What do you think of President Obama's State of The Union speech?
By skepticalscott
President Obama declared the state of the union is “Getting stronger” last night before a joint-session of Congress. But to ensure the nation continues to get better – the President laid out a series of proposals he's challenging a Republican Congress to pass and send to his desk.
One is encouraging “insourcing” of jobs – meaning giving tax breaks to companies that bring jobs back to America – while cutting off tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. That proposal didn’t draw any applause from the Republican side of the chamber, which seems to favor outsourcing American jobs as it makes more money for the big corporations that fund their Party.
The President also called for a minimum tax to be paid by multinational corporations – many of which have paid their CEOs more than they’ve paid in taxes over the last 3 years. Again, no Republican applause. He also called on these same corporations to ask themselves what it is they can do for their country. The Buffett Rule also made an appearance in last night’s speech – as the President pressed Congress to change that tax code to ensure that millionaires and billionaires like Mitt Romney don’t get by paying a lower tax rate than most middle class Americans. In fact – he called for a 30% minimum tax on millionaires – again, no applause from the Republican side, which prefers the status quo of massive wealth inequality and unfair taxation.
Republicans aside, though, it appears the President’s message resonated with the American people last night. A CBS poll of speech watchers found that 91% of Americans approved of the proposals put forward by the President – and 83% approved of the economic plans laid out – a jump from 53% before the speech. Now what will be interesting to watch is how much money is thrown at Republicans by Wall Street billionaires and transnational corporations to block all of these initiatives from the President.
Comments
#2
In Obama’s State of the Union, Troublesome Passages for Progressives
#3
Did Obama just repeat the republican talking point that the US has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world?
#4
Much of what Pres Obama said last night was very welcome...but saying something...making great grandstanding speeches is one thing but acting on it is another. That's right!...Obama can't act alone...except in the case of the appointments he makes. And just what appointments did he make in this term that liberal/progressives are happy about? Actions speak louder than words and Obama's past actions....appointing wolves to rule the roost, constantly giving in to elite interests and giving away most of the interests of the majority of Americans, and acting just like that tin-horn wanna be dictator war criminal Bush....does not anoint Obama with anything that can be believed or relied upon in any speech he gives.
Obama laid out some very necessary things that need to be corrected...and a few things that sounded like he is skirting around some issues...like our military presence in the Middle East, murdering innocent civilians with drones and other high tech weapons. Sounds like he is still our war criminal President ready and willing to continue the slaughter to keep our military industrial and oil companies happy.
Obama is really out of touch with reality when he continues to mention Al Qaida....the boogey man still lives in the minds and propaganda of some people...but others in the know....know that we whipped them a long time ago and the only people left are the ones who are just fighting the tyranny of foreign occupiers and are defending their homeland. And the more atrocities we continue to commit over there..the more enemies we will have...no matter what stupid propaganda name is attributed to them. But enemies is what the military industrial congressional complex needs to keep it's citizens scared and compliant with their demands.
The dirty little secret is that the real enemy is right here at home and those elitist powers are creating the illusions that get people to believe and do stupid things.
One stupid belief is that some bearded man suffering from Marfan's disease, someone who needed kidney dialysis, sitting in some cave in Afghanistan managed to conceive, plan and convince 19 Muslims to crash airliners into tall buildings. These 19 got into the country so easily, with the Bush regime help, and some trained at flight schools...some near military bases...were terrible at even the small craft they trained on...all with the watchful eyes of the FBI...but whose managers kept that information suppressed. Now, why do you suppose they did that?
Some people knew, beforehand, what was going down. Important people were warned not to fly that day. Stock markets reacted with lots of short selling on those two airlines that day. A van of Israelis were arrested watch, filming, and cheering when the towers went down....later when they returned to Israel..went on their TV to say they were there to record the incident.
We are supposed to believe that these "terrorists" were capable of hitting their targets? Non-sense!! The whole false flag of terrorism has replaced the Soviet Menace of Communism and the total annihilation scare of an atomic war to control the people. It keeps the military industrial complex and politicians in business.
And politicians can continue to make great speeches that tweak the emotional heart-strings of the people, and continue to blame the other side, in their tug-of-war, smoke-and-mirrors propaganda machine. But unless the people see through it and realize that words are just empty and meaningless without real actions to back them up then we will continue our downward slide into serfdom and slavery. Obama's great speech was just another meaningless campaign speech...just as meaningless as the ones he made before he won the Presidency.
#5
SOPA PIPA and now ACTA!
Will these people never quit? Nope, and they will get sneakier.
Did Obama say something in his speech last night about having just signed a bill that sounded a lot like ACTA? Did they sneak one in on us?
"If you thought the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act were scary, imagine this: There is an international treaty with the same goals and civil rights infringements as its American cousins, crafted in secrecy outside any existing trade organization with the help of industry giants such as the Motion Picture Association of America.
The treaty’s goal is to ban counterfeit goods and online piracy by requiring Internet Protocol servers and individual websites to monitor and prosecute suspected copyright infringements. But the goal comes packaged with some collateral damage: infringements on individual’s civil rights and the creation of a system responsible for widespread, international online censorship.
This nightmare treaty is called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. It has most of the same goals, supporters and privacy abuses of SOPA and PIPA. What it didn’t have was the kind of public outcry led by websites such as Reddit and Wikipedia when it was signed by the U.S. The treaty now awaits ratification by the European Union before it goes into full force.
ACTA’s scope is far wider than SOPA or PIPA. It aims to stop the “proliferation of counterfeit and pirated goods, as well as of services that share infringing material.” This includes knockoff Louis Vuitton purses and cheap counterfeit medicine in developing nations. It also means any website or program that could potentially be used to infringe copyrighted material, from sites with links for music downloads to music-burning software, would be automatically outlawed."
http://www.thedailyaztec.com/2012/01/acta-has-same-dangers-as-pipa-and-s...
#6
That's right! Sneaky
Thanks for that link!
"First, mentioning John Boehner, Obama said he was still open to a grand compromise on Social Security and Medicare, which would make Americans have to work longer and get less benefits from Medicare and Medicaid. We don’t need a Democrat to hack away at these crucial social programs.
Second, he took a gratuitous swipe at universal single-payer health care. Sounding like Ronald Reagan, he said, “I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That Government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.” As an illustration, he said, “That’s why our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a Government program.” Huh? He used to say he was for single-payer universal health care. Then, when he was running for President the first time, he said, “If I were starting from scratch,” I’d be for single-payer universal health care. Now he disparages it to score cheap political points."
http://www.progressive.org/obama_state_of_the_union.html
Obama is just a Republican disguised as a Democrat.
#7
#8
Corporations are zombies, they are not people. Corporations have no blood, no heart, they only seek to suck the money out of our pocketbooks, they are zombies or vampires but they are not loving, caring human beings. Corporations are not people. The Republicans are the party of the corporations. They do not care about flesh and blood human beings. Their supporters believe the lies told to them and have closed their minds to the "lamestream" media. When I tell my Republican friends that global warming is real they think that I have been fed Left Wing garbage. They do not trust anything coming from anyone other than Faux News.
#9
In general I liked the Obama speech but what does SS 'reform ' entail ? Congress has to do their part and won't GOP vowed to Break Obama ..deny him a 2nd term So things will happen after election. If voters look at the facts They will not vote GOP again after the last 2 yrs of stalling, blocking. lying , filibustering bills GOP used to support . Ronmey comments : ' Corps are people' 'Talk of tax code fairness should be done in 'quiet rooms' ' 375 K is ' not much money ' " Let US auto industry die' ' Let homes be foreclosed asap so investors can buy them and rent them out " Hell with the homeowners who got screwed by predatory lenders. What planet is Mitt from ? Is he human ? Puts his Dog in a cage on top of his car for a 12 hour road trip ? Then says " The dog enjoyed it ' After the poor dog pooped all over the car ?
#10
No mention of not "hitting" social security, medicare or medicaid. This means he is up to transfering wealth from ordinary Americans to the wealthy, What a rat!
#11
Apparently my party was not satisfied with turning it's back on me and my country. They have become the fascists my father fought in WWII. So far as I'm concerned they should be first against the wall when the revolution comes.
#12
I heard some things I like and some that I didn't like. On the things I liked, we need to remember that the devil is in the details. We need to see what he really proposes to accomplish his policies.
#13
Thanks for the link...of course, the answer to the question in that song is.....doesn't look like they ever will! But the important thing is that many of us have.
#14
Palindromedary you're burrying your thoughts in extreme masses of words and this makes you almost unreadable. Basically I find your ACTA critic interesting, but don't find any precise points.
__________________________
As I got president Obama, we won't tax millionaires generally with 30% just because they're millionaires: No, we tax their income if over a million per year. That means, if they use 999,999.99 bucks to finance their private luxury and invest the rest in constructive business projects (which are good for the U.S. economy), they pay less than 30%.
As the GOP points out, humans are sinful and lazy -- not only some of the poor welfare queens: >>Wealthy Welfare Queens<< like Mitt Romney tend to laziness too! We help them to find back to American kind of business. We help the Mitts and Newts to feel human again -- like decent Americans and honest Christans.
Got it Republicans?
#15
i was not sattisfied with his speech
#16
Thom, yesterday a listener called in and was like, "Did Lenin and Stalin define themselves socialists?"
They did, and this pretty much messes up our progressive communication.
Quote Russian Soviet language: "Sojus Sowjetskich Sozialistitscheskich Respublik"
Quote East German communistic party language: "Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschland / SED"
These of course were both communistic dictatorships and not democratic at all.
Ideas like socialism come from 19th century Germany. So if we need to be precise, we have to go into that era of German history. German democrats and socialists were suppressed by the Prussian monarchy at that thime. But the German socialists were divided: Communists claimed only violent revolution was the right way -- social democrats wanted social and democratic reforms. During the 20th century communists still persecuted social democrats, they really hated them.
The United States is not another planet. There is no such thing as "American exceptionalism". We DO depend on that European history indeed.
#17
Yes, America needs social democratic reforms. And this hasn't got anything to do with communism. Communists always hated social democracy. If any pro-Republican dares to mess up that here: I'll beat you guys up with European history and prove you morons!
So you better not dare it.... LOL
#18
The people of America have all the power but they gave it all away for the same reason everybody does?
safety
security
survival
We the people have all the power but we live in fear what happened to give me liberty or give me death?Freedom is given away because of fear and is traded for the above!!!we have all been oppressed and repressed by our cultural story but a message of freedom from society,s belief in a deity that is oppressive,angry,violent will get us out of humanity,s constant struggle for the new spirituality is a civil rights movement for the soul and this message of freedom inspires the experience of freedom itself.
All this will occur all over the world and indeed is happening in many places it is the overhaul of humanity.When this message reaches critical mass it will not matter how powerful a dictator,s government is or how repressive a religion is because the people will no longer support this repression and oppression these authorities will disappear .
The foundational truth of the New spirituality is found in Thom,s book The Greatest Spiritual Secret of The Century.....!!!! ONENESS
WE ARE ALL ONE and the number of people that embrace this will increase exponentially each year.
namaste
#19
Quote humanitys team:safety, security, survivalYou truly nailed it, but it's even better: We don't have to give away our freedom for all that. Our fellow humans in Germany have MORE freedom than we have. Believe me folks: Germany is freer than the U.S. There you can do things that are not allowed here...... for example jailbreak your cellphone card, which is absolutely legal in Germany. By the way, Merkel is a conservative and not a socialist! So it's absolutely stupid to say Germany was a socialist country. No, it's a modern country and we are darn old-fashioned and have to reform ourselves.
Safety, security, survival is just civilization. If some GOP fellows wish to live in stoneage.... why don't they? They can go to the desert, to live with the prairie dogs and coyotes. There they will hardly be safe and secure, as survival is pretty hard.
All the other Americans, who aren't hicks, can concentrate on building a modern America. With safety, security and even more freedom.....
#20
I wonder how many Republicans who responded to the poll by agreeing with Obama, will vote for him. There is such a disconnect between the way people feel & the way they vote. People seem to not understand the positions of the candidates they vote for, but vote based on negative TV ads that push their emotional buttons. Since having the wealthy pay more in taxes & stopping outsourcing of jobs seems so widely supported, the Democrats need to really push the message that this is what Republicans stand for-personified by Mitt Romney, the poster boy for the 1%.
#21
Soros: Not much difference between Obama and Romneyhttp://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/25/soros-not-much-difference-between-obama-and-romney/ It appears that we (the working class) are screwed either way.
#22
I know your song: "All or nothing at all."
That's what you get in life for that attitude: Nothing at all.
Not wise!
#23
I was excited by the state of the union address that Obama gave, but I've heard great speechifying by him before.Whether any of his proposals can get by obstructionist republicans, remains to be seen.This speech seemed to be a lot more specific than the vague "yes we can" pablum.I think finally some in the leadership of the US get the depth and profundity of the Great Depression, but there is much denial here in Canada with Theivin' Harper's neo-cons.The Great Depression is said to be occurring somewhere else (Europe, US), it is said to have ended in Apr '09, there is a lot of talk about "possible double dip recesssion" or "going into another recession".I have been unemployed for 3 yrs-5X longer than ever before.I wonder if I'll ever work again.I have given up looking for work and am going to college for a BA.
#24
Germany does have a lot of wonderful things, but they are not perfect and lack some basic freedoms that exist in the United States. In Germany, a legal immigrant can be fired if they find a German who can perform the same tasks. Leading to a high unemployment rate amongst professional and non-professional foreigners. You cannot immigrate your family even if you have citizenship(unless it is a spouse or child) over to Germany(as you can in the States). Muslim women who wear a headscarf are not allowed to teach children in schools. Non-Christians are not allowed to build private schools.
I'm a social Democrat myself, though, and completely agree with what you're saying. Again, there is a lot we can learn from the German system who practically manufactures all of it's goods.
#25
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/obamas_faux_populism_sounds_like_bil...
What's the difference in Obama and a ReThuglican? Nothing, Zilch, Nada.
We've got to break through the National Propaganda Media and let people
know that as long as they elect only Rich people, we all continue to be serfs.
I recommend:
#26
No, Germany is freer. On the whole worker rights are better protected. People are even hard to put out by landlords! Well, gun rights are pretty tough there but that's alright with me. Teachers with headscarfs? Why wear headscarfs? Don't like that either. Non-Christians not allowed to build private schools? Not true -- don't tell meJews are not allowed that! Anyway, Germany is pretty atheistic. Don't forget our southern Baptists: they teach downright middle-age and those people are awfully behind and unfree.
Anyway, I fight right-wingers here. If you're a social democrat: why must I waste my power, nerves and time on this? It only helps the GOP....
#27
If you can't tell good guys from bad guys, I can't help you, my friend. If you can't trust Obama and give him time to actually do something, you probably deserve a GOP regime. But then don't complain -- I won't listen......
Do you also sing "All Or Nothing at All?"
You're nothing but negative and political suicidal. Tank some positive thoughts -- listen to people who are optimistic! Thom Hartmann for example....
_____________________
You can't get a president that isn't rich -- not before we've changed the system. But if you people give up Obama and have no patience and responsibility: how should it ever happen? America is esceptionally depressed.
Man, pull yourself together and cut out whining!
#28
I thought the speeck was excellent overall and loved the reference to the Seals and their teamwork. I liked his speech at the Apollo Theater better.
#29
Eat the rich before they eat you.
#30
Excuse me Clarissa for being pessimistic; but I have been listening to the Democratic mantra that we (the middle class) are still better off under their rule than the republicans; as the middle class has lost ground the past thirty years. It seems to me that if we keep settling for "it's the best we can hope for" things will never change. Forgive me for the hope for more.
#31
There just has to be a happy medium somewhere. If both the republicans and the democrats really care about this country and their people then they need to prove it but working together and not bullying one another.
-
It is always a political game to get anything done in order to become one of the best 100 and there are times when people just need to put their issues aside and do the right things.
#32
Quote John.F:There just has to be a happy medium somewhere. If both the republicans and the democrats....Your "happy" blah-blah is pretty commen -- but doesn't match reality. How can you work with guys who don't care for common people?
Politics is hard work my friend! The world you live in must be darn childish.....
We are fighting for this country not to drown. We fight for common peoples' rights, lives and health.
And I kill my time without pay -- I'm not even a member of the Democratic Party. No, I'm not happy here -- I don't ask for being happy here. I'm just dealing with reality, trying hard to pull myself together every day. That's all.
#33
Quote DRichards:Excuse me Clarissa for being pessimistic; but I have been listening to the Democratic mantra ................................................. Forgive me for the hope for more.All I can do is forgive those who have voted for GOP in the past and got us into the present mess. But sorry, I'm unable to find any excuses for this.
Yesterday I listened to Norman Goldman. he told, even Stephanie Miller had called in the day before, because he had bashed Obama. I listened to his very unjust and merciless blaming Obama for a while and then started crying and turned the radio off.
Yes, many projects didn't work out as Obama had hoped. I do remember the struggle during those months when he tried to get the healthcare bills through congress. It was awful!!!! And awful wasn't the president -- awful were all those who didn't let him do his job. Awful where all those commentators who babbled a bunch of hooey and had no idea how complicated that whole project was.
And don't you think Obama likes to extend the Bush taxcuts! There went other things with it as I saw. Obama can't do anything without compromising and it's the voter's fault. Nobody's else!
You guys are like drunkards who wake up with headache and swear: "Ain't gonna drink no more!" The week later they're pissed again and they vote Republican, although it's unhealthy as well.
NO DISCIPLINE AT ALL!
#34
I don't think Obama is really a convicted bluedog. But if he doesn't get enough votes, or you take votes away from him after a couple months, you can't expect social-democratic results. Obama isn't the sunking. He can't say, "L'etat c'est moi", and just give Americans order to have public healthcare! If you hate democracy too much, just get yourself a bunch of GOP fascists who will just smile if you croak! Probably not even that....
#35
Hi Clarissa,
Read your posts. A lot of anger. You need to go blow something. :))
#36
LOL, I just imagined an American machine-gun in Afghanistan. On the other side a taliban lifts a finger:
Quote taliban (after MaryMary):"You guys have lots of anger. You need to go blow something."
Another good joke might be:
What is the difference between a taliban and a teabagger?
Anybody an idea???
#37
Quote palindromedary:Eat the rich before they eat you.
How about: "Eat the bad rich before they eat you"?
Although I can't imagine eating somebody like Gingrich. No, not very tasty. URGH!
#38
I listened to every word Mr. Obama spoke and I can say It is a pure election year speech of promises . I have to ask Mr. Obama where has he been for the last 3 plus years? why he didn't come through on his past promises? Why is his cabinet made up of all the same crooks that caused these problems.. Vote for Darcy Richardson democratic bid '12
#39
Your carnival jester hasn't a ghost of a chance, for I'm going to endorse him:
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Mitch Daniels confirmed that Republicans can't think on their feet. For one, he complained about Pres. Obama saying the state of the Union is strong. Of course, Obama didn't say it was strong; he said it was getting stronger. Nevermind that if he hadn't said something along those lines, Daniels probably would have accused Obama of hating America.
I really want to see an opposition response given from hand-written notes made during the speech, so that it's in response to what the President actually said.