the other political party's president going just one term. I'm shocked.

 

[aristotle]

Rand Paul isn't much of a conservative. At heart, he is a libertarian like his Dad. This is a politically fatal flaw for Rand. He moves in more directions than a whirling dervish riding a beehive. Just like his dad, he has a small cult following among impressionable young college students. Carrying the Paul surname and legacy is an unfortunate albatross in GOP politics.

Neither Rand Paul nor Marco Rubio will be President. Alienating social conservatives, the Religious Right and vast numbers of traditional values voters stops any real hope of securing the GOP nomination. Evangelical Christians are a driving force in GOP primaries. Maybe Rand Paul will go 3rd party as a libertarian.

 

[Yowpuggy]

Wanting him to be one term isn't wanting him to fail, other than to fail to be re-elected. More of the left misquoting and relabeling things.

By trying to achieve that they became a "do nothing congress"

 

[aristotle]

Yowpuggy, you do understand that President Obama will veto pretty much every piece of legislation passed by the Republican controlled Congress? The Congress won't entertain Obama's ideas and Obama vetoes theirs. Stalemate.

 

[Yowpuggy]

Yowpuggy, you do understand that President Obama will veto pretty much every piece of legislation passed by the Republican controlled Congress? The Congress won't entertain Obama's ideas and Obama vetoes theirs. Stalemate.

http://www.senate.gov/reference/Legislation/Vetoes/vetoCounts.htm

 

[muttly]

Yowpuggy, you do understand that President Obama will veto pretty much every piece of legislation passed by the Republican controlled Congress? The Congress won't entertain Obama's ideas and Obama vetoes theirs. Stalemate.

Yep, except for what is being done by the 'act alone' President.

 

[Yowpuggy]

http://www.senate.gov/reference/Legislation/Vetoes/vetoCounts.htm

Only 4

 

[Yowpuggy]

He had to act alone because they refuse to work with him

 

[xiggi]

He had to act alone because they refuse to work with him

Right after all Harry reed didn't block any house bills from being voted on.

 

[LDB]

He had to act alone because they refuse to work with him

So that's a one way street and a one sided coin? "They" refuse to work with "him". I supposed he's doing everything possible to work with them though. And it's all their fault and not at all his fault.

 

[Yowpuggy]

This has bend over backwards to work with Republicans, even his party was furious with him because of it.

 

[aristotle]

He had to act alone because they refuse to work with him

Are you expecting the Republicans in Congress to work with Obama to implement a Socialist-Marxist agenda? Has Obama had even one good idea while in office? Obama isn't an ordinary run-of-the-mill Democrat. He is a full-on socialist who used the Democrat party the way Bill Clinton used women. We should all pray the Democrats return to their senses and nominate a reasonable person. For starters, nominate someone who loves this country.

 

[Yowpuggy]

RUSH LIMBAUGH: I also think, folks, I that there will be dramatic changes once we… Let me just put it this way. The fact that we are living in the historic era with the first African-American president has everybody paralyzed and everybody scared.

 

[Yowpuggy]

Are you expecting the Republicans in Congress to work with Obama to implement a Socialist-Marxist agenda? Has Obama had even one good idea while in office? Obama isn't an ordinary run-of-the-mill Democrat. He is a full-on socialist who used the Democrat party the way Bill Clinton used women. We should all pray the Democrats return to their senses and nominate a reasonable person. For starters, nominate someone who loves this country.

1. Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending
2. Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices
3. Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women
4. Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq
5. Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB
6 Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information
7. Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier’s family
8. The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act
9. Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible
10. Limits on lobbyist’s access to the White House
11. Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration
12. Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date
13. Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren’t even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan
14. Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research
15. Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research
16. New federal funding for science and research labs
17. States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards
18. Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect
19. Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools
20. New funds for school construction
21 The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out
22. US Auto industry rescue plan
23. Housing rescue plan
24. $789 billion economic stimulus plan
25. The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying
26. US financial and banking rescue plan
27. The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed
28. Ended the previous policy; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with theGeneva Convention standards
29. Better body armor is now being provided to our troops
30. The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010
31. Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols
32. Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic
33. Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions
34. Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office
35. Successful release of US captain held bySomali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job
36. US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast
37. Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles
38. Cash for clunkers program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulated auto sales
39. Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government
40. Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children
41. Signed national service legislation; expandednational youth service program
42. Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return home to visit loved ones
43. Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions
44. Expanding vaccination programs
45. Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters
46. Closed offshore tax safe havens
47. Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals
48. Ended the previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs; the new policy is to promote in-sourcing to bring jobs back
49.. Ended the previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it are new consumer protections from credit card industry’s predatory practices
50. Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources
51. Lower drug costs for seniors
52. Ended the previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings
53. Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel
54. Improved housing for military personnel
55. Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses
56. Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals
57 Increasing student loans
58. Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program
59. Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy
60. Established a new cyber security office
61. Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military 20 years after the Cold War to a more modern fighting force; this includes new procurement policies, increasing size of military, new technology and cyber units and operations, etc.
62. Ended previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts
63. Ordered a review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness
64. Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient
65. Students struggling to make college loan payments can have their loans refinanced
66. Improving benefits for veterans
67. Many more press conferences and town halls and much more media access than previous administration
68. Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud
69. The FDA is now regulating tobacco
70. Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules
71. Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports
72. Authorized discussions with North Korea and private mission by Pres. Bill Clinton to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons
73. Authorized discussions with Myanmar and mission by Sen. Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive
74. Making more loans available to small businesses
75. Established independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare
76. Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court
77. Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans
78. Limited salaries of senior White House aides; cut to $100,000
79. Renewed loan guarantees for Israel
80. Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan
81. Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan
82. New Afghan War policy that limits aerial bombing and prioritizes aid, development of infrastructure, diplomacy, and good government practices by Afghans
83. Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production
84. Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters
85. Paid for redecoration of White House living quarters out of his own pocket
86. Held first Seder in White House
87. Attempting to reform the nation’s healthcare system which is the most expensive in the world yet leaves almost 50 million without health insurance and millions more under insured
88. Has put the ball in play for comprehensive immigration reform
89. Has announced his intention to push for energy reform
90. Has announced his intention to push for education reform

Oh, and he built a swing set for the girls outside the Oval Office.

Did I mention he passed health care reform ?

There are policies that many of us disagree with or wish he would improve or facilitate more quickly, but come on, this is a pretty sweet list.

 

[aristotle]

Having the Democratic talking points on speed-dial doesn't fool anyone. If the Republican House of Representatives had a spine, articles of impeachment would have been introduced in Obama's first term. Obama's time in office is drawing to a close. Since the Democrats have a strong chance of retaining the White House, let's hope they field several good candidates and give each a fair hearing.