In the debate over this deal, we’re hearing the echoes of some of the same policies and mindset that failed us in the past.
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Yet even Obama has found that keeping the USA military out of conflict in Iraq and the violence-prone Mideast is easier said than done.
From Pittsburgh, Obama was hopping a quick flight to New York to tape one of Jon Stewart’s final episodes of the “The Daily Show”, where the Iran deal was once again likely to be a key topic of conversation.
The main focus of the speech, however, was the completion of a set of stronger rules to protect servicemen and women from predatory lending.
He also addressed persisting problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has been under intense scrutiny for more than a year over long waitlists and other shortcomings in the VA health system. Trump has yet to apologize to the many war veterans McCain said he had deeply offended.
The Commander-in-Chief will deliver an address to the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. John McCain not being a “real hero” for having been captured and imprisoned during the Vietnam War.
The administration has presented the negotiations with Iran as a choice between peacefully preventing a nuclear Iran and going to war with the Islamic Republic, but Obama appeared to take the argument a step further to question the credibility of his opponents.
The Iran deal is seen as a cornerstone of Obama’s foreign policy legacy, and the White House has been selling it at home since the historic agreement was reached last week in Vienna between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.
[On Iraq, President Obama is getting as much blame as George W. Bush]. It’s been criticized by some lenders and Republican lawmakers, who say it will have the unintended effect of cutting off access to loans for military members.
The new rules apply to more loans than the 2006 law, which targeted payday lending by capping interest rates on loans for $2,000 or less that had repayment terms of no more than three months.
The White House faces a tough sell of the deal in Congress. As he has done before, Obama touted American diplomacy. The White House said it made improvements to the proposal following public comments, but wouldn’t name any when asked.
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Lenders target military bases “disproportionately”, according to officials. Republicans have continued to work to repeal major portions of the law, but Obama served notice that he will “not accept any effort to roll back this law”.
