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Russell Simmons

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Barack Obama's Job Speech: Them's Fighting Words!

Posted: 09/08/11 11:07 PM ET

Obama laid out his case to the people and his challenge to Congress in his jobs speech this evening. Many in politics might want to argue out their differences at the ballot box, but that's fourteen months away. The president said what the users of my Rushcard tell us every day -- the American people don't have fourteen months to wait for action. Action to create jobs and action against increasing poverty is the transcendent issue of right now -- and any politician who ignores this moment will be remembered only as a footnote listing as those who let their constituencies and country down at this critical time

My challenge to Obama and the Democrats: stay on script. Take the case to the people. The fighting Obama tonight was in great form. Go to the people. Go to the heart of the local governments who WANT the projects and the jobs. Go directly to the PEOPLE -- give them hope that intensive government action, with bi-partisan ideas, will unleash the exceptional American genius. Train our children, upgrade our infrastructure, re-make manufacturing like he re-made Detroit. Spend now and cut CREDIBLY AND HONESTLY as well -- that's what every single economist, from every side of the spectrum, says we need to do.

My challenge to Republicans: get into the game now -- don't wait for the election. You can make your case to the American people without holding them and their aspirations hostage. The Tea Party is just one vocal wing. You are better than that: as Obama said: Lincoln built the railroads. He left out that another great Republican President, Eisenhower, built the highways. Give up the pretense that we are not all trying to accomplish the same things for just a minute and do the peoples' work.

This is the fighting Obama. He makes all of us, whatever our beliefs, better. Let's fight together while we fight with each other. That is what makes America great: competition and collaboration. As one of the leaders of a cultural movement, at a point in time, I know that we only make great progress when the two go hand-in-hand.

I praise the president for his passion to re-build our nation and I urge him to continue the dialogue with the American people, not just the politicians in Washington. Obama should cancel all foreign trips that don't immediately affect our immediate national and economic security and brief the American people on a consistent basis. He should have an economic spokesperson like Ed Rendell or Jennifer Granholm -- great governors -- instead of technocrats, speaking on economic issues DAILY. If you want to go to every corner of the United States, I will happily join you and get other small business leaders to join you in any city, county or state as I believe in your plan and more importantly, our nation needs it to work.

Take the fight to the people, add the right firepower to your team, and cut honestly in the future. That's the way to a revival in America. People are hurting now, the time to act is now!

 

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Obama laid out his case to the people and his challenge to Congress in his jobs speech this evening. Many in politics might want to argue out their differences at the ballot box, but that's fourteen m...
Obama laid out his case to the people and his challenge to Congress in his jobs speech this evening. Many in politics might want to argue out their differences at the ballot box, but that's fourteen m...
 
 
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01:41 PM on 09/13/2011
Russell,
Get real.
02:08 AM on 09/12/2011
Tea Party is not just a part of the Republican party, they ARE the party now, and their open distain for atleast 80% of Americans is getting harder to ignore. They have attacked everything about the twentieth century that allowed such a huge growth in the middle class: unions, the WPA, public education, affirmative action, fed. intervention on human and civil rights, social security, corp. pensions, public sector employees and everyone earning less than six figures (ie, the vast majority of liberals and conservatives alike). They do not want "the same thing" as the rest of Americans because their allegiance to unrestrained globalized capitalism demands that we compete with the chinese by lowering the status of all workers.
02:53 PM on 09/11/2011
Let's be real, we all know this will not pass the current Congress. It's not only Republicans that want to see a failed Obama presidency, but many Democrats as well. Oh they talk a good game but their votes/actions prove what they are about. Remember these are the same Democrats that gave President Bush everyting he asked for, with no challenge. Do you think they will now start to be Democrats instead of the best Republicans they have been for the last 12 years?
02:36 PM on 09/11/2011
Businesses do not create jobs, demand creates jobs. Demand is low because no one has any money. No one has any money because the incentive is to get rid of as many jobs as possible - businesses in our economy today seen to exist solely to create profits, not jobs. The goal of American business has slowly become to create as few jobs as possible at the lowest possible cost. Cut safety, cut standards, outsource, use machines instead of people. All of these symptoms of the illness called ‘greed’ have led us where we are today. This is why we end up with top-heavy corporations where a few are making millions and that’s it. Everyone else suffers.
02:35 PM on 09/11/2011
Businesses need customers, not more tax cuts. Customers need jobs so they have money to buy things. We really do need to stop coddling the rich because they are not spreading the wealth or keeping us afloat financially. America’s focus needs to be on bringing jobs and relief to the everyday consumer. Profits need to be balanced with adequate jobs and adequate pay. Obama DOES need to take his message staight to the people and stop fooling around with Congress because they don’t get it and they don’t want to get it. At the end of the day, what do any of these politicans care about you or I? They have their fat paychecks, healthcare and pensions secured for life.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Osmona
Its GREAT to be alive and SANE.
09:52 PM on 09/10/2011
Thank you Mr. Simmons. I've ALWAYS admired you because YOU have the know how and built a career from scratch. I sure hope President Obama reads this and takes your advice. PLEASE get in touch with him and share your ideas. I BELIEVE he will listen to you.
12:03 PM on 09/10/2011
Slogans and happy talk are worthless here are specific actions.

Full employment will happen when the boundless rich natural assets within our boarders and American ingenuity are allowed to flourish.

The President must:

Get rid of the IRS and all of it's special interest rules that kill job creation and replace it with the FAIR TAX H.R 25 S.13.

Have the Justice Department hire Elliot Spitzer to head a squad of untouchables to remove any crooks he can find from government the banks, Wall Street, Main Street or wherever they are discovered.

Reinstate Glass-Stea­gle, repeal Grahm-Leach-Bliley, repeal the unlimited Fannie and Freddie Christmas guarantees , audit the Fed, perhaps even eliminate the Fed, make AIG's records available for public review, repeal Obama Care and add a government option to compete with private insurers and care providers for patients by offering free care to everyone asking for government funded care which would be given from low cost, government operated, VA style better patient outcome, hospitals for civilians, all paid for with a national sales tax, no insurance, no copays, free period, complete birth to death healthcare including free medications, dental and eye care, this could save $1trillion annually from the $2.6trilli ­on spent last year and prevent private health insurers and providers from bankrupting us, our states and the Federal Government ­, and last cut the special interest red tape that is preventing us from having drastically lower cost oil, gas, energy and food.
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Steven Biggs
10:34 AM on 09/10/2011
How come there are no liberal reporters reporting that at one point Mr. Obama made a major gaffe; he identified Abraham Lincoln as the founder of the Republican Party.

Lincoln did not join the Republicans until 1856, over two years after the party was founded. The first Republican convention was held in Ripon, Wisconsin in 1854.

Such a gaffe would have brought huge amounts of ridicule and derision on George W. Bush, but in the case of Obama the media yawned.

Actually, they did more than yawn; government-funded PBS has altered the transcript of the President's speech, removing the offending comment.

This is why Liberals are so ill informed. Tell them the truth and they leave the party!
01:57 PM on 09/10/2011
Good point and you are right about Liberals. Most people are Liberals because of one word, change and that word have taken the place of education in our school system. Our grassroot organization, the Brotherhood for Republican Organization is dedicated to such that. We give out signature book, Setting the record straight, American History in Black and White by David Barton by the caseloads. Once the Liberal sees history as it is written and not told to him or her they change to the Conservative which is in all of us...
02:26 AM on 09/12/2011
And once a conservative realizes that the tea party is a culturally specific group with very extreme ideas about science, religion, and the history of race in America, who consider an American making 80,000 to be a lazy "welfare queen" they will be sorry for throwing their values in the trash in the pursuit of a phyric victory. BTW, history "as it is written" is no different than "as it is told". In either case, consider the source and where it stands in relation to you.
08:38 PM on 09/10/2011
"The first Republican convention was held in Ripon, Wisconsin in 1854."

That's true.

"This is why Liberals are so ill informed. Tell them the truth and they leave the party!"

Well, this liberal knew that fact, and he's not leaving the party:).
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GirlInNYC
A girl in NYC
08:58 AM on 09/10/2011
Once upon a time, a good education and hard work insured stable employment and the pursuit of dreams. Now an education results in a huge debt because there are few jobs and life has become a nightmare not worth living for some. The deadlock for politics sake has to stop in the interest of the people.
02:10 PM on 09/10/2011
Liberal Democrats are always raging about the corporate profits of the big companies but they never speak about the high cost of education. Liberals do not talk about the high cost of education because the colleges are the incobators of the change montra and liberal thought instead of the higher education and skills needed. This is not a deadlock of politics because Democrats control the colleges lock stock and barrel. Break that deadlock and an education will resemble what you remember. If you are a Liberal Democrat then you are part of the problem.
02:34 AM on 09/12/2011
Liberals are CONSTANTLY talking about the high cost of education, and the students of all these new for-profit colleges have acquired more debt than any others.And who delivered this education "you remember", who had access to it? Was the GI bill really such a horrible thing?
11:00 PM on 09/12/2011
Damn that is so true. It's hard to think about sometimes.
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GirlInNYC
A girl in NYC
08:48 AM on 09/10/2011
Agreed. Divide and conquer is a well-known term. These two parties' in-fighting is the demise of this country. And this Hatfields and McCoys style war carries over onto online discussions where barely anything can be discussed without a My Team vs. Your Team debate. is this a sporting event or a country drowning?
01:50 AM on 09/10/2011
I still respect this man even though i am disappointed with some of the resolutions>>>> What i can say is that i will stick by him>>>>because it could truly be worst......Lets continue to support the President!!!!
07:46 AM on 09/10/2011
By virtue of the fact that President Obama is our Commander-In-Chief, that alone commands respecy whether we agree with his policies or not ! Heck I didn't agree with 99% of Bush's time in office but I always had respect that he was our President !
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Viper1st
multi quasi faceted
06:36 PM on 09/09/2011
"Stay on script" ??

31 months of BHO presidency & U.S. Unemployment has gone up from 7.8% to 9.1%, = 2 million additional jobs lost in 31 months

$787 billion for ObamaStimulus of 2009, divided by 2 million jobs lost since = Cost to U.S. Taxpayer?
$393,500 per job lost

And today ~ BHO wants another $447 billion with no mention how it's funded?

DREAM ON
marilyn 63
LEVEL ONE NETWORKER
09:57 PM on 09/09/2011
look it up dont be stupid. Obama unlike Bush who just spent like crazy and winged his presidency and put us in a hole. Obama said a million times its paid for through the super congress you dont have to lie its corny.
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Steven Biggs
10:42 AM on 09/10/2011
Marilyn, where does a "super congress" get it's money??? You are a "level one"!
06:17 PM on 09/09/2011
Russell...I suppose you are willing to pay for all this?
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rebelriser
artist, published author, activist
05:19 PM on 09/09/2011
As usual, the right wing ditto squad came aboard, not to be informed, but to inform us of their kind of non-truth from FOX. I don't believe they want to know the truth, since they look past it here and still regurgitate their FOX, Limbaugh jibberish.
08:03 PM on 09/09/2011
The problem is that it's not just FOX and there is no opposing view being put forward to counter the lie machine. Despite right wing complaints about, and ridicule of, the "Liberal Media," we don't have one. At best, we have some ACTUAL journalists that try to be impartial and bring points up, but they are few and far between. So, all many people hear from are the myriad of extremist right wing talking heads who are presenting an entire fantasy world, encompassing every issue, for their consumption. No wonder, you have polls saying that virtually all republicans believe that human activity plays no role global warming, etc, despite the fact that this is a settled issue in the rest of the world. Until there is worthy counter to the right wing lie machine, things aren't going to change.
marilyn 63
LEVEL ONE NETWORKER
10:08 PM on 09/09/2011
that's it the media stands there while Republicans who have held the country hostage for tax cuts for the rich and said NO!! to a bigger stimulus but they make the stimulus smaller with you no it tax cuts and the media is mum. and even says did the stimulus work? they stand there and let the tea-GOP lie like crazy and say things like >WELL THIS IS JOB KILLING LEGISLATION and the media doesn't question them on the evasions and why arent they helping the country get jobs they just repeat these tea-GOP morans inane comments and mumble they want lower taxes hey media they are paying the lowest taxes since the 1950's . this is how the Republicans got back in office right after Bush and them had trashed the country. the media never asked them anything.
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fairandbalanced100
02:56 PM on 09/09/2011
The people should tell the congress to pass the economic bill or they won't get re-elected.
Most Democrats will back it , but many Republicans will make up reasons to not back it &
will need some prodding , since they don't really want a good recovery until after Obama's
re-election. The bill should help economy with tax cuts , that Republicans should love, &
probably lower unemployment by 1% , which is not enough , but good step in right direction.
The government can't really do much more than that & it is up to businesses to take their piles
of money from big profits & this opportunity to get tax cuts for hiring & hire workers .