# Bush's Union of the State... the State's the Union... the States are United speech **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 24, 2007, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176 "2007-01-24T00:12:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/101 "2007-01-24T13:21:58Z")
[QUOTE=duffer] One thing I do wonder about regarding ignoring it is this. If there were such blind hatred of Kerry, would this thread have gone so far? No. And we all know it. [/QUOTE] **Duffer** , I do not think this is fair. I did not hate Bush at first. I thought both McCain & Bradley were far better candidates. I did think Cheney, Ashcroft and Rumsfeld were evil from the get go. I always gave Bush a bit of a slide. My hatred of Bush has built up over the years of his Presidency. I did not think he was fit to be a Republican President as he and Cheney were both draft dodgers. My disdain grew when he listened to the Secret Service and ran like a scared rabbit when the towers came down and the federal government left it to the Mayor of NYC to speak to the country throughout the day. He began dismantling sound working environmental policies. He started a war in Iraq under false pretenses and followed the advice of Rumsfeld and Cheney over Powell. Year by year he has added to my bad opinion of him. I have reached the point where I hate him and I hate the democrats for not offering us a better choice that the jerk Kerry when Bush looked so beatable. So, my hatred of Bush is not blind. It is well earned and it is a hatred that comes from a fellow Republican. Jim ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/102 "2007-01-24T13:24:53Z")
**Dikembe Mutombo** What a _Wonderful_ phrase **Dikembe Mutombo** Ain’t no passin’ craze I can’t help it. I may go directly to Hell for it, but that kept running through my mind. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/103 "2007-01-24T13:56:32Z")
[QUOTE=El Cid Viscoso] Left behind you say? Not one single child? Huzzah! [/QUOTE] All children to be Raptured!! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/104 "2007-01-24T14:00:03Z")
[Quote=duffer] One thing I do wonder about regarding ignoring it is this. If there were such blind hatred of Kerry, would this thread have gone so far? No. And we all know it. [/Quote] Maybe you do. Frankly, from what I’ve seen of this crew, if anything the thread would be even longer. I also challenge your assertion that hatred of George Bush by various members of this board is ‘blind’. Speaking solely for myself, it was only after considerable observation and thought, the invasion of Iraq, and his sanction of torture, that I came to the conclusion that he was malevolent toad and a minion of Satan. Before that, I really only thought he was, at worst, a somewhat bumbling halfwit. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/105 "2007-01-24T14:10:48Z")
[QUOTE=El\_Kabong] Maybe you do. Frankly, from what I’ve seen of this crew, if anything the thread would be even longer. I also challenge your assertion that hatred of George Bush by various members of this board is ‘blind’. Speaking solely for myself, it was only after considerable observation and thought, the invasion of Iraq, and his sanction of torture, that I came to the conclusion that he was malevolent toad and a minion of Satan. Before that, I really only thought he was, at worst, a somewhat bumbling halfwit. [/QUOTE] Well, as someone that has some serious fucking issues with what Bush is doing, let me say this is exactly why I don’t speak up more often. I don’t think he’s as bad as someone who is a “Tyrannical Dictator” nor someone who is “Raping Liberty.” Yet, those descriptions almost always meet with something along the lines of “Yeah, he really is!!11!el!eventyone!! LOL!” around here. I’d (and I suspect quite a few others) be much more vociferous in my stance if I knew it didn’t mean an automatic pile-on from at least a dozen people pointing and laughing at how wrong I was in supporting Bush. We know damn well it would turn into something out the GOP. And I ain’t abandoning the GOP, even if the throngs want to say Bush is the same. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/106 "2007-01-24T14:28:24Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] You know, just the teensiest drop of chloroform on the little buggers banky… [/QUOTE] Flintstones Chewable Valium! They’d make a fortune! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/107 "2007-01-24T14:30:46Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] You know, this board really badly needs the ‘nauseous’ emoticon. Here’s its approximation :x [/QUOTE] Gotta rememer that one! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/108 "2007-01-24T14:33:26Z")
[QUOTE=Denis] His actions lead me, and many other Americans, to other conclusions. Namely, that he’s an incompetent (at best), and grossly indecent excuse for a human being whose administration is responsible for thousands of needless deaths. Sorta like Lyndon Johnson, in my opinion. [/QUOTE] Nah. Johnson (though sleazy) was highly competent except for the 'Nam thing. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/109 "2007-01-24T14:37:45Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Better than gold. Fucking **platinum.** Snip and frame that bastard. [/QUOTE] Sadly, it didn’t occur to me to buy the paper at the time. I did find the online version though. [http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2007/01/22/natsotu0122a.html](http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2007/01/22/natsotu0122a.html) (The printed article didn’t include the explanatory subheading, IIRC.) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/110 "2007-01-24T14:59:01Z")
[QUOTE=pantom] Does anybody have any idea what he was proposing with that health care tax/not tax/something? Couldn’t make heads or tails of it. [/QUOTE] Basically, he’s creating a new tax on the middle class. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/111 "2007-01-24T15:01:59Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] **Health Tax-No-Tax Thingy:** - If you can’t afford any insurance, you get a tax credit to afford inadequate insurance. - If you can’t afford adequate insurance, you will be taxed to help pay for others’ inadequate insurance, and may have to cut back on your own coverage to a level that’s even more inadequate. - If you can afford adequate insurance, congratulations. You get a personal auto-penned note from the Prez saying, “Your our kind of people.” (_sic_) [/QUOTE] More precisely, the last one breaks into these two categories: - If you can afford adequate insurance, we’ll label it “gold-plated” and tax you out the wazoo to pay for the money we’ve squandered. - If you can afford actual gold-plated insurance, your accountant will have to take a few minutes out of his lunch hour to find one of the dodges that keep you from getting swept in with the suckers in the previous bullet point. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/112 "2007-01-24T15:12:07Z")
[QUOTE=pantom] Does anybody have any idea what he was proposing with that health care tax/not tax/something? Couldn’t make heads or tails of it. [/QUOTE] It’s an incredibly stupid idea. What Bush is proposing to do is raise taxes on people who have really nice health plans and use that money to give tax breaks to uninsured people, making it easier for them to purchase health care. Here’s the problem with the idea: the people who are uninsured are generally poor, or at the very least, lower middle class. They tend to pay very little taxes. So reducing their tax bite is not going to help much, because there’s not much bite there in the first place. The plan will hurt the folks who have good insurance without really helping those who don’t have any insurance. Everybody loses!!! Bush at his finest. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/113 "2007-01-24T16:00:18Z")
So who won **BMax** ’s contest? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/114 "2007-01-24T16:02:21Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] It’s an incredibly stupid idea. What Bush is proposing to do is raise taxes on people who have really nice health plans and use that money to give tax breaks to uninsured people, making it easier for them to purchase health care. Here’s the problem with the idea: the people who are uninsured are generally poor, or at the very least, lower middle class. They tend to pay very little taxes. So reducing their tax bite is not going to help much, because there’s not much bite there in the first place. The plan will hurt the folks who have good insurance without really helping those who don’t have any insurance. Everybody loses!!! Bush at his finest. [/QUOTE] Exactly. The people who cannot afford health insurance will probably view even the smallest reduction in the taxes they do pay as an increase in their net income. That money will go to make their lives even a little bit better but it will not go to pay for health insurance. I really wish GWB would be forced to spend a year trying to live on minimum wages without recourse to trust funds, Presidential pensions, calls to Mommy and Daddy, help from Daddy’s friends, etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/115 "2007-01-24T17:50:19Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] The plan will hurt the folks who have good insurance without really helping those who don’t have any insurance. Everybody loses!!! [/QUOTE] Bush didn’t take any pains to make this plan sound like anything other than a “robbing Paul to pay Peter” situation, did he? Why didn’t he just say he wanted to give folks without health insurance a tax credit so that they might be able to afford the coverage they need? That’s all he needed to say. But noooo. He had to explain to the masses where the tax credit would actually be coming from. It would come from a tax. A new tax, in fact. Applause! A tax on those who are struggling to hold on to whatever coverage they have so they _won’t_ be the ones who are entitled to the tax break. More applause!!! What the hell was his speechwriter thinking? ---
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/116 "2007-01-24T18:23:28Z")
[QUOTE=duffer] Yet, those descriptions almost always meet with something along the lines of “Yeah, he really is!!11!el!eventyone!! LOL!” around here. [/QUOTE] may I present a thread [pitting the behvior of representing the opponents arguement as leetspeak?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=397463) I would also like to point out that most of the responses to that pitting were “this is a bad pitting, no one on the dope is stupid enough to do that.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/117 "2007-01-24T18:34:07Z")
It’s going to be interesting to see the particulars of who gets taxed for the new health coverage. Are governmental workers exempt? How will unions react when this starts impacting contract talks? Of course the whole thing is moot, because Congress will shoot the idea down like a slow-moving Zero. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/118 "2007-01-24T18:37:02Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] Speak for yourself. When my kid was six month old BE’s _Baby Mozart_ was the only think that would hold his attention - and keep him quiet - for half an hour. You have no idea how many showers, quick means, leisurely trips to the bathroom and visits to the SDMB that disk allowed, preventing our minds from snapping like ten-year-old rubber bands. As far as I’m concerned, the Baby Einstein lady deserves, at the very least, a Nobel Peace Prize. [/QUOTE] Well, first of all, she was mentioned because wealthy entrepreneurs are under represented in Washington, DC. :dubious: Second, this was the section where the president was introducing his heroes and the people that inspired him the most during the past year. Think of it as personal insight as to how Cheney and Whitehouse Staff keep the president busy when he’s not ‘mispronunciating’ the English language and being trotted out for photo-Ops to ‘Stay the Course’. Q: How do you keep The Decider busy? A: Baby Einstein DVDs…? I guess he really MUST be off Cocaine, because he didn’t trot out Jimmy Page as “his kind of American”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/119 "2007-01-24T18:39:29Z")
[QUOTE=El Cid Viscoso] “The problem with relying on the Iraqi forces (in conjunction with the US forces) is that they’re not reliable.” ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton 23 January, 2007 [/QUOTE] With a little work, that could be shaped into a haiku. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176/120 "2007-01-24T23:04:20Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] Here’s the problem with the idea: the people who are uninsured are generally poor, or at the very least, lower middle class. [/QUOTE] Only about 4% of Americans are both (officially) poor and uninsured. But 12% are both above poverty and uninsured. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bushs-union-of-the-state-the-states-the-union-the-states-are-united-speech/389176.md?page=7)