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President Obama delivered his second State of the Union speech focusing mostly on domestic issues — most notably job creation and the economy. He opened with comments about what sets American apart from the rest of the world and then focused in, more specifically, on deficit reduction, education, the promise of renewable energy, healthcare reform and the country's debt.
Did you listen to his speech or the Republican or Tea Party responses that followed? What struck a chord for you?
From your experience, what is the state of the union?
Photo credit: www.whitehouse.gov / Creative Commons
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Govt have no power or means to create wealth; it can only coerce taxes and waste and misuse the wealth it takes from the people. The current economic decline is due solely to Govt and its misuse of powers lawfully accorded to it, and others they have wrongly appropriated.
A corrupt Congress have enabled the looting of our economy by a rapacious banking community with no allegiance to our nation. Congress and the administration refuse to regulate the industry that is ruining the country, nor will it stop the waste of trillions fighting wars that everyone in Washington knows are in the interest of a foreign nation.
Unless Mr. Obama admits these facts and pledges honestly to work toward their resolution anything else he has to say is just more meaningless Newspeak.
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"President Obama Should Outline Plan to Reduce Poverty By Half"
It should read: "National Council of Churches and RACRJ outline a faith-driven plan to reduce poverty by half."
Rev. Curry, if you are as driven as you sound then I challenge you and your parishoners (the NCC, RACRJ and all churches of all kinds) to commit a special tithe to the poor. Don't ask the Nation to do what you aren't willing to do... what can the Churches of America do to reduce poverty by half without government assistance.
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@rethomas
I believe that many churches do not do enough to help those living in poverty. That is why I've helped churches start shelter programs and volunteer efforts. The last church I served actually sold their property and is discerning how best they can serve the community as they co-habitat with another congregation. They are considering ideas like building a new church that doubles as a community center or day care. Communities of faith run hospitals, housing programs, addiction treatment centers and all manner of other programs that help people across the United States. But with nearly 50 million people living in poverty there is no way the faith community alone can solve the problem. Poverty, at the core, is an economic issue. During the 90s we saw poverty drop. After President Bush took office in 2001 and changed course we saw poverty grow again. We know what government does or doesn't do matters. Best wishes.
Rev. Chuck Currie
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You didn't answer the question reverend... what can the churches of America do to cut poverty in half?
If there are 50M in poverty and if only half of the 45M Christian represented by the NCC are middle class... if they each adopted a person in poverty it would almost get you there.
My apologies, if this is such a significant issue for the Church, I think the Church could do more if it would spend less time lobbying and more time doing... Be an example to the country. I'll stand behind you when I see Christian doors opening to the poor.
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Not to pile on, but poverty is a broad and complex issue. It's not like saying we should replace a bridge, which is specific and measurable.
I'd like to see an end to DV, Child abuse, drug addiction and the like, but one needs to offer specific proposals to address the issue.
What does that look like to you? Would you toughen sentencing guidelines? increase social services? Raise the minimum wage?
What are we talking about here?
Otherwise, we're just kicking the can down the road...
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Gereng
I think that you are wrong about the gov not having the power or means to create wealth.
Have you ever read the "war is a racket" essay by Marine Major General Smedly Darlington Butler? Our gov created tremendous wealth for a few by creating the banana republics and many other examples, including our many wars for Oil.
And that is just the military side, our gov has also created huge wealth by scientific research paid through DARPA projects and other acronym agencies.
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"He's expected to focus on how he'll get America out of the current fiscal crisis."
It is interesting the way you framed that question as if President Obama is going to do it all by himself.
Remember that he is opposed by the people who created our fiscal problems, Conservative Republicans, and that he, or rather he and "We the People" will need to work together to reverse what the Republicans have done to the US, which is essentially the financial rape of Americas children for generations into the future.
Conservative Republicans have essentially sentenced Americas children to many years of "Indentured Servitude" to pay off the debt and interest created and dumped on them by Conservative Republicans.
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Does rethomas above really think that any Govt possesses the means to end poverty? Weren't LBJ's Great Society programs enacted to do do just that? Starting about 1965 hundreds of billions have been spent on programs the electorate were promised would end poverty. Most of those programs are still being funded.
Obvious they haven't touched povefty. In fact the only connection these costly programs have to poverty is to have subsidized three generations of parasites. Poverty has only increased as Federal and state money was made available to fund its expansion.
Anyway, for the religiously inclined: I think Jesus did say: "the poor ye shall always have with you". Which makes it a Holy Ordance and therefore it is not fitting for churches to interfere with the Planning of their God. Also in your bible Jesus further said that charity like prayer, should be private, behind a closed door, and individual. He said nothing about poverty's elimination using Caesar's portion.
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The fact the 'supposed' "two parties" mixed in the seating tonight was unintentionally ironic. There is a single party that differs not a whit on the critical issues of Govt. They agree to disaggree of less important matters just to that degree that Ol' Boobus americanus can tell them apart at election time. Both parties have the same paymasters. Our decline has been ordained by big capital whose sole allegiance is to their BoD's and major shareholders. I heard the Prez say nothing about reining in capital flight and regulating Wall Street.
He spoke about a new federal program in education apparently designed to undo the mess created by the current Federal education program, NCLB.
The only real cheer was when he spoke about amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. Congress likes that. They almost stood on their chairs and waved their caps. They know the future if nothing else and on which side of their bread the butter will be spread.
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"Does rethomas above really think that any Govt possesses the means to end poverty?"
G-Man, ya big goof, you misread my post.
You have a point that simply throwing money at it didn't work out all that well, but the government can impact poverty if it's able to stimulate the economy... if not, well things kind of look like the do now. ;-)
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I am a conservative democrat that voted for Obama in 2008. I have been a union member since 1970. Last night he lost the 2012 election. Obama failed to address the 12% or more of us who are unemployed and desperately needing a job, benefits, and a life of hope that goes with those. 2012 will elect a republican senate, house, and president. I will vote republican since the democrats have given up on me. The only way Obama can win is if some nut case like Palin is the republican candidate. Good Luck America.
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That's rich. This entire situation was caused by the deregulating, tax cuts for the wealthy, military industrial complex growing, war-mongering Republicans. Moderate Republicans are no different than conservative Republicans (indeed the Tea Party people are just conservative Republicans looking to push the same agenda under a different label). They refused to support any legislation until they got that unpaid for $700+ billion tax cuts extended for the top 2% earners for the next 2 years (claiming it’s necessary for job growth). If those tax cuts were so good for the economy, we would have had massive job growth from 2001-2009.
And now they harp on the deficit after those tax cuts and wars. What will they say we should do to close it? Will it be to cut back our $715 billion annual imperial military empire, or end the wars, or to increase taxes on those who can afford it? Nope. It will be to extend those tax cuts, grow the military, extend the wars (hell let's start a 3rd one with Iran to "stimulate" our economy as Jim DeMint (R-SC) suggests) and to cut back on infrastructure, education, Social Security, and Medicare.
We elected Democrats in 2006, and 2008 not only to undo the Republican agenda, but to solve the problems they never addressed in the 8 years they were in power like health care. I’m unhappy with Democrats for not being aggressive enough. The weak health care reform we got in 2010 from Democrats wasn’t the real solution (Medicare for all/singlepayer), but I’m certainly not going to support Republicans.
We had a chance to keep pushing for real progress on the issues, but in the 2010 midterms the American public rewarded the Republican failures and gave them a majority in the House. You have a surprise in store for you if you’re expecting any solutions from the Republicans. They have nothing to offer except fear. I will be curious to see people's attitudes in November 2012 after they've seen the "solutions" Republicans will push over the next two years.
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It's incredibly self defeating for the unemployed to vote republican as they do not want to extent unemployment benifits.
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Thanks for the two thoughtful responses. I agree with both, but I sadly stand by my assertion that 2012 was lost last night.
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The 400 lb Gorilla in the Room is the Largest Debt in the History of the World, $14 Trillion. And it is growing faster than blackberries in a NW spring.
It is no surprise that THERE IS NO FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR ANY NEW PROGRAM OR INITIATIVE. No Moon Program. No War on Cancer. No Poverty reduction program. No supplementary aid to families with newborns. No aid to school districts or colleges. No aid to affirmative action programs.
Can You Say UNFUNDED MANDATE? Competition & Innovation: Good symbols but no underlying real program.
Its our "Sputnik Moment": Kids are supposed to do Math Problems and work on Engineering Projects. But they will have to put down the Txt Msg iPhones, put the Lady Gaga headphones away, stop ogling American Idol, and put away the joysticks for Grand Theft Auto 4. But that is a very popular game. Looking at kids today it may not happen. Ask a 16 year old if he heard about a 'famous speech' made yesterday.
The party is just getting started and the punch bowl has been quickly withdrawn.
We are brought to Macy Department Store in NYC at Christmas. We can have anything we want as long as it cost nothing.
We can have Democrats and Republicans sitting together. We can have lip service to islam. We can chide our children to stop facebooking and study history, math and science more passionately--These are Free.
But we cannot have a Interstate 5 Columbia Bridge crossing. We cannot have a new FAA air traffic control system to replace a 40 year old dinosaur. We cannot have a clean coal powerplant prototype that would be a game-changer in clean energy. We cannot have high speed rail corridors--These unfortunately cost Money.
It is a good Kumbaya Speech, but short on Pragmatism. Holding hands cost less than actually building a future. It was like watching an episode of West Wing, with TV fantasy promises and no real implications.
If we are only to address the deficit we may not have the resources to improve quality of life for Americans.
We have less options. But the Budget Crisis Crystallizes the Essential from the Indulgent.
Brother can you spare a dollar? How about a Trillion?
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Well Said!
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Ditto.
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In news and opinions this morning, some commentators alleging many lines in Obama's speech lifted from speeches of others. Not that it makes any difference. If that was supposed to be a recap of the actual state of the union, it failed conspicuously to mention anything about the existing mess he presides over. It was nothing but another string of platitudes about what he was going to do. Already calculation for cost to taxpayers (or for printing presses) is $500 billion in new spending.
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I'm frustrated to see the continuation of divisive, polarizing rhetoric here in the comments and from other right wing conservatives.
True conservatives should have been drawn to the President's calls for specific, targeted cuts in programs to balance the budget Instead, we see sadly typical responses to buzzwords with talking points.
The market cannot and should not attempt to solve everything. Governance is complicated, with all the things to consider including the economy, environment, public well-being, international relations & trade. Obama laid out a general, but practical framework for moving our nation forward, including the great idea to restructure government. Conservatives should embrace that and ditch their tired old false assumptions that government is all bad and unchanging.
Obama perhaps could have called out and laid deserved blame more at the feet of Wall Street and its advocates, calling for more regulation on them and reform of how they relate to the rest of the country in which they operate (and whose people and resources form the basis for their enormous profits), but that wouldn't have been as productive, forward-focused or appropriate for a SOTU address.
Let's focus today and tomorrow to work harder to have more listening and courteous debate in our national conversations. That--and not the exclusive idolization of the market and corporate capitalism--that democratic conversation is what best defines the USA.
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Isn't the whole point of 2 or 3 or more political parties precisely to see that the process is polerized??? With one party and no disagreement one has a dictatorship.
Our problem is NOT political disunity, but quite the opposite, too much unity. Just look at the way the major donors spread their campaign contributions. They end up giving about equally to candidates of both parties, except in rare cases of a principled politician rising above the corrupt. He may receive targeted donations or refuse the money of groups or individuals he distrusts.
On all the major problems there is broad agreement...as in more wars, and open borders, more money to Wall Street, and no regulation, continuing to allow major legislation to be written by the concerned lobbies. The parties disagree only on lesser matters.
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I was able to catch the second half of the speech on OPB and enjoyed it.
It would be great to see the delegation continue to sit together as states in the future.
I was pleased to hear an outline of Obama's plan of action leading up to the next presidential campaign. Great idea to seize the momentum of the tea party by committing to reforming government. Great to hear a commitment to alternative energy and large-scale spending on mass transit systems.
What was missing from this speech is the particulars. How much government reform? How much of that "clean energy" plan will be "clean" coal? What reforms will he propose in education?
Much of the speech outlined a list of action points, but we didn't really get a lot of substance on many of the issues.
Overall, it sounds like a good plan for re-election, now let's see what comes of each issue in the plan...
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Last night’s State of the Union was fairly intelligent and savvy. Savvy in that it was clever enough to attempt to disarm many potential objections before the fact, rather then after the controversial points were stated. President Obama seemed to do a go job of thinking like his opponents and anticipating how they might feel, while making a strong case for his own direction. He openly reasoned with us. Sometimes if you empathize with how someone might feel, even if you are in opposition, it helps to ease and deflate their objections by getting rid of some of the fighting spirit and anger.
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I Tivo'ed the speech and haven't watched it all yet but was strongly applauding what I heard the President say about education. He mentioned that schools and teachers need to have very high expectations for students. This is something we've been very frustrated with at our kids school. We are very tired of low expectations, doing 'just enough' not pushing kids to reach farther and work harder, teaching to the low middle, etc. He also mentioned retiring teachers (baby boomers) and bringing on new young energetic teachers and that society needs to honor and respect teaching more.
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He said that South Korea calls their teachers their "Nation Builders".
I agree with that. When I think about it, teachers ought to be paid more than Bankers and Insurance Corporation schemers.
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In the lead-in to today's show, Emily quoted the opresident as saying it was like taking the engine off a "helicopter." The President actually said taking the engine off an "airplane." Incomplete and incorrect quotes have had serious unintended consequences including loss of jobs, etc. This is a minor error, but nonetheless an error. It goes to being able to trust what is said by the TOL hosts. Therefore it is important.
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I think the President got it wrong on salmon. NOAA Fisheries (Commerce) is in charge of the recovery plan for salmon whether they are in freshwater or saltwater. Interior's (USFWS) role with salmon is relatively minor.
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) share responsibility for implementing the ESA. Generally, USFWS manages land and freshwater species, while NMFS manages marine and "anadromous" species. NMFS has jurisdiction over 72 listed species.
SEE: http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Salmon-Recovery-Planning/ESA-Recovery-Plans/Draft-Plans.cfm
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I listened to Obama's speech and one commentator expressed my feelings precisely. I felt like I had eaten a fine meal but I was hungry an hour later.
Obama crafted fine words as he began is re-election campaign for 2012, but his words are meaningless because he's a puppet controlled by an array of unseen forces.
Obama did not mention once that 20% of Americans are under or unemployed. Furthermore, Obama did no excoriate private industry for their lack of effort to fix the problems.
Why is it up to the government to create jobs? Last I heard many corporations sit on record amounts of cash. Corporations aren't hiring but nobody complains about that.
The commander in chief isn't the human resources department. Private industry is the biggest creator (and destroyer) of jobs in the U.S. Nobody discusses why private industry doesn't do their part to alleviate joblessness.
Those in power in America and private industry hold the government and majority of Americans hostage. They cry, "If you don't eliminate my taxes, give me subsidies, get rid of annoying regulations, I'm taking my corporation and jobs overseas."
Obama did not evicerate lazy Americans who apathetically sit on their hands and fail to vote. If American citizens don't vote tunnel-visioned do-nothing politicians out, they get what they sow. American citizens create their own suffering through their myopic self absorption.
Whether you vote Democrat or Republican doesn't seem to matter. The level of corruption and backroom dealing by those who've seized power is difficult for citizens to overcome. (But we still have to vote to slow down the rot.)
Who watches over the corporations and government to make sure they do what they're supposed to do instead of what they want to do. Where is the integrity, honesty and compassion that is supposed to be a hallmark of being an American? I conclude that because corporations and governments are made up of we the people, we need to blame those staring back at us from our mirrors for our problems.
Corporations complain that everything is lined up against them. They pay the highest taxes on the planet. They can't compete. Yet I read many financial statements and see C-level boards making so much money that it's obscene and wrong. The greed and misrepresentation of those in power is fundamentally wrong.
Can't the powerful hear their own words? Are they deaf as well as tunnel blind? They lie and misrepresent truth over and over. While that's hardly new, we're running out of time for that crap.
Speeches don't do anything for me. I'm looking for action that is right and beneficial.
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"Corporations aren't hiring but nobody complains about that. Nobody discusses why private industry doesn't do their part to alleviate joblessness."
Disagree... like it or not, corporations aren't in the business of providing welfare jobs, they are in the business of making a profit for their employee's, shareholders and continued operations (not priority order)... and (unfortunately) quarterly results have preempted long term strategy for a lot of corp's... the "Ford" example in the early 20th century (deciding to pay people more so they could buy Ford's cars and increase profit) doesn't hold as well in today's era of global competition... much lower guarantee of those dollars coming back. That said, it's not impossible if a profit motive could be aligned with the desired result.
"Whether you vote Democrat or Republican doesn't seem to matter. American citizens create their own suffering through their myopic self absorption."
Couldn't agree with you more.
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I'm not asking corporations to create welfare jobs; I'm asking them not to pay c-level executives 1,000 or 10,000 times more than their lowest paid workers.
How much pay is enough? One c-level executive taking home $10 million a year is 200 people making $50,000.
I don't want to stifle creativity and innovation, but I don't believe creativity is based on pay. I'm creative because that's what I do. I don't need to be over compensated when it creates unnecessary and avoidable suffering in the short term.
Does Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, need a $100 million parting gift? He's already worth $6 billion. Larry and Seregy (co-founders of Google) taking $1/year salaries is insulting. They have far more wealth than they need. Yeah, they created Google and deserve to be compensated handsomely. But billions when there are Vietnam vets waiting for handouts at so many intersections in Portland?
Bill Gates and Warren Buffet get it. They understand that their success will be short lived unless they rebalance inequities in material distribution. Don't believe me? That's fine. I'm a lunatic and fool. The only difference is I know it. The people in congress and the board rooms should follow my lead.
Our human-created systems are natural ecosystems. Humans are a subset of nature not a master of it. Human systems bend and break when they get out of balance. They always have. Every society before ours that attained greatness has become a footnote in history.
Those who built the pyramids are poor sons of guns ready to toss Molotov cocktails.
Romans are history. Maximus Decimus Meridius can only get a gig as hired muscle for the Sicilian mob as Italy falls on its side and rots.
China is always interesting. Somebody gets control but their dynasty gets wiped and replaced by something else. Rinse the blood out and repeat.
The Dutch had their shorts dropped by their Tulip revolution. They owned the world for a few years. Now they kick back and keep a lower profile. Be rich quietly and don't overpopulate your ability to provide services to your people. They stopped tilting with their windmills so when will we?
And, OMG! The British. They owned sunrise to sunset but are on the verge of going down in flames with the U.S.
Too much of anything is replaced by something else. Haven't we learned anything at all?
To Be Continued....
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.... Continued
So, RE Thomas, I'm a shareholder, yet I realize the limitations of this game we're playing. We keep doing the same things and expecting better quarterly results as the world collapses around us.
Rather than hand out welfare or charity out of the goodness of a rich philanthropist's heart, bring wages back into line with reality. Distribute resources equitably and compassionately. Give while you can or it will be taken from you by those more desparate.
Given that there is so much suffering the poor will eventually rise up and burn down everything and everyone they perceive has caused their suffering.
Capitalism is doomed. It was a better system than previous ones. But it has inherent flaws, namely humans, at its helm.
Look what's going on in Tunisia and Egypt. Twitter Revolutions are a few minutes away.
I read an article in the early 1990s that discussed in detail why Africa would continue to fail, and why that failure would spread throughout the world. It talked about how Africa's natural boundaries were imbalanced by slavery and European colonialism. The article pointed out that the deterioration is extremely complex with numerous moving parts.
Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, Steel provides an interesting observation of how these moving parts of humanity and the natural ecosystem interact with each other.
The problems we experience in America are tied to the crap going on in Africa and the Middle East. The U.S. caused some of that imbalance. But we're all inextricably intertwined.
Due to imbalances caused by greed, corruption, competition, stupidity, ignorance, arrogance, fear, shortsightedness, and self entitlement, we will become footnotes in history unless we come correct.
It's not about corporate welfare, it's about human survival.
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"Disagree... like it or not, corporations aren't in the business of providing welfare jobs, they are in the business of making a profit for their employee's, shareholders and continued operations (not priority order)..."
For their employee's? That is hilarious. From their employee's, for their shareholders. There, I fixed it for you.
When corporations start to make profits FOR their employee's, our problems begin to solve themselves.
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"For their employee's? That is hilarious. From their employee's, for their shareholders. There, I fixed it for you."
I had it right the first time... over the long run: no profits = no employee's. I can't hope to speak for your employer, but a significant portion of my own income is based on my employers profits... in my case, definitely employee's.
WRT trurl9's previous comments... I agree with your sentiment, but not the practicality thereof... yes, a $10M executive's pay is 200 $50,000 jobs, but if that exec's pay is cut the company isn't going to hire 200 more people without a profit incentive... and while revolution is interesting to discuss, it's an incredibly messy, potentially bloody affair... with the poor slob in the street getting the worst of it... the rich will simply leave ahead of time.
Maybe I'm just dense today, but personally I'm stuck trying to figure where in what you wrote we figure out how to change people's collective hearts toward altruism... it's one thing to say it, another to implement it in a nationalistic world economy.
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President Obama said "no workers are more productive than ours."
So why doesn't our pay match our productivity?
Wages haven't gone up since the Seventies. Instead we are encouraged to go into debt.
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The President should have mentioned that Social Security is one the best funded pension Trust Funds in the country. The balance on the Trust Fund Account is over $2.5 trillion.
Social Security is related to the budget deficit only to the extent that a budget deficit leads to a US Treasury default on this Trust Fund obligation.
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I listened to both Paul Ryan and Michele Bachmann and they are both outrageous liars.
Bachmann is a nutcase, she starts her version of history from the inauguration of President Obama, completely by passing the 8 years of the Conservative Republican Bush/Cheney administration which brought us our current fiscal and war problems.
We recently had the nutcase who tried to kill Gaby Giffords, and now Ryan and Bachmann, shouldn't we ask why the Conservative Republican Party is the party of nutcases?
Sheesh!
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Hey Tom, every old Marine knows Smedley Butler's famous book 'War Is A racket'. He was right on the money and the military hated him for letting out the cat.
The electorate has no memory. From one election to another they never seem to recall the same man making essentially the same pie in the sky speech before. Usually several times before. Anyone that thinks by this time that yet another federal educ. program reaching down to district level is going to achieve anything but more waste and the continuing decline of scholastic standards is not paying attention.
THE American education conundrum is unsolvable. It is that simple. The Govt is politically pledged to attain an equality of outcome when this is clearly an impossibility. Our much vaunted racial diversity means setting the bar low enough to guarantee that every child succeeds. But diffierent peoples have dissimilar aptitudes for scholastic achievement. Fudging the standards lower and lower until graduation rates are equal among all groups will end up turning universitites into high schools and high schools into middle schools, etc. Trying to manufacture a uniform system that will please every group and succeed in establishing standards that are roughly equal to that of nations not enjoying our growing diversity will merely lead to more chaos and waste.
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I thought the President's call for more teachers was interesting. Our district is facing a 9% budget cut which could include a loss of 25 teachers and many important programs for our kids. That's on top of a budget cut last year. I know many other districts are facing the same challenge. There are no jobs in education right now and the drastic decrease in public education funding is extremely frustrating as a parent and wife of a teacher.
Beth - Hood River Oregon
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Obama either doesn't realize that thousands of teachers are out of work or he chose to ignore the situation because it didn't fit his prepared speech. Like every politician he holds his audience in utter contempt. They believe we are too stupid or preoccupied with the economic disaster THEY created to really listen closely to what they say. They toss around a few key buzz words and hope we don't listen to the meaningless verbage in between.
It doesn't matter a damn how good or poor the teachers maybe if they face a classroom filled mostly with dunces more interested in their sex lives and Blackberries than anything taking place in the classroom. If the parents don't give a damn, then nothing a teacher can do is going to overcome all the negative attitudes and distractions surrounding these kids.
Sure. All the social engineers tell us we must first fix the families. But what do you do when faced with an ever growing number of families that need fixing? Where do you spend the dwindling pot of money? Remember, we must have an equality of outcome among all groups. That is the first priority of the politicians regardless of what they say in speeches. THAT is what gets them reelected.
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Congresswoman Herrera seems pretty concerned with our deficit and debt. Even though she wasn't able to vote, did/does Congresswoman Herrera support the unpaid extension of the Bush Tax cuts?
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On health care- I really hope the Republicans were listening when the president said he was willing to listen and vowed to resist any GOP efforts to undo the benefits included in the new law and challenged the parties to work together. "Let's fix what needs fixing and move forward and not refight the battles of the last two years." Our healthcare is not a partisan issue and to treat it that way is very irresponsible. There is a foundation started and we need to be able to trust the people we have elected to remember how to play nice and work together for the good of all. Problem solving, negotiation and the willingness and openess to throw ideas on the table and compromise are basic business practices that need to be remembered by all in Washington.
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Also, an interesting graphic where you can try to balance the budget. Basically go back to Clinton era policies...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html -
I wonder what is a solution to the "earmark" problem? Because those "earmarks" are important to the people in each home state and district. Maybe make them public and have them discussed in public and have a public comment period on them?
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For Jaime Herrera: Congresswoman, you are dedicated to gut the health care bill recently passed. Millions and millions of Americans have no coverage now and because of your stance, even more will have no health care options. What do you say to the comment that you are quite happy to slash coverage to millions of Americans, yet you are quite happy to RETAIN YOUR congressional health care package, though you are a freshman representative with no seniority whatsoever? I suggest you visit the Vancouver Free Clinic, in your district, and see how many people pack that location to get a modicum of minimal health care from volunteers. And you get a complete package of healthcare while denying same to your constituents?
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I really appreciated hearing President Obama mention SALMON in his speech. Leaving the joke aside (which was very funny), he points to a real crisis facing salmon in the Northwest. Glad that the camera panned to Secretary Locke, who's Commerce Dept. via NOAA fisheries, is continuing past failures to restore salmon in the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Could the mention be a nod towards a significant policy shift on salmon recovery which is sorely needed, in the Columbia-Snake and elsewhere? Or is it a passing reference to make a point about government dysfunction? It's worth hoping.
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I admit that it is hard to be very hopeful when the Conservative Republican Tea Party has put the Robbers back in charge of the US House of Representatives.
How stupid do you have to be to vote for the people who robbed you and your children of your financial futures?
It's "Alice Through the Looking Glass", isn't it? (Alice in Wonderland)
Nuts.
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I'm sorry but reforming medical malpractice and decreasing the number of frivilous law suits will do very little to decrease the cost of health care. The cost to physicians to purchase the insurance is pretty minimal for most specialty practices. Malpractice reform or selling insurance across state lines (which is also frequently identified by Republicans) are not solutions to or replacements for the current health reform law.
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When pressed on this subject physicans usually say that a very few MDs account for most of the malpractrice suits. In which case if true why doesn't the self regulating profession toss out the bad apples and thus reduce the premiums for the rest?
In truth very few cases of malpractice make it past the peer review system in place. After that most are successfully fended off by the platoons of lawyers working for the insurance companies. Studies that have looked at this issue conclude that there are many more instances of serious malpractice than ever reach any level of adjudication. The injured or their families are told about the deep pockets of the insurance companies and the common ploy of doctor's insurers of instituting counter suits against the plaintifs.
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Rep. Paul Ryan railed against the deficit without proposing even one specific cut. He didn't talk about his own infamous "Roadmap," maybe because most analysts have called it a budget buster, even though it essentially replaces Social Security and Medicare with vouchers. The Congressional Budget Office estimates Ryan's plan wouldn't balance the budget until 2063, and would add $62 trillion to the debt by then. Citizens for Tax Justice said Ryan's Roadmap raises taxes on 9 out of 10 taxpayers and while slashing them for the wealthiest.
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I think The President spoke out loud about future of United States. We must build better roads and bridges, we must invest in a students education , we must to remodel health care system in a first place.
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The State Of The Union address should be just that!! A summation of the President's stewardship for the past 12 months..in fact: THE STATE OF THE NATION. Not a single sentence of Oboma's speech actually spoke to the conditions existings after 12 months since his LAST string of stiring promises. Instead he gave what was in effect another campaign speech...everyone in Govt holding their breath, hoping Ol' Boobus wouldn't notice the 'bait and switch'.
Instead of standing up there and looking the American public in the eye and honestly admitting the abject failure of his Govt to intelligently address and remedy the problems we all know exist, he gave us another standard politician's re-election pitch.
Do we have any idea at all of where the nation stands economically, and financially? What our wars under his command have won for us after the expenditure of more hundreds of billions? No! We have no idea what the goals are of these war policies. (Probably because none of leaders have either).
Once more Americans wasted an hr and learned less about the state of the union than if they had spent that time instead reading the Sun tabloid. Then at least they would have gotten an update on Elvis and Marilyn.
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Read the The Sun instead. At least their fantasies are harmless and entertaining. Plus they know they aren't fooling anyone. Our politicians have such low regard for Ol' Boobus they are seriously startled when Boobus occasionally twigs to the fact he is being shafted in some new and ingenious way.
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As I wrote for The Huffington Post this week, I'm hoping to hear President Obama address the issue of growing poverty in the United States tonight in his State of the Union Address. The National Council of Churches, representing over 45 million U.S. Christians, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism have joined with other religious leaders in asking the president to re-affirm his 2008 campaign promise to cut poverty by half over ten years.
President Obama Should Outline Plan to Reduce Poverty By Half
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-chuck-currie/president-obama-should-ou_b_812259.html
- Rev. Chuck Currie
http://www.chuckcurrie.com