Brian Schweitzer Can't Really Think Of Anything Nice To Say About Obama's Record [View all]

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Brian Schweitzer Can't Really Think Of Anything Nice To Say About Obama's Record

Brian Schweitzer has given every indication lately that he's not exactly a President Obama fan.

The former Montana governor called the President a "corporatist" last month. Then he told Dave Weigel that the Obama administration is "just not good at getting things done."

But for those who are still unsure about his assessment of Obama, here's MSNBC's Benjy Sarlin's profile of Schweitzer.

Does Obama have one positive achievement under his belt, Sarlin asked.

“My mother, God rest her soul, told me ‘Brian, if you can’t think of something nice to say about something change the subject,’” Schweitzer said after a long pause, before slamming Obama's record on civil liberties and the Affordable Care Act.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/brian-schweitzer-obama

He was pro-Obama in 2012

Brian Schweitzer's Speech: Full Text from the Democratic National Convention

When President Obama took office, the economy was in free fall, losing more than 800,000 jobs a month. Since then, he's helped create 4.5 million private sector jobs, 29 straight months of job growth.

Stock market has doubled. Energy production is up. Imports from foreign countries are down. The number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States has more than quadrupled. Manufacturing jobs are coming back, not just because we're producing a record amount of natural gas that's lowering electricity prices, but because we have the best-trained, hardest-working labor force in the history of the world.

We are demanding more from our schools, but we're backing up that demand by investing more in teachers, increasing financial aid and doubling funding for Pell Grants. While he was doing all that, President Obama cut our taxes. He cut taxes 18 times for small businesses. He cut taxes by $3,600 for the typical middle-class family. Now that dog does hunt.

Governor Romney said that finding Osama bin Laden was "not worth moving heaven and earth." Tonight, bin Laden isn't on earth, and he sure isn't in heaven. Thanks to the courage of American Special Forces and the bold leadership of our president, Osama bin Laden is at the bottom of the ocean.

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http://news.yahoo.com/brian-schweitzers-speech-full-text-democratic-national-convention-202629764--politics.html

Still, let's consider...

Running against Obamacare is stupid
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024334348#post66

But the anti-Obama (http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/dem-thinks-he-can-win-the-anti-obama)?

Montana's Democratic governor slams ‘jackasses’ in DC for Keystone delay

By Ben Geman

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) is expressing frustration with the debate in Washington over the Keystone XL pipeline, which he strongly supports.

“Ninety per cent of these jackasses that are complaining about the Keystone pipeline in Washington, D.C., one year ago wouldn't have even known where the Keystone was. While we were doing the heavy lifting here in Montana and in South Dakota and in Kansas and Oklahoma ... in Washington, D.C. ... all these great defenders had never heard of Keystone before,” Schweitzer said in an interview published Thursday.

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http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/212439-montana-gov-slams-anti-keystone-jackasses-in-dc

MT: Schweitzer leads fight against new federal fracking red tape
http://watchdog.org/24671/mt-schweitzer-leads-fight-against-new-federal-fracking-red-tape/

Brian Schweitzer, Would-Be Liberal Hero, is an NRA Darling
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116138/brian-schweitzer-2016-populist-hopeful-nra-darling

Montana's "Coal Cowboy" Gov. Schweitzer on huge new mine "The Land Board has made its decision."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/20/1122184/-Montana-s-Coal-Cowboy-Gov-Schweitzer-on-huge-coal-mine-The-Land-Board-has-made-its-decision

He's more than welcome to run against the President's record.

lists:

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What follows is a PARTIAL list of Obama’s accomplishments so far. Unlike many such lists, there is a link to a citation supporting every single one.

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Wall Street Reforms and Consumer Protection

Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money. http://huff.to/eAi9Qq

He pushed through and got passed Dodd-Frank, one of the largest and most comprehensive Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression. http://bit.ly/hWCPg0 http://bit.ly/geHpcD

Dodd-Frank also included the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau http://1.usa.gov/j5onG

He made it so that banks could no longer use YOUR money to invest in high-risk financial instruments that work against their own customers’ interests. http://bit.ly/fnTayj

He supported the concept of allowing stockholders to vote on executive compensation. http://bit.ly/fnTayj

He wholly endorsed and supported the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 that would close offshore tax avoidance loopholes. http://bit.ly/esOdfB http://bit.ly/eG4DPM

He made a deal with Swiss banks that permits the US government to gain access to the records of criminals and tax evaders. http://bit.ly/htfDgw

He established a Consumer Protection Financial Bureau designed to protect consumers from financial sector excesses. http://bit.ly/fnTayj

He oversaw and then signed the most sweeping food safety legislation since the Great Depression. http://thedc.com/gxkCtP

Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination

He advocated for and signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made it a federal crime to assault anyone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. http://bit.ly/gsMSJ7

He pushed through, signed and demanded the Pentagon enact a repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that forced soldiers to lie to fight for their country, and put our troops at risk by disqualifying many qualified soldiers from helping. http://bit.ly/fdahuH http://bit.ly/mZV4Pz

He appointed Kareem Dale as the first ever Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. http://1.usa.gov/fi5IY0

Helped Congress pass and signed the Civil Rights History Act. http://bit.ly/th0JC8

He extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. http://1.usa.gov/g2RLCj

He’s appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history. http://bit.ly/g1lA7D

He issued a Presidential Memorandum reaffirming the rights of gay couples to make medical decisions for each other. http://1.usa.gov/aUueGT

He established a White House Council on Women and Girls http://1.usa.gov/rFfqMM

He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers. This was after the GOP blocked the bill in 2007. Only 5 Republican Senators voted for the bill. http://bit.ly/fT3Cxg

Wrote and signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies evaluate the effect of their policies and programs on women and families. http://bit.ly/e1puTk

He expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act. http://1.usa.gov/dSbI0x

Under his watch, National Labor Relations Board has issued final rules that require all employers to prominently post employees’ rights where all employees or prospective employees can see it, including websites and intranets, beginning November 2011. http://1.usa.gov/qu2EhQ

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http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/02/15/a-long-list-of-president-obamas-accomplishments-with-citations/

Ally Bank To Pay $98 Million For Charging Higher Interest To Non-White Borrowers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024208931

U.S. orders mortgage servicer Ocwen to help borrowers with $2 billion

By Emily Stephenson

(Reuters) - U.S. officials on Thursday ordered the largest nonbank mortgage servicer to provide $2 billion in help to underwater borrowers to resolve allegations of misconduct that led to thousands of people losing their homes.

Ocwen Financial Corp must reduce loan balances for struggling homeowners and refund $125 million to foreclosed borrowers under an agreement with the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and officials from 49 states and the District of Columbia.

Ocwen failed to account for borrowers' payments, gave false reasons for denying loan modifications and robo-signed legal documents, the consumer bureau said.

In many cases, after Ocwen began servicing loans, it did not respect trial modifications that had already been agreed to by the lenders, consumer bureau Director Richard Cordray said.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/19/us-financial-regulation-ocwen-idUSBRE9BI0ZT20131219

Elizabeth Warren:

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When I worked to set up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I pushed hard for steps that would increase transparency in the marketplace. The crisis began one lousy mortgage at a time, and there is a lot we must do to make sure there are never again so many lousy mortgages .

CFPB made some important steps in the right direction, and I think we’re a lot safer than we were .

There is no question that Dodd-Frank was a strong bill—the strongest in three generations. I didn’t have a chance to vote for it because I wasn’t yet in the Senate, but if I could have, I would have voted for it twice.

Even so, the law is not perfect. And so it’s important to ask: Where are we now, five years after the crisis hit and three years after Dodd-Frank?

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Powerful interests will fight to hang on to every benefit and subsidy they now enjoy. Even after exploiting consumers, larding their books with excessive risk, and making bad bets that brought down the economy and forced taxpayer bailouts, the big Wall Street banks are not chastened .

They have fought to delay and hamstring the implementation of financial reform, and they will continue to fight every inch of the way .

That’s the battlefield. That’s what we’re up against. But David beat Goliath with the establishment of CFPB and, just a few months ago, with the confirmation of Rich Cordray .

David beat Goliath with the passage of Dodd-Frank. We did that together – Americans for Financial Reform, the Roosevelt Institute, and so many of you in this room. I am confident David can beat Goliath on Too Big to Fail. We just have to pick up the slingshot again .

Thank you .

http://www.warren.senate.gov/files/documents/AFR%20Roosevelt%20Institute%20Speech%202013-11-12.pdf

Elizabeth Warren: Cordray Vote ‘A Historic Day For Working Families’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) took to Twitter on Tuesday in praise of the Senate's vote to advance Richard Cordray's nomination to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, calling it a "historic day for working families."

Elizabeth Warren ✔ @elizabethforma

I couldn't be more pleased that Rich Cordray will finally get the vote that he deserves. This is a historic day for working families!
1:11 PM - 16 Jul 2013

47 Retweets 26 favorites

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-cordray-vote-historic-day-for-working

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gets busy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023372682

SEC Will Require Companies To Report CEO-To-Worker Pay Ratios
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023694931

Regulators Finalize Stricter Volcker Rule - Reuters/HuffPo
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024158305

NLRB to Prosecute Wal-Mart For Violating Workers’ Rights (updated)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024053560