Obama: Republicans Don't Have 'A Single, Solitary New Idea' For Economic Recovery

ATLANTA — President Barack Obama says Republican leaders haven't come up with "a single, solitary new idea" to help the American people recover from the economic recession.

Speaking at a Democratic fundraiser, Obama said Republicans are simply hoping the public will forget that their policies are the same ones that led the country into the recession. Obama says voters have a choice in the November midterm elections between what he calls the failed policies of the past, or his administration's agenda, which Obama says has pulled the country back from the brink of a depression.

Obama is stepping up his fundraising efforts as the calendar ticks closer to the midterms. Monday's 200-person event was expected to bring in about $500,000 for the Democratic National Committee.

Comments

[Erdgeist]

10:34 AM on 08/05/2010

During the Bush decade it was turn the economy over to the Wall Street grifters and the loan sharks. As a result, the net job growth for this great Republican decade was ZERO (a). As long as Americans continue to support the Republican "barn burning" Party -- expect more ZEROS in the future -- also expect another Great Depression. It's coming.

(a) http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/07/the-u-s-economys-lost-decade/

[Jer1957]

04:56 AM on 08/05/2010

I agree--both the GOP and the president have no useful ideas--as both are committed to Wall Street Bailouts at all costs--and have rejected the successful approach of FDR.

Clinton 2012--is starting to sound pretty good.

[zerotimes10]

04:14 AM on 08/03/2010

Use that Bullie Pulpit! Drill it home baby. The Democrats are working for you. We have HOPE for America. America comes in dead last to the Republican Party. They have no ideas because they have no imagination and they care not one wit about the American people. What they primarliy care about is themselves and the 2% of the population that comprises their rich, greedy, self centered friends. They are useless and politically tone deaf.

[UpFromLiberalism]

04:05 AM on 08/03/2010

'new ideas' are not necessary

conservative economic game plan of controlling spending and lower income taxes works.

[research]

03:13 PM on 08/03/2010

conservatism's goals is to bankrupt the democracy so the plutocracy can buy it.

if cutting income taxes created jobs, than no income tax would create infinite jobs, right?

the USA became the powerful economic power in the world with 90% top income tax rates.

The Economy crashed both times this century that the top income tax went below 30%.

High personal income taxes dampen personal greed.

Automation and technology now leverage capital, to the effect of concentrating all the wealth in the top few hands.

The liberal founding father fighting against the conservative British monarchy, knew that a democracy needs educated safe citizens, not ignorant fearful serfs.

That';s why the were for free education for all, including the necessary room and board.

With vast overproduction, no citizens should go hungry, homeless, without education available, without health care.

Look to Germany, Sweden and Holland for how democracies can take care of people and outproduce the USA.

[Malaki33]

09:16 AM on 08/04/2010

AS the EU is on the brink of folding? your kidding right?

[G52]

10:45 PM on 08/03/2010

LMAO!

Yeah, you sure have proven that!

[Panasit Ch]

03:49 AM on 08/03/2010

Their idea seems to work pretty well. Not for their re-election effort. But for their core goal. "getting Obama to fail." So now they are against anything as long as Obama support it. Like how they call Obama a bully for asking BP to pay for oil spill damages, and then the next minute saying "Mr. President, do something about the spill already."

[kmichal456]

03:37 AM on 08/03/2010

President Barack Obama says Republican leaders haven't come up with "a single, solitary new idea"
Says a man who is economically stuck in 1930s and 1940s.
Here's a new idea...cut spending. Revolutionary enough for ya?

[bjammin]

04:09 AM on 08/03/2010

Sure beats being economically stuck in the 1920's.

[handyallen1]

05:06 AM on 08/03/2010

cut spending in a depression great idea ...not

[DearAgony10]

03:18 AM on 08/03/2010

Republicans are for:
☑Big Oil
☑Endless wars
☑ “Too Big to Fail” corporations
☑Tax breaks for the rich
☑Indoctrination through religion
☑Free markets
☑Deregulation of private industry/banks
☑Guns
☑Torture

Republicans are against:
☑Heathcare for American citizens
☑Unemployment benefits for the jobless
☑Aiding the middle class, the poor, and the disabled
☑Improving education
☑Improving the environment
☑Separation of church and state
☑Abortion
☑The Constitution
☑A woman’s right to choose
☑Personal responsibility
☑Climate change
☑Regulation of private industry/banks
☑Equal rights
☑Immigration reform
☑Common Decency
☑Common Sense
☑America
☑Barack Hussein Obama

[MInchau]

03:54 AM on 08/03/2010

Well that sums it up.

[Dr Jimmy and Mr Jim]

10:08 PM on 08/03/2010

When you look at it in a list, it becomes more and more mind-boggling as to why ANYONE would vote for ANY Republican EVER.

Nice work compiling that list!

[barryr20]

02:07 AM on 08/03/2010

Notice the emphasis on "new idea", meaning that the ideas of the free market in the 16th century did not create the most expansive rise in the standard of living in the history of the world, once political leaders got out of the way of the individual business man. The reason Barack Obama doesn't understand a real conservative(not neocons), is because the answer doesn't come from government it comes from the absence of government. Cut spending, cut taxes, and let that capital flow into companies to produce real things, that is the republican ideal, and that is what made the United States the most prosperous country in the history of the world.

[Chicagofan1]

02:11 AM on 08/03/2010

#9

[geoboy m]

02:28 AM on 08/03/2010

Yes... Good Old Capitalism is wonderful, if you ignore the poverty of the workers, destruction of the enviroment, monopolies, need for child labor laws. Read more!!!!!!

[handyallen1]

05:08 AM on 08/03/2010

fanned

[Jaxy]

02:02 AM on 08/03/2010

Rethugs' "New Ideas" for "economic recovery":

Deregulate all industries. Dagnabbit, we can trust them gahhs to do what's right! 'Specially thurr Bear Stearns and Lehman Bros.

Send a million American jobs overseas. 'Cause that helps generate jobs at home, sho nuff.

Allow health insurers to jack up rates across the board. Insurance is overrated anyhoo.

Issue subpoena after subpoena in an effort to witchhunt the Obama administration. Ya know, spending millions of dollars on nonsensical drivel has got to boost the economy. Somehow.

Shut down the federal government. Hey, if we did it 1995, why not relive the fun?

[Kelly L White]

01:59 AM on 08/03/2010

He's right. Vote accordingly.

[Dosadi]

01:56 AM on 08/03/2010

Part 5
Invest in public transportation
Equalize tax breaks for driving and public transit
Share enviromental technology with other countries
Double federal spending for research on clean fuels
Provide grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
Increase funding for the Environmental Protection Agency
Get his daughters a puppy
Appoint at least one Republican to the cabinet
Raise the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009
Extend unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
Reverse restrictions on stem cell research

Top that republicans.

[its miller time]

02:14 AM on 08/03/2010

Wow, just had to let you know well done, a lot of work but believe me it is appreciated.

I've been asking all evening and no one has been able to tell me that "one good idea" yet.

Cheers! f/f

[RockiesRiter]

02:20 AM on 08/03/2010

Great post. F&F

[Dosadi]

01:56 AM on 08/03/2010

Part 4
Use the International Space Station for fundamental biological and physical research
Explore whether International Space Station can operate after 2016
Conduct robust research and development on future space missions
Increase spending to prepare for longer space missions
Work toward deploying a global climate change research and monitoring system
Enhance earth mapping
Appoint an assistant to the president for science and technology policy
Support commercial access to space
Establish school programs to highlight space and science achievements
Establish special crime programs for the New Orleans area
Rebuild schools in New Orleans
Fund a major expansion of AmeriCorps
Create a Social Investment Fund Network
Bolster the military's ability to speak different languages
Appoint the nation's first Chief Technology Officer
Provide grants to early-career researchers
Work to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
Create a national declassification center
Appoint an American Indian policy adviser
Create new financial regulations
Increase funding for land-grant colleges
Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees
Sign a "universal" health care bill
Create new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud
Raise fuel economy standards
Invest in all types of alternative energy
Enact tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
Ask people and businesses to conserve electricity
Create a 'Green Vet Initiative' to promote environmental jobs for veterans
Create job training programs for clean technologies
Require states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption
Support high-speed rail

[Bostontru2u]

03:10 AM on 08/03/2010

Bravo, Dosadi. You should run for Congress! I'm impressed. Thank you. Repuglicans don't or can't THINK of anything. I hope they don't steal anything you've just thought.

[Dosadi]

01:55 AM on 08/03/2010

Part 3

Encourage water-conservation efforts in the West
Increase funding for national parks and forests
Increase funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
Encourage farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient
Expand Pell grants for low-income students
Pursue a wildfire management plan
Remove more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires
More controlled burns to reduce wildfires
Expand access to places to hunt and fish
Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
Restore funding to the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Reform mandatory minimum sentences
Create a White House Office on Urban Policy
Fully fund the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
Establish program to convert manufacturing centers into clean technology leaders
Establish 'Promise Neighborhoods' for areas of concentrated poverty
Create an artist corps for schools
Champion the importance of arts education
Support increased funding for the NEA
Promote cultural diplomacy
Add another Space Shuttle flight
Use the private sector to improve spaceflight
Work with international allies on space station
Partner to enhance the potential of the International Space Station

[Dosadi]

01:55 AM on 08/03/2010

Part 2

Fully fund the Violence Against Women Act
Direct military leaders to end war in Iraq
No permanent bases in Iraq
Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan
Strengthen and expand military exchange programs with other countries
Make greater investment in advanced military air technology
Make U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts
Give a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100
Allocate Homeland Security funding according to risk
Create a real National Infrastructure Protection Plan
Increase funding for local emergency planning
Stand down nuclear forces to be reduced under the Moscow Treaty
Appoint a White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security
Initiate a grant and training program for law enforcement to deter cyber crime
Improve relations with Turkey, and its relations with Iraqi Kurds
Launch an international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA)
Create a rapid response fund for emerging democracies
Grant Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
Restore funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
Establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas
Expand the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers
Release presidential records
Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
Provide affordable, high-quality child care
Recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession
Reduce subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers

[Dosadi]

01:55 AM on 08/03/2010

Obama accomplishments?

Create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes
Increase minority access to capital
Require economic justification for tax changes
Change standards for determining broadband access
Establish a credit card bill of rights
Expand loan programs for small businesses
Extend and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
Close the "doughnut hole" in Medicare prescription drug plan
Expand the Senior Corps volunteer program
Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing
Give tax credits to those who need help to pay health premiums
Require large employers to contribute to a national health plan
Require children to have health insurance coverage
Expand eligibility for Medicaid
Expand eligibility for State Children's Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
Require health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care
Establish an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information
In non-competitive markets, force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care
Eliminate the higher subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans
Expand funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
Increase funding to expand community based prevention programs
Sign UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Increase the Veterans Administration budget to recruit and retain more mental health professionals
Fully fund the Veterans Administration
Assure that the Veterans Administration budget is prepared as 'must-pass' legislation
Expand the Veterans Administration's number of "centers of excellence" in specialty care
Appoint a special adviser to the president on violence against women