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Two things I wanted to hear but didn't hear were (1) that he was going to reject the Keystone XL pipeline and (2) that he was not calling for cuts to social-safety-net benefits. In fact, I fear he will disappoint on both of these issues in the days ahead.
what's going on? your question is, a -- yes or no question. my choice is--yes or yes for sure ! i think it was Moe, who said: heads i win...tails you lose. Facts of Life: when my costs go UP. i can absorb it (for a while) IF i'am wealthy, otherwise i CUT costs.i can't reduce RENT, i can't reduce the Utilities Cost ( much ). LABOR is what i can CUT--have 100 people do the work of 125 people. (will i retain my good employees ? ) i can also RAISE the price (to our consumers)...(will my customers keep coming back ? ) maybe REDUCE the size .. of what i'am selling, (will my customers accept, getting Less for the same price ?) will they come back ? now-a-days, America is filled with dedicated-hard working people, who are not directly responsible for the profitablity of their company, and don't grasp--->increase sales...control costs = profit. "these" hard working people 'hear-about' the Bernie Madoff's of the world, and think every company operates the same. Successful people are not The enemy. Successful companies are no The enemy. Are we graduating people to aspire to a Minimum Wage Job - for Life ? your choice is: No or No-Way.
2.3 trillion (and growing) in debt.
Maybe the upper 2% could pitch in. Left (and) Right they helped create this mess. I know I sure as hell didn't...I didn't support bail outs of the auto industry and Banks. I sure as hell didn't support my country engaging in unnecessary and illegal occupations of the Middle East for the past 3 decades, (or illegal wars). Never did I for once believe "free trade" would build a stronger workforce, or produce higher quality products and boost our economy.
Maybe I am too simple minded...Maybe I am not greedy enough...One thing for sure though; I am a tax paying worker bee and I am not happy with the Corporate take over of America.
I made more then the current minimum wage in 1976 in a union job. In 2004 I worked for Walmart for a few years just prior to retirement and earned less then that, even with $1.00 per night premium and as a single person with very low mortgage and no other debt, I found it difficult 8 years ago to live on that wage, so I can well imagine it would be next to impossible to support anyone other then one self on it today.
Since Pres. Obama's reelection the biggest change I've noted is his tone of and repeated call to the American people reminding them that he can not do it alone, that it must be a team effort, that we the people need to stay involved, that it was never promised to be an easy turn around or smooth road nor a short one. He contiues to say between the lines that he will do on his own what he hopes to get started as road map towards a more progressive USA, but in every speech and news conferance I've heard the under tone has been, it's easier to sit around to writing moaning bitchy whines on blogs than actually doing something. And echoing that progress starts on your own block, in your own school, your own city, county and state.
For my part, I'd like to say; if ya'll would like to find out just how heavy a lift those ideals are just try to push an overtly progressive agenda against all the competing interests at the next local school board meeting.
One step at a time folks, it's going to be a long rocky road.
Republicans percieve the have power, which in itself is power. AMERICANS HAVE THE REAL POWER AND THEIR VOTES NEED TO STAY THE CORSE ON DEMOCRATIC FOR NOW. its a balance of power for the least corupt at the time, sad but true. PLEASE PLEASE VOTE AND GET YOUR INFORMATION FROM A SORCE THAT DOESNT HAVE AN AGENDA.
it is all too clear to me that our president is stil way too middle of the road and way to not doing what he said he would do - the statement that Mitch Mcconnell made is too tipical for a num minded man with an approval rating of 37 or below. Again President Obama lacks the fire in his belly that was present in his campaign, both of them, but it dies when in office - I want him to forget about partisanship and start pushing these things through and for the Democrats to stop being so balless and get agressive in doing what we called for - Bernie Sanders had it right and the fire in his belly to deliver it but the rest of them are heartless followers of the corporations stuffing their pockets with the money they receive from them - both sides make me sick and we as americans are screwed once again. Obama bending to the republicans chopping SS, MED, when he said he would not and other things that he is doing... I'm so sad and feed up
In Washington state, we are already above $9 an hour in most places, due in large part to strong unions here. IMO right-to-work for less states need a federal minimum wage, to force a better standard of living.
A $1.75 Resolves Our Problems!
Hey Mr. Obamney, 1990 called...They want their $9.00/hr minimum wage back, but you certainly can keep the "to adjust with inflation..." that should bring you to about $14/$15 per hour minimum wage in 2013.
Aw c'mon "mkiprc"... choose a serial killer over the police?! Like choosing skinheads over the KKK. WHUP-ti-do.
WOW... I forgot about that "Poopie Pants" trick! If it were utilized by a genuine conscientious objector or peace activist, I'd applaud it; but not when an noxious loudmouth chicken hawk like Ted Nugent uses it to stay out of harm's way. And what motivates him to attend the SOTU anyway? - Alice I.W.
I hear ya, Samsnead. The ruling elite have it all in the bag, at our expense. Imagine us all getting to vote on our own pay raises!
Even nine bucks an hour is a friggin' joke. And they (Obama & Company) think anyone can afford health insurance on THAT?! For Obama to suggest nine bucks an hour would be a ticket out of poverty is beyond pitiful.
So what is your solution then, "PAFreedom"? Five bucks an hour? Fifty cents an hour?! - Alice I.W.
(Y-A-W-N.....) What a snore. Lip service galore. - Alice I.W.
President Obama did an excellent job of laying out (not all, but most of) the many-many tasks that need to be done. Stuff that has not been done by the (mostly Republican) obstructionists in Congress. The President provided a presumably rational and reasonable plan, crafted to be achievable by both parties. That WAS leadership. He acknowledged that legislative compromising will get messy and not everyoue will get what they want. He besides being a great orator, must deal with the realities of running the country, in an incredibly complex and messy national and global environment. He was generally the adult in the room.
HOWEVER, the 2014 Campaign has already started.
It makes no difference whether Republicans are out of step with Mainstream Americans, or whether they have a Plan of Action that makes sense or not. Republicans have discovered how to rip and rebrand Democrats (using blatant lies and misinformation) into: "Tax and Spend" irresponsible destroyers of the country.They pin all their failures onto Dems, while usurping all of Democratic successes as theirs -- openly and shamelessly.
Thanks to the Rove-driven Multi-million-dolar PAC-masters, they are ALL right now in lockstep, word for word united and on-point destroying Democratic credibility. Witness Rubino's Response to the President's State of the Union. A few minutes into it, he turned into parrot-mode, spewing lie after misrepresentation after another. Bullshit? Yes, however, it's been repeated so often it's become pseudo-reality for almost half the electorate.
Meanwhile, Dems don't even see it, and are with very few exceptions unable to respond and counter it. Republicans lead most Democrats around the logical-circus like sheep on teathers with rings in their noses. With Dems muttering to themselves "How can they say THAT?" Well thanks to deregulation they own the damn microphones, and they are in lock-step discipline. That's how. !!!
As long as word-games replace facts, for our dumbed-down society; truth has no meaning, and one person's opinion as as good as any other. Lies become Truth, it's all relative, all based on tribal faith. Lots of good stuff happening in America; unfortunately not much in DC.
I agree with several posters that our military budget is the problem. Obama didn't address this. He paid lip service to pulling out of Afghanistan, but as has already been noted, we're just rearranging the troops. Back in the early 80's a bipartisan commission addressed the "baby boom" bump (which by definition is temporary) by upping the payroll tax. That's how we ended up with over $2 Trillion in the so called "Social Security Trust Fund". Problem is, the money's been spent on things like unfunded wars and now the fat cats don't want to pay it back! But on paper, at least, Social Security is alive and well. If Medicare and Medicaid are "problem entitlement programs" it's because the rapacious appetite of insurance companies and big pharma have driven the costs out of sight, along with fraud being perpetrated by some unscrupulous providers. Solution? Government managed health care (under 5% overhead), AKA, Medicare for all. But if you want to talk big BIG money, how about a Trillion PLUS (and God alone knows how much that plus is) for our military adventures all over the world, not just in the Middle East. I've heard numbers like 600 to 700 bases of various sizes, worldwide. What in the hell are we doing? And why aren't we holding Mitch McConnell's, John Boehner's, Paul Ryan's, and yes, Barack Obama's feet to the fire to talk about this gross waste that absolutely towers over everything else? Thom, get Barry on your show and don't let him off until he answers that one question!
McConnell wants the President to get Govt. spending under control! Is he serious? First of all spending under Obama, and I'm sure anybody reading this already knows, is close to flat. If Turtleman is serious, I can only conclude that he needs to get some fresh lettuce, his cognitive functions are failing. He's hallucinating about the out of control spending that happened under his republican deities..... republican gods like Rontemis Reagcules.
In fact if Obama had been allowed to spend like Reagan, we would be at full employment with a robust economy. This is not just my opinion, it's an economic stat.
I see Mitch and his democracy hating public servants had another filibuster happy day with Hagel....should of had reform..... but I forget, we the people are not their priority....re-election at any COST is. You know what.....maybe that COST is our real deficit problem!
"DEFICIT REDUCTION ALONE IS NOT AN ECONOMIC PLAN" Great speech! Although I think concession on the chained CPI is a huge mistake. Raise the damn cap. If the job creators refuse to provide pensions with fair wages, and instead opt to concentrate into their own pockets, the lions share of the wealth we create, then raise the cap and upgrade Social Security to a living retirement amount for all.
In spite of his arrogance and hubris, I can guarantee senator McConnell that he DOES NOT speak for "most Americans" nor does he know "what they want". The ONLY people the Republicans represent are the 1%.
YES, it is still supposed to be a free country though Obama's secret kill lists and drone attacks and exective orders are making it less so than even Bush.
I recall Thom making progressive comments such as this, "The list included executive action on climate change, a “Fix-it-First” program to invest in infrastructure and job creation, and a legal pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented individuals living in the United State." Makes me wonder if the Prez watches the show.
But while I was pleased with most of the speech, I still think it fell short of a few things. First and foremost is the unrestricted use of drones on foreign lands. And I agree 100% with Palindrome. As soon as we pull out of Afghanistan for good (maybe even before) we'll be targeting the Africans instead of helping them live in peace. No continent has more untapped natural resources than Africa. Yummy! I was listening to all the bitching and moaning on CSPAN from the heads of the Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force and even the National Guard. Our ships will have to stay in port, our planes will not be able to be maintained, and blah blah blah. Well good! The ONLY budget that should not be cut is the National Guard. Cut the rest of them and just protect our own country - keep our noses out of every other country and stop making trouble over there so that we can run in and "help." Help is the last thing we ever gave another country. Pillage and murder is what we are known for. When does this insanity stop?
Also, I heard nothing about keeping the post offices open. I heard nothing about restoring unions, stopping states from using a back-door approach to making Roe v Wade obsolute or inaccessible.
And this crap about lumping all energy sources together, including oil, well that just doesn't cut it. He also mentioned some outrageous number for how much solar energy has increased. I doubt that figure he spouted. The funds from the military industrial complex, if cut, could cover the entire country in solar energy for about a third the cost of drilling one hole or trying to make useable oil from tar sands.
So while his heart's probably in the right place, he's just not getting it. Those funds for exploring for more oil is a waste in more ways than one.
And, most important, I would have liked to hear him justify imprisoning whistle blowers (as if there is any justification). This and all the illegal snooping the government is doing of all of us was what drove me to write a blog asking if it was time to Impeach the President for obstruction of justice and failure to uphold the Constitution. He has taken an oath and has violated it as far as I'm concerned. All these grandiose ideas of starting kids in preschool, and preparing them for the world when they graduate highschool is the pat on the head to keep us quiet so that we are distracted from losing our democracy. Response to the question was met with a lot of hostility, because Bush & Cheney were never prosecuted for their war crimes and felt we should start with them. If Obama had ever taken action himself against those war crimes instead of following in Bush's footsteps and making them bigger and deeper, then yes, but he didn't. He did the opposite.
Either he does have an evil side to him, or he has chosen to take advice from some of the worst aides and advisers since Bush. In fact, he's employed a good lot of Bush's team, and that alone scares me to death, especially Brennan and Jack Lew.
It's beyond laughable, outrageous, that the slobs in congress and the state legislators get automatic pay increases, not to mention cadillac fringe benefits like pensions where they can recieve more than they did, notice I'm not saying EARNED, in salary and FIRST DOLLAR health insurance coverage and keep it after they "retire". The only way they can stop the inceases is to vote against the raises each year. Who will keep doing that when they're not in an election year? The best congress and legislatures money can buy? DREAM ON!!!!!!
No, this will cause employers to hire less people and hurt the very people trying to be helped.
Come on, this poll options stink. How about some real options, or why even have a poll?
Thom, the rumble is beginning to sound like Dylan Ratigan and Chris Matthews, everybody screaming at everybody and nothing being heard. Wish I could have figured out what you were all saying - might have been interesting!
Maybe we need to stop creating terrorists in the first place. It's not 'hearts and minds' our government/military have wanted... it's more enemies...more potential terrorists to be used as an excuse to continue soaking us out of our liberties and freedoms and tax dollars. Pakistan's wealthy elite, like everywhere else, enjoys skimming the cream off the top and tries to do an elusive dance to oppress and beguile their own people as well... There is a large contingent of people who, rightly, sees the US as the devil (after all they have murdered many civilians in their country) but the wealthy in control have to do what our politicians do... convince the masses that they are on their side but work behind their backs to keep reeling in all that wealth and power.
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Right on, Nachos! I wholeheartedly concur! Nothing will really change till then...for sure.