President Obama's Second State of the Union Address
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-01-26/president-obamas-second-state-union-address
!["As the President entered the House chamber to give his State of the Union address, I turned around to see his pathway to the podium. It reminded me of a scene from the movie, "The American President." (Pete Souza, White House photographer). Jan. 27, 2010 - Official White House photo by Pete Souza via Flickr](http://thedianerehmshow.org/sites/thedianerehmshow.org/files/imagecache/620xH/images/headline/sotu.jpg ""As the President entered the House chamber to give his State of the Union address, I turned around to see his pathway to the podium. It reminded me of a scene from the movie, "The American President." (Pete Souza, White House photographer). Jan. 27, 2010 - Official White House photo by Pete Souza via Flickr")
"As the President entered the House chamber to give his State of the Union address, I turned around to see his pathway to the podium. It reminded me of a scene from the movie, "The American President." (Pete Souza, White House photographer). Jan. 27, 2010
Official White House photo by Pete Souza via Flickr
Guests
Michael Gerson
columnist for The Washington Post and senior adviser at the ONE Campaign to fight global disease and poverty; former speechwriter for President George W. Bush; and author of "Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace American's Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail if They Don't)"
John Dickerson
chief political correspondent for Slate.com and CBS political analyst and contributor. Author of "On Her Trail: My Mother, Nancy Dickerson, TV News' First Woman Star."
James Thurber
professor and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University; author of a forthcoming book, "Obama in Office: The First Two Years."
Comments
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How can energy independence be a legitimate goal if we are going to discourage domestic fossil fuel exploration and production by cutting tax incentives? Most other countries domestic production is conducted by state-owned companies. These are the entities we are competing with in this global market for resources. We risk damaging our national competitiveness significantly.
Freezing discretionary spending will only be a reality if we put hard caps in and live with them; unlike the debt limit which has been raised some 74 times since 1962. Congress and the president have no credibility here.
What about unfunded obligations like Social Security and Medicare and the potential for higher interest rates consuming more and more of each year's budget in our over-leveraged balance sheet?
Loved listening to the speech without the theatrics! Kudos to Udall.
The President should have called for a voluntary National Hiring Day or Week. With corporate America sitting on 1.9 trillion, and so many out of work, it's time for corporations to show some patriotism for their country. For those companies who can't hire, let them pledge to not fire on that day. There has never been a time when this would hurt corporations less or help the country more. Corporate responsibility is part of the solution.
"Pay as you go" won't be a problem for President Obama, because the GOP insists it doesn't apply to tax cuts. So all Obama needs to do is cut a trillion dollars in taxes over here, and raise a trillion over there. Viola! Now he has a trillion dollars in "paygo" credits he can spend!
Education must be the issue of greatest concern. The success of the nation and the survival of democracy profoundly depend on it. The prevailing dumbing down of society produces lightweight followers. We need competent leaders instead.
Read more about the value of education here:
http://brainmindinst.blogspot.com/2008/01/on-value-of-education.html
hainc, how can you say social security is unfunded? It is almost entirely self-funded.
On the issue of federal spending cuts, most of those opposed point to benefits and services going away as a result. Having worked in a large corporation with very little competition it was clear to me that much saving can be had by process improvement and other efficiency improvements. Can your guests comment on that issue?
Who pays for the air time for the Rep. response? What about this new second response from the Tea party?
Bort, you should review those numbers. The payout now is more than the income and of course the much touted 'trust fund' is a hoax as money must be borrowed or taxes raised to extract cash from it.
Tom, "National Hiring Day" won't work, unless there is a "National Spending Day" first. We are in a demand shortage. Employers won't hire new employees to produce new goods/services that cannot be sold.
But of course people won't spend if they don't have jobs. How do we get out of this catch-22? Government spending. The government is the only major sector of our economy that can spend money that it doesn't (yet) have.
That's Keynesian economics in a nutshell. The GOP doesn't want you to understand it.
jslayton, Social Security is in fact "almost entirely" self-funded, as I said. Its shortfall is a very small fraction of the total. Calling it a "unfunded obligation" is absurd.
As for the trust fund, it exists in the form of treasury bonds (calling it a hoax is a hoax). In effect, it was loaned to the general fund, and the general fund (our taxes) must pay it back. The "unfunded" part is in the rest of the government, not in Social Security.
Unfortunately for the poor & working people there is no champion. Obama is clearly not a fighter, the man's legs must be soar from trying to walk down the center on every single issue. Your country's leaders don't have the courage to cut defense. There are guns going to the cartels in Mexico and as usual nothing is being said or done about it. What's going to happen to your nation if your law makers will not deal with the tough issues?
I am a lifetime liberal. I'm pleased that Rep Bachman spoke out last night and is steping away from the main stream Republican Party. This is because I think it will take 3 parties to get things done. A 2 party system gets polerized and gridlocked too easily. Imanage the Tea Party recognizing that the Military-Industral Complex needs to change and then voting with enlightened Democrats against tradional Republicans. Although I expect I would never vote for a Tea Party candidate, I say Go Tea Party!
I continue to hear the MSM and others repeat the meme that entitlement programs must be reined in to bring the deficit under control. This is totally misleading. Social Security does not add a penny to the national debt. Never has. It finances itself and it has no borrowing authority and cannot pay out unless it has the income on hand. Secondly, Social Security is not going BROKE. It is fully funded through the 2030's and thereafter can pay out at about a 70% rate. This is a total misinformation campaign carefully coordinated by folks who never liked the idea of social safety nets.
This is the only time the U. S. was in a war that was not paid for? Am I in error? Wasn't the rampant inflation in the past generally understood to be due to the facts that the Viet Nam War was not paid for and the dollar was removed from the gold standard?
Judge Thomas's error was on a disclosure form for the Supreme Court, not his taxes.
I think the US ran a deficit during all the wars. That's what fuels the economy during war and why people believe war is good for the economy. Deficit spending where goods and services are added to the economy would do the same thing except we would have something to show for it.
I agree with you Diane on the use of electronics during the speech. I noticed a lot of members of Congress looking down at their Blackberry's. I think it is very disrespectful and it should noted on both sides of the isle do it.
Bort, you need to review the Federal 2010 Social Security Trustees Report Tables VI.F1 and VI.F2 which states...
"The present value of unfunded obligations under Social Security as of August 2010 was approximately $5.4 trillion. In other words, this amount would have to be set aside today such that the principal and interest would cover the shortfall over the next 75 years. The estimated annual shortfall averages 1.92% of the payroll tax base or 1.0% of gross domestic product."
love the way republicans are constantly attacked. had twitter been popular like it is today when bush was president, what would democrats have said and would those comments have been criticized and aired like the republicans' have? and the seating was nothing more than a strategy to conceal the major loss of seats the democrats experienced in november. and if the tea party doesnt matter then how did it help to replace so many democrats with republicans? democrats have no connection with people.
I watched the speech but kept saying to myself and just who is going to do this? He gave great ideas but going by past performance of all parties just who and when and how is it going to be done? I felf like the same old same. But do have to take exception with one caller and felt very insulted.
I am not a Tea Party memeber but do see why people want them. It gives us another choice. It's an infant that needs to grow but it will, and it will force all parties to either change their ways or it will force this country to change. But to say these people are not worth listening to or put any confidence into them is insulting. Many of us don't feel we have a voice in politics and this one is giving them that voice. It has gotten to the point where many of the blue collar folks as we are called, we have almost given up, and throw our hands up in the air in discusst. We need to be heard and we are not.
by the way I heard that goverment employees to wage cuts but didn't hear where congress gave up their cost of living they get every year? That would be a nice start for cuts.
I was embarrassed last night watching this with my children. The leaders of this Nation acted adolescent with the tweets and the yelling from the audience. I could not believe the disrespect of the role of the President came from our LEADERS! They taught my children it is ok to disrespect authority if you don't agree with the message. Our leaders acted like teenagers in a classroom trashing their teacher. This is the BEST we have to lead our Nation? Our American "Culture" of disrespect and entitlement is taught from the top down. It was a sobering moment that my children were watching those who rule this Nation trash the President. Grow up! Some of us expect more maturity and dignity from our leaders.
One specific in President Obama's speech was to stop subsidies to the oil companies. That would provided revenue. What are the chances of Congress doing that?
Th real amount of the unemployed are the service workers who waste their time in service of the medical/drug manipulation of our emotional time that should go to our children. If they were unemployed we would realize that the manufacturing rape and plunder by the asset livers has castrated our country, our schools, our brains. All learning is metaphor access, either by physically doing, or observing in peace and quiet. We only have metaphor of being unavailable do to hassling, and pot stirring of politics. We think we have the ideas, the universities, and we are going to lead? What a laugh! People who manipulate with their hands at the proper pace learn, have time to see other issues and invent. Only in the US? Get real!. This country has been violating peaceful mother nature so long it makes up solutions and talk talk talk always blaming the workers bouncing from job to job to job, blaming the children for their stress, blame blame blame. All I heard the heads talking about last night was the same ole same ole, "But that is just politics, we will always have that' What is that? Razzle Dazzle 'EM? Keep them so they can't think? TRYING TO DEAL WITH VERIZON while the little one gets out the door, and the neighbor finds and your name and life gets to be fodder for the competing local news? MAN PROPOSES AND GOD DISPOSES. Well, the same old politics is disposing of our brains, our bodies, our insight while the profiteers, headed up by C-Street starting in the 80's demand we spend our taxes on improved facilities for students who must continue to live in the s tyle to which they have become accustomed. Let the world come to our schools, and go home. Why would they subject their children and their nervous systems to this?
PTSD IS ALIVE AND WELL AND LIVING ON EVERY VENUE (STREET CORNER) OF THE USA, while the gated, with retenue and blinders lift their noses, and barrel thru, 'inconvenienced, looking for a new tax write off where they can lunch.
"Bort wrote:
jslayton, Social Security is in fact "almost entirely" self-funded, as I said. Its shortfall is a very small fraction of the total. Calling it a "unfunded obligation" is absurd.
As for the trust fund, it exists in the form of treasury bonds (calling it a hoax is a hoax). In effect, it was loaned to the general fund, and the general fund (our taxes) must pay it back. The "unfunded" part is in the rest of the government, not in Social Security.
January 26, 2011 - 10:42 am"
"jslayton321@yah... wrote:
Bort, you should review those numbers. The payout now is more than the income and of course the much touted 'trust fund' is a hoax as money must be borrowed or taxes raised to extract cash from it.
January 26, 2011 - 10:34 am"
"...much touted 'trust fund' is a hoax as money must be borrowed or taxes raised to extract cash from it."
As all Govt Bond redemptions are financed during deficit periods.
The Pay In/Out shortfall is slight and due to the large number of unemployed and will turn positive when business picks up.
I picked Snap Beans, bent over in the hot Sun, for $0.75 a Bushel and FICA was withheld. By the time I retired, 15% of my Salary was going to SS, so don't lecture me on Social Security or my right to the Pension I paid for.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
Kylawh
Two month ago 29 billion was going out in benefits than what was coming in because of the 10% unemployment effecting SS collections. Has that changed?
Just think how much could have been given out to beneficiaries today if Congress had never borrowed off the Trust Fund (1966) if you can still call it that. I read that SS if left alone would have earned 5% instead of the present day 3% as a result of it moving back and forth from General fund to Trust fund.
Inflation is another matter that is hitting present day beneficiaries and will get worse in the near future.
tweaver
Did not see the speech last night but your experience with your family was what I saw last year when the President showed disdain to the Supreme Court because they allowed unlimited contribution by corporations. Never in history has a sitting president publicly chastise our supreme court judges openly during the State of the Union address.
I read through all the comments and saw only two or three that directly pertained to the commenter's experience with the program and only one that I thought truly contributed to a viable discussion. The contributor to whom I refer remarked about the disrespect of the people in the chamber. I agree. I want to add, for the sake of those who have not yet discovered LinkedIn as a site for political comment, there is real cause for concern in this country. Go to the discussion titled HOUSE DIVIDED or the one concerned with the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords if you want to experience the full force and strategies used by the Tea Party and the reactions. Reminds me of Charles Dickens' observations about another "best and worst of times" in TALE OF TWO CITIES. Horrifying.
I read through all the comments and saw only two or three that directly pertained to the commenter's experience with the program and only one that I thought truly contributed to a viable discussion. The contributor to whom I refer remarked about the disrespect of the people in the chamber. I agree. I want to add, for the sake of those who have not yet discovered LinkedIn as a site for political comment, there is real cause for concern in this country. Go to the discussion titled HOUSE DIVIDED or the one concerned with the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords if you want to experience the full force and strategies used by the Tea Party and the reactions. Reminds me of Charles Dickens' observations about another "best and worst of times" in TALE OF TWO CITIES. Horrifying.