After coming so close to meeting President Barack Obama when he came to Racine, 13-year-old Michelle Payne's dreams came true Thursday when Michelle Obama finished a campaign speech at Bradley Tech High School, patted her on the head, hugged her and told her she was proud of her.
"It was an ecstatic feeling, something I will probably never feel again in my life," the Racine girl said. "She's my role model. I just started crying, and when she hugged me I didn't want to let go."
Payne's emotional experience was echoed by many in the crowd of roughly 2,500 Obama supporters from across Milwaukee and the world who attended the First Lady's speech at Bradley Tech High School Thursday afternoon.
In her speech, she recalled growing up lower class in Chicago and working hard to get through school. Obama said she always had her eye on the American dream, and she married her husband Barack because his life was on a similar journey. After four years in the White House, Michelle Obama said her husband remains the same man, determined to keep the American dream alive by making sure the same opportunities he had are still open to today's youth.
"Like me, Barack knows the American dream because he's lived it. He knows something very important. When you work hard and you do well — and there's nothing wrong with doing well — and you walk through that doorway of opportunity, he believes that you do not slam it shut behind you," Obama said to a thunderous applause in the high school's gymnasium.
Obama went on to talk about the importance of her husband's accomplishments while in office, including the Affordable Care Act (dubbed ObamaCare by his Republican colleagues), funding Pell Grants, openly allowing gays in the military, the execution of Osama bin Laden and ending the war in Iraq.
When Obama took office, she said the country was losing 750,000 jobs per month. The country has since gained 4.5 million jobs over the past 29 months, she said. The First Lady also said he has cut taxes for small businesses 18 times.
"All this I just talked about, it's all at stake this November; all of it is on the line. Are we going to change all the progress we made? Are we going to sit back and lose everything we've worked so hard for?" she said. "You know what we have to do. We have to keep moving this country forward."
She said at the end of the day, the president's decisions are made based on life experiences and values.
"In the end it all boils down to who you are and what you stand for," she said. "The thing you want to remind you is we all know who my husband is, and we know who he stands for."
'My husband has your back'
While not mentioning Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney by name, the First Lady said voters in Wisconsin and America have a stark difference on the ballot come November.
"Before you step into that voting booth on Election Day, you've got to ask yourself, "Who will stand up for me? Who is looking out for my family? ... You know my husband has your back," she said.
She was introduced to the crowd after speeches from Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Congresswoman and US Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
During her time in Milwaukee, Obama met with several state leaders, including First Lady Tonette Walker and families of victims of the Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek.
Supporters dazzled by First Lady
She also met with many of her supporters after the speech, who said they were inspired by their female role model.
"It was powerful to shake her hand and look her in the eye," said Gale Davis of Milwaukee.
"You saw truth in her eyes," added Milwaukee's Gwenda Lawson. "It was something we will never get to experience again in our lives."
Others, such as Ruby Jones, said she "felt like she was talking to us."
"We feel like she understands where we're coming from," said Jones, a retired Bradley Tech teacher.
Although the First Lady visited today, the Republican Party of Wisconsin released a statement today chiding the president for not visiting Wisconsin in 189 days.
“President Obama talks a great game on how important Wisconsin is in his race to the White House, yet hasn’t set foot in the Badger State in more than six months,” said Nathan Conrad, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin. “Wisconsin has consistently been in play on a national level and the most recent polls have shown Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan with all the momentum."
( http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/hist.pdf ) YEAR ------ TOTAL SPENT ---% INCREASE ----------------(in millions) 2008 ..........2,982,544 .............9.30% (last year of Bush) 2009 ..........3,517,677 ...........17.94% (transition budget with TARP) 2010 ..........3,456,213 ............-1.75% (first Obama budget) (still higher than 2008 by 15.88%) 2011 ..........3,603,061 .............4.25% 2012 ..........3,795,547 .............5.34% (estimate) So how do you go from 2.982 TRILLION to 3.795 TRILLION (a 27% increase in four years) and still have "the slowest growth in spending of any President in the past 60 years"?!?!?!?!?!
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/may/25/lots-heat-and-some-light-obamas-spending/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-facts-about-the-growth-of-spending-under-obama-part-2/2012/05/30/gJQA3V4d2U_blog.html
"Ryan's budget is not on table but it was offered so that Reid might agree to sit down and do a joint budget . When Dems ran Wh, Senate and House they had no budget. Ryan as Chr Budget com in House wanted to negotiate and offered a 30 year budget thinking Reid might be drawn to the table. Harry still refused to do a budget. That Ryan had a budget to start negotiation is the point. Reid did not" Bernie replies. Democrats had 4 months of control. Kennedy died. Republicans fillabusted every bill to the floor. Remember the “Party First” USA second strategy of the republicans. Lost count of how many filibusters they have. Last count was at a record high of 145. Party of No, No, No, leadership has done nothing since taking the House where all Bills originate. Democrat Bills don’t make it to the floor. All bills that republicans put up had attachments that seriously affected the elderly, women’s rights, health, environment and the unemployed and not in a good way. That is why walked out when republicans were just showcasing with a bill that will never pass and taking away valuable time for serious leadership. Reid was fed up with their mockery of our system. Page 1 continue
Consider the middle class is the engine that powers our nation. They are the producers and consumers. Stall the engine or fail to maintain it will bring nation back to failed scenario. Hording of 40% our wealth by the 1.2% of our populace is not producing or consuming on the scale required to keep the engine running. That issue needs to be addressed. Republicans say we go back to the same policies that brought us into this mess to begin with. Romney would have no problem of outsourcing your job if there is profit for his entourage. His record is clear on that. Mitt will Not show his IRS Tax information! Mitt does Not know where his monies are ! Mitt does NOT know how it is invested ! Mitt does Not know when he quit Bain ! Well Americans know what all these KNOTS add up to, and it is Not presidential material. His party supports outsourcing. Republican senators “stood firm with Mitt Romney and his 1 percent lobbyist friends” when they successfully filibustered the Bring Jobs Home Act [July 19 2012] says. The bill would cut taxes for U.S. companies that bring jobs and business operations back to the United States and end tax loopholes that reward companies that ship jobs overseas. Now why would the republicans seek to keep favoring the 1.2% over our Main Street USA. Perhaps this professor, from MIT can explain better than I. http://youtu.be/2Ux8Q3XC98U
"And the followups: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/may/25/lots-heat-and-some-light-obamas-spending/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-facts-about-the-growth-of-spending-under-obama-part-2/2012/05/30/gJQA3V4d2U_blog.html" Bernie replies; Karl Rove, George W. Bush’s top political adviser for over a decade and the brains behind an outside group that hopes to raise and spend $300 million opposing President Obama’s re-election, released his first analysis of the 2012 electoral map this week, picking Obama as the early favorite. His electoral map, pegs the president as the solid favorite in 18 states totaling 220 electoral votes, and as the slight favorite in another five states (New Hampshire, Nevada, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) totaling 64 votes; the combined 284 electoral votes would be well over the 270 needed to win a second term. Obama has had the slowest growth in spending of any President in the past 60 years: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/may/23/facebook-posts/viral-facebook-post-says-barack-obama-has-lowest-s/
( http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/hist.pdf ) YEAR ------ TOTAL SPENT ---% INCREASE ----------------(in millions) 2008 ..........2,982,544 .............9.30% (last year of Bush) 2009 ..........3,517,677 ...........17.94% (transition budget with TARP) 2010 ..........3,456,213 ............-1.75% (first Obama budget) (still higher than 2008 by 15.88%) 2011 ..........3,603,061 .............4.25% 2012 ..........3,795,547 .............5.34% (estimate) and the politifact followups: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/may/25/lots-heat-and-some-light-obamas-spending/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-facts-about-the-growth-of-spending-under-obama-part-2/2012/05/30/gJQA3V4d2U_blog.html So how do you go from 2.982 TRILLION to 3.795 TRILLION (a 27% increase in four years) and still have "the slowest growth in spending of any President in the past 60 years"?!?!?!?!?!
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/05/24/Politifact-Obama-Not-a-Big-Spender http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/the-facts-about-the-growth-of-spending-under-obama-part-3/2012/06/05/gJQAY9YhGV_blog.html http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/05/actually-the-obama-spending-binge-really-did-happen/ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303753904577450910257188398.html http://www.factcheck.org/2012/06/obamas-spending-inferno-or-not/
Also, I am suyre you are one of the folks who think the Obama's are spending your money on clothes, restaurants and vacations. If yu are, well that wouldn;t surprise me. Fact is the First Family pays for eveery thing in the white house, toothpaste, laundry, breakfast , lunch and dinner, and hotel expense for vacation and all out of packet costs. Bet you didn't know that. The White House functions like a luxury hotel in this regard. At the end of each month, the president receives a bill for his food and incidental expenses. Nancy Reagan was famously taken aback by this practice when an usher presented her first bill in 1981, saying, “Nobody ever told us the president and his wife are charged for every meal, as well as incidentals like dry cleaning, toothpaste, and other toiletries.” (Once they got used to the bills, though, the Reagans loved the White House; President Reagan often joked that all the amenities made it like living in an eight-star hotel.)
First it was Negroes, then it was blacks, then coloreds, then Afro Americans. And now, the politically correct term is African Americans. What I find ironic is that blacks still say, "Wat up Nigga", but Americans can't without being called a racist, but for some reason it's okay for blacks to call us crackers. If a black man calls me Cracker, I'll call him 911. Bill says, responding personal feelings about being White: First it was hillbillies, then mountain folk, then rednecks, then trailer trash. What I find ironic is Jeff Foxworthy has made millions making fun of Rednecks. And White people insult each other by calling each other White Trash. But imagine me going up to a White person and calling them redneck or White Trash. And they call those other than themselves, Elite, Snobs, Sart Asses. Hmmm. Funny how people of different cultural back grounds speak of one another, but prefer someone who is not one to not use the insults. Dagos, Wops, Italians, Italo-Americans, now Italian Americans. Pollacks, Dumbass Pole, Polish Americans. Irish Americans, German American, Japanese Americans, Spanish Americans, Austrian Americans, Turkish Americans and on and on.
Whteman's disapointment: Bernie replies; Our American Melting Pot Have we forgotten that in this democracy of the melting pot of the world, does not only illuminate the various immigrants that came to our shores. It is also the melting pot of a multitude of political philosophers from different regions of the world. We The People have incorporated various positions of these philosophers‘. Such as; Aristotle ,Immanuel Kant, John Stewart Mills, John Rawls, John Lock, Jeremy Bentham to name a few. Melting pot of various political ideologies’ as well. Utilitarianism, Libertinism, socialism, communism, liberalism, capitalism again to name a few. All of these ingredients are constantly being stirred about in our pot. Democracy is our abilities to consent to incorporate various ingredients, that We The People consider ideal. Picking and choosing only which parts we desire to remain in our pot and eliminating the dregs. So far this has risen in a short amount of time to be a world power. Liberalism and conservatism are the instruments we use as the tools to keep the pot at just the right flavor. Presently the brew has attained a bitter cronyism taste. Would be prudent to remove some of those dregs once again. It is the moral imperative for the chef’s coinsurer’s taste for a well balanced Ala Democracy Soufflés’ .
Do you have any clue that posturing is not the same as making an argument? You are like a barking dog. Woof, woof.
which STILL don't make sense
He's a Muslim He's a Socialist He's a Negro He's not an American Citizen He's a foreign scholarship Student He never worked in the private sector He's trying to destroy America He's an apologist for America He's married to a woman with a big ass He's a Communist He's a traitor He's not qualified to be President He bows to Foreign Dignitaries He's taken credit for personally killing OBL He's not a Christian He's a friend of Bill Ayers He's a community organizer He's read Saul Alinsky's book He uses a teleprompter He plays Basketball and Golf He's a racist He doesn't like White People (but who does) He's bi-sexual He went to school in Indonesia He's the son of a Kenyan He's a Manchurian Candidate He's unpatriotic He doesn't wear a lapel flag pin He doesn't put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem He's from Chicago His wife wears expensive clothes He lives large on the tax payers dime He Uses Air Force One to Travel He's an Elitist He went to Harvard He went to Columbia His daughters are Negroes His Mother took Government Assistance Money He smoked Pot He snorted Cocaine He had a Caucasian Girlfriend He supports the Black Panthers (both of them) He's got a radical pastor at his church He really doesn't accept Jesus Christ He's the Food Stamp President He supports social programs
Kind of shows you the differences in the candidates. Barack Hussein Obama is willing to feed into the conspiracy frenzy for votes. BTW, your long list is a wild mix of fact, rumor, and crap you made-up with the intent of associating fact with fiction so we will think all of it is untrue. The relevant facts you list are: He's a Socialist He never worked in the private sector He's trying to destroy America He's an apologist for America He's not qualified to be President He bows to Foreign Dignitaries He's taken credit for personally killing OBL He's a friend of Bill Ayers He's a community organizer He's read Saul Alinsky's book (and practices it's teachings) He uses a teleprompter He doesn't put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem He's from Chicago (that's enough right there) He's got a radical pastor at his church He's the Food Stamp President But the two that really bother me tthe most: He smoked Pot (let's face it, he was a pot-head) He snorted Cocaine
No! I was being sarcastic. Not middle brow enough for you Auntie? Re: Mr. Saul Alinsky. Something you obviously do not know. Your comment name is like everything you write. Not well thought out. Adam Brandon, spokesman for FreedomWorks, which has been organizing tea-party activists and includes Dick Armey as chairman, says the group gives Mr. Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" to the top Tea Party leadership members. When it comes to grass-roots organizing Alinsky's ideas are incredibly effective," Mr. Brandon said. He cited the group's sending of tea-party activists to town-hall meetings. "When the first five people step up to the microphone to challenge a congressman,'' he said, "it completely changes the dynamic of the town hall—he spends all of his time defending himself." Pure, Alinsky. The Tea Party is a Socialist Organization. Ain't that something!
Take RULE 2: “Never go outside the expertise of your people.” It results in confusion, fear and retreat. Feeling secure adds to the backbone of anyone." Bernie has constantly referenced his favorite politifact article concerning Barack Hussein Obama having the lowest spending increases of any recent president. I called him on it several times citing data from an OMB report hosted on the Whitehouse website. As I mentioned several times, politifacts facts are correct, but their spin and conclusion are incorrect. I pulled Bernie out of his "expertise" (which as Hoffa has pointed out time and again just seems to be cutting and pasting randomly from Liberal rags). As a result, Bernie can only keep mumbling "politifact says, politifact says... and has to ignore the fact that we are spending 27% more today than four years ago. And while you admit your list was sarcastic in nature and pulled out of the urban legend generator that is the blogosphere, my list was compiled from various Barack Hussein Obama accusations leveled at Mitt Romney!
Check chart – Annualized Growth of Federal Spending. Source: (OMB, CBO & Haver Analytics) Reagan '82-'95... 8.7% Reagan '86-'98... 4.9% Bush I '90-'93 .... 5.4% Clinton '94-'97.... 3.2% Clinton '98-'01.... 3.9% Bush II '02-'05 ... 7.3% Bush II '06-'09 ... 8.1% (2009 stimulus reassigned to Obama) Obama'10 - '13... 1.4% How did Republicans managed to persuade Americans to buy this lie? It's with Obama's first year. The budget increased a whopping 17.9% From $2.98 tril. to $3.52 tril. The result of the Obama sponsored stimulus plan. The 1st term of any incoming president's is saddled with the budget set by the president before him. Not only was the 2009 budget the property of Bush, passed 4 months before Obama entered the W.H. The 1st budget that is Obama's began in 2010 with the budgets running through and including 2013. Here are Obama's Budgets: In fiscal 2010 (1st Obama budget) spending fell 1.8% to $3.46 tril. Fiscal 2011, spending rose 4.3% to $3.60 tril. Fiscal 2012, spending is set to rise 0.7% to $3.63 tril, according to the CBO’s estimate of the budget that was agreed to last August. Fiscal 2013 is scheduled to fall 1.3% to $3.58 tril. Read the CBO’s latest budget outlook.