President Obama did merge his speeches on innovation and new technology into a rousing call for winning the future and a challenge to the naysayers who kept saying the country is in decline. Taking off from his Tucson speech, he embraced in a more full-throated way, that American Exceptionalism which the Right had said he didn't believe in. It was a Reaganesque speech that embraced the creative role government can play in the further development of the country.
I was struck by how much he ignored the punditry in town and kept calling for better internet access across the country, the development of high-speed rail and setting clean energy goals. He surprised me in calling for the end to subsidies of the old energy--mainly oil--and government support for clean energy, which had gone by the wayside in the last Congress. He has also called for the re-writing of the corporate tax code and the simplfying of the individual tax code. He put forward his ideas of increased funding for education, infrastructure, and technology and research. The Geek in Chief was in residence tonight.
He didn't shy away from defending the health reform bill and was open to changing the medical malpractice laws and one of the tax provisions in it. But he was solid in affirming that government must protect citizens from pedatory businesses.
He didn't triangulate so much as create the language for the New Middle in American politics. How do you look forward and make a compelling argument for making the social investments necessary for getting there? I think he laid out that position in great detail tonight. While he called on moving forward together or not at all,many of the programs he outlined this year are likely to be delayed until and if he has a second term.
The real suprise item in the speech was his promise to develop a proposal to merge, consolidate,and reorganize federal government in a way that best serves the goal of a more competitive America. And he promised to bring that plan for a vote in Congress. Now that could be interesting.
Another sly bit was that the average citizen deserves to know when your congressman meets with a lobbyist. He urged Congress to adopt the White House's standrad of putting this information on line. He said that citizens needed to know that legislation wasn't being larded up with pet projects and that he vowed to veto bills with earmarks in them.
In foreign policy, he reiterated what the Administration is doing in Iraq, Afghanistan and in the fight against Al Qaeda. What people thought had been missing was a vocal commitment to democracy and human rights. Here he said,"America's moral example must always shine for all who yearn for freedom, justice and dignity. And because we have begun this work (building coalitions abroad), tonight we can say that American leadership has been renewed and America's standing has been restored."
he talked about revitalizing NATO on everything from counter-terrorism to missile defense, resetting the relationship with Russia,strengthening Asian alliances and building a new relationship with India. He also surprised by saying he was going to travel to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador to forge "new alliances of progress". He pointed to his administration's efforts to facilitate the birth of South Sudan and his support for the people of Tunisia and the support for the democratic aspirations of all people.
"We must never forget that the things we struggled for, and fought for, live in the hearts of people everywhere."
He closed his speech with his view of the American Dream,paying homage to Joe Biden, the working class kid from Scranton, and Speaker Boehner,who began as someone seeeping the floors of his father's Cincinnati bar.
"We may have differences in policy,but we all believe in the rights enshrined in our Constitution. We may have different opinions, but we believe in the same promise that says this is a place where you can make it if you try. We may have different backgrounds, but we believe in the same dream that says this is a country where anything's possible. No matter where you come from."
.."From the earliest days of our founding, America has been the story of ordinary people who are to dream. That's how we win the future.
We do big things.
"The idea of America endures. Our destiny remains our choice. And tonight, mre than two centuries later, it is because of our people that our future is hopeful, our journey goes forward, and the state of our union is strong."
Going back over the text, he frequently talked about things like our common creed and what sets us apart as a nation. We share common hopes and dreams and a common creed. The challenge --"It's whether we sustain the leadership that has made America not just a place on a map but a light to the world."
He warned that the rule had changed and that the way our economy is organized has been altered by technology and that we had to adapt to progress. He raised the issue of China and India and their investments in education and technology and research.
He quoted Robert kennedy that "The future is not a gift. It is an achievement." "Sustaining the American Dream has never been about standing pat. It has required each generation to sacrifice, and struggle and meet the demands of the new age."
He reminded Americans that despite the hits we've aken,"America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world." Then he list our firsts. I thought these parts were necessary given the mood of the country and the virtual cascade of bummer comments over the last few years.
"This is our generation's Sputnik moment." While I agree with what he said about biomedical research, information technology and clean energy,I'm sketpical that this Congress will act on these. He promised to fund the Apollo projects of the future in clean energy. He listed some of the ongoing projects in government labs. He claimed the United States would be the first country to have 1 million electric cars by 2015. He urged Congress to join him in setting a new goal that by 2035 80% of America's electricity would come from clean energy sources. In education he said he wanted to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. He wants to double exports by 2014, which is an obtainable goal.
And I was suprised that he urged immigration reform as one of the tools to remain competitive. And on infrastructure, he says that he wants to give 80% of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years, Within the next he wants 98% internet connectivity in America, which would bring it up to the levels of South Korea and Finland.
He outlined what he was doing to cut spending but I think he made a good point. "Cutting the deficit by gutting our investment in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't ake long before you'll feel the impact."
He raised the Catfood Commission and said while he didn't agree with everything he thought the areas addressed needed remedies. He also defended Social Security and ruled out putting Social Security at the whim of Wall Street.
Did he do the job? I thought he included what he needed to and placed it in a framework about the American Dream and the Future, which makes it forward-looking. Whether given the current climate this will come to fruition,I don't know. But contrast his speech with what I thought was a closed, crab-like view of the United States by Paul Ryan. He reflexively went back into campaign mode by talking of the "failed stimulus" program and that when Obama talks about investment he's really talking about increased government. The call to go back to a limited form of government rings hollow as well as his insistence that the primary role of government is national security, which for him means defense spending. I thought his answer was a mean view of America , certainly not as appetizing as Obama's future.
Showing posts with label Barack Obama SOTU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barack Obama SOTU. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Before The Speech
Leave it to the Beltway to have a few circuses before the State of the Union Speech.
Michelle Bachmann's answer to Obama's speech has leaked. She calls for Obama to support a balanced budget amendment, something which would be disasterous, and to cut back the vast expansion of government of the past two years to the 2008 level, when it was OK because Bush was president. Shep Smith had a great line that Bachmann was "Out there where the trains don't run."
The gag here is that Obama is sooo bad that it takes two Republicans to respond to the SOTU speech--Bachmann and Ryan. Both parties are pissed that CNN ran Bachmann's speech.
Obama is going to call this "Our generation's Sputnik Moment", perhaps invoking that JFK made the speech fifty years ago. He will call for end to earmarks, which Harry Reid laughed at already. He calls for a five year moratorium on domestic and defense spending and adds some significant cuts to defense, saving about $400 billion through 2021. Obama will call this a downpayment on the national debt. Only yesterday, the Administration regained $5 billion in Medicare fraud. This socialist sure knows how to make money.
Not to be outdone by the President's efforts to cut the deficit, Rand Paul unveiled his plan to cut $500 billion in just 8 months. Meanwhile his father is over at the House rounding up the neo-isolationist Republicans to mount an effort to stop the Afghanistan war.
House Republicans today called for cutting off funding to the United Nations. It was deja vu all over again. But instead of any job legislation, the GOP has led out of the box with repealing healthcare,outlawing federally funded abortions even though they already are,ending taxbreaks for any businesses who purchase private health insurance, which funds abortion even though the policy holder doesn't get or want one. The next law up is an effort to ban same-sex marriage. Duncan Hunter wants to put spokes in the wheel to slow down the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell by making more service chiefs sign off on it.
Senate Republicans want a vote on tax provisions in the new healthcare bill. Remember they already voted on this last year. But Ezra Klein points out that these elements of the bill are actually fiscally important. The Democrats have polled each specific part of the healthcare bill and find only 16% are against any single part and only 18% are against the repeal of the whole bill. So they want to get Republicans to vote against the pre-existing condition clauses, no recessions, no lifetime caps on coverage, covering your child up to the age of 26 so that they are on record.
The President comes in tonight with the 43% of Americans believing the country is on the right track and 56% on the wrong track. Incredibly these are the best numbers on that question since 2007.
Should the Government rein in corporate greed? 59% say yes; 33% no. 67% of women say yes; only 51% of men. 80% of Democrats yes; only 35% of Republicans.
Thank God for Wyoming. They are now the bulwark against sharia law. The state legislature will outlaw sharia law to safeguard against the threat posed by their massive--OK, only 260 people--Muslim population. Maybe Wyoming wanted to one up the Montana Republican Party which wants to outlaw sodomy. No Brokeback Mountain in Butte.
Turns out that the National State Legislature Association--there is such a thing--found that secessionist wannabe Rick Perry used the federal stimulus funding to make up for more than 97% of Texas' shortfall this fiscal year. Texas was the largest recipient of stimulus money.
Little Ricky Cantor actually said that he would favor the Government taking back the stimulus money going to infrastructure projects in his district. But while campaigning, he made sure voters saw him giving out huge, blow-ups of federal checks. I'm sure the voters will appreciate it when the roads aren't paved.
Mitt Romney managed to dodge a bullet--maybe--when Marriott Hotels dropped porn from their hotels. Romney faced questions last go-around about how he remained on the board and knew that the hotel chain made over $100 million profits from porn alone. It's bad enough Mitt believes Jesus is the brother of Lucifer but this goes too far. Romney also began a firesale of his fifteen homes after he saw the criticism McCain endured in 2008.So he no longer has to be called The Porn King.
What's the difference between Tim Pawlenty and Dannon Yogurt. Dannon has a live culture.
It looks like David Riveria may be the first Republican freshman to resign. The FBI has begun investigations into his dubious campaign contributions and his statements on campaign finance laws.
The Illinois Supreme Court issued a stay on the Superior Court's decision to boot Rahm Emmanuel from Chicago's mayoral race.
If you root for non-profits or community owned businesses, it's the Green Bay Packers for the Super Bowl.
AND NOW THE SURPRISE OF THE EVENING--The speech won't really count. Enjoy it though. It might be the last time you see Obama before he retreats into the White House to deal with the collapse of governments throughout the Middle East. The real Big Enchilada--Egypt--looks shaky tonight as Cairo is now a War Zone. Riots have broken out through Jordan and Algeria. All because of the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia. Through it hezbollah forming the government in Lebanon and you know what will preoccupy President Obama for the next year.
Michelle Bachmann's answer to Obama's speech has leaked. She calls for Obama to support a balanced budget amendment, something which would be disasterous, and to cut back the vast expansion of government of the past two years to the 2008 level, when it was OK because Bush was president. Shep Smith had a great line that Bachmann was "Out there where the trains don't run."
The gag here is that Obama is sooo bad that it takes two Republicans to respond to the SOTU speech--Bachmann and Ryan. Both parties are pissed that CNN ran Bachmann's speech.
Obama is going to call this "Our generation's Sputnik Moment", perhaps invoking that JFK made the speech fifty years ago. He will call for end to earmarks, which Harry Reid laughed at already. He calls for a five year moratorium on domestic and defense spending and adds some significant cuts to defense, saving about $400 billion through 2021. Obama will call this a downpayment on the national debt. Only yesterday, the Administration regained $5 billion in Medicare fraud. This socialist sure knows how to make money.
Not to be outdone by the President's efforts to cut the deficit, Rand Paul unveiled his plan to cut $500 billion in just 8 months. Meanwhile his father is over at the House rounding up the neo-isolationist Republicans to mount an effort to stop the Afghanistan war.
House Republicans today called for cutting off funding to the United Nations. It was deja vu all over again. But instead of any job legislation, the GOP has led out of the box with repealing healthcare,outlawing federally funded abortions even though they already are,ending taxbreaks for any businesses who purchase private health insurance, which funds abortion even though the policy holder doesn't get or want one. The next law up is an effort to ban same-sex marriage. Duncan Hunter wants to put spokes in the wheel to slow down the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell by making more service chiefs sign off on it.
Senate Republicans want a vote on tax provisions in the new healthcare bill. Remember they already voted on this last year. But Ezra Klein points out that these elements of the bill are actually fiscally important. The Democrats have polled each specific part of the healthcare bill and find only 16% are against any single part and only 18% are against the repeal of the whole bill. So they want to get Republicans to vote against the pre-existing condition clauses, no recessions, no lifetime caps on coverage, covering your child up to the age of 26 so that they are on record.
The President comes in tonight with the 43% of Americans believing the country is on the right track and 56% on the wrong track. Incredibly these are the best numbers on that question since 2007.
Should the Government rein in corporate greed? 59% say yes; 33% no. 67% of women say yes; only 51% of men. 80% of Democrats yes; only 35% of Republicans.
Thank God for Wyoming. They are now the bulwark against sharia law. The state legislature will outlaw sharia law to safeguard against the threat posed by their massive--OK, only 260 people--Muslim population. Maybe Wyoming wanted to one up the Montana Republican Party which wants to outlaw sodomy. No Brokeback Mountain in Butte.
Turns out that the National State Legislature Association--there is such a thing--found that secessionist wannabe Rick Perry used the federal stimulus funding to make up for more than 97% of Texas' shortfall this fiscal year. Texas was the largest recipient of stimulus money.
Little Ricky Cantor actually said that he would favor the Government taking back the stimulus money going to infrastructure projects in his district. But while campaigning, he made sure voters saw him giving out huge, blow-ups of federal checks. I'm sure the voters will appreciate it when the roads aren't paved.
Mitt Romney managed to dodge a bullet--maybe--when Marriott Hotels dropped porn from their hotels. Romney faced questions last go-around about how he remained on the board and knew that the hotel chain made over $100 million profits from porn alone. It's bad enough Mitt believes Jesus is the brother of Lucifer but this goes too far. Romney also began a firesale of his fifteen homes after he saw the criticism McCain endured in 2008.So he no longer has to be called The Porn King.
What's the difference between Tim Pawlenty and Dannon Yogurt. Dannon has a live culture.
It looks like David Riveria may be the first Republican freshman to resign. The FBI has begun investigations into his dubious campaign contributions and his statements on campaign finance laws.
The Illinois Supreme Court issued a stay on the Superior Court's decision to boot Rahm Emmanuel from Chicago's mayoral race.
If you root for non-profits or community owned businesses, it's the Green Bay Packers for the Super Bowl.
AND NOW THE SURPRISE OF THE EVENING--The speech won't really count. Enjoy it though. It might be the last time you see Obama before he retreats into the White House to deal with the collapse of governments throughout the Middle East. The real Big Enchilada--Egypt--looks shaky tonight as Cairo is now a War Zone. Riots have broken out through Jordan and Algeria. All because of the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia. Through it hezbollah forming the government in Lebanon and you know what will preoccupy President Obama for the next year.
America Backs McColm Plan for Social Security
Yes, the numbers are in and it's overwhelming. Between 75-80% of Americans believe to solve any problems with Social Security we simply raise the FICA cap and few believe we should cut benefits. These numbers exist for every age group. Even 67% of teabaggers are for raising the FICA cap. It is rare for any polling on a policy matters to yield such an overwhelming consensus.
Last year I wrote about the mythical problems with Social Security. I suggested raising the cap and the result would be to ensure Social Security through the year 2175 and beyond. We could even give people a raise. Even if we do nothing , Social Security will pay out full benefits through 2037 and then the cut would be to 90% for a decade and then to 80%. It's not as if Social Security vanishes.
Cynically, I know why Americans support this. Only a few percent of Americans now earn more than the cap of $106,000. So the solution is painless for the nation.
That's why you are not going to hear a peep from President Obama on this issue. There really is not a problem and he can actually kick the can down the road until a second term. Progressives started to howl that President Obama was going to put Social Security on the table for negotiations with the Republicans. Yesterday, the White House denied that and denied President Obama would support raising the retirement age.
Meanwhile Paul Ryan will be answering the President's speech tonight. But Ryan can not speak openly about his plans to privatize Social Security and turn Medicare into a voucher system. Another thing Paul won't talk about is his plan to raise taxes for those earning $20,000 to $200,000 and severely cutting taxes for the rich. Coporate taxes also would be eliminated and instead Ryan wants to create a consumption tax, which will hurt the poor and the middle class. You will not hear any of that tonight.
President Obama takes the podium tonight with a 56% approval rating in the latest CNN/ Opinion Research poll and a 46% approval rating among independents, about a ten point leap since the election. He also has a 57% approval rating among investors for his economic policies.
Finally, the White House is beginning to wake up to their communications problem. They have been ushering in Democratic talking heads and political types to discuss the content of tonight's speech so that the media will not be dominated by Republican talking heads like the last two years. The flashy addition will be the Enhanced capability to the White House's live feed of the speech. We are promised all those nifty graphs and blackboard drawings about the stimulus and economic growth. Whether this can overcome the GOP noise machine is still problematic.
At tonight's State of the Union, we will be missing several Supreme Court Justices because they felt dissed last year when President Obama criticized their Citizens United decision that gave total power in the United States to corporations. Some say the three most likely AWOLs will be Chuckles Thomas, Fat Tony Scalia and Judge Alito. It would be seen as too tacky if the Chief Justice Roberts didn't show.
The question is whether we will see the "most dangerous person in America" or the person Glenn Beck believes is the "most powerful man in America"--Cass Sunstein,the University of Chicago professor who now is in charge of evaluating business regulations for President Obama. Actually I am comforted to think Cass really is the most powerful man in America.
Which brings me to Glenn Beck's jihad against elderly CUNY professor Frances Fox Piven, who is "sowing the seeds of revolt." Apparently, Glenn Beck believes that there are nine people, which he calls the "The Intelligent Minority" who control America. Now some of these people are dead but their influence lingers on. They are Edward Bernays, the father of modern advertising, Sigmund Freud, George Soros, Andy Stern, Walter Lippman, Frances Fox Piven, former Governor Rendell, and Richard Trumpka, the head of the AFL-CIO. I'm dsappointed he left out the boogey-man of the Right, Saul Alinsky. Of his list, only Richard Trumpka is not Jewish. I guess Dick is the red herring because Alinsky would have made it totally too obvious. Perhaps, this is being snarky but the only "Christian" group allowed to proselytize in Nazi German were the Mormons. Is Beck anti-semitic much?
It's better to keep your ethnic smears more oblique so you can plot a political comeback. In this state of the "Cooch", George Allen, "Mr. Macaca", is plotting his return to the Senate and has thrown his helmut into the ring in a race against Webb.
Rahm Emmanuel has been thrown off the ballot for mayor of Chicago. No one knows what this means and Rahm vows he will triumph. If he somehow becomes mayor, how will he deal with Abu Dubai, which owns all of Chicago's parking meters? This was another great move by Mayor Daley who sold them to the country's Sovereign Fund.
I want to know where Halliburton will move its headquarters once Dubai sinks, which it is doing. I like how the U.S. Chamber now refers to companies like Halliburton as "our American foreign companies".
The military still can not find any connection between Private Manning, who is being kept in solitary at Quantico, and Julien Assange and Wikileaks. Manning is being without any charge.
Later we will explore what the Jasmine revolution and the Wikileaks publishing of the cables on the Middle East Peace Talks means or does not.
One of the most interesting sidelights of tonight's speech will be the rebuttal by teabagger Michelle Bachmann. I think I've misunderstood the teabaggers. A Michelle Bachmann should be viewed as Cindy Sherman gone bad. This is performance art. Just like Sarah Palin is the reality television candidate. The teabaggers are avant-garde. Tacky, true. But the Koch Brothers are self-proclaimed anarchists and big bankrollers of the arts. They know the history of vanguard art movements. Here they got a chance to buy one for their own. And imagine the laughs at the Koch household having a political movement named after a gay sexual practice. It's so DADA.
And save the TA-TAs.
Last year I wrote about the mythical problems with Social Security. I suggested raising the cap and the result would be to ensure Social Security through the year 2175 and beyond. We could even give people a raise. Even if we do nothing , Social Security will pay out full benefits through 2037 and then the cut would be to 90% for a decade and then to 80%. It's not as if Social Security vanishes.
Cynically, I know why Americans support this. Only a few percent of Americans now earn more than the cap of $106,000. So the solution is painless for the nation.
That's why you are not going to hear a peep from President Obama on this issue. There really is not a problem and he can actually kick the can down the road until a second term. Progressives started to howl that President Obama was going to put Social Security on the table for negotiations with the Republicans. Yesterday, the White House denied that and denied President Obama would support raising the retirement age.
Meanwhile Paul Ryan will be answering the President's speech tonight. But Ryan can not speak openly about his plans to privatize Social Security and turn Medicare into a voucher system. Another thing Paul won't talk about is his plan to raise taxes for those earning $20,000 to $200,000 and severely cutting taxes for the rich. Coporate taxes also would be eliminated and instead Ryan wants to create a consumption tax, which will hurt the poor and the middle class. You will not hear any of that tonight.
President Obama takes the podium tonight with a 56% approval rating in the latest CNN/ Opinion Research poll and a 46% approval rating among independents, about a ten point leap since the election. He also has a 57% approval rating among investors for his economic policies.
Finally, the White House is beginning to wake up to their communications problem. They have been ushering in Democratic talking heads and political types to discuss the content of tonight's speech so that the media will not be dominated by Republican talking heads like the last two years. The flashy addition will be the Enhanced capability to the White House's live feed of the speech. We are promised all those nifty graphs and blackboard drawings about the stimulus and economic growth. Whether this can overcome the GOP noise machine is still problematic.
At tonight's State of the Union, we will be missing several Supreme Court Justices because they felt dissed last year when President Obama criticized their Citizens United decision that gave total power in the United States to corporations. Some say the three most likely AWOLs will be Chuckles Thomas, Fat Tony Scalia and Judge Alito. It would be seen as too tacky if the Chief Justice Roberts didn't show.
The question is whether we will see the "most dangerous person in America" or the person Glenn Beck believes is the "most powerful man in America"--Cass Sunstein,the University of Chicago professor who now is in charge of evaluating business regulations for President Obama. Actually I am comforted to think Cass really is the most powerful man in America.
Which brings me to Glenn Beck's jihad against elderly CUNY professor Frances Fox Piven, who is "sowing the seeds of revolt." Apparently, Glenn Beck believes that there are nine people, which he calls the "The Intelligent Minority" who control America. Now some of these people are dead but their influence lingers on. They are Edward Bernays, the father of modern advertising, Sigmund Freud, George Soros, Andy Stern, Walter Lippman, Frances Fox Piven, former Governor Rendell, and Richard Trumpka, the head of the AFL-CIO. I'm dsappointed he left out the boogey-man of the Right, Saul Alinsky. Of his list, only Richard Trumpka is not Jewish. I guess Dick is the red herring because Alinsky would have made it totally too obvious. Perhaps, this is being snarky but the only "Christian" group allowed to proselytize in Nazi German were the Mormons. Is Beck anti-semitic much?
It's better to keep your ethnic smears more oblique so you can plot a political comeback. In this state of the "Cooch", George Allen, "Mr. Macaca", is plotting his return to the Senate and has thrown his helmut into the ring in a race against Webb.
Rahm Emmanuel has been thrown off the ballot for mayor of Chicago. No one knows what this means and Rahm vows he will triumph. If he somehow becomes mayor, how will he deal with Abu Dubai, which owns all of Chicago's parking meters? This was another great move by Mayor Daley who sold them to the country's Sovereign Fund.
I want to know where Halliburton will move its headquarters once Dubai sinks, which it is doing. I like how the U.S. Chamber now refers to companies like Halliburton as "our American foreign companies".
The military still can not find any connection between Private Manning, who is being kept in solitary at Quantico, and Julien Assange and Wikileaks. Manning is being without any charge.
Later we will explore what the Jasmine revolution and the Wikileaks publishing of the cables on the Middle East Peace Talks means or does not.
One of the most interesting sidelights of tonight's speech will be the rebuttal by teabagger Michelle Bachmann. I think I've misunderstood the teabaggers. A Michelle Bachmann should be viewed as Cindy Sherman gone bad. This is performance art. Just like Sarah Palin is the reality television candidate. The teabaggers are avant-garde. Tacky, true. But the Koch Brothers are self-proclaimed anarchists and big bankrollers of the arts. They know the history of vanguard art movements. Here they got a chance to buy one for their own. And imagine the laughs at the Koch household having a political movement named after a gay sexual practice. It's so DADA.
And save the TA-TAs.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
State of the Union
I was going to write a piece on Obama's accomplishments for the last year but he did a good job himself in the State of the Union Address. In case you missed it, do yourself a favor and find it on the white house website or elsewhere and listen to it. Obviously, the number one issue was the economy and jobs but the defense of the stimulus bill should be heard. It's one Democrats should run on, while the RNC has made it part of their purity test to be against. What we just heard was a President who has complete control and dominance of the political debate in the country. You can knock him down on this or that issue but he defines the universe of the issues, which is what a transformative President does.
Rhetorically he put Republicans in a box. His defense of the stimulus bill started with a litany of tax cuts woven in with Reaganesque stories of average Americans being affected. He goes in his speech to outline tax credits for small businesses, middle-class families with college students (me) and those who create jobs in America. He suggested his policies were aimed at making America number 1 in the world, which Republicans reflexively had to applaud. He emphasized that in his first year he didn't raise anyone's taxes one cent. (It's something I hear all the time from teabaggers and conservatives about his tax hikes--which don't exist.) But later in the speech he slips in the need to tax the top 2% again because of the deficit. He also said that tax cuts for companies who export jobs would have to be cut--which elicited no support from the Republicans. His proposal to tax banks drew huge applause but only a few claps from Republicans. He basically framed the issue to put the Republicans on the defensive. They must argue now openly for tax cuts for the rich and for companies to export jobs and banks who give outlandish bonuses (1% of the GDP this year). He also called for the end of capital gains taxes for small businesses. Now Republicans must argue for an extensive to the large corporations.
He also did a little policy wonk trip about the new Green economy while embracing nuclear power plants and "clean" coal, if such a thing exists. Running through this part of the speech one sees where he envisions America going. Almost all his climate change arguments will not pass mustard on the Hill, but alot of his clean energy initiatives will.
He also addressed the distrust Americans have for Washington--at about 70% now. He also directly talked to the supermajority idiocy in the Senate and challenged the Republicans to deal with the issues at hand. Throughout his speech he applauded the series of bills passed by the House on jobs, financial reform and health care to the detriment of the Senate. He also blasted the Supreme Court ruling but in polite terms raising the specter of foreign companies interferring in American elections. In fact the Saudis are starting because of the threat the clean energy bill poses to them.
He also reaffirmed his stand on health care and emphasized how it would cut the deficit by $1 trillion in ten years. Which led to his segue to the Debt Reduction commission, which was defeated today in the Senate but would be enacted by executive order. His freeze on discretionary spending and his urging a paygo policy for budgets helps him capture this issue and allow him to order the priorities for deficit reduction in the future.
He also came out strongly for eliminating Don't Ask Don't Tell for gays in the military as he had promised.
His foreign policy section included Afghanistan and ending the war in Iraq. He claims to have killed many times more Al Qaeda terrorists in 2009 than the previous year. And , what is most important to him, his initiative at nuclear arms reduction citing JFK and Ronald Reagan. He also said that a 50 country security conference would be meeting in Washington to discuss how to secure nuclear materials and loose nuclear arms. Which led him to promise tougher actions against Iran and continued sanctions on North Korea.
If you wanted a full outline of how Barack Obama thinks about issues, this is the speech to hear or read. It also provides the background to the country's current situation and how the deficit got so large. In my view he left the Republicans the issue of torture, Gitmo, tax cuts for the rich and large corporations and leaving the health system as it is. That's not a great place politically for them to be.
I expect the conservative and republicans to totally ignore this speech and carry on as they have before. There will not be any tapering off of the lunatic rhetoric. Conceptually I believe they will fall deeper into the swamp. If they resist Obama on a jobs bill, then November 2010 will look alot different than all the pundits have said. I think he rocked them back off their feet tonight because he basically took ideas which they would support if their base wasn't crazy and made them his own.
He also put forward support for Immigration reform tonight, which would seal the fate of the Republicans in 2012. Progressives should be somewhat disappointed that he didn't come out for the bill to enhance the ability for workers to unionize. Could he have done something else on the jobs and economic end? I don't think so because the jobs needed for today are no longer the type of work of the CCC and other FDR programs. They have to be generated by the private sector, especially small businesses. Our larger corporations have not created a single job in a decade.
Look to see a Jobs Bill, Financial Reform and Health Care Reform again and soon. Those of you who watched the Republican answer know the score.
Rhetorically he put Republicans in a box. His defense of the stimulus bill started with a litany of tax cuts woven in with Reaganesque stories of average Americans being affected. He goes in his speech to outline tax credits for small businesses, middle-class families with college students (me) and those who create jobs in America. He suggested his policies were aimed at making America number 1 in the world, which Republicans reflexively had to applaud. He emphasized that in his first year he didn't raise anyone's taxes one cent. (It's something I hear all the time from teabaggers and conservatives about his tax hikes--which don't exist.) But later in the speech he slips in the need to tax the top 2% again because of the deficit. He also said that tax cuts for companies who export jobs would have to be cut--which elicited no support from the Republicans. His proposal to tax banks drew huge applause but only a few claps from Republicans. He basically framed the issue to put the Republicans on the defensive. They must argue now openly for tax cuts for the rich and for companies to export jobs and banks who give outlandish bonuses (1% of the GDP this year). He also called for the end of capital gains taxes for small businesses. Now Republicans must argue for an extensive to the large corporations.
He also did a little policy wonk trip about the new Green economy while embracing nuclear power plants and "clean" coal, if such a thing exists. Running through this part of the speech one sees where he envisions America going. Almost all his climate change arguments will not pass mustard on the Hill, but alot of his clean energy initiatives will.
He also addressed the distrust Americans have for Washington--at about 70% now. He also directly talked to the supermajority idiocy in the Senate and challenged the Republicans to deal with the issues at hand. Throughout his speech he applauded the series of bills passed by the House on jobs, financial reform and health care to the detriment of the Senate. He also blasted the Supreme Court ruling but in polite terms raising the specter of foreign companies interferring in American elections. In fact the Saudis are starting because of the threat the clean energy bill poses to them.
He also reaffirmed his stand on health care and emphasized how it would cut the deficit by $1 trillion in ten years. Which led to his segue to the Debt Reduction commission, which was defeated today in the Senate but would be enacted by executive order. His freeze on discretionary spending and his urging a paygo policy for budgets helps him capture this issue and allow him to order the priorities for deficit reduction in the future.
He also came out strongly for eliminating Don't Ask Don't Tell for gays in the military as he had promised.
His foreign policy section included Afghanistan and ending the war in Iraq. He claims to have killed many times more Al Qaeda terrorists in 2009 than the previous year. And , what is most important to him, his initiative at nuclear arms reduction citing JFK and Ronald Reagan. He also said that a 50 country security conference would be meeting in Washington to discuss how to secure nuclear materials and loose nuclear arms. Which led him to promise tougher actions against Iran and continued sanctions on North Korea.
If you wanted a full outline of how Barack Obama thinks about issues, this is the speech to hear or read. It also provides the background to the country's current situation and how the deficit got so large. In my view he left the Republicans the issue of torture, Gitmo, tax cuts for the rich and large corporations and leaving the health system as it is. That's not a great place politically for them to be.
I expect the conservative and republicans to totally ignore this speech and carry on as they have before. There will not be any tapering off of the lunatic rhetoric. Conceptually I believe they will fall deeper into the swamp. If they resist Obama on a jobs bill, then November 2010 will look alot different than all the pundits have said. I think he rocked them back off their feet tonight because he basically took ideas which they would support if their base wasn't crazy and made them his own.
He also put forward support for Immigration reform tonight, which would seal the fate of the Republicans in 2012. Progressives should be somewhat disappointed that he didn't come out for the bill to enhance the ability for workers to unionize. Could he have done something else on the jobs and economic end? I don't think so because the jobs needed for today are no longer the type of work of the CCC and other FDR programs. They have to be generated by the private sector, especially small businesses. Our larger corporations have not created a single job in a decade.
Look to see a Jobs Bill, Financial Reform and Health Care Reform again and soon. Those of you who watched the Republican answer know the score.
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