Analysis of President Obama's State of the Union Address
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-01-25/analysis-president-obamas-state-union-address
Building an economy that’s built to last, reclaiming the American dream, and economic fairness: these were some of the main themes of President Obama’s State of the Union address. He spoke last night about the challenges this country faces and the teamwork he believes will be required to boost economic growth. Governor Mitch Daniels, who offered the Republican response, connected the slow growth of recent years to the President’s stewardship of a government that stifles private enterprise and fails to address staggering government debt: Join us for analysis on the speech and the presidential campaign ahead.
Guests
E.J. Dionne
senior fellow, The Brookings Institution, columnist, Washington Post and author of "Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right" and of "Stand Up Fight Back."
James Thurber
professor and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University; author of "Obama in Office: The First Two Years."
Byron York
chief political correspondent, Washington Examiner.
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
Top 20 campaign donors, almost all of these are democrat supporters. First percentage democrat support, second republican support. Example ActBlue 99% democrat support, 0% republican support. By the way where are the evil Koch brothers, what a joke. Citizens United, another false bogeyman from the lying left. Who is trying to buy elections? The answer is obvious, the DEMOCRATS!
Top All-Time Donors, 1989-2012
1 ActBlue $57,470,970 99% 0%
2 AT&T Inc $48,025,567 44% 55%
3 American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees $46,382,548 94% 1%
4 National Assn of Realtors $41,403,426 47% 49%
5 Service Employees International Union $37,829,428 76% 2%
6 National Education Assn $37,197,739 82% 5%
7 Goldman Sachs $36,344,887 60% 39%
8 American Assn for Justice $35,200,054 88% 8%
9 Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $34,637,147 97% 2%
10 Laborers Union $32,213,700 88% 7%
11 American Federation of Teachers $31,883,616 90% 0%
12 Teamsters Union $31,507,378 89% 6%
13 Carpenters & Joiners Union $31,309,258 85% 10%
14 Communications Workers of America $30,422,596 94% 0%
15 Citigroup Inc $28,932,667 50% 49%
16 American Medical Assn $27,977,161 40% 59%
17 United Food & Commercial Workers Union $27,632,675 93% 0%
18 United Auto Workers $27,540,152 98% 0%
19 National Auto Dealers Assn $27,330,958 32% 67%
20 Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union $27,082,727 98% 1%
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
The Kochs have given more than a hundred million dollars to right wing causes . One hundred Million!
Freedom Works was co-founded by David Koch in the 1980’s and, according to the Center for Public Integrity the Koch Brothers funded it with $7.9 million between 1986 and 1993.
Public records show that the Kochs gave more than $17 million between 1997 and 2008 to groups including the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which lobbies for legislation opposing unions.
Koch Industries and its subsidiaries spent more than $20 million on lobbying in 2008 and $12.3 million in 2009, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group. In an article about the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature study (Chair Richard A. Muller ), Los Angeles Times reporter Margot Roosevelt called the Koch Brothers as "the nation's most prominent funders of efforts to prevent curbs on fossil-fuel burning"
They provided the funds to start Americans for Prosperity. Of the six Republican members who were elected to Congress for the first time, Americans for Prosperity supported five of their campaigns. Of twelve Republicans newly appointed to the Committee, nine signed a pledge distributed by Americans for Prosperity to oppose greenhouse gas regulation. The Charles G. Koch Foundation gave climate skeptic Willie Soon two grants totaling $175,000 in 2005/6 and again in 2010. Soon has stated that he has "never been motivated by financial reward in any of my scientific research."
Continued below….
In recent years, Charles and David Koch have organized semiannual seminars to promote their political beliefs. In June 2010, for example, the event was held in Aspen, Colorado, and titled "Understanding and Addressing Threats to American Free Enterprise and Prosperity". The invitation stated that "[our] prosperity is under attack by the current Administration and many of our elected officials" and "we cannot rely on politicians to [defend our free society], so it is up to us to combat what is now the greatest assault on American freedom and prosperity in our lifetimes". The seminar program mentioned that "past meetings have featured such notable leaders as Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas; Governors Bobby Jindal and Haley Barbour; commentators John Stossel , Charles Krauthammer, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh; Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn; and Representatives Paul Ryan, Mike Pence, and Tom Price."
As you can see, the Koch Brothers are very much involved in purchasing government and manipulating media.
I suggest you simply shut up and listen to what the President might have to say before you go about opening your mouth and showing what little you know....
HeHeHe HaHaHa. You lose!
As if we don't know what he is going to say
You know it amazes me how forgetful the American public can be. President Bill Clinton left a great surplus in the budget and President George Bush came into office (and in record time, I might add) destroyed that surplus and put us on the path that we now face. But even with all of that evidence and fact, we wanted and expected President Obama to come into office and in 3 years, repair and improve what Bush destroyed in 8 years.
The fairytale must end that the President is responsible for all of our ills. Congress is weak and this vendetta that republicans have against the American people is insane. They are so bent on destroying the president, that they don't care about the casualties in the middle. Reminds me of Syria, the people are crying for help and Republicans are simply shooting into the crowd. Who will they take out next?
wthomaswalker, it's funny how no one gives Ross Perot credit for the temporary sanity displayed in the 90's over deficit spending. Ross Perot's relentless attacks drove both republicans and democrats towards fiscal discipline. Clinton desperate to keep his job went along with it! Unlike our current president he had the capacity to learn.
This is my response to Mr. Obama's lame speech. We the people, the 99 %, can be most effectively heard by voting. If you feel like me that there is no candidate that represents your values within the Republican or Democratic party and you do not want to vote for a third party show your voting power by writing in ‘NONE OF THE ABOVE.’ This way you make yourself heard and show the polity that you are a viable voter without becoming a silent casualty by not participating in the electoral process.
Governor Daniels actually commended the President on two issues! What an astonishing concession. I thought it was too daunting for any Republican to admit that the President has done anything right.
Obama is a wimp. Both he and privatizer Mitch D. have deliberately failed to address our world's threat to life. Why?
How can anyone argue with Obama's and others who argue capital gains taxes should be raised to a level equivalent to what the middle class pay? I guess the only folks who can argue against that are those in the 1%.
Can the Rehm team do a show on which of our Reps have voted to reduce capital gains taxes over the years. And how much our Reps save in taxes from these reductions on their own investments.
Gingrich wants to eliminate capital gains taxes completely. Not much about this in the media.
So fascinating that these alleged conservative Republican voters would reject someone like Romney who clearly walks the talk of family values. So hypocritical
Marvin as Obama has pointed out talk to OBL and other Al Queda leaders. Oh yeah you can't
I agree B. O., Ross Perot shook things up. But none the less, Bush didn't learn the lesson either. We have a president who has ideas that Republicans have recommended, but will not support because of who he is. Without playing the "race card", when in history have one party been so against the president that no matter what he proposes they say no?
And what were Mitch Daniels' qualifications for lecturing the President and the rest of us about the deficit?
Oh yes, he was budget director in an administration that converted a healthy surplus into a huge deficit.
Kathleen- do you understand that capital gains taxes are paid on monies that one invests after paying income tax on those same monies? It is double taxation, it should be lower than actual income taxes so that people will INVEST.
Also, OBL was killed because of oplicies and procedures put into place by GWB, Obama had little or nothing to do with it.
When Obama opened up with this I almost choked "Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq. Together, we offered a final, proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought - and several thousand gave their lives.
We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world"
--------------------------------------------------------------
Look we know that it was not the fault of the American soldiers who were sent to Iraq based on lies. But spinning that the US is safer and more respected around the world for invading a country based on the Bush administrations lies is some serious hooey. One expert and historian after the next will tell you this is another lie
pjnuge you can keep your head up where the sun does not shine as long as you want. But that does not change the facts. Bush had nothing to do with this operation. Nothing at all
Romney paid 13+% in taxes, but he donated MILLIONS to charitable organizations. Have you considered that if you increase taxes on wealthy, generous people, then they will have less money to donate to charitable causes? Then the govt will need to step in and take over charities and needs at a greater cost to the govt.
I believe the commentators are wrong about the capital gains tax. My understanding is that the sole logic for it when it was created in the 1970's was to partially offset the effects of the high (10+% per year) inflation at that time.
kathleen wrote:
"How can anyone argue with Obama's and others who argue capital gains taxes should be raised to a level equivalent to what the middle class pay? I guess the only folks who can argue against that are those in the 1%"
earned income is taxed at a higher rate, after tax earnings are invested, IF an investment actually produce a profit they are taxed at a lower rate, capitol gains rate. The idea is to promote investment and RISK to create jobs and grow the economy. If you take away the incentive for investment and it becomes all risk, everyone loses. It can be argued taxes have been paid twice on the same money.
I fail to see the logic in taxing capital gains at a lower rate than money one actually has to work for. I would also like some explanation as to why Republicans tend to focus on the President inability to create jobs, which, by their own ideology, is not his responsibility to begin with.
Kathleen- you are a deluded, nasty woman. OBL was found because we determined the identity of his courier (possibly found by enhanced interogation), in a program started before Obama was elected.
I have been spending a great deal of time with WWII Vets in nursing homes in the Dayton Ohio region. Many of them are former union members. GM teamsters etc. I have heard many of them say corporations and manufacturing abandoned the Amercan working class four decades ago. They often refer to those who first moved union jobs south and then overseas "traitors"
Last night President Obama said this
"Third, if you're an American manufacturer, you should get a bigger tax cut. If you're a high-tech manufacturer, we should double the tax deduction you get for making products here. And if you want to relocate in a community that was hit hard when a factory left town, you should get help financing a new plant, equipment, or training for new workers.
My message is simple. It's time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America. Send me these tax reforms, and I'll sign them right away."
It is not like the crumbling infrastructure in the rust belt region took place in the last three years. Could what President OBama proposed last night in regard to manufacturing really help?
Again, what is not being discussed is what happens to all those "passionate" Ron Paul supporters should he not win the nomination. Without their support, an alternative candidate is doomed before the election ever takes place. But, of course, two Bush administrations have shown the nation that popular vote doesn't win elections and the nation will do nothing to remedy such quirks should they occur anyway. And where lies America's independent media..... barring a few lone voices in the nature of D.R.
You need somebody with an economics background on your panel. The justification for a lower capital gains tax which only applies after one year is the impact of inflation. With inflation at dubious minimum of 3%, the asset in question loses that much value in one year. Obviously the devaluation increases with time. In fact true inflation is much higher than that and will get really big down the road.
Bob Inglis
I was especially relieved to hear President OBama say:
"America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal. But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible, and far better, and if Iran changes course and meets its obligations, it can rejoin the community of nations."
Many experts including former Bush administration official and former CIA middle east analyst Flynt Leverett and his wife Hillary Mann Leverett also a former Bush admiinistration official have said that diplomacy and negotiations based on hard evidence is the way to go with Iran. Not another military confrontation based on unsubstantiated claims.
Wish the Rehm team would have Flynt and Hillary on their program to discuss the situation with Iran. Their website RACE FOR IRAN is the place to go for accurate information about our history with Iran and the situation that exist now
I keep hearing about the jobs that will be created because of the tax breaks, low tax rates , etc. given to the rich folks.
These aren't new ideas and have been in effect for some time now, so where are the jobs?
Aren't they more interested in increasing there investment by moving jobs offshore, closing factories, etc?
Perhaps it was not such a waste of time for the president to focus on health care when jobs are at stake. He may have taken a longer time focus. I am one of those who was upwardly mobile for most of my life with an MBA and when COBRA ran out I was rejected because of a pre-existing condition. I have health care now and have the option of going out on my own instead of continuing my futile job search
Paul carries delegates to the Republican convention. His anti unnecessary war card is a counter balance to the Aipac/I lobby/Adelson go get Iran based on lies crowd. Hopefully.
As I listened to the President's address last night, it seemed as though I was having many moments of deja vu. Much seemed to have been very similar to last year's State of the Union. I don't know what anyone, either Democrat, Republican, or independent can be expected to say to solve the jobs problem. The golden age of jobs is gone in this country, and maybe others as well. When it was here in the two decades following World War II, thousands and thousands of young households had been formed, creating incredible demand for housing, cars, schools, all sorts of businesses and all the things that go with them. Now we have empty and unsold houses and condos, warehouses full of appliances and furniture, lots full of new and used vehicles, and a dearth of people who need or can afford them. Now the questions are, what are we going to make that can actually be sold in great numbers, and how can we make it competitively, and yet at a price that can support paying workers living wages? I just don't see it happening.
Wondering why Obama just doesn't let benjamin netanyahu present the state of the union speech.....yep, I said it.