My State of the Union Reactions
"Our work must begin by making some basic decisions about our budget – decisions that will have a huge impact on the strength of our recovery"
Didn't the recovery end when our economy contracted last quarter. Not saying that we are in another recession yet, but don't you stop "bouncing back" when you are no longer bouncing upward.
"Over the last few years, both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion – mostly through spending cuts, but also by raising tax rates on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. As a result, we are more than halfway towards the goal of $4 trillion in deficit reduction that economists say we need to stabilize our finances."
Back in '09, the deficit was $1.412 trillion, the biggest ever by a mile, this year it is $1.326 Trillion, at what point did we save these trillions of dollars? Receipts have risen by $350 Billion in the meantime, even if you span $2.5 trillion over 10 years, wouldn't you expect the deficient to fall a couple hundred billion? It goes to that old adage of stating that I'm going to buy a sports car for $100,000 next year, I don't 'save' $100,000 because I didn't buy one. It's sad that the sequester is what will finally force these numbers to drop and congress is scrambling to stop it.
"Already, the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of health care costs."
I always get a kick out of the phrasing 'slow the growth of...'. Note that healthcare rates are still high and still going up.
"Tonight, I’ll lay out additional proposals that are fully paid for and fully consistent with the budget
framework both parties agreed to just 18 months ago. Let me repeat – nothing I’m proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime."
Last year when he proposed a plan to avert the fiscal cliff, his bill proposed more taxes, more spending and terms like 'to be determined' as far as how this was all going to be paid for. Me thinks this deficit neutral plan works in simular ways.
“Corporate profits have rocketed to all-time highs – but for more than a decade, wages and incomes have barely budged."
Interesting that he should point to this fact since last year was one of the worst years when it came to wage disparity. this in the wake of healthcare and fair wage reform that was supposed to help combat these very things. Fueling an argument that he may mean well, he's just incompetent.
"I ask this Congress to declare that women should earn a living equal to their efforts, and finally pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this year"
Wait, didn't we already do this in '63? Didn't we strengthen it a few years ago? Isn't Sex discrimination in the work place already illegal? I know the math is still unfavorable but isn't that an enforcement issue, oh wait, that's right.
"Even with the tax relief we've put in place, a family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line... Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour"
I agree having a static rate makes little sense, at the same time, according to an MIT study, $9/hr would be 10 percent higher then the cost of living... for an individual. If he is using a single person raising two kids as the benchmark, then for my little corner of paradise in Iowa, he's short of the mark by about $16.50 an hour. It's an unrealistic mark, let's set minimum wage to CPI and/or inflation and let states decide what is best for them, as so many of them already have.
"In the Middle East, we will stand with citizens as they demand their universal rights, and support stable transitions to democracy. The process will be messy, and we cannot presume to dictate the course of change in countries like Egypt; but we can – and will – insist on respect for the fundamental rights of all people."
Stable transitions that are messy, insist by not dictate. From a grammatical sense I'm not a fan of this statement, but then you through in the acknowledgement of issues with the way Egypt is going, yet we are handing over advanced military equipment and cash at alarming rates and it just makes my head spin.
"All this work depends on the courage and sacrifice of those who serve in dangerous places at great personal risk – our diplomats, our intelligence officers, and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. As long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, we will do whatever we must to protect those who serve their country abroad"
Do I need to say anything about this line?
Obviously, there is more, but overall I actually thought it was a pretty modest speech. He usually tones it down a bit when a lot of Republicans are in the room. You know, say a few subtle things to unnerve them and then act like they have a lot in common. So his supporters at home see Republicans sitting there with their arms folded when Obama says we've never imported less oil from the middle east, leaving them to think he's a moderate and the GOP just doesn't like him for all the right reasons. Perhaps this is what they felt under Bush when he would talk about education standards and improving air quality. Maybe it's just another indicator that the letter after your name isn't what determines if you are a successful president.
No comments:
Post a Comment