State of the Union 2014

[Atlanteax]

According to a snap CNN/ORC International poll, 44% of respondents had a "very positive" response to Obama's speech, while 32% described a "somewhat positive" response and 22% didn't like it at all.

Last year, 53% of respondents in a similar poll rated their response to the 2013 address as very positive.

The CNN/ORC poll indicated 59% of respondents thought Obama's policies as presented in the speech would help the economy, a lower figure than in recent years.

Nobama's approval rating is *dropping like a rock* !!

[Wrathbringer]

Gotta respect a guy who can say the same things in a different way six years running and people still stand and applaud like he's Elvis. That said, here's the Libertarian response: http://www.lp.org/news/press-release...-union-address

[Johnny Five]

I want to vote for that guy in that article.

[ClydeR]

Nearly an hour before President Obama began delivering the State of the Union address to the joint session of Congress, Rep. Randy Weber kicked off the night with a critique of the speech.

The first term Republican from Texas alluded to the president when he tweeted that he was on the floor waiting for the “socialist dictator” to arrive.

More...

I don't think they should allow phones on the House floor.

And what is "A-Lying"?

[Tgo01]

You know I was literally just thinking about this so I literally had to post about it in this literal thread.

Obama talked about how income inequality has gotten worse during his presidency in his state of the union speech. Okay now. Okay now wait. Hold up....how is he trying to spin that as if it's not his fault?

Seriously. He talks about something bad happening during his presidency but he's somehow trying to spin this into the Republican's fault. But everything good that is happening is because of him? Shouldn't people be lampooning him because income inequality has gotten worse during his term? He admitted it! But instead Democrats are taking that as a rallying cry.

"Obama said income inequality has gotten worse during his presidency! This is unacceptable, Republicans!"

Can you imagine if Bush had said something like that?

I can see the headlines now:

"Bush admits his presidency is a failure; Rich get Richer and Poor get Poorer."

[cwolff]

You know I was literally just thinking about this so I literally had to post about it in this literal thread.

Obama talked about how income inequality has gotten worse during his presidency in his state of the union speech. Okay now. Okay now wait. Hold up....how is he trying to spin that as if it's not his fault?

Seriously. He talks about something bad happening during his presidency but he's somehow trying to spin this into the Republican's fault. But everything good that is happening is because of him? Shouldn't people be lampooning him because income inequality has gotten worse during his term? He admitted it! But instead Democrats are taking that as a rallying cry.

"Obama said income inequality has gotten worse during his presidency! This is unacceptable, Republicans!"

Can you imagine if Bush had said something like that?

I can see the headlines now:

"Bush admits his presidency is a failure; Rich get Richer and Poor get Poorer."

Income inequality is a new political talking point. Obama's getting out and stumping on this topic. What's he supposed to say? "I've only got 2 years left so, basically it's a wrap. I'm done."

Cruz mentioned this on CNN last night. He was trying to spin that the the dems are pro billionaire and anti poor people. I just don't think anyone's going to buy this line of reasoning. FOX, Limbaugh and the rest of that herd will try to spin this favorably for the GOP but it's not going to get any traction. It is going to be democrat ammunition for raising tax rates and not repealing that foreign bank account law.

I don't know how it's possible to not have income equality. Our world is not built for a strong middle class and it's getting worse. It's no one's "fault" but we are now able to do a hell of a more with a lot less. Technology's made lots of good jobs irrelevant and we're relying more and more on services with less reliance on manufacturing. We're shuffling money around but creating less things of value. This is why Wal-Mart's our biggest employer.

[Kembal]

You know I was literally just thinking about this so I literally had to post about it in this literal thread.

Obama talked about how income inequality has gotten worse during his presidency in his state of the union speech. Okay now. Okay now wait. Hold up....how is he trying to spin that as if it's not his fault?

Seriously. He talks about something bad happening during his presidency but he's somehow trying to spin this into the Republican's fault. But everything good that is happening is because of him? Shouldn't people be lampooning him because income inequality has gotten worse during his term? He admitted it! But instead Democrats are taking that as a rallying cry.

"Obama said income inequality has gotten worse during his presidency! This is unacceptable, Republicans!"

Can you imagine if Bush had said something like that?

I can see the headlines now:

"Bush admits his presidency is a failure; Rich get Richer and Poor get Poorer."

Probably because there's not an enacted policy of his that you can point to that exacerbated income inequality. Otherwise, you're right, he should've been clobbered for that type of line.

[Tgo01]

We're shuffling money around but creating less things of value. This is why Wal-Mart's our biggest employer.

My brother-in-law insists tow truck drivers have a starting wage of 35 dollars an hour in California. I don't know why everyone doesn't just take the 6 week class to get the license they need then move to California and make 75k a year. It would solve the poverty crises in this country overnight. My brother-in-law is a tow truck driver thinking of moving to California if no one caught on to that.

Probably because there's not an enacted policy of his that you can point to that exacerbated income inequality. Otherwise, you're right, he should've been clobbered for that type of line.

Since when do we overlook a president's lack of action when assigning blame? What policy of Bush's can we look to that actually led to the financial crises and high unemployment? I hear Democrats all of the time screaming it was due to the "Failed Bush policies" but does anyone have any specifics?

[cwolff]

My brother-in-law insists tow truck drivers have a starting wage of 35 dollars an hour in California. I don't know why everyone doesn't just take the 6 week class to get the license they need then move to California and make 75k a year. It would solve the poverty crises in this country overnight. My brother-in-law is a tow truck driver thinking of moving to California if no one caught on to that.

I'd wager that the best paid tow truck drivers are incentive based.

Since when do we overlook a president's lack of action when assigning blame? What policy of Bush's can we look to that actually led to the financial crises and high unemployment? I hear Democrats all of the time screaming it was due to the "Failed Bush policies" but does anyone have any specifics?

Bush tax cuts, War in Iraq. I'll let Fareed explain:

“The ‘Bush tax cuts,’ passed in 2001 and 2003, remain the single largest cause of America’s structural deficit — that is, the deficit not caused by the collapse in tax revenue when the economy goes into recession. The Bush administration inherited budget surpluses from the Clinton administration. What turned these into deficits, even before the recession? There were three fundamental new costs: the tax cuts, the Medicare prescription-drug bill and post-9/11 security spending (including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan). Of these the tax cuts were by far the largest, adding up to $2.3 trillion over 10 years. According to the Congressional Budget Office, nearly half the cost of all legislation enacted from 2001 to 2007 can be attributed to the tax cuts.” [Zakaria, Washington Post, 8/2/10]

[Tgo01]

I'd wager that the best paid tow truck drivers are incentive based.

Making 35 dollars an hour?

“The ‘Bush tax cuts,’ passed in 2001 and 2003, remain the single largest cause of America’s structural deficit — that is, the deficit not caused by the collapse in tax revenue when the economy goes into recession. The Bush administration inherited budget surpluses from the Clinton administration. What turned these into deficits, even before the recession? There were three fundamental new costs: the tax cuts, the Medicare prescription-drug bill and post-9/11 security spending (including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan). Of these the tax cuts were by far the largest, adding up to $2.3 trillion over 10 years. According to the Congressional Budget Office, nearly half the cost of all legislation enacted from 2001 to 2007 can be attributed to the tax cuts.” [Zakaria, Washington Post, 8/2/10]

That all sound like reasons for our high deficit. The recession is only mentioned twice and neither time does it cite these reasons as the cause of the recession.

I also don't understand how a war can lead to a recession and job losses. Likewise I don't understand how tax cuts (which literally gives people more money to spend) leads to a recession and job losses either.