President Obama celebrated Labor Day weekend with a promise to veto the Republican budget if it harms the middle-class.
Video:
The President spoke about the country’s economic success, then discussed the Republican budget:
This month, Congress has an opportunity to continue that progress. As always, the deadline for Congress to pass a budget is the end of September. Every year. This is not new. And if they don’t, they’ll shut down the government for the second time in two years. At a time when the global economy faces headwinds and America’s economy is a relative bright spot in the world, a shutdown of our government would be wildly irresponsible. It would be an unforced error that saps the momentum we’ve worked so hard to build. Plain and simple, a shutdown would hurt working Americans.
It doesn’t have to happen. If Congress wants to support working Americans and strengthen our middle class, they can pass a budget that invests in, not makes cuts to, the middle class. If they pass a budget with shortsighted sequester cuts that harm our military and our economy, I’ll veto it. If they make smart investments in our military readiness, our infrastructure, our schools, public health, and research, I’ll sign that budget – and they know that.
So let’s get it done. Our economy doesn’t need another round of threats and brinksmanship. Nobody gets to play games with our economy – or the middle class I grew up in, and that you grew up in. So tell Congress to pass a budget that reflects the values we honor on Labor Day. Rewarding hard work. Giving everybody a fair shot. And working together to give all of our kids a better life.
In the United States, when most people discuss the middle class, they are referring to workers. It isn’t a coincidence that President Obama promised to veto a budget that would harm the middle class on Labor Day weekend.
The budget showdown that Republicans have staged is playing into the hands of President Obama and the Democrats. The President has become an expert at framing budgetary issues in moral terms. For Democrats, the budget is about fairness. Republican economic ideology benefits those at the top. It takes away from those who have the least to reward those who have the most. By pointing out the unfair flaw in conservative economic ideology, Democrats have found a silver bullet that slays the trickle down beast.
President Obama is laying the groundwork for another victory over his Republican opponents. Republicans are going to rely on the same strategy that has been failing them for years. They will pass a budget, Obama will veto it, Boehner will hold a press conference and say his usual line that, “the House has done its job,” and Obama will wait for Republicans to cave.
None of this is necessary, but it would be shocking if Congressional Republican drama queens didn’t force the nation to sit through their dance of doom before they gave in.
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