Thoughts on Obama's State of the Union address

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1

Did you watch Obama’s State of the Union address last night?

What were your thoughts? I admit I was happy not to see Pelosi bouncing up and down like she did before…lol…

But what I got was Obama talking about the past. Talking about a WISH LIST rather than a TO-DO list. I heard him tell us that he was going to strip the oil industry of its subsidies…however, I don’t believe this is something he could not get through a Democratic Congress, much less today’s divided Congress, much less in this election year. Yes, I said DEMOCRATIC congress.

Obama talked about a growing economy? really? where? i think manufacturing grew by .9% not even ONE percent. Unemployment is still at 8.5% - according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics…yes, it says it’s on a downward trend, however, it also acknowledges the seasonal hiring from November through January as well as the people who have been unemployed for over 2 years and cannot get unemployment anymore…

He backed out of the XL Oil line which would have brought, what 300K jobs to us? He originally backed it and then changed his tune.

I guess I could go on. It was 1.5 hours of him yapping…urgh..my brain hurt…so what are your thoughts?
Did you believe what he said?
Do you actually see a change FOR THE GOOD in our country?

I know politics can be heated here. So can we be adults and handle ourselves accordingly?

2

This is probably totally irresponsible of me but it’s all a bunch of crap and I have NO faith in our government.. I think that they should get a bunch of small business owners and replace all those politicians, THEN the country would turn around. Nobody in power treats this country as a business and that’s what it is (sort of) if you knew half of the crap the gov’t wasted money on you’d be SICK. My husband is in the US Coast Guard and came home one day and said “Chief walked in a told us we had 2 hours to spend 60,000.00 on morale stuff” (ie: toys for the unit).. while they have LITERALLY 6 $200,000.00 boats trailered that NEVER touch the water! Then 2 weeks later they were scrambling to fill all the boats with gas and all the government vehicles because they couldn’t decide on the budget and they were getting cut off for like 2 weeks… and that’s just waste in a tiny unit, you can imagine how wasteful the huge bases are! It’s so sad and I think they are all full of shit. Excuse my french :).

3

I knew this would be from you, about this, as soon as I saw the subject line, HAHA!! :slight_smile:

Nope, didn’t watch it, the kids and I were curled up watching Monster Bug Wars reruns… and since cuddle time is far and few between and precious, I just couldn’t change the channel!

4

I’ll just say that I didn’t believe a word he said. His past record to me speaks volumes to me. Just more of the same. Hopefully his time left in office is coming to an end very soon.

5

It seemed to me he threw out a mess of ideas with no real plan.

So you strip the oil industry of subsidies and deductions, all you are doing is a psudo tax on the working class because they will raise the gas prices. You can’t force a tax on an industry that had an inelastic demand, ask any smoker. The tax is always paid by the consumer.

Then he went on about this being the first time manufacturing has added jobs since the 1990s. Okay, sounds good but when you shed millions of jobs adding 100,000 isn’t really coming out ahead.

I guess that was what really struck me, he kept spouting half truths. To me half truths are lies.

Investors are only taxed 15% on income that has already been taxed 35%. Well that income has been taxed at 50%, find me a secretary that makes enough that she is somehow taxed beyond the highest personal tax bracket?

I guess in the end it is one of those look out your window and tell me do you think he is telling the truth, that the economy is improving. So far as I see we will not be there any time soon.

Did anyone notice Biden falling asleep? Priceless :slight_smile:

6

You mean I was supposed to believe him? Darn, let me go find the video on YouTube so I can watch it again with that attitude.

7

No I didn’t get to watch it. I do have to say that at even a .9 percent growth, it’s still growth.

The stock market has recovered. I think people forget that between the 10,500 hundred and 12,500 range is normal. The 14,000 range was an all time high.

I think unemployment has reduced. Sure there are other factors that may make the unemployment rate different than what the 8.5 is. However, there will always be those anomalies, whether Obama or anyone else is in the seat. It’s not like he is the one that decides how the unemployment rate is figured, it was done a long time ago. And it doesn’t stop other presidents from boasting about low unemployment rates, even though those same anomalies exist.

As far as the oil lines go, I haven’t had too much info on that, so I can’t really tell you on it. However, I do think we have to look at the environmental impact that some of these lines will have. Is 300,000 jobs worth risking the health of 2 million people? Everything has to be looked at, to make sure we are drilling safely, and in the way to least impact the environment. We don’t need another gulf spill.

All in all, I think we have seen improvement. The end of the Iraq war, better international relationships. I agree that there was too much unregulated spending. But, I think he was between a rock and a hard place. Either try to pull us out of the recession by spending (which we are) or let it spiral out of control until it crushed us all. Not a good decision either way really, but I think he took the lesser of two evils.

I think people want him to wave this magic wand and fix everything. It doesn’t work that way, and it won’t work that way for the Republican candidate either. It takes time, effort and sacrifice.

I hate watching these debates though, regardless of political sides. All they do is blame each other and never offer any solutions. It drives me mad.

8

It doesn’t matter WHO the president is. He has no real power. Our government is controlled by the super wealthy and major corporations. No REAL change can happen until the system of lobbyists is brought down. Sadly I don’t ever see that happening.
I know that when I cast my vote for president it’s based purely on who I like more as a person, and who I think will make a good impression as a world leader. I don’t expect ANY candidate to be able to do what they say they will do.
Depressing, but true :frowning:

9

Not only did I not watch, we didn’t even have any TV’s on at all. I was doing my accounting homework, Jeff was working on fixing the music for our daughter’s hip hop routine, and the kids were playing.

When I saw the news casts this morning of it, I had to say I agreed with Boehner’s facial expressions. A lot of “blah, blah, blah” coming out of Obama’s mouth. The entertaining part, was Biden sitting there looking like a giddy kid. I had to chuckle :).

ETA - I just read some of the other responses and am giggling…a man of action? Really? He has accomplished nothing positive for our country at all…aside from setting us back decades in race relations, ignoring the Constitution, spinnig us out of control in debt and spending, bowing to other leaders, shall I go on? What action has he done that has been good for America?

10

I didn’t watch the entire thing, but the portion that I watched sounded like he was full on in campaign mode. He’s full of promises but he says one thing and does the opposite.

I am also irritated by the media talking about how manufacturing is “booming” with a growth of less than one percent.

No, I don’t see a change for the good in our country. I don’t see things getting any better until Obama is out of office and no longer ruining our country. Luckily, I still have my job, but I don’t have the disposable income I used to have because of inflation.

11

I think while you were all sitting on your comfy couches, turning your nose up at our American President, poopooing the Countrys positive growth and refusing to aknowledge the countrys huge turnaround, President Bad-Ass Ninja was hard at work on another clandestine raid.

Never mind what he said. You heard what you wanted.

While you were sitting sneering at the tv, he smiled and casually listed the countries recent accomplishments and forward plans, the whole while monitoring a raid to free American citizens that ended in 9 dead Somali pirates and all civilians recovered.

He is a man of action. Never mind what he says. Anytime this man gives a speech, global criminals be ware - we’re coming for ya!

12

I did not watch it. I didn’t want to hear blah blah blah last night.

I see a difference here in Florida, at least around where I live. The home prices have gone up slightly (any little bit helps), I see building going on and empty homes and condos being fixed up and going up for sale. I also see that even though this is a slow time of year it has been busier than the last two years. Every little bit helps.

I do not see big changes in this country for a long time and the only way for the government to change how it does things is if we had a revolution and over turned it.

13

As an informed citizen, of course I watched it! (Surprised?)

I was just happy that John Boehner didn’t cry!

Wouldn’t it be great to see a president actually be able to put plans into action? I mean, if not for the opposing party applauding the “concepts” yet stopping any real progress at any opportunity they have?

Happy to have a strong leader, because, frankly, I’m really enjoying the GOP debates even more! (Oh I did enjoy the zings at Romney!)

You know, Obama keeps ASKING for non-partisan ideas and actions, but all I hear is crickets. And laughable, proposed candidates for leadership. Sad, really.

ETA: MamaDuck P. – John Kerry had black eyes from a hockey injury! He DID look horrible, didn’t he? Reminded me of Herman Munster! LOL

14

I have to say at this point is not about Obama and his promises. It doesn’t
matter who takes office, things will probably don’t change because both
Parties are focusing on their own issues, rather than the common folk.
The economy wasn’t going to fix itself in 4 years, it’s unrealistic for anybody to fix something in 4 years that took 8 years to break! I don’t see any strong
Leads from either party at this time. So like someone else said here, I’ll be voting for the one that is more eloquent, less angry, more professional and makes the U.S look good!

15

It was a campaign speech top to bottom. And I hate his “tone”. He makes me feel like I’m in trouble… Where’s the hope and change? I haven’t seen much of either in the past 3 years…well with the exception of Bin Laden but that’s it. Kudos to him for that.

16

The only thing I noticed is that Boehner got more and more tan right before my eyes. I think he was probably the same shade of tan as the armchair he was sitting in. And that John Kerry looked awful. Sheesh, what happened to that guy? Then I sat and imagined what it would look like to see dough-boy Gingrich making a State of the Union address as president. I think I threw up a little in my mouth.
As for what he said- our government, the whole lot of them, is completely dysfunctional. They don’t care about you, they don’t care about me. They care about their lined pockets. Because as we all know- lined pockets win elections. I think his speech was good- esp the part about college tuition hikes, equal pay for women, and educating the workforce. I think he recognizes where the problems lie. Will anything come of it? No. Because our government is just shamefully pathetic on BOTH sides of the aisle.
I don’t care who is blowing smoke out their arse at any given time. The agenda is the same. And, as an independent, I’m over it. I think most Americans agree, do they not?

17

No, I didn’t know he was on. I probably couldn’t stand to listen to him. But I do wish I had known. I might have tried. The sooner he’s gone, the better. I don’t think he could say anything worth hearing, unless it was that he won’t run again.

18

We didn’t watch it last night for many reasons… the primary one being the fact that baby #2 will be here soon and we haven’t done a thing to get ready for her!

Having said that, I am not a fan of President Obama. He is a wonderful and charismatic speaker, but he has yet to deliver on the laundry list of promises he made. You can blame it on Congress, but bottom line in this day of accountability… he didn’t turn around the economy and the U.S. is not in a better position globally than we were under G.W. Bush.

Ironically, my husband was upset when he got home from work last night because his company announced it’s most recent round of lay-offs. His job is secure (for now), but several of his colleagues may find themselves unemployed in the near future.

Last week, we were all called into an administrative meeting where we were informed that we would be taking a “pay freeze” for the third year in a row in order to save teachers’ jobs. My “cost of living” certainly hasn’t “frozen”! One of the school districts that I work with let me know this week that they will be cutting an additional 30 positions for September and that theyw ill be maximizing class sizes to within 2 students of the state-imposed limit.

So… when I stop getting mountains of resumes and requests for reference letters from highly qualified teachers who have been laid-off I will start to believe that the economy is turning around. When we can actually sell our house without competing with a market full of foreclosures and short-sales, I will start to believe that the economy is turning around. When my husband can go to work without worrying about his colleagues being let go for the simple purpose of “down sizing”, I will start to believe that the economy is turning around.

Until then… it’s all a bunch of talk and promises from all of them. I don’t believe that President Obama is capable of the change he has promised, but I’m not sure that Newt is either. Of course he’s in campaign-mode, all of the candidates are. However, I don’t think less of him personally, I just think he is hoping that people will focus on the “bad guys of the world” that “he has conquered” rather than the state of our Union, which he has not conquered.

19

Nope didn’t watch President Pookie tell us how wonderful he is and how he turned everything around singlehandedly.

I work in the manufacturing industry, oil and gas (yep, that evil industry), it hasn’t really turned around all that much if any. We have been hurt by the “moritorium” that was placed on the Gulf due to BP blowing up. Now, let me ask you this, if a plane crashes, do you stop all airlines because of it? No, you find out the problem, nail the company, clean up the mess and move on. He KILLED an entire industry. Sorry, I won’t go on about that my blood pressure is rising!!

I will NOT vote for him. I am an ABO (anybody but Obama) person.

20

I watched part of it, too much of it, all the same old same old. He likes to talk. It’s a shame nothing happens that helps the country. That’s my opinion.