Sure if you average his whole year it gives Obama haters something. That of course obscures the upswing of the last month. For a presidential 6th year it also does better than some other Presidents in comparison. (Bush)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's State of the Union address drew unsparing morning-after reviews Wednesday from majority Republicans in Congress, including a rebuke on nuclear talks with Iran and a lament from Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell that a high-profile speech can be about "more than veto threats of strident partisanship."
McConnell, R-Ky., said the Democratic president "may not be wild about the people's choice of a Congress. But he owes it to the American people to find a serious way to work with the representatives they elected."
Obama's first State of the Union address with Congress under Republican control was studded with veto threats. He defiantly unfurled an agenda on taxes, spending, social programs, energy and foreign policy notably at odds with Republican priorities. He did end with a plea for the two parties to "debate without demonizing one another" and find compromise where possible.
The quick challenge on Iran came courtesy of House Speaker John Boehner, who announced he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress on Feb. 11.
Assuming the Israeli leader accepts, he would stand at the same podium in the House of Representatives where the president spoke Tuesday night - with a notably different message.
Netanyahu has been an outspoken opponent of the direction of negotiations with Tehran that the Obama administration is involved in. Administration officials say the hope is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The Israeli leader says he fears the United States and other countries will give away too much in the talks, and the existence of his country will be at risk.
The U.S. and other Western countries believe that Iran is intent on trying to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran claims its nuclear program is peaceful and exists only to produce energy for civilian use.
The invitation to Netanyahu wasn't the only Republican rebuttal on the horizon at the dawn of a new Congress under GOP control.
The Senate is debating legislation to authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline despite a veto threat, and the House has votes scheduled this week on two other bills the president has signaled he will reject. One would ban abortions for women more than 20 weeks pregnant; the other would give the government one year to act on construction requests for natural gas pipelines.
Republicans unleashed their counterattack as Obama headed to promote his proposals in Idaho and Kansas, two of the most Republican states.
The speech itself was memorable for a split-screen sort of response, in which Democrats on one side of the House chamber repeatedly rose to their feet and applauded the president, while Republicans who intend to vote down his proposals sat silently. When Obama promised to send Congress a budget "filled with ideas that are practical, not partisan," a disbelieving snicker swept through the rows of Republicans.
It must hurt for the liberal-indoctrinated like you, M E M, when even the Obama-adoring media has to acknowledge the blatant untruths in what Comrade Obama tries to allege.
"We won in Iraq, and have left it behind us...."
"Al Qaida is in retreat..."
"The economy has turned the corner..."
Laughably over-the-top untruths.
