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June 20, 2010 in Nation/World
Obama says GOP tough on jobless
Differences on deficit stall aid
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Saturday pinned blame on Republicans for making life harder for the unemployed and for those who could lose their jobs without new federal intervention. He did so even as he sought to distance himself from the “dreary and familiar politics” of Washington.
Capping a week in which the administration scored a victory – a $20 billion fund to be paid by BP for the victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill – Obama reserved his radio and Internet address to focus on the work that didn’t get done.
His main concern was the rejection of a bill in the Senate that would have provided more money for the long-term unemployed, aid for strapped state governments, and the renewal of popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals.
The broad economic bill failed Thursday when the 56-40 vote fell four shy of the total required to break the GOP filibuster. Republicans support many of the policies in the legislation but are demanding changes to shrink its toll on the deficit.
“Americans want us to show we’re serious about lowering the debt, so the president and his allies in Congress have a choice to make: They can either vote to reduce the deficit, or they can lock arms and dig an even deeper hole of debt,” said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
In his address, Obama also bemoaned the stalling of a separate measure that would lift a $75 million liability cap on economic damages for companies such as BP during disasters like the Gulf oil spill. The Senate is considering a bill to increase that cap to $10 billion.
© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Stocks plummet as outlook in Europe dims 
crikey on June 21 at 11:54 p.m.
This lying con-man is unable to look in the mirror and see what most of America now sees ~ that he’s drastically reduced the jobs for one reason ~ to make as many people dependent on big gov.’t as possible.
Where did all the stimulus and bailouts money go? To Democrat contributors, organizations (ACORN), and unions — including billions of dollars to save or create jobs of government employees across the country. It went to save GM and Chrysler so that their employees could keep paying union dues. It went to AIG so that Goldman Sachs could be bailed out (after giving nobama almost $1 million in contributions). A staggering $125 billion went to teachers (thereby protecting their union dues). All those public employees will vote loyally Democrat to protect their bloated salaries and pensions that are bankrupting America. The country goes broke, future generations face a bleak future, but nobama, the Democrat Party, government, and the unions grow more powerful. The ends justify the means.