Obama: "I Don't Rattle," I'm Skinny But Tough

MIAMI — President Barack Obama says he's serious about closing the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

That was the pledge he repeated Monday night at a congressional fundraiser in Miami.

Obama said: "We are going to close Guantanamo. We are serious about this."

The president, however, did not repeat the January 2010 deadline he originally set for shutting down Guantanamo.

Obama also addressed criticism, saying he could take it.

"I've tried to explain ... just because I'm skinny doesn't mean I'm not tough. I don't rattle. I'm not going to shrink back, because now is the time for us to continue to push and follow through on those things that we know have to be done but have not been done in decades," he said.

Obama listed some achievements of his administration so far, including lifting the federal stem cell research ban, signing equal pay legislation, banning housing fraud, toughening credit card regulations and coming closer than ever to health care reform.

Abroad, Obama said he had put the United States on a path to getting U.S. troops out of Iraq and is working on a new strategy for Afghanistan.

"Here's my main message to you. We're just getting started," he said. He urged supporters to stand strong.

"When we started off," he said, "we didn't think, Boy, this was going to be a cakewalk, getting a guy named Barack Hussein Obama elected president."

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Comments

[masher]

GO OBAMA!! He doesn't shrink back from giving Wall Street everything they want while ignoring fraud in federal regulations of the US labor market! Yeah!

Obama is destroying my industry with H-1B regulations. Yes, he is tough...on the middle class.

[lmvd3]

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln

Just a friendly reminder..­.President Obama is a man of great character and integrity--the type of president that comes along once in a century. What a difference a year makes.

[janiceh]

I'm not impressed with Obama's position on critical issues thus far. I think overall he means well. My guess is that the corruption and lobbying in Washington is overwhelming him right now. If he had been voted in office without corporate or PAC money, my guess is we would see a totally different side of Obama. Every issue I see in Washington underscores the desperate need of campaign finance reform. Since the Green candidates are the only ones who usually refuse corporate or PAC money, they will be the only ones to lead us back on the right path. Democrats and Republicans are both bought and paid for by the lobbyists.

[taquinas]

There must be some way to identify these Green candidates. The candidates who puts Earth and welfare of our future generations first, republican ideologies last no where on the spectrum.

[janiceh]

http://www.gp.org/candidates/index.php

[imb4me]

President Obama has been in office all of 10 months. Change does come over night. This country gave bush 8 years to run it into the ground, let president Obama lead. Did anyone listen to his speech the night he won the presidency? He said it is going to take more than one term to get us out of this mess. He didn't start the war, he didn't run the economy in the ground, and he didn't declare war on the middle class. So give him a chance to clean up this mess that the Bush administration left him!!! It's only been 10 months, he is not a miracle worker, geesh!!!!

[gettingitright]

Yes, everybody take a deep breath. Let's see what he's accomplished at the end of a full year. As people have said before, waiting for the substantive change to manifest is akin to sausage making. It may not be pretty, but the end product should be satisfactory.

Restrictions on stem cell research have been relaxed. We have the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. He was decisive when dealing with the Somali pirates. We would not even be having a conversation about health care reform if McCain was the POTUS.

These are just a few things we can be grateful for. We have already received dividends from our support, vote and monetary contributions. We need to be more "big picture" in our premature analysis.

[QuanticoCat]

We don't expect miracles. Just a little focus, and some real movement in the right direction. Less talk.

[mypov123]

Exactly.

[taquinas]

Talk is to fight the neocon lies of Fox Spews.

[jpaultel]

Focus? I wonder what that means. The President can walk and chew gum. I do not think he lacks focus. He can talk health care and fight the two wars that you neocon hawks left him.

[masher]

He has spent all his time giving Wall Street every type of bailout possible. Its not just TARP, its also PPIP. Tim Geithner, President Obama's Treasury Sec. has used the FDIC loan Wall Street interest free money. The FDIC is nearly bankrupt now. The total amount of the bailouts is between $4-14 trillion depending on who you ask (Krugman and other progressives, these are people who supported Obama).

So he did all that for Wall Street. Fine. But why hasn't he just ended federal regulations that work against working families? In my industry we have the federal government directly interfering with labor. Obama could end this regulation. There is bipartisan support. But he won't. The only group that favors H-1B type regulation are huge multi-national corporations.

Again and again with Obama we see a pattern. If large corporations favor it then Obama favors it. It doesn't matter how much it hurts American families Obama won't fight!

[jpaultel]

Without his efforts, by now you will be in chains being dragged around in Tianamen Square by you real owners. He stepped in and acted like a leader. So, hush!

[amaboss52]

So far Pres. Obama has done more in 10 months than Bush did in 8 years. For those tro//s on here beeshing and moaning, go post on Fox Noise where they'll appreciate your narrow minded and ignorant grasp of the way Washington has always worked. At least Obama is doing things for us and not against us, can any of you trolly rethugs make the same claim about any of the last 3 rethug presidents? I think Bush did two good things for us in 8 years, wow what a record of service to the People of the United States.

[CapitolHill2012]

So far Obama has spent 10 months imitating GW Bush.

Keep the change.

[lmvd3]

Spoken like a true trol-lop; I mean tro-ll.

[taquinas]

We dems believe in evolution, which doesn't happen over night. Evolution is 'Change'.
Starting a war is easy, but saving face and walking away from it is hard.

[masher]

Yes. Obama has done far more for Wall Street, GM, and Chrysler than Bush did.

Bush gutted the worker protections in visa regulations but unemployment wasn't a huge issue.
Under Obama, even with terrible unemployment, he won't do anything to end these anti-worker regulations like H-1B.

Sure, Bush was a disaster. But only under Obama are we seeing a President with double digit unemployment who is unwilling to end anti-worker regulations.

And I don't think Bush would have bailed out GM. Bailing out GM was a disaster. That $55 billion Obama handed over to GM is helping GM build more plants in China. And GM will soon, 2012, start to import those cars into the US and close more plants in the US. Its just sick what Obama did.

[Duppy]

Very fickle electorate. This country deserves George Bush. This is the reason why we end up in this financial mess. Everyone wants instant gratification. Give Obama a break. You gave George Bush 8 years !

[ywcachieve]

I co-sign what you said.

It is pathetic how the bashing of President Obama started on January 21, 2009.

Bush was not treated this way.

[Tiger99]

He was by me... I bashed that bast*rd from day one of his announcement to run...

[masher]

I was bashing Bush from day one. I just hoped Powell would keep him from starting a bunch of wars.

Obama had a short window of opportunity to make changes. That window is closed. He failed. By bailing out the banks so intensely Obama has made reform impossible. That is a huge failure.

Obama has kept in place all the anti-worker regulations of the Bush years. So jobs are not coming back because of that. We have regulations like H-1B which are hurting my industry. So Obama is directly driving wages down for my family.

The window is closed. The 2010 mid-terms will take over the agenda. And then 2012 will start. We have two wars which eat up all the rest of the agenda.

So Obama has failed.

[QuanticoCat]

"Bush was not treated this way."

Seriously? Bush was crucified daily from the very beginning. Deservedly, I will admit.

[esalter]

We are. I too used to beleive in the "Backpeddler in Chief". The way things are looking he's go just on term, hope he does something other than escalate wars.

[marignymitch]

Prove it, Obama, you coward.

[Housewife]

Given the extremists view of Obama and their ill wishes for him, I would hardly call him a coward. We all know what happened to the Kennedy's and Martin Luther King. It takes guts to take the public stage with the amount of ill will directed at him every day. Disagree with his policies, but never call him a coward.

[ywcachieve]

well said, Housewife

[masher]

Yes, he is a tiger for Wall Street and GM bailouts.

[ywcachieve]

marignymit­ch...Nothi­ng about President Obama says coward, just the opposite.

You are just looking in the mirror.

[lmvd3]

How cowardly of you to post that on an anonymous blog.

[JayMaeBee]

Democrats better VOTE in the midterms! Keep the ball rolling. Do NOT let the Republican DO NOTHINGS gain any ground. We have sunk low enough the past eight years.

[CapitolHill2012]

What's your advice for President Barack Do Nothing?

[taquinas]

I hope he does nothing to gain your favor. The policies you support by the way is what brought us to this financial mess in the first place. Where are your republicant heroes fighting poverty?

[wallyman]

Alexrod told Barack that it's Ok to take the bullet out of his shirt pocket and put it in his gun.

[morven]

wallyman, I saw you in "Deliverance"

[QuanticoCat]

Four more wasted years.

[yankee222]

Tragic. True.

[lmvd3]

Losers, the both of you.

[Rescisco]

I am with the President and wish him well. But I would remind him that "shrinking back" can happen when compromise becomes a way of life and "leadership" is eschewed lest people who never supported you in the first place become too angry. The middle ground and the compromise choice always look good to the politically meek or the terminally logical but it simply puts you in the middle of nowhere with your principles surrendered. LEAD!!!

[masher]

So do you work for Goldman Sachs or AIG? I'm sure you Wall Streeters love Obama. GM loves him.

But us working folks? Not so much. Obama is keeping all of the worst of the Bush year anti-worker regulations in place. And in a deep recession they are hurting.

But sure, Obama using the government to drive down wages is good for profits for corporations. Maybe you love that. I don't know.

[MrBadger]

If Obama demonstrates that he is indeed "tough" then some of us who supported him (and still do) will sigh in relief and say "OK, this is the guy we voted for." My worry is that he'll never find the "right time" to demonstrate that toughness. I've been wrong about him before in his handling of Hillary and McCain. So I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt - for a while longer. But at some point this "toughness" needs to be a demonstrated fact and not a mere claim. Still waiting.

[Brettster]

As a big supporter, I have to say... ENOUGH TALK. You have shrunk back from nearly every big issue so far, from financial reforms, attaching any strings to the bailouts, and now the public option. You have inched in a better direction, and your approach to leadership and fact finding is admirable, but that is not enough if you're not willing to be strong and out front on the big issues, following through with bold action.

[Mystic01]

It sounds like Obama is replying to the babbling pundits who were wondering a few weeks ago if he was "tough enough."

[hippieforlife]

Our federal government has been spending out of control for longer that the Bush admin. He just grew the spending more. Now, spending seems all the DC is able to do. The current health care issue is just another example of huge government spending.

You can just about guarantee if the WH says health care reform will cost 1 trillion, that in the long run it will cost 5 or 10 times that amount.

My complaint is not about the man currently living in the WH. I wish that Obama had taken a longer time to really study the health care issue. From the way congress is handling this it does not appear that they have any really good ideas, either. The current approach to this problem seems more like a shotgun approach. Fire and see what you hit. Reform is necessary but it should be a well though out reform, not for political gain.

In looking back on some of the government programs, one can see they are not cost "neutral". They are all in the red and will need more of our tax dollars to keep going. The Frannie & Freddie fiasco could have been avoided if congress had taken action when a problem appeared.

[BeVeryAfraid]

I believe we have been having this argument about health care reform for a very long time. They should have been ready.

[holeybuybull]

Simple solution. Gut the Pentagon budget.

[gparks]

So you preferr a canniblistic, preditory, free market monopoly that excludes millions of Americans, bankrupty millions more, allows 45,000+ to die per year and TREATS every American citizen as a commodity while "earning" billions in profit for a few CEO's and stockholders? unmmmmmm I bet you thought "the surge" worked? That Iraq was a "threat" to the US ... that "Mission Accomplished" happened for "real" ... that the deaths of over 4,000 soldiers in Iraq was for "freedom and democracy". Gov't and its programs are why YOU have Postal Service, SS, Medicare, umemployment, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, NASA, Congress, Senate, the Public air waves, etc. You LOVE America ... but hate its citizens? Oh, just what is political gain .... could it also be ... "accomplishing" the "will" of the People! Oh yea, that would be Gov't and those tax dollars are what support it.