Obama pledges to work with Congress on violence
Source: AP
Obama pledges to work with Congress on violence
By By JULIE PACE – 1 minute ago
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In one of his most expansive responses yet to gun crime, President Barack Obama on Wednesday embraced some degree of control on the sale of weapons but said he would also seek a consensus on combating violence. He said some responsibility also rests with parents, neighbors and teachers to ensure that young people "do not have that void inside them."
Speaking just six days after the shooting in Aurora, Colo., movie theater that left 12 dead, Obama pledged to work with lawmakers of both parties to stop violence, not only the sudden massacres that have bedeviled the nation, but the steady drip of urban crime that has cost many young lives.
"We should leave no stone unturned and recognize that we have no greater mission that keeping our young people safe," Obama said in a speech to the National Urban League.
Obama called for stepped-up background checks for people who want to purchase guns and restrictions to keep mentally imbalanced individuals from buying weapons. He says those steps "shouldn't be controversial, they should be common sense."
Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5geJFUvFdLWmw-PG4_ejR7TFuNnPA?docId=3e19d3dbae6942ec9350f1f935b9f314
edited to add the update, original is below.
Obama Addresses Urban League Refocusing on Economy
Source: Bloomberg
President Barack Obama refocuses on the economy and education in front of a group representing his strongest backers as he wraps up a campaign trip with a speech to the National Urban League in New Orleans.
Obama will address the civil-rights group a few hours after the Democratic-controlled Senate passed a measure to extend most of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts while letting those for top earners expire at the end of the year, a central element of Obama’s election-year economic plan.
Republicans, who have a majority in the House, plan to pass a bill next week to extend expiring income tax cuts for all levels for a year, leaving the stalemate on U.S. fiscal policy intact.
“The House Republicans are now the only people left in Washington holding hostage the middle-class tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans and nearly every small business owner,” Obama said in a statement.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-25/obama-addresses-urban-league-refocusing-on-economy.html
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MSNBC is going to cover the speech live. On now.
http://ed.msnbc.com/
= new reply since forum marked as read
