Thursday, 10/30/14, Public Square

Obama: GOP Will Move Country Backward

With a victory on the financial regulation overhaul in his pocket—a “key pillar” in his recession recovery plan—President Obama said a Republican plan for the economy would move the country backward to the job-killing policies of his predecessor. “It took nearly a decade of failed economic policies to create this mess, and it will take years to fully repair the damage,” Obama said in his weekly address that aired Saturday, vowing that his policies would move the country forward. That’s expected to be one of the White House’s main messages during this fall’s midterm elections. The president admitted that the growth since the credit crisis two years ago hasn’t created enough jobs, but said the GOP would make things much worse. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) countered that the GOP would promote growth by cutting spending and taxes.

Read more here.

Or, listen to the address here.

Financial Responsibility

Every family, every American has needed to cinch their belt, cut costs, watch their pennies.

In his weekly radio address, President Obama said that at a Cabinet meeting on Monday, he’ll ask each of his agency heads to scale back. Every department will be expected to produce specific proposals for budget cuts.  “In the coming weeks, I will be announcing the elimination of dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful or ineffective,” he said. “In this effort, there will be no sacred cows and no pet projects.”

“All across America, families are making hard choices, and it’s time their government did the same,” Obama said.

What do you think?  Is this rhetoric?  Can government agencies tighten their belts?  Will government spending be wiser, will they cut waste and be more responsible?

fnord