Obama Calls Sequester ‘Dumb,’ Blames Uncooperative Republicans

Obama’s Remarks Go Missing in Embarrassing Moment of the Day

Jun 072013

Win McNamee/Getty Images(SAN JOSE, Calif.) — When President Obama stepped up to the podium Friday morning, the cameras were rolling, the stage was perfectly set and reporters were eagerly awaiting his remarks on health care. But something was missing.

“There’s only one problem, and that is that my remarks are not sitting here,” Obama said, as he looked at the barren podium. “People!

“By Friday afternoon, things can get a little challenged,” he quipped.

White House staffers frantically scanned the room and reporters chuckled as the president waited … and waited.

“People!” Obama shouted again.

A shaken staffer finally emerged with the remarks, tripping as he rushed onto the stage to deliver them to the president.

“Oh, goodness,” Obama said, smiling. “Folks are sweating back there right now.”

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Obama Golfs Ahead of WH Correspondents’ Dinner

Apr 272013

Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President Obama spent Saturday afternoon at the golf course, just a few hours before he is set to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner later in the evening.

The president golfed at Joint Base Andrews with former U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and White House aides Marvin Nicholson and Michael Brush.

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will attend the annual dinner held by the White House Correspondents Association at the Washington Hilton hotel Saturday evening where journalists, politicians and celebrities will have the chance to see the president’s comedic side in action alongside comedian Conan O’Brien, who is the guest entertainer for tonight’s soiree.

SNL Spoofs Senate’s Work On Gun Control

Apr 142013

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Days after the Senate cleared a significant hurdle in the debate on new gun measures, Saturday Night Live took aim at the Senate’s work on gun control in its cold open sketch last night, spoofing the Senate’s cloture vote on guns and the Manchin-Toomey background check deal reached this week.

“This week The Senate voted 68 to 31 to begin debating the idea of discussing gun control,” the President Obama character, who is played by Jay Pharaoh, said of the Senate’s cloture vote Thursday. “Let me say that again. They’ve agreed to think about talking about gun control.”

Obama then called on Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., played by Jason Sudeikis, and Pat Toomey, R-Penn., portrayed by Bill Hader, to join him on stage to tout the background check deal they brokered this week.

“These men risked everything for this bill,” he said. “I mean, Senator Manchin represents West Virginia and he’s proposing gun reform? He’s gonna lose his job. And Senator Toomey, this man is a Republican who is willing to make just the slightest compromise on gun control? He’s going to lose his job too.”

“If our bill passes, no individual can purchase a handgun from a private dealer without being asked, ‘Are you a good person?’ as well as the follow-up question, ‘Seriously, are you?’” the Toomey character said.

“Is this bill what we wanted? No,” the Manchin character said. “Is it what the NRA wanted? No. But does it at least help in some small way? No. Probably not.”

President Obama’s Weekly Address: Reducing Gun Violence

Mar 232013

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — In his weekly address, President Obama calls on Congress to pass “commonsense measures” to protect the nation’s children by reducing gun violence.

The president says in the three months since 20 innocent children and six dedicated adults were lost in the Newtown, Conn. tragedy, Americans “began asking ourselves if we’re really doing enough to protect our communities and keep our children safe.”

Those three months, he says, have forced the nation to answer difficult questions about what can be done to prevent the kinds of massacres that occurred in Newtown, Aurora and Oak Creek, and everyday tragedies that take place in cities and towns across America.

“Today there is still genuine disagreement among well-meaning people about what steps we should take to reduce the epidemic of gun violence in this country,” Obama says. “But you – the American people – have spoken. You’ve made it clear that it’s time to do something. And over the last few weeks, Senators here in Washington have listened and taken some big steps forward.”

Obama mentions actions the Senate has taken in an effort to make changes to reduce gun violence: advancing a bill to make it harder for criminals and people with severe mental illness to obtain guns; making progress on another bill to crack down on any gun buyer who intends to funnel it to criminals; and reinstating and strengthening a military-style assault weapons ban as well as setting a 10-round limit for magazines.

“These ideas shouldn’t be controversial – they’re common sense. They’re supported by a majority of the American people. And I urge the Senate and the House to give each of them a vote,” he says.

Obama Calls Sequester ‘Dumb,’ Blames Uncooperative Republicans

Mar 012013

ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Dumb, inexcusable and unnecessary. Just a few of the adjectives President Obama used to describe the $85 billion in spending cuts that will kick-in Friday after a last ditch effort to broker a compromise with congressional leaders failed.

In a hastily announced appearance in the White House briefing room, a deflated Obama insisted he’s done everything in his power to avert the across-the-board sequester cuts and put the majority of the blame on Republicans.

“I can make the best possible argument. And I can offer concessions and I can offer compromise. I can negotiate. I can make sure that my party is willing to compromise and is not being ideological or thinking about these just in terms of political terms. And I think I’ve done that, and I will continue to do that,” he said. “But what I can’t do is force Congress to do the right thing.”

“I am not a dictator, I’m the president,” he added.

“I’ve put forward a plan that calls for serious spending cuts, serious entitlement reforms, goes right at the problem that is at the heart of our long-term deficit problem. I’ve offered negotiations around that kind of balanced approach,” explained Obama. “And so far we’ve gotten rebuffed because what Speaker Boehner and the Republicans have said is, we cannot do any revenue; we can’t do a dime’s worth of revenue.”

The president also continued to soften his warning. While insisting the “pain” will be real, he admitted “not everybody is going to feel it. Not everybody’s going to feel it all at once.”

“This is not going to be an apocalypse, I think as some people have said. It’s just dumb. And it’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt individual people, and it’s going to hurt the economy overall,” he concluded.

Officials have said the spending reductions immediately take effect Saturday but that the pain from reduced government services and furloughs of tens of thousands of federal employees would be felt gradually in the weeks ahead.

During the announcement Obama also lamented his lack of Jedi powers, saying that he couldn’t “do a Jedi mind meld” with Republicans to “convince them to do what’s right.” Twitter was quick to note the president’s minor gaffe — mixing up Star Wars’ “Jedi mind trick” with Star Trek’s “Vulcan mind meld.”

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