Today at Carnegie Mellon, the President will talked about his "New Foundation." And, he repeatedly blasted Republican tactics and their failed policies. For example, there's this, from the transcript:
As November approaches, leaders in the other party will campaign furiously on the same economic argument they’ve been making for decades. Fortunately, we don’t have to look back too many years to see how it turns out. For much of the last ten years, we tried it their way. They gave tax cuts that weren’t paid for to millionaires who didn’t need them. They gutted regulations, and put industry insiders in charge of industry oversight. They shortchanged investments in clean energy and education; in research and technology. And despite all their current moralizing about the need to curb spending, this is the same crowd who took the record $237 billion surplus that President Clinton left them and turned it into a record $1.3 trillion deficit.Me, too. That's why I voted for Obama. I want to move forward. I want change. And, the GOPers do want to take us backwards -- on economic policy and social policy.
So we already know where their ideas led us. And now we have a choice as a nation. We can return to the failed economic policies of the past, or we can keep building a stronger future. We can go backward, or we can keep moving forward.
I don’t know about you, but I want to move forward.
Then, there's something else we haven't heard from Obama. He talked about actively seeking votes for the Senate energy bill:
The House of Representatives has already passed a comprehensive energy and climate bill, and there is currently a plan in the Senate – a plan that was developed with ideas from Democrats and Republicans – that would achieve the same goals. The votes may not be there right now, but I intend to find them in the coming months. I will make the case for a clean energy future wherever I can, and I will work with anyone from either party to get this done. But we will get this done. The next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century. We will not move back. America will move forward.Now, that sounds downright Presidential. And, it's counter to a lot of the rhetoric that has come from the White House over the past 18 months. We want a President who leads, not one who keeps saying Congress has to do it.
Let's hope this isn't just a one-time speech, but sets a new tone for the Obama Presidency.
If Obama wants to find the votes, I'd suggest a trip to Maine. He waited until after health care passed to visit that state. This time, he should go during the debate on the energy bill and challenge Snowe and Collins to side with the people of Maine over the oil industry.
