“Often the best thing we can do is turn down the volume”.
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“How do we make technology work for us, and not against us – especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges like climate change?” he asked. “Meanwhile, we’ve cut our imports of foreign oil by almost 60 percent, and cut carbon pollution more than any other country on Earth”, said the President. He countered the negativity of Donald Trump, who promises to keep out Muslims and “Make America Great Again”, and Texas Sen.
The citizens commission also shifted the lines in a way that made more seats competitive, including those held by Democratic Reps.
And as some GOP candidates have called for barring religious groups from entering the country, he called on Americans to reject politics that target people because of race or religion. “Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise; or when even basic facts are contested, and we listen only to those who agree with us”. He called it a “lecture of his vision”, and countered Obama’s assertion that those – such as Young – who aren’t on board with climate change science will be left behind.
In his speech, Obama declared that he plans to agitate for change, including reducing the influence of money “so that a handful of families or hidden interests can’t bankroll our elections”.
Tonight as president Barack Obama framed it, change can be good or bad.
“I think we’ve got to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters and not the other way around”, he said before veering from his prepared remarks to add: “Let a bipartisan group do it”.
Trump, whom Obama did not mention by name in his speech, is leading the Republican field ahead of the November 8 election to pick the next president.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, an up-and-coming Republican who delivered her party’s response, did something unusual: She not only criticized the president but her own party. The president closed his speech with an exhortation to improve the deplorable quality of the political debate now. “I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa”. “We’ve protected an open internet, and taken bold new steps to get more students and low-income Americans online”, he said, an apparent reference to the FCC’s E-rate program to boost online access by schools and libraries. In broad strokes, he said he was looking to fix the “broken immigration system”, protect kids from gun violence and raise the minimum wage.
Sullivan said he is undecided on trade authority that Obama pushed in the speech, saying he is now meeting with administration officials and “going over that agreement with a fine tooth comb”.
He also sought to blunt arguments that America’s position in the world has become weaker.
The White House wants to portray Obama as setting the agenda, even on the campaign trail, with goals such as gun control that will reverberate past his time in office. Obama alluded to Biden’s own loss of his son to cancer this past year in tasking the vice-president to lead a new national effort to conquer the disease.
Cruz had called for carpet-bombing ISIS strongholds in Syria.
He painted the jihadists as “masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks, twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages”. Tipton said that Obama’s statement that “ISIL does not threaten our national existence” undermined the very real threat of terrorism.
In the final year of his presidency, Obama is determined to “accelerate the transition away from dirty energy”. “That may work as a TV sound bite, but it doesn’t pass muster on the world stage”.
But he didn’t react to Obama’s policy talk – almost all of which was at odds with Ryan’s priorities.
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“Our answer needs to be more than tough talk or calls to carpet-bomb civilians. During his previous year in the presidency, I urge President Obama to work with Congress, instead of against the people’s representatives, to create more opportunities for Americans everywhere”.
