[Jim Farmer]

I know this is not new news, but his latest action is!

GOP lawmakers blast Obama's Cuba policy shift
Key lawmakers criticized the Obama administration for moving to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba on Wednesday, including House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and one Senate Democrat who warned that an arrangement that was a key part of the shift set "an extremely dangerous precedent" that could put thousands of Americans at risk.
Other members of Congress hailed the release of American contractor Alan Gross from Cuban custody on Wednesday and lauded President Obama's decision to end the longstanding divide with Cuba.
The clash over the landmark foreign policy development could lead to an extended battle that does not fall completely along party lines.
“This asymmetrical trade will invite further belligerence toward Cuba's opposition movement and the hardening of the government’s dictatorial hold on its people," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) of the deal to secure Gross, which was a key component of the broader U.S.-Cuba agreement.
Three lawmakers — Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) — returned to the Washington area Wednesday morning on a flight with Gross, congressional aides familiar with the travel said. In a statement, Leahy lauded Gross's release and said Obama "wisely charted a new course" on Cuba "that serves our national interests in this hemisphere and the world."
Obama said the United States plans to reopen its embassy in Havana and ease restrictions on travel and commerce with Cuba.
Even as some lawmakers lauded Gross's release, they expressed deep skepticism about the president's decision to ease restrictions.
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) issued a statement saying, "Relations with the Castro regime should not be revisited, let alone normalized, until the Cuban people enjoy freedom – and not one second sooner."

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) vowed to block moves by President Obama toward normalizing relations with the Cuban government. (Reuters)

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called Obama's announcement "another concession to a tyranny" by his administration.
Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he supports Rubio's views.
"I think he knows more about this than almost anybody in the Senate, if not everybody in the Senate, and I wouldn't differ with his characterization, McConnell said, according to the Associated Press.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) took to Twitter after Obama's remarks to say he will "do all in my power" to block the use of funds to open an embassy in Cuba. "Normalizing relations with Cuba is bad idea at a bad time."
Republican House members representing Miami-area districts railed against Obama's decision.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) issued a statement calling Obama's decision an "outrage." Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) released one saying the president's move was "misguided."
The delegation of lawmakers traveling with Gross was greeted in Washington upon landing by Sens. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) and Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.). Flake tweeted a picture Wednesday morning:
An aide to Durbin tweeted this photograph:
Levin said in a statement that seeing Gross walk off that plane with his wife "was a sight I'll never forget. His unjust imprisonment and his family’s nightmare are finally over."
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who put forward a 2012 resolution calling for Gross's release, also praised the move. "Today, news of Alan’s release brings great relief to his loved ones and to every American who has called for his freedom. I admire Alan’s strength and that of his wife Judy, who has worked tirelessly for years to free Alan and reunite her family."
Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said that he learned recently that the Obama administration and the Vatican have been working together for more than a year to secure Gross's release from Cuba.
“I’ve spoken to this president many times over the years and I know that it was his goal to change our relationship with Cuba," Durbin said in an interview. "I also knew that the administration was quietly behind the scenes doing a lot to free Alan Gross."
The White House also informed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and others of the release Tuesday night, but it was not immediately clear whether top Republican leaders had also been informed.
Other lawmakers closely tracking U.S.-Cuba policy said they were given just a 30-minute advance warning that a "major announcement" regarding Cuba policy was imminent.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he is taking a wait and see approach.
"We will be closely examining the implications of these major policy changes in the next Congress," Corker said in a statement.

In less than two minutes, here are the key moments from President Obama's speech about changes to relations with Cuba on Wednesday. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

[Pastor Ezekiel]

Well, the coon in the White House is an avowed communist. I'm only surprised that it took so long for him to openly embrace his hero, the late Fidel Castro.

[Basilissa]

It's terrible. The US should never have any political nor economic relations with any commie states. We should put embargo on all five communist countries.

Well, maybe with the exception of China, because let's face it - who else would produce all the worthless crap that we think we need? Also, except North Korea, because they have good hackers, so we really don't want them to be our enemies (we do have broad economic sanctions against them, but not as severe as the Cuban embargo). I guess we don't have to put embargo on Laos or Vietnam, because who cares about Laos and Vietnam? Nobody.

OK, so out of the five remaining communist countries we only have economic sanctions against Cuba and North Korea - and a total embargo only against Cuba. We have to keep that Cuban embargo because it is the expression of our hate against communism in general - hate which we cannot express against North Korea and China, and which we do not express against Vietnam and Laos just because we don't care about them that much.

Just remember - we don't have the embargo because Cuban government violates human rights. We all love our cheap products made by free Chinese labor, and we don't care about human rights violations there. Also, there was some other recent news about human right violations in the US recently, so we aren't in a position to criticize such violations abroad. (Not that there's anything wrong with torture, obviously).

Therefore, we should keep the embargo against Cuba for the following reasons:

1) We've had it for half a century, there were never any problems with it, so we know it works.

2) It's a symbol of our undying hate of communism, which we cannot express towards other commie states for pragmatic reasons.

3) Cuba doesn't have anything that we would ever need, so it wouldn't be pragmatic to end the embargo - we wouldn't benefit from that.

[WilliamJenningsBryan]

Let's face it, Obama is in his lame duck term and is out to cement his legacy by attempting to bring his Juche Obamunism brand of Marxism to the Western Hemisphere.