PRESS RELEASE from the RNC
April 1, 2011

Hope and Change Finally Arrive
Today, Obama Announces Dramatic Reversals In His Leadership Style

Obama Announces He’s Giving Up Golf Until The Budget Is Balanced

 “At No Point In The President’s 10-Year Projection Would The U.S. Government Spend Less Than It's Taking In.” (Jake Tapper, “President Obama’s Budget And The Pending Budget Fight,” ABC News’ “Political Punch” Blog, 2/14/11)

  • The Congressional Budget Office Projects That Obama’s Budget Outline Will Run $9.5 Trillion In Deficits Through 2021. “A new assessment of President Barack Obama's budget released Friday says the White House underestimates future budget deficits by more than $2 trillion over the upcoming decade. The estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that if Obama's February budget submission is enacted into law it would produce deficits totaling $9.5 trillion over 10 years — an average of almost $1 trillion a year.” (“CBO: Obama Understates Deficits By $2.3 Trillion,” The Associated Press, 3/18/11)

Meanwhile, “President Obama Just Could Not Wait For Spring Weather To Arrive. For The Second Week In A Row, The Most Powerful Man In The World Stepped Away From The White House To Hit The Golf Course.” (Tahman Bradley, “Just Warm Enough For Golf, Obama Back On The Course,” ABC News’ “Political Punch” Blog,” 3/12/11)

  • Obama Has Gone Golfing 61 Times Already Since Becoming President. (CBS News’ Mark Knoller’s Twitter, 3/12/11)

 

Obama Passes On Glitzy Fundraisers, Too Busy Leading

Obama Is Planning “A Nationwide Fundraising Tour” Next Month After Announcing His Reelection Campaign. “LET THE DOUGH ROLL IN. After President Obama announces his reelection campaign, he plans a nationwide fundraising tour. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci tweeted on Wednesday that Obama is expected in the Bay Area on April 20, with at least two high-dollar events on his schedule.” (“Need To Know Memo: White House, National Journal, 3/31/11)

  • Obama’s Re-Election Campaign Is Expected To Raise Up To $1 Billion For 2012 Race. “Obama, who raised a record $745 million in 2007 and 2008 for his presidential campaign and was the first major-party nominee to reject public financing for the general election, could raise $1 billion this time around, said [Craig Holman of Public Citizen], who lobbies on campaign finance issues for the Washington-based advocacy group.” (Jonathan D. Salant, “Obama Challengers Would Need $590,000 A Day To Match His 2008 Fundraising,” Bloomberg, 3/22/11)

Obama's Presidency Has Been Marked By A Series Of Politically Calculated Dodges On Tough Issues. "He didn't want to get mired in legislative details during the health-care debate for fear of repeating the Clinton administration's prescriptive, take-ours-or-leave-it approach. He doesn't want to go first on proposing entitlement reform because history teaches that this is not the best route to a deal. He didn't want to say anything too tough about Libya for fear of endangering Americans trapped there. He didn't want to weigh in on the labor battle in Wisconsin because, well, it's a swing state." (Ruth Marcus, Op-Ed, "Obama's 'Where's Waldo?' Presidency," The Washington Post, 3/2/11)

  • "Yet The Dots Connect To Form An Unsettling Portrait Of A 'Where's Waldo?' Presidency: You Frequently Have To Squint To Find The White House Amid The Larger Landscape." (Ruth Marcus, Op-Ed, "Obama's 'Where's Waldo?' Presidency," The Washington Post, 3/2/11)

 

Move Over Joe, Obama Appoints Himself To Lead Budget Negotiations

“Obama Is MIA On The Budget.” (A.B. Stoddard, Op-Ed, “Obama Is MIA On The Budget,” The Hill, 3/30/11)

Obama Punted Responsibility For The Budget Negotiations To Vice President Biden. "President Obama on Wednesday tapped Mr. Biden, his 'sheriff' on the stimulus, to lead negotiations with Congress, though Mr. Biden already had a prearranged trip scheduled to visit Finland, Russia and Moldova next week." (Stephen Dinan, "Biden Leaving In Middle Of Budget Talks," The Washington Times' "Inside Politics" Blog, 3/4/11)

 

Obama Vows Transparent Administration … Actually Means It This Time

President Obama: “My Administration Is Committed To Creating An Unprecedented Level Of Openness In Government.” (President Barack Obama, "Memorandum For The Heads Of Executive Departments And Agencies: Transparency and Open Government," Press Release, 1/21/09)

  • And The White House Says Their Visitor Logs Are “A  Breakthrough In Transparency” “Obama’s administration has touted its release of White House visitors logs as a breakthrough in transparency, as the first White House team ever to reveal the comings and goings around the West Wing and the Old Executive Office Building.” (Chris Frates, “Lobbyists: W.H. Hides Meetings Off-Site,” Politico, 2/24/11)

But The Administration Evades Their Own Transparency Rules By Meeting With Lobbyists Away From The White House. “Some lobbyists suspected they were being kept outside the gates for political, rather than logistical, reasons. ‘My understanding was they were holding the meeting there because it included several high-level business and trade association lobbyists,’ said a senior business lobbyist who attended the meeting. ‘This was an effort to not have to go through the security protocols at the White House which could lead to the visitor logs at some point being released to the public and embarrass the president.’” (Chris Frates, “Lobbyists: W.H. Hides Meetings Off-Site,” Politico, 2/24/11)

Freedom Of Information Act Requests Are Also Subjected To “Secretive Reviews” By The Obama Administration’s Political Advisors. “The Homeland Security Department official in charge of submitting sensitive government files to political advisers for secretive reviews before they could be released to citizens, journalists and watchdog groups complained in emails that the unusual scrutiny was ‘crazy’ and hoped someone outside the Obama administration would discover the practice, The Associated Press has learned.” (“Gov’t Emails: Political Reviews Over Requests For US Records ‘Meddling,’ ‘Crazy’ And ‘Bananas,’” The Associated Press, 3/28/11)

 

Obama Supports Findings Of Blue Ribbon Commission On Making Tough Choices

The Washington Post: “President Obama’s Budget Kicks The Hard Choices Further Down The Road.”(Editorial, “President Obama’s Budget Kicks The Hard Choices Further Down The Road,” The Washington Post, 2/15/11)

  • Given The Chance To Show Leadership With His Budget, Obama "Chose Instead To Duck" Behind "The Sort Of Budgetary Gimmicks He Once Derided." "Having been given the chance, the cover and the push by the fiscal commission he created to take bold steps to raise revenue and curb entitlement spending, President Obama, in his fiscal 2012 budget proposal, chose instead to duck. To duck, and to mask some of the ducking with the sort of budgetary gimmicks he once derided."  (Editorial, "President Obama's Budget Kicks The Hard Choices Further Down The Road," The Washington Post, 2/15/11)

 

APRIL FOOLS’!