Obama's Counterterrorism Strategy Getting Slammed By Republicans

By ANDREW TAYLOR

WASHINGTON -- Republicans keep slamming President Barack Obama's push to move the government away from a war footing and refine and recalibrate counterterrorism strategy.

Capitol Hill Republicans like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina say Obama is projecting weakness at a time when the United States needs to show resolve against terror networks like al-Qaida.

The South Carolina Republican said Sunday that "at a time when we need resolve the most, we're sounding retreat."

Obama gave a major speech Thursday in which he said al-Qaida is "on the path to defeat" and he's signaling that he's reluctant to commit troops overseas to conflicts like Syria or other countries struggling with instability in the uncertain aftermath of the Arab Spring. He's also modifying policies on the use of unmanned drone aircraft to try to limit civilian casualties and is redoubling his longstanding – but so far unfulfilled – promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where many terrorism suspects are being held without formal charges.

Obama is trying to recast the image of terrorists from enemy warriors to cowardly thugs and move the United States away a state of perpetual war.

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Obama: 'Maybe I Should Just Pack Up And Go Home'

By
Howard Fineman

WASHINGTON -- The sunny, confident President Barack Obama who was the master of all that he surveyed at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last Saturday night was nowhere in sight at the podium in the White House press room Tuesday morning. In his place was a glum character, whose gloomy demeanor matched the lack of legislative motion he was discussing -- and the many obstacles (from Republicans to Russians) he complained were in his way.

After listening to a recitation of his political predicament, the president said, “If you put it that way, maybe I should just pack up and go home.” It was a joke, of course, but no one laughed and, judging from his attitude, it almost seemed as though he wished he could.

Only when asked about Jason Collins did the president become animated and eager to respond. Obama praised the NBA center for his decision to come out of the closet about his sexual orientation and said that the American people should be proud of the growing acceptance of gays and lesbians.

In terms of energy and forward lean, Tuesday morning's performance was about as static as the Obama presidency has ever been.

His administration is not the first to fall into a Slough of Despond early in the second term. It’s all but inevitable. Still, the session was notable primarily for the complexity and intractability of the issues Obama is now facing.

Syria is an unholy mess, a proud and ancient country being ground to pieces in a bloody conflict between a ruthless dictator and rebels whose ideas may well be no more tolerant or democratic.

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Major NorCal Marijuana Trafficker Receives Nearly 18-Year Prison Sentence « CBS Sacramento

Major NorCal Marijuana Trafficker Receives Nearly 18-Year Prison Sentence « CBS Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A man considered one of the largest marijuana traffickers in Northern California has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison Monday, U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner announced.

U.S. District Judge William Shubb sentenced 44-year-old Uriel Ochoa-Espindola to 17.5 years in prison for growing tens of thousands of marijuana plants in three different counties in California with his partners and shipping the product across the country with the help of commercial trucks, according to court documents.

“This was his operation,” Judge Shubb noted, holding Espindola responsible for the weapons his partners and workers used to run their operation.

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Sen. Paul speaks on waste in Sandy emergency funding

Rand Paul is fighting for the American People, and this video shows proof of this!

Support Smart Emergency Spending
The Hurricane Sandy Emergency Funding package is a three-year spending bill packed with hundreds of millions of dollars of unrelated pork earmarked for everything but hurricane relief.

There is no evidence Congress is good at spending your money.

So the last thing we should do is hand over three years' worth of spending authority disguised as Hurricane Sandy relief.

Why don't we authorize one year at a time with functional oversight and make sure the relief money is not being wasted or abused?

Why don't we offset the costs of the relief package with spending cuts to prevent adding another $60 billion to our national debt?

I have proposed offsetting hurricane relief costs by ending $9 billion worth of foreign aid that ends up in the private accounts of dictators who oppress their own people and burn our flag.

My amendment to the hurricane relief package would've required Congress offset the relief costs with spending cuts one year at a time.

The problem is that so-called conservatives in the Senate refuse to stand up for what's right and voted against fiscal responsibility.

They continue to put their own wants before the needs of this great nation.

Despite the defeat of my amendment, I vow to keep fighting this battle because America's future is worth fighting for.

We will never climb out from under our crippling $16 trillion debt with abusive spending like this.

In Liberty,

Senator Rand Paul

P.S. Congress is planning to spend another $60 billion on pet projects disguised as Hurricane Sandy relief spending.

And so-called conservatives refused my proposal to offset the hurricane relief costs with spending cuts, especially money we can save by refusing to enrich foreign dictators.


But I vow to continue this fight and hope that you will join me.


Please make a generous contribution to help RandPAC fight abusive government spending.