State of the Union: I'm still unimpressed.

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/johndamos/33888/state-of-the-union-im-still-unimpressed

Watched glorious leader give his SOTU speech. Looked like his speech writers have been watching the blogs and complainers like ourselves and have been taking notes about what we complain about.

State of the Union appeared to be lots of fluff meant to deflect criticisms. Cannot be certain that this guy will even attempt to accomplish any of what he talked about.

He gave broad sweeping goals, but no mention of how he was going to fund any of these grand ideas except by cutting domestic spending, downsizing government and just a little military spending.

He barely mentioned taxing the rich, what appeared to be a little lip service to deflect future criticism and then he moved along quickly to something else.


More at the link --

[emulatorloo]

1. That piece is heavy on the snark. light on the facts

But everybody is entitled to an opinion.

This one doesn't square with the transcript though.

[jaxx]

2. Well, at least the chimp recognizes PBO as a glorious leader.

Better than I thought he'd have to say.

[JuniperLea]

3. "watching the blogs and complainers like ourselves"

One would hope! And one would also hope that when action is discussed in those areas, people would get their heads out of their asses and actually realize they are getting what they want!

Jesus H-WTF Christ on a cracker.

This President just can't win with some. Even when he drops a glorious bombshell... one we've all asked for time and time again. Ridiculousness of the highest order.

I for one am pleased as punch that Obama actually talked about ceasing payments to oil companies. And that's just one thing. It's one huge thing. No credit, fuck him.

Jesus God.

[emulatorloo]

7. Some people are too invested in a narrative to actually listen to what was said.

[JuniperLea]

10. Exactly right...

They feel the need to get from dot A to dot D whilst completely ignoring the two other dots.

Some of this ridiculousness is right out of the "get your socialist government hands off my medicare" playbook.

[hfojvt]

19. we are supposed to give Obama credit for that?

I guess we should give him some credit for recycling.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6103RM20100201

"This is the second year the administration has sought to end the subsidies. The move has been strongly condemned by oil and gas companies, which argue that abolishing the tax breaks would reduce domestic drilling, cost jobs and increase U.S. reliance on foreign energy suppliers."

from an article written on Feb. 10, 2010.

What else are we getting that we want? RTTT? A health insurance mandate? The Bush tax cuts extended? A payroll tax cut? Obama touted all of those in the part of the speech I saw/listened to.

[emulatorloo]

24. Got quotes to back your assertions up?

[hfojvt]

25. did you not see the speech?

extension of the Bush tax cuts - "That's the project the American people want us to work on. Together.

We did that in December. Thanks to the tax cuts we passed, Americans' paychecks are a little bigger today. Every business can write off the full cost of the new investments they make this year. These steps, taken by Democrats and Republicans, will grow the economy and add to the more than one million private sector jobs created last year."

payroll tax cut - see above

RTTT - "Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation. For less than one percent of what we spend on education each year, it has led over 40 states to raise their standards for teaching and learning. These standards were developed, not by Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the country. And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and focused on what's best for our kids."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/State_of_the_Union/state-of-the-union-2011-full-transcript/story?id=12759395&page=2

or are you talking about Reuters' assertion that Obama has already pushed twice for the Oil subsidies to end. The Reuters' article is proof for my memory, because I thought I had heard it before. I am not gonna search Whitehouse.gov just to verify what Reuters' wrote.

[emulatorloo]

26. well you skipped the part about the top 2% rates and how those weren't sustainable.

"And if we truly care about our deficit, we simply can’t afford a permanent extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. (Applause.) Before we take money away from our schools or scholarships away from our students, we should ask millionaires to give up their tax break. It’s not a matter of punishing their success. It’s about promoting America’s success. (Applause.)"

(which was a nice reframing, I think)

Oil Subsidies: Who care if he has referenced cutting oil subsidies before? (and I believe he has) This is a marathon, not a sprint.

ON EDIT QUOTE

[hfojvt]

27. skipped over it? Not hardly

The part I quoted, and heard was in the first five minutes of the speech, on page one of the transcript. The other part was over half an hour later, by which time I had already turned off the TV in disgust and gone to work. How many other viewers had already tuned out by that point?

He needed to say the important stuff first, not start with "hurrah for Congress, we worked together to extend the Bush tax cuts and tax cuts are sooo good for the economy"

[emulatorloo]

28. Have you ever studied public speaking?

- first part, counter the wingnut talking point that Obama/Dems have done nothing
- second part - lay out the four areas for investment, areas where things need to be done differently (from what Repubs want)
- inpiration - We can do Big Things

[monmouth]

4. Me neither. Nothing for Seniors to ponder as to a COLA in their SS

checks in the future. How long will that be while food and housing costs are on the rise? And who decided to hand out the speech ahead of time? Nothing new, no discussion about the war except we'll be bringing "some" of them home in July. What about all of the military get the hell out then! How about a plan similar to the WPA to get the roads and bridges fixed so school buses, all vehicles, don't have to pray going over some of these decrepit bridges? I didn't bother to watch, it's all show biz. The pomp and pageantry has been seen before, much like the Oscars with the red carpet but this SOTU had already given out the speech, no surprises. I've seen this show before and knew the ending...Why bother.

Since I could read the speech ahead of time I decided to be entertained elsewhere. That Spanky and Buckwheat sure could get themselves into trouble...

[emulatorloo]

5. "I didn't bother to watch, it's all show biz." Then you aren't qualified to discuss

it.

Just one example - you claiming Obama did not address infrastructure investment. He spent a pretty good chunk of the SOTU pushing for that.

[monmouth]

6. I read the speech, and please, I'm as qualified as you are..n/t

[emulatorloo]

22. Was your brain engaged or were you just trying to fit it to the FDL-type framework?

[jtown1123]

9. Monmouth read it. Don't shut people out of the discussion b/c

they didn't bother to watch what they already read.

[JuniperLea]

13. Skimming doesn't count...

Clearly Monmouth missed some big points.

[JuniperLea]

11. I guess you skimmed past the part...

About rebuilding infrastructure. So much for reading I guess.

[monmouth]

15. I promise not to be as condescending as you but as to infrastructure,

there was nothing definitive about when this would start, how many would/could be employed, etc. He stated the same thing last year..

[JuniperLea]

21. Right, because a SOTU should include the nuts and bolts figures...

No, not really.

Sorry if I sound condescending to you... I'm a little more than sick and tired of the beatings. I'm sick and tired of being called an Obama apologist, even still when we've been told to discuss issues and not people. Still, I'm called names on a daily basis around here. It's beyond bogus.

How long do YOU figure it should have taken for Obama to cure all of our ills? Seems to me far too many are still suffering under the false impression that he's the magic negro. I'm sick of it.

[emulatorloo]

23. SOTUs are traditionally a big picture speech, not a policy wonk speech

[Whisp]

17. and nothing on puppy mills and violence on tv and crime and prision factories

nothing on Snooki nor what Rick Sanchez is doing now. what a slacker.

SOTUs are always long ranged, or should be. The big issue of finance that he spoke about - ex. loopholes for some corps that get enormous tax breaks when they don't Need them - that is the kind of things that have to be fixed to address all that you have mentioned.

[Still a Democrat]

8. Smirkingchimp sounds about as smart as the Chimp we had in the White House n/t

[ProSense]

12. Interesting

"He gave broad sweeping goals, but no mention of how he was going to fund any of these grand ideas"


Well "broad sweeping goals" is better than "centrist" and "Republican lite."

A list of some of those goals

The OP piece is heavy on skepticism that these goals will be funded, but that's what a budget is for. As the President said:

<...>

This is our generation’s Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the Space Race. In a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal. We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology – an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.

link

[earth mom]

14. Yep-Lip Service sums it up. nt

[Godhumor]

16. "Glorious Leader"? I'm supposed to take this seriously after that right-wing snark?

Love that they adopted derogatory nicknames that those on the opposite end of the spectrum use.

[Newest Reality]

18. Hey, who can knock some fantasy

feeding when a good portion of what is called reality is largely abstract and illusory?

Just consider the broad sweeping swaths of therapeutic ideas as tangible and you can almost hold the results in your hands. That keeps you from entertaining anything that might be subversive to the bottom-line. Profit is our god and you either kneel and pray or become a frustrated heretic, these days.

[dionysus]

20. .

:nopity: