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U.S., Cuba to restore diplomatic relations after 50 years

Obama waited till Congress convened for the holidays to pull his latest E.O. move and left them totally off guard. This man is dangerous. There is no other way to put it.

Good. I hope that Obama strikes fear in conservatives in his remaining months and uses whatever authority he has to fix broken sh!t.
 
Like I stated earlier, Senator Rubio blasted Obama's actions and showed just how disingenuous he was in making it out that Congress was not working on issues with Cuba. Today we also heard from Senator Medendez on the left. He is livid over Obama's actions.

Menendez on Obama Cuba deal: 'I think it stinks' | NJ.com

Obama waited till Congress convened for the holidays to pull his latest E.O. move and left them totally off guard. This man is dangerous. There is no other way to put it.

Greetings, Vesper. :2wave:

China is also doing business with Cuba. I wonder if BHO got the idea from them at the G20 meeting, and decided to join in? Everything he does is political, so there's probably no altruistic motive here, IMO.
 
I oppose it because of how it was done. Another Obama E.O. then turns around and wants Congress to make it permanent. Also Obama was disingenuous with his remarks.
Marco Rubio said the U.S. and Cuba were moving toward normalized banking and trade ties. He also said the U.S. was poised to open an embassy in Havana in the coming months.

"This is going to do absolutely nothing to further human rights and democracy in Cuba," Rubio said in an interview. "But it potentially goes a long way in providing the economic lift that the Castro regime needs to become permanent fixtures in Cuba for generations to come."

He's right. The people won't benefit from this. They will still be issued their allotted bags of beans and rice while the government gets rich.

Sounds like the US economy.

It seems like every week from Obama we get a new E.O. dramatically changing just about anything. One week it is writing legislation from the WH on Obamacare. Another week it is making his own appointees avoiding the confirmation process in Congress. Another week it is granting amnesty and changing immigration laws. Another was to give the EPA power to advance Cap-n-Trade ..... decision based upon his goals and wishes that fit into the UN's plan of their international global warming carbon taxing agenda. And now this!

An abuse of executive power I have never seen the likes of in my lifetime. A constitutional crisis in the making.

As for the executive orders, I say "way to go, Obama!" We still need another executive order to shut down Guantanamo.
 
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Like I stated earlier, Senator Rubio blasted Obama's actions and showed just how disingenuous he was in making it out that Congress was not working on issues with Cuba. Today we also heard from Senator Medendez on the left. He is livid over Obama's actions.

Menendez on Obama Cuba deal: 'I think it stinks' | NJ.com

Obama waited till Congress convened for the holidays to pull his latest E.O. move and left them totally off guard. This man is dangerous. There is no other way to put it.

Yeah V, Rubio did lay into him.


"A Concession to a Tyranny": Marco Rubio Absolutely Blasts Obama's New Cuba Policy.....


“No commitment was made to allowing the establishment of political parties or to even begin the semblance of a transition to democracy,” he said about the announcement. “In exchange for all of these concessions, the only thing the Cuban government agreed to do is free 53 political prisoners – who could wind up in jail tomorrow morning if they once again take up the cause of freedom – and to allow the United Nations and the Red Cross to monitor conditions on the island.”

“These changes will lead to legitimacy for a government that shamelessly, continuously abuses human rights,” he said. “But it will not lead to assistance for those whose rights are being abused. It is just another concession to a tyranny – by the Obama administration – rather than a defense of every universal and inalienable right that our country was founded on and stands for. In short, what these changes are going to do is they will tighten this regime’s grip on power for decades to come.”

This president is the single worst negotiator we’ve had in the White House in my lifetime,” he said. “[H]e has basically given the Cuban government everything it asked for and received no assurances of any advances in democracy and freedom in return." .....snip~

"A Concession to a Tyranny": Marco Rubio Absolutely Blasts Obama's New Cuba Policy - Daniel Doherty
 
This is great, 54 years of sanctions/embargo has done nothing, its time to stop this insanity. If we can do business with
china, we certainly can do business with cuba.

Way to go President Obama

I am formulating my opinion about this. I live in Florida and have lots of Cuban friends. I know people who have been political prisoners in Castro's prisons. I know an American who was in prison there because he went into a town he did not have permission to visit. The Cubans that I know want nothing to do with normalized relations with Cuba until Castro dies.

Personally, I have no issue with normalized relations. Listening to analysis by politico's it seems that, while we might have received some concessions from the Cuban government with respect to human rights, freedom of information and reforms in their form of government, we instead just handed them a bag of goodies and told them to have a nice time. One talking head, possibly Rubio, called Obama the worst negotiator in American history.

Right now my opinion is that this normalization is probably a good idea but clumsily handled and an opportunity missed. It's the kind of thing orchestrated by a community organizer, not an expert in foreign relations.

As more details emerge, my opinion may shift one way or the other.
 
And Honey Boo Boo Child, you forgot.

No.....I accounted for Diane Feinstein.
hugegrin.gif
 
Not to be the party pooper here, but doesn't the US have legislation and congressional action in place from previous administrations? How is it that the President decides, on his own, that all goes in the trash without any consultation or congressional action?

He hasn't nullified any laws.

As an aside, seems to me that Obama is basically that unpopular kid in highschool who takes pleasure out of being an a-one asshole just to irritate everyone else. If you don't like him, he'll show you. You're going to have two years of this childishness. Get used to it.

That you don't care about about changing our stupid policy with Cuba doesn't make it 'childish.'
 
Greetings, Vesper. :2wave:

China is also doing business with Cuba. I wonder if BHO got the idea from them at the G20 meeting, and decided to join in? Everything he does is political, so there's probably no altruistic motive here, IMO.

Heya Lady P. Menendez also blasted BO peep. Also some other Demos came out on it too.


U.S. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) today blasted President Obama's decision to begin re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba and easing economic restrictions imposed on the communist country. Angry over Obama's failure to consult him on the talks involving Cuba, which lasted more than a year, Menendez said he would not approve easing the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, which can only be done by Congress, and called on the incoming chairman of the committee, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to hold hearings when the new Congress convenes in January. "Its a reward that a totalitarian regime does not deserve," Menendez said. "I reject the notion that somehow it is the United States that has created hardship on the Cuban people."

Menendez said it looked like the U.S. was trading spies for Gross. "It was swap of convicted spies for an innocent American," Menendez said. "Trading Mr. Gross for three convicted criminals sets an extremely dangerous precedent. It invites dictatorial and rogue regimes to use Americans serving overseas as bargaining chips."

Reps. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) and Albio Sires (D-8th Dist.) have introduced legislation named for Foerster that would require the executive branch to tell Congress what the U.S. is doing to extradite fugitives from Cuba and other countries. “Rather than bringing the Cuban people closer to democracy and freedom, by capitulating to the Castro brothers, the administration allows them to strengthen their grip on the Cuban people," said Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.). "Whatever joy we feel at the release of Alan Gross is tempered by the sadness that our president is enabling tyranny.” And Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-9th Dist.) said he would "insist that any opening of relations comes side-by-side with an opening of the Cuban government's political system from totalitarianism to one that respects democracy, human rights, and personal freedoms.".....snip~

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/12/menendez_on_obama_cuba_deal_i_think_it_stinks.html
 
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Right now my opinion is that this normalization is probably a good idea but clumsily handled and an opportunity missed. It's the kind of thing orchestrated by a community organizer, not an expert in foreign relations.

Of course its being handled by a chump community organizer. Things wont change for the average Cuban who still faces a totalitarian govt, no private property, imprisonment, or death. Its just going to make liberals feel better-which is all this is about.
 
Yeah V, Rubio did lay into him.


"A Concession to a Tyranny": Marco Rubio Absolutely Blasts Obama's New Cuba Policy.....


“No commitment was made to allowing the establishment of political parties or to even begin the semblance of a transition to democracy,” he said about the announcement. “In exchange for all of these concessions, the only thing the Cuban government agreed to do is free 53 political prisoners – who could wind up in jail tomorrow morning if they once again take up the cause of freedom – and to allow the United Nations and the Red Cross to monitor conditions on the island.”

“These changes will lead to legitimacy for a government that shamelessly, continuously abuses human rights,” he said. “But it will not lead to assistance for those whose rights are being abused. It is just another concession to a tyranny – by the Obama administration – rather than a defense of every universal and inalienable right that our country was founded on and stands for. In short, what these changes are going to do is they will tighten this regime’s grip on power for decades to come.”

This president is the single worst negotiator we’ve had in the White House in my lifetime,” he said. “[H]e has basically given the Cuban government everything it asked for and received no assurances of any advances in democracy and freedom in return." .....snip~

"A Concession to a Tyranny": Marco Rubio Absolutely Blasts Obama's New Cuba Policy - Daniel Doherty

Rubio doesn't know what he's talking about. We imposed an embargo that no one else participated in and basically ignored Cuba for 50 years in the hope that social and political change would spontaneously occur. Its achieved exactly squat. The offer of normalizing diplomatic relations has allowed us to achieve unprecedented results in Burma/Myanmar under this President. Cuba is indicating that they may be willing to take a similar path of gradual but meaningful change. We shouldn't ignore it and restoring diplomatic lines of communication is hardly a burdensome price to pay for the opportunity to influence the process of reforming a nation.
 
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Great move Obama! Lame duck president my ass. Lmao!
 
U.S., Cuba to restore diplomatic relations after 50 years | Reuters

I'm actually cautiously optimistic about this. We've had a rather odd relationship with Cuba ever since their fight for independence 100+ years ago but simple proximity makes some kind of normalization a matter of practicality.

The castro regime are nothing but Communist-loving people who claim they are full on liberal democrats. Nothing that happened today will benefit the 11.2 million Cuban people who've been suffering for decades due to this regime. We've had different presidents since the happenings of 1961 with Cuba. They haven't. Castro is still Castro. This has nothing to do with either governments. The people that should be the one's benefitting from this are the Cuban citizens, and that's not happening. Obviously we can't expect everything to change in 24 hours, but this is not going to be a normal-pace process at all. The Cuban people are still going to be suffering, whether an American prisoner was released or not.
 
Of course its being handled by a chump community organizer. Things wont change for the average Cuban who still faces a totalitarian govt, no private property, imprisonment, or death. Its just going to make liberals feel better-which is all this is about.
That's the general concern. Barrack has ever had any experience or training as a negotiator and, like many leftists, sees more flaws in elected leaders than in dictatorial regimes. We can hope that this provides some relief for the Cuban people but all it may do is legitimize Castro's regime. For the next two years we can only hope Obama doesn't do more harm than good.
 
Good. I hope that Obama strikes fear in conservatives in his remaining months and uses whatever authority he has to fix broken sh!t.
Broken by your standards?
And no it isn't just "conservatives" who see Obama as dangerous. Every student of the Constitution does. Left or Right. Jonathan Turley,George Washington University Law School professor, very liberal, recently agreed to take the House of Representatives case before the Supreme Court over Obama's abuse of power for legislating from the Oval Office on Obamacare. He has written articles/blogs and in interviews has spoken out about his concerns of Obama overstepping his constitutional powers on a multiple occasions.
"What I'm hearing certainly causes great concern that he will again violate the separation of powers," Turley said. "No president can take on the power of all three branches and that's what he seems to be doing. He certainly seems to be taking on legislative authority. He isn't be particularly coy about this, you know he says 'this is what I wanted to get out of legislation and I'm going to do it on my own' and that does become a government of one."

Turley also cautioned the President against ignoring the results of the 2014 midterm elections by going around Congress on this issue despite frustration of partisan disagreements.

"It's a very sad moment but it's becoming a particularly dangerous moment if the president is going to go forward, particularly after this election to defy the will of Congress yet again. I can understand the frustration, these are two political parties that cannot get along but as you said, we have a Democratic process and a Congress that's coming in with the full voice of the American people behind them, that's what an election is, you may disagree with the outcome, but you have to respect the outcome," Turley continued. "What the President is suggesting is tearing at the very fabric of the constitution. We have a separation of powers that gives us balance and that doesn't protect the branches. It's not there to protect the executive branch or the legislative branch, it's there to protect liberty. It's there to keep any branch from assuming so much control that they become a threat to liberty."
"I always tell my friends on the Democratic side, we will rue the day when we helped create this uber presidency," he said. "What the Democrats are creating is something very very dangerous. They're creating a president who can go at it alone and to go at it alone is something that is a very danger that the framers sought to avoid in our constitution."

Liberal Law Professor Jonathan Turley: Obama's Executive Amnesty Threat 'Tears at Very Fabric of The Constitution" - Katie Pavlich

So Turley is now lead council for the House of Representatives over Obama's actions on Obamacare. The above comments were Turley's over Obama's E.O. Amnesty.

Obama has already got his hand slapped by the Supremes for violating the law when he waited for Congress to adjourn to by E.O. hand pick his appointees that were suppose to be confirmed by Congress.

Obama did the same thing today by waiting till Congress had adjourn to issue another E.O. on Cuba relations. Even the Democrat Senator Menendez Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman was not informed of the ongoing talks with Cuba the Obama administration claims they have been involved in over Americans in prison in Cuba unjustly and 3 Cuban spies convicted and imprisoned who also killed 4 Americans.

Now if you think this kind of abuse of power is justified, then you are what is part of the real problem in this country.
 
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Rubio doesn't know what he's talking about. We imposed an embargo that no one else participated in and basically ignored Cuba for 50 years in the hope that social and political change would spontaneously occur. Its achieved exactly squat. The offer of normalizing diplomatic relations has allowed us to achieve unprecedented results in Burma/Myanmar under this President. Cuba is indicating that they may be willing to take a similar path of gradual but meaningful change. We shouldn't ignore it and restoring diplomatic lines of communication is hardly a burdensome price to pay for the opportunity to influence the process of reforming a nation.
Cuba had little to trade with anyone, except the Cuban women. If people are simply allowed to leave it will be a big step forward.

And those looking forward to good Cuban cigars can forget it. There are far better cigars elsewhere now and the legend has become the myth.
 
Heya Lady P. Menendez also blasted BO peep. Also some other Demos came out on it too.


U.S. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) today blasted President Obama's decision to begin re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba and easing economic restrictions imposed on the communist country. Angry over Obama's failure to consult him on the talks involving Cuba, which lasted more than a year, Menendez said he would not approve easing the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, which can only be done by Congress, and called on the incoming chairman of the committee, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to hold hearings when the new Congress convenes in January. "Its a reward that a totalitarian regime does not deserve," Menendez said. "I reject the notion that somehow it is the United States that has created hardship on the Cuban people."

Menendez said it looked like the U.S. was trading spies for Gross. "It was swap of convicted spies for an innocent American," Menendez said. "Trading Mr. Gross for three convicted criminals sets an extremely dangerous precedent. It invites dictatorial and rogue regimes to use Americans serving overseas as bargaining chips."

Reps. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) and Albio Sires (D-8th Dist.) have introduced legislation named for Foerster that would require the executive branch to tell Congress what the U.S. is doing to extradite fugitives from Cuba and other countries. “Rather than bringing the Cuban people closer to democracy and freedom, by capitulating to the Castro brothers, the administration allows them to strengthen their grip on the Cuban people," said Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.). "Whatever joy we feel at the release of Alan Gross is tempered by the sadness that our president is enabling tyranny.” And Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-9th Dist.) said he would "insist that any opening of relations comes side-by-side with an opening of the Cuban government's political system from totalitarianism to one that respects democracy, human rights, and personal freedoms.".....snip~

Menendez on Obama Cuba deal: 'I think it stinks' | NJ.com

This "outrage" from Menendez sounds rather hollow and false to me for the following reasons. 1) He voted in lockstep with the other Dems in forcing Obamacare on us. 2) He voted nay on the Obamacare repeal. 3) He voted nay on the amendment to deny access to healthcare for illegal immigrants. Where is his outrage for the American people on those items? Sounds like all he cares about is illegals and what perks they should have.

His outrage now seems to be that it's Cuba that's being discussed here. What's his problem with the US establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba? I don't hear him speaking on behalf of the Cuban people who have suffered from an economic embargo for 50 years. Why does he resent Cubans having the chance for a better life if sanctions are lifted?

And why is he upset about trading spies for Gross? Obama traded five terrorist leaders for Bergdahl. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't hear any outrage from him on that.
 
Just when I though Obama couldn't be any more of an incompetent fool, he goes and makes this utterly foolish announcement. This guy is more dangerous to our country than any weapon.
 
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