Obama calls for tax hikes, chides GOP foes
Begins Midwest bus tour with ‘country first’ message
By Dave Boyer
The Washington Times
Monday, August 15, 2011
CANNON FALLS, Minn. — President Obama launched a Midwestern bus tour devoted to the economy Monday by again calling for tax increases and accusing Republicans who oppose his plans of failing to put the "country first."
"You've got to send a message to Washington that it's time for the games to stop," Mr. Obama told a crowd of about 500 at a campaign-style event in a sun-splashed park. "It's time to put country first."
The president referred to the "debt debacle" that he just concluded with congressional Republicans, calling out Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, by name for resisting the president's efforts to raise taxes as part of a proposal to cut the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years.
"I put a deal before the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, that would have solved this problem," Mr. Obama said. "And he walked away. His belief was we can't ask anything of millionaires and billionaires and big corporations. Think about that. I mean, that's just not common sense,"
Mr. Obama, freed from the contentious debt negotiations in Washington that lasted most of the summer, is using the trip as an opportunity to portray himself to middle America as an independent voice fighting against partisan interests to create jobs.
Nearby in this town of 4,000, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus spoke at a rally where about 150 Republicans gathered ahead of Mr. Obama's scheduled event.
"We're ready to fight and we're here to take back our country," Mr. Priebus told the crowd, announcing plans for an "Obama's Debt-end Bus Tour" in response to Mr. Obama's trip.
Mr. Priebus said Republicans will appear at each of Mr. Obama's stops. He said the president has only made the economy worse.
"We're here because we're worried and we're concerned about the future of our country," he said. "We are in a battle for freedom in this country. … A country that has to surrender its sovereignty to its bondholders can't guarantee prosperity or freedom to anybody."
White House spokesman Jay Carney replied, "We're here to talk to the people of Cannon Falls about the economy. That's what presidents do."
Taxpayers are funding the three-day presidential trip, but the first event had many of the appearances of a campaign rally in this swing state.
About 500 supporters greeted the president in a park, with Mr. Obama standing in front of a made-for-TV backdrop of the sparkling Cannon River, with red-white-and-blue bunting and an enormous American flag. The president stood among supporters seated at picnic tables adorned with blue tablecloths.
Mr. Obama is riding in a customized armored bus that, according to a pool reporter traveling with him, has windows "so dark (except for those next to the driver) that it does not appear to have any windows at all."
The Secret Service has introduced a pair of the buses, at a cost of $1.1 million each, that will be used by presidential candidates in 2012 and for official White House events.
Even a young girl in the crowd seemed perplexed about the president's choice of location, asking him in a question-and-answer session, "Why Cannon Falls?"
Mr. Obama said it was because he heard the town had the smartest and best-looking children.
The president also called for new spending, saying teachers are underpaid and Congress should authorize a job bank for construction work.
"In the short term, we should actually make more investments that will put people to work and get the economy moving," he said. "States are still going through a tough time. I personally believe one of the most effective ways that we could help the economy is making sure that we're not seeing more teacher layoffs. I'm going to be working with Congress and with state governments across the country to prevent that from happening."
For people like Debra Wood, 58, a retired factory worker and a Democrat, getting to see the president was "the biggest thing in my life." She waited 10 hours at town hall for tickets to the event, and brought her 3-year-old granddaughter.
"He's doing the best he can," she said of Mr. Obama.
Not everyone in the audience, however, was a fan of the president. Adam Nord, 31, a cook at a casino and a Republican, voted for Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, for president in 2008 and said he probably won't vote for Mr. Obama next year, either.
"Obama came in and blamed everything on Bush," Mr. Nord said, referring to former President George W. Bush. "Then he gave money to the bankers, too, just like Bush."
Asked how Mr. Obama should help the economy, Mr. Nord said the president should "backtrack on his health care."
"If you're a healthy person, I don't think you should be forced to buy health care," Mr. Nord said.
A spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican, called Mr. Obama's bus tour "heavy on rhetoric and light on jobs policy — the hallmark of the Obama Administration."
"With millions of Americans out of work and an unemployment rate at 9.1 percent, why isn't the President putting forward his new job proposals as promised?" said spokesman Brian Patrick.
Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, getting in his own jab at the president on his campaign website, dubbed Mr. Obama's Midwestern trip the "Magical Misery Tour."
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who chairs the White House Rural Council, said the bus tour is emphasizing the importance of economic recovery in rural America.
"The president is committed to making sure that every part of America participates in this recovery, particularly a place called rural America, a place where our values are rooted," Mr. Vilsack said.
The president moved on to northeastern Iowa later Monday for another town-hall meeting, and is expected to announce a new rural jobs initiative Tuesday in Iowa.
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LMAO - calling us traitors now? I hope he keeps it up.
Another thing - "country first"? ? Where did we hear that one before? ha ha ha ha! ! ! ! !
