SOTU Open Thread
Thursday, January 28, 2010
State of the Union Coverage:
Full Text at the New York Times.
New York Times coverage.
Washington Post coverage.
FiveThirtyEight coverage.
Mr. Furious reaction.
Thoughts? Comments? Critiques?
NOTE: If any of my ATK colleagues have a full SOTU post, commentary or analysis ready to go, feel free to bump this post.
7 comments:
If any of my ATK colleagues have a full SOTU post, commentary or analysis ready to go, bump me.
Re: HCR Still, this is a complex issue, and the longer it was debated, the more skeptical people became. I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people.
Good start. And I like the part where he said "if any of you have a better idea that will expand coverage and decrease premiums while paying-down our debt, bring it."
But we took office amid a crisis. And our efforts to prevent a second depression have added another $1 trillion to our national debt. That, too, is a fact.
Good. An admission of the cost of the rich guy bailout. And how shall we go about reducing that?
Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years.
Guh. Well, OK. But leaving Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid off the table for discussion is a mistake.
But understand -- understand if we don't take meaningful steps to rein in our debt, it could damage our markets, increase the cost of borrowing and jeopardize our recovery -- all of which would have an even worse effect on our job growth and family incomes.
Huh. A Prez who understands the basics.
just make fewer investments in our people, extend tax cuts including those for the wealthier Americans, eliminate more regulations, maintain the status quo on health care, our deficits will go away. The problem is that's what we did for eight years.
Roger that.
It's time to require lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with my administration or with Congress. It's time to put strict limits on the contributions that lobbyists give to candidates for federal office.
BOOOOOOO. Why all the lobbyist hate all the time? I'm just a guy with a family trying to make ends meet. So why am I such a target? I make an honest living. I pay taxes. So why make my job harder to do?
I never thought that the mere fact of my election would usher in peace and harmony -- and some post-partisan era. I knew that both parties have fed divisions that are deeply entrenched. And on some issues, there are simply philosophical differences that will always cause us to part ways. These disagreements, about the role of government in our lives, about our national priorities and our national security, they've been taking place for over 200 years. They're the very essence of our democracy.
I like that kind of poetry.
Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership.
There are some people in Michigan for whom I'd like to play that phrase on endless loop.
Each time lobbyists game the system
There we go again.
Our administration has had some political setbacks this year and some of them were deserved.
More humility.
All in all a decent speech. I could join the intellectually-lazy gripes of "how can you do X without the money to do it," but I will wait to see the actual legislation before I start bitching about it.
"So why am I such a target? I make an honest living. I pay taxes. So why make my job harder to do?"
Because everyone assumes you represent Enron, Bank of America and Satan himself and run around with pockets of money to grease every legislator.
People don't realize that even groups like: Michigan's food banks, the YMCA, the Cerebral Palsy foundation also have and deserve representation.
You bastard lobbyist! You represent that unholy alliance helping kids with birth defects!!!!
BTW - just saw you guys represent the Michigan Mountain Biking Assoc. Sweet!
BTW - just saw you guys represent the Michigan Mountain Biking Assoc. Sweet!
We do! Fun client. Where did you see that?
"Where did you see that?"
Your website silly.
I agree with Noah. Not all lobbyists are evil. :)
I also agree with Bob. Lobbyist usually means Enron, etc.
My take on the SOS...I mostly agree with Noah's assessment. It did strike me that he particularly went after bankers. I don't like them either, but it is unusual for a politician to target one sector so outwardly. Except for Granholm and the insurance companies...
It's time to require lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with my administration or with Congress. It's time to put strict limits on the contributions that lobbyists give to candidates for federal office.
BOOOOOOO. Why all the lobbyist hate all the time? I'm just a guy with a family trying to make ends meet. So why am I such a target? I make an honest living. I pay taxes. So why make my job harder to do?
1. Everyone makes this kind of promise. Didn't he already promise this? No one ever follows through on this.
2. Most people don't know shit about what lobbyists really do and assume a bunch of stuff that isn't true.
I agree with Noah. Not all lobbyists are evil. :)
Well, Smitty is ok, but that Andy fellow is pretty shady.
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