I see two specific question thread, but not any general discussion threads about tonight’s SOTU address. What did you all think? There’s a full transcript at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71920.html
In general, I found myself agreeing with most of Obama’s points, but after four years am starting to find the pontificating a little wearisome. Of course I have to remind myself that the President only has specific powers and there’s only so much he can do if Congress doesn’t cooperate. I did find it heartening that he mention a few specific articles of legislation that he would sign immediately if they were passed to him, and a few things he was taking initiative to do within his powers as Executive.
Some specific comments and questions:
[QUOTE=Obama]
For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq.
[/QUOTE]
Wait, what? We’ve completely withdrawn from Iraq? How did I miss that memo?
[QUOTE=Obama]
Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.
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A laudable goal.
[QUOTE=Obama]
And we’ve put in place new rules to hold Wall Street accountable, so a crisis like that never happens again.
[/QUOTE]
Details?
[QUOTE=Obama]
No, we will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt, and phony financial profits.
[/QUOTE]
Agreed.
[QUOTE=Obama]
We got workers and automakers to settle their differences. We got the industry to retool and restructure.
[/QUOTE]
Details?
[QUOTE=Obama]
But right now, it’s getting more expensive to do business in places like China. Meanwhile, America is more productive. A few weeks ago, the CEO of Master Lock told me that it now makes business sense for him to bring jobs back home.
[/QUOTE]
Is outsourcing to China getting expensive? Why?
[QUOTE=Obama]
Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas. Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and everyone knows it.
[/QUOTE]
Any history on this?
[QUOTE=Obama]
Two years ago, I set a goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years. With the bipartisan trade agreements I signed into law, we are on track to meet that goal – ahead of schedule.
[/QUOTE]
Really? Doubling exports? How did that happen?
[QUOTE=Obama]
Soon, there will be millions of new customers for American goods in Panama, Colombia, and South Korea.
[/QUOTE]
These are significant markets??
[QUOTE=Obama]
We’ve brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration – and it’s made a difference.
[/QUOTE]
What is a trade case?
[QUOTE=Obama]
It’s not right when another country lets our movies, music, and software be pirated.
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Meh. I hope this is just a shoutout to Hollywood election funding and not a knod of support for SOPA/PIPA.
[QUOTE=Obama]
I also hear from many business leaders who want to hire in the United States but can’t find workers with the right skills. Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job.
[/QUOTE]
What are all these jobs?? If there is such a high demand I might consider changing careers.
[QUOTE=Obama]
Model partnerships between businesses like Siemens and community colleges in places like Charlotte, Orlando, and Louisville are up and running. Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers – places that teach people skills that local businesses are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.
[/QUOTE]
Sounds good.
[QUOTE=Obama]
So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let’s offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn.
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I like the idea of not teaching to the test but… The horror of incompetent teachers with tenure is a common Republican trope, but it is really a serious issue? And whether or not is it, if we don’t teach to the test, what method do we use to evaluate teachers?
[QUOTE=Obama]
We also know that when students aren’t allowed to walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen.
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I’d rather see a revamping of education methods. Ignoring that, is the number of drop outs a huge issue, and is merely forcing them to stay in school the solution?
[QUOTE=Obama]
At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July. Extend the tuition tax credit we started that saves middle-class families thousands of dollars.
[/QUOTE]
Absolutely.
[QUOTE=Obama]
Of course, it’s not enough for us to increase student aid. We can’t just keep subsidizing skyrocketing tuition; we’ll run out of money. States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets. And colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down
[/QUOTE]
Well…
[QUOTE=Obama]
believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration.
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He takes an interesting stance of “I protect the borders! But still, let’s help people immigrate.”
[QUOTE=Obama]
Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away.
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How?
[QUOTE=Obama]
So let’s pass an agenda that helps them succeed. Tear down regulations that prevent aspiring entrepreneurs from getting the financing to grow. Expand tax relief to small businesses that are raising wages and creating good jobs. Both parties agree on these ideas. So put them in a bill, and get it on my desk this year.
[/QUOTE]
Do both parties agree? What has stopped them then?
[QUOTE=Obama]
Support the same kind of research and innovation that led to the computer chip and the Internet; to new American jobs and new American industries.
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Yippee. Glad he acknowledges that we can’t always predict which research will reap benefits.
[QUOTE=Obama]
I’m directing my Administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.
[/QUOTE]
What does this mean?
[QUOTE=Obama]
But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.
[/QUOTE]
Yay.
[QUOTE=Obama]
I will not walk away from workers like Bryan.
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Is this a rebuke of the Solyndra scandal?
[QUOTE=Obama]
It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that’s rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that’s never been more promising.
[/QUOTE]
Whee waxing poetic.
[QUOTE=Obama]
I’m directing my Administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power three million homes.
[/QUOTE]
Awesome that he’s able to actually take some sort of executive action. But details?
[QUOTE=Obama]
In the next few weeks, I will sign an Executive Order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many construction projects. But you need to fund these projects. Take the money we’re no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home.
[/QUOTE]
Has the war budget significantly decreased?
[QUOTE=Obama]
That’s why I’m sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low interest rates. No more red tape.
[/QUOTE]
Amen to that.
[QUOTE=Obama]
There is no question that some regulations are outdated, unnecessary, or too costly. In fact, I’ve approved fewer regulations in the first three years of my presidency than my Republican predecessor did in his.
[/QUOTE]
Really?
[QUOTE=Obama]
We got rid of one rule from 40 years ago that could have forced some dairy farmers to spend $10,000 a year proving that they could contain a spill – because milk was somehow classified as an oil. With a rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk.
[/QUOTE]
GROAN…
[QUOTE=Obama]
Today, American consumers finally have a watchdog in Richard Cordray with one job: To look out for them.
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Is that the guy they tried to make it impossible to appoint?
[QUOTE=Obama]
We will also establish a Financial Crimes Unit of highly trained investigators to crack down on large-scale fraud and protect people’s investments.
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Including PAST crime?
[QUOTE=Obama]
And tonight, I am asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorneys general to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis. This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans.
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If they actually hold anyone responsible legally I will metaphorically eat my hat.
[QUOTE=Obama]
On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes shouldn’t go up.
[/QUOTE]
Occupy shoutout lol.
[QUOTE=Obama]
Some of this has to do with the corrosive influence of money in politics. So together, let’s take some steps to fix that. Send me a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress, and I will sign it tomorrow. Let’s limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries they impact. Let’s make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress can’t lobby Congress, and vice versa – an idea that has bipartisan support, at least outside of Washington.
[/QUOTE]
Are these the issues? I was under the impression that nothing less than banning financial contributions altogether would solve the issue. Nonetheless, so glad he’s addressing the core issue.
[QUOTE=Obama]
That’s why I’ve asked this Congress to grant me the authority to consolidate the federal bureaucracy so that our Government is leaner, quicker, and more responsive to the needs of the American people.
[/QUOTE]
This scares me, given his backtracking on Guantanamo, Patriot Act, and other civil rights issues.
[QUOTE=Obama]
But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That Government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more. That’s why my education reform offers more competition, and more control for schools and States. That’s why we’re getting rid of regulations that don’t work. That’s why our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a Government program.
[/QUOTE]
Nice try, but meh.
[QUOTE=Obama]
From this position of strength, we’ve begun to wind down the war in Afghanistan. Ten thousand of our troops have come home. Twenty-three thousand more will leave by the end of this summer.
[/QUOTE]
Really?