State of the Union

[ClydeR]

Looks like it's no more mr. nice guy.

Republicans can counter Obama's negative message by demanding that Bosanek release her tax returns.

[Rinualdo]

Republicans can counter Obama's negative message by demanding that Bosanek release her long form birth certificate.

FTFY

[Parkbandit]

Looks like it's no more mr. nice guy.

Republicans can counter Obama's negative message by demanding that Bosanek release her tax returns.

Or, Republicans can counter the stupidity by pointing out the facts of our current tax system.

This argument only works with really, really stupid people. It's no wonder why ClydeR still has trouble differentiating between income tax and capital gains tax.

[Fallen]

Is the idea that if capital gains tax were to be graduated like income tax it would negatively impact the economy, etc, regardless of when the graduations began in terms of earnings? I imagine the same arguments would be made if income tax was flat and people wished to move to a graduated system.

[Kembal]

Love to see someone answer Fallen's question with why it would be bad. (I think the proposed system makes economic sense.)

[Jarvan]

Honestly, doesn't matter really. The Government could take 99% of everyone's income, and we would still never have enough money for the government.

[Back]

Full video...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...3OQ_video.html

[Buckwheet]

There were some good points brought up, but I could have done without the saber rattling and without all the complex additions to an already overburdened tax code.

I liked the idea of encouraging manufacturing to come back to the US by reducing the tax burden on them. But I think the big picture here is not just taxes, but unions and their labor demands.

I liked the idea of the china task force to watch out for trade problems. I just think back to all the Chinese sheet rock problems, lead paint in our baby products, and chinese baby forumla. I remember the US took quite a beating over contaminated beef products, but nothing is really done to China.

I work in education making software for teachers and students, and quite frankly, its the teacher's unions who need to change. His idea is good, but the teacher unions are the ones who are mostly protecting poor performing teachers. I have access to quite a number of NCLB, race to the top, and other federal programs. Our software detects failing teachers/kids. Its not hard to find out who they are.

The mortgage refinance programs are a joke. We tried to re-finance under the current program, but after months of paperwork the interest rate went back up to where it just didn't make sense to pay closing costs again. I mean the bank, Wells Fargo, was hung up on old college addresses on my credit report. I had to explain every last detail to them, yet I have lived in the same house for 10 years. They were concerned with data from 1998.

The Iran/Israel thing is getting tired. More America border/infastructure police, less America World Police thanks.

In general, it sounded okay, but most of it will never get done.

[Parkbandit]

There were some good points brought up, but I could have done without the saber rattling and without all the complex additions to an already overburdened tax code.

I liked the idea of encouraging manufacturing to come back to the US by reducing the tax burden on them. But I think the big picture here is not just taxes, but unions and their labor demands.

I liked the idea of the china task force to watch out for trade problems. I just think back to all the Chinese sheet rock problems, lead paint in our baby products, and chinese baby forumla. I remember the US took quite a beating over contaminated beef products, but nothing is really done to China.

I work in education making software for teachers and students, and quite frankly, its the teacher's unions who need to change. His idea is good, but the teacher unions are the ones who are mostly protecting poor performing teachers. I have access to quite a number of NCLB, race to the top, and other federal programs. Our software detects failing teachers/kids. Its not hard to find out who they are.

The mortgage refinance programs are a joke. We tried to re-finance under the current program, but after months of paperwork the interest rate went back up to where it just didn't make sense to pay closing costs again. I mean the bank, Wells Fargo, was hung up on old college addresses on my credit report. I had to explain every last detail to them, yet I have lived in the same house for 10 years. They were concerned with data from 1998.

The Iran/Israel thing is getting tired. More America border/infastructure police, less America World Police thanks.

In general, it sounded okay, but most of it will never get done.

My favorite part is all the things we are going to do... as if he was running to be President for his first term.

And who thinks it's a good idea to grant the President additional responsibilities to consolidate power within departments of the government? For those who think it's a good idea.. would you also support it if Bush asked for this?

[Parkbandit]

President Barack Obama says he will press Congress to approve a national home mortgage refinance plan that would prod banks to give millions of homeowners new low-interest mortgages.

“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,” he said at Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

“No more red tape. No more runaround from the banks,” he said.

The program will save homeowners roughly $3,000 per year, according to the speech.

Rumors of the proposal have floated through D.C. in the last few weeks, but administration officials kept the plan secret until Tuesday’s speech.

If a million homeowners were to use the process, then the banks would lose $3 billion in annual revenue. That lost banking revenue could hit the banks hard, stymie lending to businesses, and cause economic problems in New York.

Banks will be allowed to charge a small fee per house, and the lower monthly payments will lower the level of distrust between people and the banks, Obama will argue.

“A small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won’t add to the deficit, and will give banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust,” Obama explained.

Obama’s speech says the current economic crisis was caused, in part, by the banks.

“In 2008, the house of cards collapsed. We learned that mortgages had been sold to people who couldn’t afford or understand them,” he will say. “Banks had made huge bets and bonuses with other people’s money. … It plunged our economy into a crisis that put millions out of work, saddled us with more debt, and left innocent, hard-working Americans holding the bag.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/24/ob...#ixzz1kUGcKTNS

So.. Obama believes that the banks will simply swallow the loss and in turn, they would "get" more trust from the people?

Can Obama be more out of touch with how the capitalist system actually works?