President Barack Obama plans an appearance Thursday in Jacksonville to talk about economic issues, and the Republican Party of Florida has already launched a counter-attack.
Obama is scheduled to deliver remarks at the Jacksonville Port Authority that “lay out his vision for rebuilding an economy that puts the middle class and those fighting to join it front and center,” according to the White House on Monday.
The speech is part of a series Obama will deliver on the economy in coming days as he seeks to take back the initiative on the issue.
“I just finished reading the draft of a speech the President plans to deliver on Wednesday, and I want to explain why it’s one worth checking out,” Dan Pfeiffer, senior adviser to the president, wrote on the White House blog Monday. “Eight years ago, not long after he was elected to the United States Senate, President Obama went to Knox College in his home state of Illinois where he laid out his economic vision for the country. [See clips below.] It’s a vision that says America is strongest when everybody’s got a shot at opportunity – not when our economy is winner-take-all, but when we’re all in this together.
“Revisiting that speech, it’s clear that it sowed the seeds of a consistent vision for the middle class he’s followed ever since. It’s a vision he carried through his first campaign in 2008, it’s a vision he carried through speeches like the one he gave at Georgetown University shortly after taking office that imagined a new foundation for our economy and one in Osawatomie, Kansas on economic inequality in 2011 — and it’s a vision he carried through his last campaign in 2012. All of these speeches – Knox College, Georgetown, Osawatomie – make clear that since day one, the President has had one clear economic philosophy: The American economy works best when it grows from the middle-out, not the top down.”
The state Republican Party sent out an email the same day declaring it would compare the economic records of Obama and Republican Gov. Rick Scott.
“Yesterday, Dan Pfeiffer sent out a blast email attempting to explain why the president is embarking on yet another pivot-back-to-the-economy tour. Quite unbelievably, he actually stated ‘the president thinks Washington has largely taken its eye off the ball on the most important issue facing the country,’ ” wrote RPOF Press Secretary Susan Hepworth in the email. “Thanks for stating the obvious — we, too, have noticed the president’s lack of leadership on the economy.”–FlaglerLive and the News Service of Florida
Prescient33 says
Let’s see: Is it possible that the fact the IRS scandal has been laid at the feet of one of his two top political appointees to that agency, or that Obamacare is unraveling before our eyes exposing the boondoggle it has been all along, or the Benghazi coverup exposed his feckless mideast policies, or that gasoline prices are heading straight up while he dithers about Keystone, to name just some of the immediate problems that beset his regime, that motivated him to fall back on one of the tried and true method of ignoring such things and concentrate the attention of the proletariat upon the “economy” with smooth sounding platitudes, resurrection of tried and failed policies, etc., so no one looks behind his curtain? He’s the proverbial Latin lover; full of promise but no delivery except failure.
Magnolia says
He’s playing politics. I can’t feed my family on politics.
Floridians have believed him for 5 years and he’s done nothing for us. Nothing. One quarter of the Nation’s homeless families are living in cheap motels in Florida. Have you heard our President or Senators say anything about that? Maybe if he stayed home and actually worked, we might have jobs?
Scott is the one bringing in the jobs here, not Obama. Obama is the one who has killed the middle class.
More speeches and hot air. I’m sick of it.
Honesty and Integrity are not in the Democrats vocabulary says
And why can’t this idiot boycott Florida too?
elaygee says
Given a choice between Gov. Darth Vader Scott and President Obama, I’ll take the President any day.
fruitcake says
Why another road show…what does it cost to fly air force one around the country all the time?
Sherry Epley says
Geeeez. . . President Obama and Dan Pfeiffer were referring to the paralysis in CONGRESS (as Washington) on the economy.
This (more complete version) from a Tampa news outlet:
Obama believes Washington “has taken its eye off the ball on the most important issue facing the country,” said White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer in an email Sunday. The president will “lay out his vision for rebuilding an economy that puts the middle class and those fighting to join it front and center,” he said.
Pfeiffer bashed the infighting that has paralyzed progress in Congress saying, “instead of talking about how to help the middle class, too many in Congress are trying to score political points, refight old battles and trump up phony scandals.”
Sherry Epley says
Some actual facts on homelessness. . . this from HUD in 2012:
Five states accounted for
nearly half of the nation’s total
homeless population: California
(20.7 percent), New York (11.0
percent), Florida (8.7 percent),
Texas (5.4 percent), and
Georgia (3.2 percent).
Some states had high proportions
of persons in families in
unsheltered locations. The five
states with the highest rates of
unsheltered persons in families
were: Wyoming (64.2 percent),
Colorado (62.2 percent), Florida
(61.8 percent), Oregon (49.5
percent), and Arkansas (47.7 percent)
While Florida does have about 8.7% of the homeless in the USA. We only have shelters for 61.8%, and therefore many live in cheap motels. . . our current STATE government should be ashamed for their lack of humanity. Scott and his kind need to go!
Dave Shampine says
The economy will never get better unless we come to grips with the fact that our jobs are being exported to other countries. GM builds another plant in China —> Detroit is filing for bankruptcy. Hummm… could there be any connections there????
All of our trade agreements and treaties with other countries need to be scrutinized with a magnifying glass. If they are found to be detrimental, in any way, to the stabilization or creation of jobs in this country they need to be scrapped!!
We need to use import tariffs to level the unbelievably lopsided import/export policy currently in place. While other Governments take advantage of cheap labor and little or no environmental or human rights considerations; we bury our manufacturers (those that are left) in Government mandates that force them to look elsewhere on the globe to manufacture their products. Need to wake up here folks.
If Obama, or any other Presidents, wants to advance our economy they better start focusing on building and/or rebuilding the manufacturing base in this country. This means not just the structures, machines, and technology, but the Government’s national and international policy that will promote manufacturing in the US.
This is real simple: NO MANUFACTURING –> NO JOBS!!!! We can send our children to college to become scientists, engineers and a myriad of other technical occupations, but where do we expect them to work? I wonder what the employment percentage for college grads were when we were a manufacturing giant and I wonder what it is now. How can we expect our children to compete in this world when we allow other countries to take that ability away – with our blessing!!
If you want to improve the economy Mr. Obama, it’s all about MANUFACTURING, MANUFACTURING, MANUFACTURING, MANUFACTURING, MANUFACTURING!!!!
Karma says
Someone may want do a little history on Detroit politics and compare it to Berry’s agenda.
A.S.F. says
While we can boycott stores that sell the cheap goods that flood the floors of giant retailers like Walmart, I do not see that the lines at the check-out counters there are any less long. It is a conundrum that we need to economize but find it hard to do so without compromising our values. I know that many blame the unions for many of these problems but that is too easy an answer. We do not want to let employers take advantage of their workers in the sole interests of their bottom line, using Ayn Rand rhetoric as an excuse. Greed is, unfortunately, not going to go away any time soon. There must be some kind of balance we can achieve to protect the interests of companies, workers and the public as a whole. This balance will not be achieved without hard work and sacrifice on all our parts. We can put pressure on other countries to conform to human rights standards but we cannot force them to. We can only use the power of our dollar–That will have an effect. Boycotting products from sweat slave countries is not only morally correct, it is economically sound practice in the long run. It will force us to take a closer look at ourselves so we can become the productive, yet compassionate, society we were meant to be.
Magnolia says
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358670n
The Hardtimes Generation, 60 Minutes.
What would you suggest we do, Sherry? How about we stop kicking people out of their homes? How many vacant homes doe we currently have? How many are camped in the woods? Does anybody know?
m&m says
He’s worthless. All show and no go..
Jim R. says
Giving a pass on environment, human rights, and slave wages in order to get manufacturing back to the US is not going to improve life for those in poverty or the unemployed.
We need Tariffs on any goods coming into this country from places that use such practices, with the proceeds going to subsidize American companies that treat the environment with respect and provide employees with a living wage .
Obama will make some pretty speeches, but he will sign off on the Keystone Pipeline and will soon be telling us how great the TPP is going to be for the economy. BS is BS and Obama is full of it.
Sherry Epley says
OOPS! I got it wrong. . . 61.8% of the homeless are UN sheltered in our state. . . humans inhumanity!
boomer says
I’ve been saying that same things for years, America was built on manufacturing…we need it back so we can rebuild once again…then we throw congress in prison for selling out our country….
A.S.F. says
Blaming one man for the past, present and future problems that our country faces is a cop-out. It’s the easy way out of thinking really hard about things that you find personally distasteful. Scape-goating is nothing new but, applied to a President of color, it is irresistible to some people and seems to make them positively gleeful. It is shameful to hear these people rooting for our President to fail. Our economy has been a challenge for ALL Presidents, past and present, Republican and Democrat. That’s the truth. Stop pretending that it isn’t and let’s concentrate on solutions that won’t necessarily require another election.
Sherry Epley says
Right On ASF!
The kernal of the problem is that our planet now has a global workforce, and because of the cost of living in the USA, our workers are not competitive in price. For example, the internet now allows employers in the USA to pay much below our minimum wage to contractors in 3rd world countries (with a much lower cost of living) to provide services. . .such as customer service call centers.
In addition, with improvement in the costs of shipping, manufacturing is much the same way. Companies have much lower costs and make much more profit by having most of our goods created in “sweat shops”, primarily in Asian countries. In addition to not paying our minimum wages, American companies also are not required to pay their employer’s share of payroll taxes, health insurance and any other benefit that would be required if their products were manufactured by US workers. Therefore, job opportunities for American workers are negatively impacted on a MASSIVE scale.
We are experiencing the “down side” of Capitalism. Free Enterprise can put the “profit” motive above everything else. American greed is taking its toll. Every time we “shop” for the cheapest of everything, we are impacting an American job. The dilemma is that since this has been rapidly creeping up on us for at least 15 years, many families must buy everything at the cheapest price possible just to survive. . . because their jobs were lost, or wages decreased years ago.
While I certainly don’t know how to solve this world wide problem of the imbalance caused by the collision of first and third world labor forces and the “costs of living”, I do know that President Obama did not personally create this terrible situation. Also, since we have a capitalistic economy, President Obama does not control how or where private enterprises hire their employees.
President Obama can encourage the creation federal “government” jobs. . . but NO, the conservatives don’t want that!
President Obama can encourage trade negotiations that favor workers in the USA. . . but NO, that is federal “government” over reach!
It’s just so easy to blame President Obama, isn’t it? Why not start using a critical eye to examine the decisions of the CEOs/Managers/Owners of private companies who are selling the lives of families and the future of our country down the river, while they are pocketing record profits! NO? It’s just so much easier to blame EVERYTHING on President Obama!
Magnolia says
@Sherry: This president doesn’t work with Congress. These failing policies are his, despite what we all think of our worthless Congress.
Jim R. says
It’s not just Obama it’s the entire political class in D.C What should we expect from the millionaires that run our govt, do they relate to the poor or unemployed, no, they are busy making sure they get reelected and that means doing the bidding of their corporate masters. Being a congressperson means a great salary with lots of perks, insider trading tips, free travel and healthcare. They will not give that up just to help the poor and unemployed.
Obama’s speech focused on the middle class instead of the millions on food stamps and the unemployed , and those that are underemployed working for slightly over minimum wage in places like Wal-Mart whose owners , the Walton family are worth 36 Billion each.
A country that spies on its citizens, has great wealth inequality and governs in secret can no longer be called a Democracy. An authoritarian police state, a Fascist state, a Plutocracy, any of those is closer to the reality of what we are than a Democracy.
Magnolia says
@ Boomer: Standing ovation for you! Congress in prison….I like that.
Geezer says
You summed it it up perfectly. I tip my hat to you.
RHWeir says
I’m a life long Democrat. Voted the straight Democratic ticket since 1970 when I turned 18. I voted for Obama twice. I wish there had been other options like Hillary but I think the Dems went with Obama because they knew he could win. As a member of the middle class, I feel that the man is not looking out for my best interests. As a white, heterosexual male, approaching senior status age wise, I know he is not looking out for me. The Act has hurt us financially and will hurt us more in 2014. I wish the man would have just stated regarding the recent verdict; A jury has spoken, I turned the results over to AG Holder, DOJ and the FBI and I have no further comment until they complete and announce their findings. But, no, the president personalized it! He’s supposed to be above that and be objective. It’s just not professional. He’s a lame duck. I hope we have better options in 2016.
A.S.F. says
Because “this idiot” you speak of is President of the United States and, the last time I looked, Florida was still part of the United States.
A.S.F. says
Probably about the same as it cost when it was carting around Republcan Presidents.
A.S.F. says
Prescient33–The IRS “scandal”, that was orchestrated by largely by REPUBLICANS, after some hasty reporting before all the facts were known, was found to have been monumentally distorted in hearings conducted by Darryl Issa who positively tripped over himself in his eagerness to smear the Obama administration and, thereby, promote himself. Obamacare has yet to come into full fruition so it’s a little early to say that it is a failure and disaster, isn’t it? What is supposed to happen to uninsured people whose emergency room visits you (and the rest of us) are ALREADY paying for? Gosh, I’m glad you weren’t around for the Great Depression, and Franklin Roosevelt’s efforts to rectify it, or his policies would never have been given a chance to work and our country may not have come out of it. Obama does NOT control gas prices. Where were you when Bush was giving all sorts of breaks to his friends and associates in the Oil industry? And “feckless mideast policies”–REALLY??? Who got us into the Iraqi War in the first place? It has been under Obama’s watch that the Al Queda leadership has been decimated. As far as Benghazi is concerned, I find it beyond shameful how many Republicans in Congress rushed forward in positive drooling Glee and pounced on that terrible tragedy as their long-awaited chance to make a political talking point against Obama. MANY people, unfortunately, took their eye off of THAT ball, Republicans included (especially the ones who voted down all financial comittments to make our embassies safe, thereby putting money before the lives of our public servants overseas.) Our economy has improved under Obama, so that point of your’s is moot as well. But keeping watching Fox News. Maybe they’ll make a point that actually has some merit to it someday.
Anonymous says
I say no more political parties. Cause they are having a party with our money. Lets stay out of everyone elses business on the planet and concentrate on the USA. Lets feed our hungry, educate our kids, provide health care, and lower our taxes. Spend money here to help Americans. Not the rest of the blood sucking, thankless
planet. Then we will be where we want to be free from want and cant afford country. Big cities will continue to meet thier demise and people here will become more and more disanchanted with each other. The people of this nation need to stand up united,against this constant waste and abuse of are hard earned money keep our taxes here to work for us not them.
Forest G says
I say no more political parties. Cause they are having a party with our money. Lets stay out of everyone elses business on the planet and concentrate on the USA. Lets feed our hungry, educate our kids, provide health care, and lower our taxes. Spend money here to help Americans. Not the rest of the blood sucking, thankless
planet. Then we will be where we want to be free from want and cant afford country. Big cities will continue to meet thier demise and people here will become more and more disanchanted with each other. The people of this nation need to stand up united,against this constant waste and abuse of are hard earned money keep our taxes here to work for us not them.
Sherry Epley says
Ahhhhhh! “US and THEM” again. . . and then I continue to hear that thre is no bigotry or discrimination in Florida. Huuuuummm!