President Obama Invokes Legacy of Ronald Reagan to Push Senate Republicans on New START Treaty

[cal04]

Source: ABC News

President Obama continued to push Senate Republicans to ratify the new nuclear treaty with Russia, invoking one of their party icons to make his case.

Obama mentioned Ronald Reagan four times in his weekly address, noting that when the Republican president signed a nuclear arms treaty with the Soviet Union in 1987 he said, “trust but verify.”

“That is precisely what the New START Treaty does,” the president said of the new nuclear treaty that he signed with Russian President Medvedev in April.

“After nearly a full year of negotiations, we completed an agreement earlier this year that cuts by a third the number of long-range nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles that the United States and Russia can deploy, while ensuring that America retains a strong nuclear deterrent, and can put inspectors back on the ground in Russia.”

Read more: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/11/obama-invokes-legacy-of-ronald-reagan-to-push-senate-republicans-on-new-start-treaty.html

[Lasher]

1. Maybe if he names something else after Saint Ronnie they'll like him.

Maybe his next born.

[democrank]

2. I don`t blame President Obama. Why? Because

ketchup really IS a vegetable.

[karynnj]

18. No it isn't - per the Senator who had by far the greatest knowledge on that - Senator Heinz,

who disputed the issue when Reagan said so. It has tomatoes in it, but it is a condiment.

[Chef Eric]

3. There he goes again. nt

[pattmarty]

4. Why doesn't he just switch party?

[jonnyblitz]

6. my exact thoughts as I read the subject line. nt

[pattmarty]

9. Yep, the quicker st ronnie's "legacy" dies, the better off we all will be.........

............The Republicans needed someone of their own to "combat" the excellent FDR legacy and they went out and CREATED their very own out of that ole twenty mule team Borax "cowboy" st ronnie. Reagan couldn't lick FDR's balls.

[karynnj]

20. Because he is a Democrat

This treaty should not be a partisan issue. The fact is that Dick Lugar seemed to be on exactly the same page as Senator Kerry at all of their hearings - no surprise as this has been a cause for Lugar since before Reagan agreed to it.

[tomm2thumbs]

5. they don't care who's name he mentions - these are the types that joked about Kennedy dying

they have no morals
they have no self control
they have no sense of decency
they don't care about anything but themselves

they are as un-Patriotic and un-American as they come

[emilyg]

17. We joke about Cheney

dying - don't we?

[zogofzorkon]

21. Cheney was not shot dead unless I missed that headline.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

22. i can't believe you're comparing Cheney with Kennedy.

One was a great public servant who did all he could to help the American people and the other is an evil bastard who should be in prison for war crimes.

[madrchsod]

7. the todays republicans are to the right of reagan

[pattmarty]

10. I'm sure you've heard it before, but Nixon would be "liberal" compared......

...........to Obama, Clinton and Carter. We needed another FDR, what we got was a black Bill Clinton.

[Iowa]

25. +1

[rug]

8. If he really wants to reach out to them he should invoke Curtis LeMay.

[pattmarty]

11. And the John Birch Society. LeMay, Goldwater and the "Birchers" were the..........

.........crazies in the 50's & 60's and called such. Now the fucking crazies are in charge and we're called "socialists".

[Kolesar]

12. START and SALT treaties are usually approved by overwhelming, bipartisan majorities

Senator John Kyl is politicizing this issue. I hope he suffers a long, painful illnesss

[gibby2433]

13. You know the Repugs are being UNUSUALLY dip-shitted...

when a Democratic president is forced to mention Ron "I hate poor people" Reagan to get these idiots in line.

[Arkana]

14. Well, whatever it takes. Who knows, maybe it'll work, maybe it won't.

[RZM]

15. In order to fully channel Reagan

He'd have to replace his 'uhs' with 'wells' :)

[CBHagman]

16. This is to ratify a NONPROLIFERATION treaty.

It takes 67 votes to pass it. Look at the makeup of the Senate and do the math.

An August report on NPR:

The new START treaty calls for significant reductions in the deployed nuclear weapons of both countries. But it may have a hard time getting the 67 votes in the Senate required to ratify any treaty.

The treaty was signed by President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April. Now it's up to the Senate. There have been nearly 20 hearings in the Senate Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Intelligence Committees.

All the while, no treaty and no verification mechanisms are in place to manage the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the United States.

I don't care if Obama invokes Calvin Coolidge or Thomas Dewey or Koko the Clown; just get this thing passed.

But don't take my word for it. Here are the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the ranking member, and the secretary of State. See video at the State Department link.

http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/clinton_kerry_lugar_start

And if you don't know who Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) is, Google the phrase Nunn-Lugar.

People are using this thread to make knee-jerk cheap shots at the president. I will type the following as many times as I have to on DU: Doing that doesn't prove your progressive bona fides or get a single thing done for the good of the people.

[lordcommander]

23. +1,000,000 nt

[AlphaCentauri]

19. is this the new economic stimulus?

:shrug:

[Still a Democrat]

24. Understandable

Invoking Reagan helps expose their opposition as pure partisanship. Republican votes are needed, and this leverages them a bit.