Sunday, June 26, 2011
Critics of President Barack Obama have had an easy time recently throwing his own words back at him on tough issues like raising the national debt and being involved in Libya.
As president, Obama wants Congress to lift the national debt limit. His Republican opponents, though, point out that, in 2006, Senator Obama remarked that even uttering the idea was “a sign of leadership failure” and he voted against raising the limit.
On Libya, his changed position has also been criticized by the left. Obama insists he had the authority to send U.S. forces to the conflict without first gaining permission from Congress. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has pointed out that, in 2007, Senator Obama was quoted as saying: “The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
President Obama Hasn’t Always Agreed with Senator Obama (by David Fahrenthold, Washington Post)
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