It'll be the same sound bites and liberal BS alot of people swallowed during his campaign. Bring the sheeple back into the fold.

OBAMA TO OUTLINE A HOPEFUL TRACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This presidency is in serious trouble. The "change" we were promised has turned into a massive disaster, now we're falling onto the "hope" sword and it shows weakness in leadership. This administration has been totally off course for a year. The MOST important issue that should have been addressed immediately is the ECONOMY. Period. The narcissistic attitude of the Democrats with their majority control of Congress and the White House was evident when Obama stated "I won"!

Yes, you did win Mr. President and now we're seeing the results of that victory. Nothing. Our economy is still "teetering on the brink". A year of job creation has been wasted because of the obsession with Health Care Reform. Three MILLION jobs were lost last year. Millions of homes continue to be foreclosed, the market is unstable, financial institutions are out of control, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran are still unstable, TERRORISM is worsening, consumer confidence is at historic lows and now we have to pin our future on HOPE!

We always have "hope" for our country. What we need is leadership. We need a plan. We need a president who will stand up for America's greatness instead of apologizing for everything wrong in the world being our fault. We need to be reassured that what is happening in our government is in OUR best interest NOT the politicians. We need faith restored in the American Dream.

WE ALL HAVE HOPE, WHAT WE NEED IS CONFIDENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

State of the Union:

We are in a Depression; and my stimulus and Tarp programs are helping to keep us their so my friends on Wall Street can continue to rape you and pillage your savings!

I don't have a clue how to run a country

I believe in Socialism

I am as crooked as they come ( and in Washington that's saying a lot!)

I love to spend your and your children's money and future!

I'll lie through my teeth to get re-elected

I'm all talk and then I do the opposite of what I say

It doesn't matter what the American people want - It just matters that I put my Socialist programs in place

Global warming is going to kill us all unless I'm allowed to put this huge tax on the corporations of America ( even though I know they will pass it on to you)

My Socialist Health Care Program is the best for you - We know what you need - Even though myself and Congress will have our own Health care Program

I want to Unionize all of Americans so my buddies in the unions ( another word for mobs) will give me even more money for my next campaign.

and now goodnight my fellow comrades; may allah bless America!!!

Above is a copy of the "real State of the Union. I don't think this is what will be read to the people watching tonight.

It can be summed up in four words "BEEN THERE DONE THAT"

"The fisherman skillfully survey's the situation and pulls a new lure from his tackle box,rendering fresh new bait he applies the it like a master. With great certainty he launches as the masses below gobble it up......."

Wonder if he will be saying anything about his boy Timmy being hauled in front of the congressional investigation committee??

Who cares, if it's not an apology then what's the purpose, it will be more lies. That is all he knows how to do. He broke all his promises he campaigned on, and sent the country into the deepest depression since Jimmy Carter. I'll find better things to do with my time than watch a liar on TV.

"Obama to outline hopeful track..." TRANSLATION: The omnipotent spinmeister will do his best to look good in his first year as President.

The sad truth is that most Americans have realized that the last election gave us a true socialist who is hell bent with government taking control of our lives. Obamacare was an outrageous and ridiculous example of the RAW ABUSE OF POWER by the Democrats. His lack of financial knowledge showed through the bailouts and takeovers. His proposed Cap and Trade will raise the very cost of living for everyone....individuals and businesses.

Obama must go, he is incompetent !

"Gibbs: Obama to outline ‘hopeful track’"

So, his speech is airing on Comedy Central?

Tonight's resignation speech has been long over due. Obama gave it a good try, I think he feels it's time to move on now, and I feel the country agrees. So it's all for the best. Biden will do okay in his place.

MSN has done it again, What Gibbs said this morning is that the Gov would offer tax credits to small businesses that HIRED new employees!!! They seem to have forgot to put that in the story, You better listen REAL CLOSE to what you hear tonight...... What that means is We the Gov will give you a tax break of average Corp tax of say 15% of what you spend to hire an employee. Really that becomes an expense to you , the employer. See you spend say 30,000.00 to hire and get taxed on those wages but you also save that 15% tax break (WOW!!) Mr. President that means for every 30K employee I hire I can save 4500.00!!! Sorry but to me that appears to be an expense of 25,500.00 + Fed Tax. I'm sorry SIR, but I have laws to follow on how I do math in business, not like you and Congress.

"The president is going to explain why he thinks the American people are angry and frustrated,"

Isn't it obvious?

"The president is going to explain why he thinks the American people are angry and frustrated," his spokesman said.

Oh yeah, he's going to blame Bush, he WILL NOT accept any blame for any anger or frustration. He will say that it was a slight blunder in communication or some crap like that. I have noticed lately the angry look on his face. I guess he thinks he knows what anger & frustration is. He has no clue, all he knows is Chicago Thug tactics, therefore the angry face.

The truth will NOT be spoken by Obama the Community Organizer POTUS in training socialist liar.

I really don't care what Obama says. I lost all trust in the man since he began a lie and smear campaign against Americans resulting in NO jobs. If he wants to take the Republican line by giving tax breaks to the middle class, then so be it. A day late and a dollar short (or is it trillions short?). Think about it, a Democrat giving tax breaks. Sounds more like a bribe to the American people since this is against his and his party's true beliefs.

Spending freeze? Really? Sounds good but once again we will see exactly what his so called spending freeze really means in months to come. If Obama was serious regarding being fiscally responsible, then he certainly would not have let billions worth or ear marks go through on every bill the Democrats have passed to date. I wonder if Obama even knows he has VETO powers. Someone needs to explain to Obama how his VETO powers work.

Having been raised in Chicago, I have seen and experienced directly what Chicago politics means. People have been moving out of Chicago to the burbs for years. Chicago (Cook County) charges over 10% sales tax but yet they still don't have their fiscal house in order. Governor after Governor ends up in prison due to their own ignorance and arrogance. The corruption is so deep I wonder if it will EVER change in Chicago. Unfortunately, this is all Obama has to offer Americans.. Chicago politics!

Nope. We're to dumb to understand.

So...Mr.Obama is going to "explain" to us exactly what happened in Massachusetts.

Can't wait. I guess we cannot figure that out for ourselves and need his highness' explanation.

Thanks for your help Mr. President.

"The president is going to explain why he thinks the American people are angry and frustrated," his spokesman said.

why he "thinks"? it's a no-brainer if you ask me! You would have to be a deaf,dumb, blind, retard not to see it....lol. oh.. .wait a sec. looking at how the past year went, maybe he is. currently, we are told the unemployment rate is 10%, or 1 in every 5 Americans is unemployed. 1 in every 5 people out of work, actually equals out closer to 20% if i understand logical math correctly.

i picked up a Journal/ Sentinel, a paper from a town 3 hours away from Milwaukee Wisc. yesterday, to do a relocation search for employment. A newspaper, with usually 2-3 pages of employers seeking employee's as long as i have ever known, had less than a 1/4 of a page, of employment offers.

There was basically nothing. Instead of looking city to city now for employment, i am now looking state to state i guess. Means if i end up having to relocate, i will be leaving behind everything, in name of the almighty dollar our administration values so dear. Moving to a new state, to take a chance, with a lob, that being new to the employer, puts me on the "expendable" list, unless i can prove i am a greater asset then the rest of the employee's doing the same. With any luck, the company will not go under, or start to lay people off.

JOBS Mr. Retard President.........JOBS JOBS JOBS JOBS! That is what America needs to get going again. That is what is angering most Americans, and a no-brainer! A couple missteps? It's like the 1st one, sent him rolling down the side of a mountain, and he hasn't stopped yet.

I guess he is doing his best to cripple a great nation, and doing a great job at it, or is absoloutly oblivious to the making/ running of a nation.

scott-857198
MSN has done it again, What Gibbs said this morning is that the Gov would offer tax credits to small businesses that HIRED new employees!!! They seem to have forgot to put that in the story, You better listen REAL CLOSE to what you hear tonight...... What that means is We the Gov will give you a tax break of average Corp tax of say 15% of what you spend to hire an employee. Really that becomes an expense to you , the employer. See you spend say 30,000.00 to hire and get taxed on those wages but you also save that 15% tax break (WOW!!) Mr. President that means for every 30K employee I hire I can save 4500.00!!! Sorry but to me that appears to be an expense of 25,500.00 + Fed Tax. I'm sorry SIR, but I have laws to follow on how I do math in business, not like you and Congress.

Sounds a lot like Cash for Clunkers doesn't it?

It's funny how gibbs mentions all of that and isn't that exactly the same type of stuff mccain ran on?

Obama just wants the votes. He's going to settle the people so they don't lose more seats this November. That's all this speech will be about tonight.

HOPE!!!...and CHANGE!!!!!....and HOPE FOR CHANGE!!!!!!

We already fell for that line once.....

The President is going to explain why the people in Massachusetts are angry----Sorry I don't believe he has a clue

tony-268769 Thanks for your help Mr. President.

So...Mr.Obama is going to "explain" to us exactly what happened in Massachusetts.

Can't wait. I guess we cannot figure that out for ourselves and need his highness' explanation.

What a Joke-383488The President is going to explain why the people in Massachusetts are angry----Sorry I don't believe he has a clue

I sure am tired of Obama and his administration, not to mention Congress, putting words in my mouth. Aren't you?

hope is not putting food on the table, hope is not cashing a paycheck for the unemployed, hope is not paying the increased taxes, my kids are hoping they don't have to pay back the deficit, my grandkids are hoping they don't have to pay back the national debt.

I put hope in my bank account and still can't write a check against it cause it hasn't cleared. My food store won't take hope as payment.

"The president is going to explain why he thinks the American people are angry and frustrated,"

This will backfire, because if his and the Democrats reactions to the elections in NJ, VA and most importantly, MA are any indication, they have no idea why the American people are angry and frustrated. To go before a joint session of Congress, on national television, and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have no idea why people are mad, or won't admit it? BOOM! Right in your face, Obama.

As to the spending freeze:

It applies to 18% of the budget.

Most of those programs he's going to "freeze" spending on, got double-digit increases in LAST years budget. Yes, we were in a recession last year, and our president and Congress voted in a budget with DOUBLE DIGIT spending increases. So all this freeze does is lock in an inflated baseline.

The "middle class" tax credits are wealth redistribution, period. A huge chunk of people, about 46%, who are eligible for those credits do NOT PAY INCOME TAX to begin with. They'll now be allowed to double dip on a credit that was actually refunded money to them that they never paid in.

The result? Trickle up poverty, whereby people who actually earn LESS have MORE spending power because of government redistribution than people who make MORE but don't qualify for the credits and/or pay income taxes. In simple terms, punishing success.

Don't be fooled, people. It's all rhetoric, wrapped up in populism, coated in false promises, that has its foundations in slight of hand and lies.

Which, FYI, Obama? THAT'S what we're mad about. Your whole administration thus far is defined by that last sentence - despite all the promises to the contrary.

"outline a hopeful track for our future."

What the...??? How about quite trying to collapse the economy and quite taking over businesses. The USA doesn't need the government to fix things. The USA does need the separation of the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch. If Pres. O still wants to dictate laws, go back to Congress.

I know he will try to blame the Repub's, but remember the Dems had a super majority, the Repubs could not stop a single thing. It is the Ideology of the Obama/Pelosi/Reed/Waxman/Frank...that the USA does not need and is destroying hope; get rid of them and the elitist. That is the track for a hopeful future.

"The president is going to explain why he thinks the American people are angry and frustrated,"

He'll probably say "It's Bush's fault".

Interestingly, Bush's Federal Budget for 2009 projected a Deficit of about $400 Billion, and then Obama immediately changed it with the $787 Billion "stimulus" and the $411 Billion "porkulus", and it swelled to $1,442 Billion, and he still blames it on Bush. As Congress will soon demonstrate, THEY control all Federal spending and legislation, and who controlled Congress for the last two years of Bush's Presidency? Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

I think it was Democratic "attack dog" James Carville that said "It's the economy, stupid", but I suspect Obama will still insist that his vision of "health care takeover, cap & trade, and tax the people who create jobs" is what's really important, and he thinks "If I just give some more speeches", giving lip service to job creation, everyone will understand. I think people are tired of "rhetoric", and want concrete action now.

The only things we need to hear is that he is going to CUT WASTEFUL SPENDING! Keep the muslim terrorist in gitmo, and move the trial away from NY. These are the only things we will not hear.

HAY, all you "critics". Now that you "people" have voiced your opinions (Brainless opinions I would say) How about putting out some viable, workable programs that will have a positive effect on the nations problems.

Especially you Area52. Or are you as out of this world and alien as the screen name you have chosen.

And please present details and real world numbers. not ideology (Idiocy)

Just wishing the fat lady would sing and this Obama administration would be over with!! All we are going to hear tonight is a bunch of fluff that he thinks we want to hear. Nothing good will come to fruition, just like the promises from 2 years of his campaigning and a year in office. You go, puppet!!!

Obama's "spending freeze" sounds good, until you look at the details. He RAISED spending on those programs about 25% from the previous Administration in 2009, and now he's going to KEEP that high level of spending by "freezing" it.

More empty rhetoric.

First Mike W, lets here what you think the prez needs to say to assure america we can find our way back to the right track?

How about putting out some viable, workable programs that will have a positive effect on the nations problems.

Mike,

1. How about Energy Independence? Let's start using our own oil instead of the middle east's.

1a. Why are we not building nuclear power plants?

2. How about rethinking our international trade policies that are unfavorable to the US. Maybe, NAFTA isn't working in our favor either.

3. How about actually looking at what the stimulus has accomplished before spending more money.

4. How about getting the banks to give loans at a reasonable rate to consumers rather than huge bonuses for failure.

5. How about Tort Reform in the healthcare industry?

Hey, Mike. I've answered your plea on other threads, for ideas about what to do to try to turn things around. Want me to do it again? Sure.

1. Reinstate Glass-Steagal.

2. Break health care reform into small, single-issue bills starting with insurance re-regulation. One issue, one bill, one vote. No pork, no backroom deals, no bribes, no special exceptions, televise the WHOLE thing. Move on to Medicare/caid reform, and raise the ceiling for Caid. Tort reform.

3. Table crap & tax, card check and amnesty. They're job killers without even being law yet, and will be worse if passed.

4. Get the enviro-nazis and the government the hell out of the way so we can achieve some level of energy independence, which will create private sector jobs and keep trillions in OUR economy instead of sending it to countries that hate us.

5. Cancel all unspent stimulus spending, and follow the law in TARP that says repaid funds must go back into the budget. Use that approximately $500 billion to pay down the debt, instead of raising the ceiling.

There's a few. Those ideas have been tossed around in Congress, with bi-partisan support - UNTIL the liberal cabal took over and decided everything needed to be done their way - and nothing got done at all.

EDIT: LOL, Toxic. I type too slow, or something. ;)

There is no more "Hope" junk speech President Obama. Your time has run out.

All Americans know which way the administration wants to take us and America.

Sorry, President Obama, we don't believe anymore. You still don't get the problems or want to work on them. You are not interested in the private sector. Just yourself.

Obama is going back to the "HOPE" bullsh*t again?! Really?!!!! That worked out real well so far. The only thing people that listen and follow this socialist should do with 'HOPE' is ABANDON IT!

Pres. Obama should talk about his accomplishments in the first year.

This all talk and no show routine is getting old. I know, let's blame Bush for one more year. ( Count how many times that happens tonight) Hey Obama, you are in charge now, the election is over, it is time to start showing the American people this CHANGE thing you were talking about!

Pragmatic,

You are probably the only person on this vine that has a brain and can think for them selves. Yes your suggestions are very viable. I do have a little bit of trouble with the thought of trade wars but what the heck, at least bullets aren't flying. I also must give much the same credit to toxicChemist.

I was trying to get the idiots who can only mouth the same one liners to either think for themselves for a change or get the hell off the vine so I can read and analyze the few thoughtful comments presented. You must understand that it is very difficult to have meaningful discussions when we are bombarded with one line repeats of the crap that Rush puts out.

More BS, to be continued until us taxpayers revolt.

Mike, just so you realize....

Your little Rush zing you had to throw in is the exact same stuff you're complaining about other people doing.

"Hope is a pleasant acquaintance, but a unsafe friend..Thomas Chandler Haliburton ".......the political rhetoric has Lost It's Heartbeat..time for Change should be begin from the top; If one cannot do the job, he should step down, step aside and bow-out..we need not hope, but decision makers..

Pres. Obama should talk about his accomplishments in the first year.

That would be a very, very, short speech. In fact, we wouldn't even need to schedule one at all. Now there would be real savings in government spending.

Well, here we are ......

one year later ..........

and still with the "hope" thing!

Pragmatic,

I stand corrected and will do my best to refrain from "zinging" again.

Thank you

WASHINGTON - White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday President Barack Obama hopes to use his State of the Union message to "outline a hopeful track for our future."

"Hope" is a word that has no power. I would think, that now, after a year, the Obamites would have figured this out.

To Hawaii - If Obama talks about his accomplishments, it will be the shortest State of the Union address ever.

I am quite tired of our President making speeches telling us "how it is." His take on the Massachusetts upset is spin. He doesn't want to admit the truth. Just because he says it, doesn't make it true. It has become so obvious that the President spent too much time, growing up, outside of America. He does not have a grasp on the average American experience. Coupled with his lack of business experience, has created a Presidency that so far, has been extremely lacking.

Obama to offer hopeful track. Translation: he’ll attempt to say things he feels the people want to hear, but it’s just more of the same BS and you can bet tomorrow the media will fall all over themselves praising him and calling his speech monumental or some such dribble.

I see that 90 minutes have been allocated for the State of the Union speech which seems to me that it’s about 30 minutes longer than past state of the union’s.

Maybe next year he can extend the time allotted to about 3 hours because after all, incessantly long and inane rambling speeches work for his pal Hugo.

Mike just to let you know..more of us can put together rational thoughts than you give credit for. Pragmatic has some very good points that I agree with. I read the boards but don't post as often.

You may point out the ones who can't articulate, however, those idiots come from both sides.

The points Pragmatic has hit on are very sensible and there's no reason why they can't be adopted.

Obama is going to put out this speech to help ease concerns just to keep his fellow democrats in the seats when elections come around in November. The last thing he wants is a MA repeat this November on a greater scale. He's all words to appease the masses. We should know that by now.

"The president is going to explain why he thinks the American people are angry and frustrated," his spokesman said.

This should be good for a laugh! I can hear him now.

" I inherited a situation from the previous administration that was worse than we knew. It is so bad that the peoples anger at them is being carried over to us. I've been accused of ignoring the voice of the people. Let me be perfectly clear, I know whats best for America because I hear their voices in my head. The Radicals that don't understand me and oppose my vision aren't worthy of acknowledgement because I know whats best for them too. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have confirmed my certainty that we know more than you do about whats in your best interest. You voted for Hope and Change. We haven't been able to deliver it because many people won't accept that we're smarter than they are. They won't accept that it's got to be our way or no way at all. These poor lost and misguided naysayers will soon become desperate enough (when the economy and Job situration doesn't improve) that they'll be willing to accept the help of their benevolent Government. Their Anger will disolve with their self esteem, and I will be able to continue redistributing the wealth so all Americans will see me as the Beautiful, Brilliant, Ruler that I know that I am."

It's set for failure from the get-go; "try to explain..." is setting the stage for :

"I'm not listening, I understand why YOU don't understand, I'll re-explain, and continue as I WANT, as I'VE planned, and hopefully now you'll understand why it's GOT TO go this way and I'M committed to making it happen".

Tell us why we're wrong, what our problems are with understanding, and ignore the American constituent citizenry.

I'd go into how this "creating jobs, going green, let me explain why I want you to be dependent on government" bull is going to go, but phooey on it. Those that have seen my posts know my position on this, and I'm not alone.

Gibbs should be fired for telling lies.

"Aides say tonight's critical speech will be underpinned by two themes — reassuring millions of Americans that he understands their struggles and convincing people that he is working to change Washington even as he finds himself working within its old political ways."

I'm sure all of us who have lost jobs, homes and faith in our government will be reassured.......reassured that nothing is going to change. When we finally see some attention to the illegal alien problem, job losses, home forclosures, bail-outs for the wealthy and a lack of representation of the citizens by our congress then and only then will we be able to have any faith that things will change.

This is not fun, coming to what might be an interesting and constructive post and finding a barage of Red Necks mouthing off about nothing

Pres. Obama should talk about his accomplishments in the first year.

What would he do for the other 59 minutes and 30 seconds?

Lisette53- a barage of Red Necks mouthing off

Don't forget to call us "racists."

How can the president explain why Americans are "angry" when he couldn't figure out why the Reverend Jeremiah Wright was so violently angry after listening to his minister's sermons for 20 years ???

I don't think Mr. Obama can recognize what real "anger" is anymore. Nor does he understand "happiness".

Illegal Aliens hold 11,000,000 in skilled jobs in America (http://immigrationcounters.com/). Eisenhower was a president that didn't believe Americans should have to compete with people here illegally for jobs when the economy is doing so badly, and he actually did something about it! The American people are getting sick and tired of politicians doing what benefits them politically, over what benefits the American people! And all that anger is just starting to surface.

To address economic fears, Obama will prod Congress to enact a second, debt-financed stimulus bill and to provide new financial relief for the middle class. To acknowledge frustration at the government's habit of spending more than it has, he will seek a three-year freeze on some domestic spending (while proposing a 6.2 percent increase in the popular arena of education)

This is a retarded quote, spend more we don't have and then make a "token" stab at reducing a very, very tiny portion of the Federal Budget.

No more "stimuless!!!!!" We don't need financial relief, we need jobs. We don't want a hand out.

I feel sorry for Obama and this administration as they keep trying to satisfy this bunch of right fighters. What he really needs to realize is he will never satisfy them. They will nit pick him too death NO MATTER what he does. If he came up with a cure for cancer they would discredit and nit pick that, but if they came down with cancer, he would be the greatest!!! Most are unhappy, miserable human beings that think they know best, and when whatever happens doesn't fit into their agenda, they are naysaying and whining. They simply don't like him and they have not recovered from their loss in November and will lick their wounds and plot until 2012. What he really needs to do is tell the whole bunch that he is the President, he was elected by the MAJORITY and that we elected him to do what he said, and do it. If they don't like it well oh well, they could kiss where the sun don't shine.

OK, WHAT'S THE LINE ON THE PREZ'S FAVORITE LINES???????????????

How many times will he say,,,,,"Let me be clear"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Let me be perfectly clear"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"I"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Me"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Make no mistake"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Change"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Hope"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Reform"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Health Care Reform"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Economy"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Jobs"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Security"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"We need to restructure, rebuild and reform,,,"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"It won't happen overnight"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"There will be setbacks and false starts"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Across the board spending freeze"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Spending freeze"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Hatchet"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Surgical blade"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Terrorist"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"I inherited,,,,"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"Saved from the precipice"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"The past 8 years,,,,"?

How many times will he say,,,,,"America"?

How many times will his head turn from left to right reading his Teleprompter?

How many times will he look straight into the camera, addressing the millions of concerned American citizens watching?

The right side of the aisle will be applauding all night long to hear more and more useless unattainable policies that will just expand more and more government. The right side of the aisle and the American people will listen in shock as more and more spending programs are recommended or expanded.

Actually it really doesn't matter. Because when it's all said and done the same empty promises, the same empty blames and the same empty rhetoric will ring loudest and clearest.

I'm just curious, out of all the buzz words or catchy phrases he uses, how many times will he say,,,,,,

"I'm proud to be an American"

Lynn-410457

I gave you a vote for effort. But you really have to stop guzzling the Kool-Aid. It not only affects your kidneys it also shrinks every brain cell to 1/10th it's size. That's the funny rattling noise you hear inside your head when you try to follow Obama's head back and forth as he reads from his teleprompter.

Kinda like watching a ping-pong game.

Mike W-595875

HAY, all you "critics". Now that you "people" have voiced your opinions (Brainless opinions I would say) How about putting out some viable, workable programs that will have a positive effect on the nations problems.

lmfao!!!! ok he got heathcare reform to pass....oooops my bad, they put that off to the freaking side FINALLY, aftet they realised the were all out of sell outs to bribe into voteing for it. Illegal aliens? huh? what work did the moron do there?, nothing that made a diffrence was even thought of being passed, the ONLY...O N L Y, thing he got to pass, was the global warming "suggestion", and it has nothing but chains on it for our economic, production.

So...Mike, outside of ...lmao....a global warming summit/ promise, what has Nobama the Clown done? Not a single f'ing thing! Every plan of reform, or idea he has presenteded, required us to give up freedoms, in the guise of hope. I say Kick this clown to the curb....he's crap, and a nothing lieing 2 faced used car salesman....that's it, no more. I sure as heck don't want that crap Hillary taking his spot either, so if they gotta drag her off by her hair, im good with that too.

i can care less what party has control of the house... I want a JOB!!!! I want to pay my g'dang bills, with a paycheck i earned! The economy is the backbone of any country, what moron does not understand that? He ignored it, for a whole dam year! Just to try and force crap sandwitches down out freakin throats! OUT WITH THE MORONS!!!!!

"Obama promises to end ‘deficit of trust’"

Oh boy!! more promises, yay!!

"To close that credibility gap, we must take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to end the outsized influence of lobbyists, to do our work openly and to give our people the government they deserve," the text goes on.

Obama, I voted for you... but I've lost faith in your ability to govern. You've let the progressive in Congress like Pelosi near run this country off track, you've been giving handouts to your own special interests (unions), you've failed to live up to promises of transparency (C-SPAN rather than backroom deals ring a bell?) and I'm about done with you and your party.

You need to talk less and act - bring the country back to the center and moderate the insanity that's being peddled right now out of Congress before you run us off a cliff. Dump the progressives, and moderate. Don't, and we the people will probably see your gang run out of power in November, and potentially you in 2012. We didn't become a progressive country because we voted for you, we've always been a center-right nation. If you continue to cater to the small 20% who call themselves progressive, then you are out of touch and don't deserve the power your party currently wields.

We sent you a message from MA last week. You're ignoring it. Continue that ignorance and arrogance and the electorate will cease to wait for you to listen and force you to by handing power back to your opposition.

Obama also planned to call on Congress to pass legislation to blunt the Supreme Court’s ruling last week handing corporations greater influence in elections, saying, “I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, and worse, by foreign entities.”

It really doen't matter what he thinks, it matters what the Constitution SAYS.

Winger - Called my brother to share your assessment of the situation, and he laughed so hard I thought he was gonna die! If I listened hard enough, I'm sure I could still hear him laughing from 100 miles away!

You're right on! I'm hoping the fish let this fisherman sit on the shore with nary a bite!

I don't know if trust can ever be regained, people will have to go to jail not be reconfirmed. I don't see that happening, my bet is on more hopeless change tonight.

As in past, the government "For the People"(a little tongue in cheek) haven't a clue as to what is needed. Obama isn't the problem. I look at him as just a puppet. There is big money causing the problem. And those people are probably still making money. And as long as they are profiting nothing will change. Those people control the what is happening. And they don't give a damn about you and me. Should we wait for them to make a decision? I do know that the large percentage of our population wouldn't go out of their way to make any change. We have become a country of greedy sheep. That wasn't how this country was founded. But will surely be the way we go down. Maybe it's time for us to move on as a power in the world. Same thing happened to Greece, Rome, Spain. England France. All world powers in their days.

I am listening to Obama. This self centered self agrandizing man cannot give credit to Bush for anything. "When I became President I inherited a growing deficit and a poor economy". My, the Bush administration struggled with preventing and then slowing the recession that started in Dec. 2007. Don't give an ounce of credit but continue to blame, blame, blame as he increases the deficit 3 fold and the national debt 3 fold. What a jerk.

The Ego in chief does not have a clue about what is really going on in this country does he. I loved the crap about all of the jobs created I want to find one of them and I know a lot of other people who feel the same way. I also loved his so called transparency about the big bank bailouts, it was transparent how they were wasting our money while we were doing without. The only hope that I have is that Obama will change and put someone with brains in charge of the country but the Ego in Chief will not do that. So far all the Ego in Chief has done is lied there are no jobs created we are not better off than a year ago.

Is Pelosi playing with her hair and touching her nose because the speech stinks or because she is bored. I hope she gets a bugger in her hair when doing this at least then there would be something eentertaining about this speech the Ego in Chief is giving. As for the jobs another company in the town I live in announced more layoffs, so much for improved economy.

Don't worry about falling asleep Dave. If you do it is unlikely you'll miss anything except more of the same lies and or misleading statements. I really liked the following one:

“I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, and worse, by foreign entities.”

Does this mean that in 2012 if he runs for re-election (and regardless of how poor his performance record is he will) that he won't accept large campaign donations from "powerful interests and worse, by foreign entities" like he did last time? I would bet Senator Wilson nearly lost it when Obama said that.

Obama is a professional campaigner much like some people never work and continue to go to school. Obama has the title of POTUS but no idea how to do the job. So, he is trying different forms of misdirection to see if he can finally find one that works as well as it did for him before he actually became POTUS. In the meanwhile we have a Impostor in Chief who is not leading, but misdirecting this country, experimenting at our expense if you will! 2012 can't come fast enough for me. You'd think he was in grade school with his "hit the reset" remark. It makes it sound like he wants a "do over!"

hahahaha...same campaigning BS he has spewed since day one..."I will veto line by line in the budget"...hahaha...pure babble and rhetoric...

"that's how budgeting works"...hahaha...this fool doesn't know jack about "budgeting"...hahaha

already done 15 or 20 "Bush did it" takes...all with snot and drool running down his chin...hahaha

Obama clearly believes that if you say something often enough and try to sell it often enough dispite the facts of his statements being incorrect then somehow he himself becomes more credible and that what he is selling becomes more appealing.

Bottom line is Obama doesn't know what he is doing. The best part of the whole telecast is Pelosi and Biden sitting behind him and smiling, clapping, and standing and sitting like a couple of puppets.

And of course Obama can't give one speach without blaming the previous administration. That isn't what a leader does but Obama is more of a soap box hero than someone that actually understands his job.

There should be a place at Ceasars Palace in Las Vegas for him when he is no longer President. At least everyone can laugh and not worry then.

I just heard Obama say that the Deficit was over a $Trillion in the year before he took office. I checked the record, and the Deficit for the Fiscal Year that ended near the end of 2008 was actually $458.555 Billion.

I wonder where he got the other $550 Billion????????????

He hasnt said anything worth while yet. What a joke. But he does seem to keep blaming everything on Bush. Its YOUR economy and federal budget now, obamma!!!

"I am also asking Congress to [continue] down the path of no earmarks"...hahaha...this idiot has made a point of ignoring earmarks...laughable...hahaha

republicans and democraps whould work together. hahahaha

What is amazing to me is that both parties have problems,,neither can or will do anything that actually helps the people on main street..and they have no problem placing the blame on everyone else...just as many on here blame Obama for the economy that has had a lot of help from a poorly run washington congress that is concerned with nothing but their own welfare...and none of them accept their own responsibilities for the mess this country is in.

All this speech is going to do is to create more divisions. Per usual with obamma

The President has blamed the republicans and the previous administration 18 times for his problems. Now on terrorism, he asks the American people to no blame anyone?

"hopeful track'...hahaha ...hopeful that American's will go back to sleep and alloe the Saul Alinsky wannabes to go about their business of "radically" changing America...the ideology and goals of this leftist and the liberal cronies that run with him is somed up in something that spewed from his racist , hate America filled mouth, "America is the greatest nation on earth, and I need you to help me change it"...hmmm

Roy

"I wonder where he got it?"...hahaha

from the same place he gets all the money to throw around to the entitlement crowd...you know , like that woman said when asked about where he would get the money she was expecting after voting for him, "I dunno, from his stash!"

So why don't all you @!$%# mouthing lazy assed bloggers run for office?

I would love to plan on doing an internet campaign since I subsist at below 80% of the poverty level. Thats right I'm disabled. So what are all you healthy intellegent pundits doing about replacing the 535 or so washington scapegoats that you blame for your own I, Me Mine, and by the way whats your's is mine additude?

For........ All The Addle Brained and Muddle heads - This Bud's For You

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous to be led to safety - by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."H. L. Menken...as demonstrated by

"The Party of NO"

This applies to the sheeple, soooooo afraid of the boogie man.

Read all of these negative naysayers that with no rational alternative attempt to negate the positive goals set out by the President. They incessantly try to negate everything the president trys to implement. I watched the Republicans sit on their collective arse's as Obama declared a cut in the capital gains tax for small business, how much cynicism can "The Party of NO" exhibit.

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Hanlon's Razor

Willowbrook - Please don't be a member of the "The Party of NO", be an independent.

I hope you read my post because this applies to you. I want this for you and your company. I read your post to me almost a week after you posted such, I wish I would have read it before I have maintained that post in my mind since reading it. I have a degree in Business Administration major in Accounting, and work with two CPA's under my state business license. I think we can to at least to some degree work together.

I was embarrassed and pissed-off when the President proposed an elimination of the capital gains tax, at least for the short run, for small business. I could not believe I seen Bhoner, Canter and the rest sit on their duffs. The hell with those jackasses. I am for an elimination for such a tax, at least for the short run. That makes me mad and sorry for all small business in Amaerica and I thought of your post when I heard that.

I totally support your small business and the availability to grow and provide jobs. I believe small business is the economic back bone of our country. So, I am all for your success but just wishing will not get it done.

Thats all for now..............Willow have a good night............

By the way check the stats on how many of the rgistered voters actualy get off their asses and vote. And don't hand me the @!$%# excuse that not casting a vote is some kind of high moral protest!

PS attitude, sorry about the spelling which is more I can say for many of these @!$%# for brains bloggers!

“I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people,” Obama said. “... This problem is not going away.”

But I thought he was a great communicator. He has spent more time before the public giving (teleprompter controlled) speeches than any president in the history of the US, and he has failed to communicate. Impossible!

A freeze, and then proposes more spending. My dear President, the only thing that the American people want is for you and your cronies to get out of the way of average Americans and let us run the economy.

The only freeze proposed are those that were newly instituted in in "pay back my supporters" stimulous plan, to make sure that they continue.

Clearly, this guy is incapble of telling the truth and merely hopes that he can get the gullible to continue to believe his lies.

Now that the speech is over; I'll paste here the post I made this morning;

It's set for failure from the get-go; "try to explain..." is setting the stage for :

"I'm not listening, I understand why YOU don't understand, I'll re-explain, and continue as I WANT, as I'VE planned, and hopefully now you'll understand why it's GOT TO go this way and I'M committed to making it happen".

Tell us why we're wrong, what our problems are with understanding, and ignore the American constituent citizenry.

I'd go into how this "creating jobs, going green, let me explain why I want you to be dependent on government" bull is going to go, but phooey on it. Those that have seen my posts know my position on this, and I'm not alone.

And...... anyone see some correlations in the prediction and the outcome?

blah blah blah blah blah

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

blah blah blah

blah blah blah blah blah

Our LIAR in charge once again blame each and every other person he can for his own policy. He has no clue what he is doing.

He bragged about creating 1000 jobs in Calf. How many jobs was lost in Calf? He did not say id he created jobs for the Illegals or if it was for American Workers.

He wants to allow GAYS in armed forces. You better start issuing weapons so the straight people can protect their a$$es

He really does have it down pat how to put blame on G W Bush for his problems.

See that's the problem from the day Obama took office the Republicans have not given him a chance, they have negative comments even before he makes his speech, how can the government work with only half of the people striving for way to fix the problem we face while the other half seek ways to hinder any remedy ..

One thing seems certain after this union address, and that is that we're in for much more divisiveness, continuance of the same past year's failures, and partisanship beyond belief (meaning Owebama taking more and more time to advertise, spend, and campaign for any and all Dem's).

Don't color me incrdulous because yes, I DO know, that any President will want their party elected into Congress. Yet again, I have to re-itterate, HE is the one that advertised no politics as usual, wanted to work for and LISTEN TO the middle class, average American; he wanted to work across party lines, and hear all.... the hope and change speal.

Tonight, he re-affirmed the medias and his administrations accusations of the GOP as being the "party of no", "the Republican'ts", and "retaining the status quo". I'm NOT A REPUBLICAN, OK? So, anytime that myself or someone else defends some positives or points out lies, let's get that out of the way... right is right, truth is truth, and facts are facts. What's documented, recorded either live or quoted in interviews... these aren't opinions.

McCain has said since this past Fall that Republicans wanted tort reforms and competition across state lines included in ANY health reform. Otherwise, no support from them. Lo and behold, what happened? And this IS speculation on my part, but some may have been more cooperative with other parts of the bill AND there wouldn't have been such a need for rush, rush, rush and buying votes from some; thus, the lawsuits that will ensue IF this is now pushed further wouldn't be taking up webspace.

This has been ignored by the past administration for 8 years as well, but again; no talk of stopping the sell-out of our jobs, our economy, our manufaturing and production. No talk of the G-S act coming back, even though corporate abuses, bailouts, and all else point towards needing that as of 12 years ago. No talk of pointing out the fallacies and corruption perpetrated by some in this globalized economy and "in the name of going green" that IS MORE specific to this administration, continuing along the lines of cap and trade, and belief that Global Warming (what may or may not be caused by humans) is irrelevant as long as it's on the other side of the globe.

Owebama continues to do what I've mentioned in post 1.97, and on this premise, has no intentions of changing any direction, working across party lines, LISTENING TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC, and wants to continue stacking the deck.

He's corrupt, ignorant, or a terrible leader with no hearing aide. It's not that he's a Democrat, it's not that he ISN'T Republican, it's not that I or many others are die hard right wingers or anything else of the sort; he's bad, he's wrong, he's divisive, has no workable plans of recovery and is using every tool at his disposal to manipulate other Dem's, Congress, the media, and PC card he can find.

Instead of learning one damn thing or changing tactics, listening ability, or approach, he's just said it's not only going to continue as it has been, but will become worse.

First off, all he wanted to achieve is, blame President Bush for what he inherited. Okay. He's had a year to fix it. Does anyone see the light at the end of the tunnel? Now here is what he said and what he really means. Everyone HEARD him say "there will be a FREEZE on spending." Now what he didn't tell you is, he has a bill on his desk, for the next stimulus package in the amount of $1.9 trillion.

President Obama has done what I have said all along. An old Indian saying. "Man speak with forked tongue" or nowadays, "He speaks out of both sides of his mouth. Anyway it was interesting watching the speech and the camera pan. They panned the Democrats on a few occasions where they had remorse looks on their face and not clapping with Pelosi. Anyway you look at it, he has accomplished, for the American people, what he has accomplished all year. NOTHING

Watched the SOTU and GOP response... Nothing new under the Sun. I will say this... "If President Obama was only half as good at Governing and managing the Economy as he is at making speeches.... I would be the biggest Cool-Aid drinker in the building. Regretfully, He is not.

Lets take a short look at a few realities... The President is asking for a "Freeze" on 15% of all Government spending... 15% folks... not the whole spending budget... to be informed, one must listen closely to what he said and what he meant. Take into consideration that in the past 12 months he has INCREASED spending by nearly 50%... and the number does seem a bit minuscule... does it not? Also... take this into consideration. Obama knows the @!$%# is in the breeze for many Democraps come November. Using a Bill to "Freeze" spending will do just that... "Freeze Spending". "Wonderful"... You say... A great road to "CYA" (cover your ass) I say. Not only does it prevent more money being spent... it also STOPS anyone who is elected in November from CUTTING any spending on programs or Bills that are covered in the 15% freeze. Effectively securing any current spending plans for 3 FULL YEARS... Huh!

Not only can the man give a speech... He does a fair job making certain that the wells are poisoned long before the rescue comes. Pretty damn smart..Obama... But... That sort of two faced bull@!$%# will be and already has been exposed by anyone who is the broadcasting business that is NOT drinking the Obama-aid. I certainly would have not known about these truths until I was told. It is obvious to me why Obama and the Left Wing Lunatics are so adamant in their hate for some of the Media broadcasters... They are educating Americans to the truth. They are letting us know what is really going on rather then us just having to take Obamas word for it.

I can hear the Liberal Lunatics now... "That kind of crap is what is wrong, that is why GOP members are obstructionist and why the Right Wing Nuts are destroying everything Obama wants to do".... Well... I would say the Lunatics are right to a certain degree. IT IS causing some to go against Obama... and it damn well should!!! There is NOTHING WRONG with the truth. And, if the person whom I learned these facts from was NOT telling the truth... There is a phone on his set that only the White House and Obama have the number for. They have been invited to call at any time and refute any and all matters discussed on that program.

Guess what??? That phone has not rang in coming up on 9 months.

So...? Why Not...? Why if what is being reported is incorrect or misleading would the administration not light that phone up like the 4th of July??? Would it not be a great thing to catch one of these so called... "Obstructionists and Media Right Wing Nuts" telling a lie and expose them?...ON THEIR OWN SHOW???

They cannot... why... they (The Media People of which I speak) are not lying. If they were... there would be war in the streets with this administration BLASTING the truth and putting the "Information Leaks" out of business in one fail swoop.

Tonight was just another very well written, Passionately spoken, Professionally delivered by a professional politician... Harrumph... speech. It will inspire all of those who got a chill down their leg when they saw the last speech like this one in Denver... it will certainly inspire... at least for the evening... all the Obama supporters who are wavering just a bit. But... Here is the honest truth of what you heard (if you watched)... It is the same cake... with different frosting.

Before closing I feel it fair to give credit where it is due... SOME of what President Obama said about education; particularly the parts about letting the debt go in 20 years... and keeping cost down and quality up... is important. Education is what we have that can set us apart. Imagine how good our education system could be should we base teacher pay on performance? Imagine how great it would be to see College professors teaching our young people HOW TO THINK... INSTEAD OF TEACHING THEM WHAT TO THINK???

Liberal/Progressive teaching and rhetoric has no place in the classroom other then to be taught as a political belief system. Just as is Conservatism. It is not that way however... Liberal/Progressive politics is taught as the GOOD AND GIVING way to think politically. And... ha!... We all know the truth where that bull@!$%# is concerned...Do we not?

President Obama needs to understand one thing. Working together does not mean Agreeing with everything that proceeds out of his pie hole... Personal Hubris and deep seated Liberalism will stop him from ever realizing that fact. However... we can remind him in November and then again in 2012 that we were serious about his administration listening to our desires. After all... the Constitution does not read... "Me The President of the United States"... Instead... It reads... "WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES" ALL OF YOU KEEP THAT IN MIND WHEN LISTENING TO HOW MANY TIMES OBAMA SAYS... I... Me... Mine... Myself... or any other reference that is always precluded by announcing himself. He said recently that "It was not all about him"... "It was about us"... well Mr. Obama... I will start believing that when you show me you ability to keep YOURSELF out of the equation.

Richie, not Red, again- but, the point was, many of us knew what was coming, because Obama advertised prior that he wasn't "acceding to change" one damn thing; wasn't listening, and the rest is already there.

There's a big difference between not giving someone a chance and already knowing where they're going and who they are; how long would you remain loyal to someone when they do the same wrong things over and over? How much time is enough to say "well, I gave them a chance"?

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!

OH MY GOD,,,,I'M GLAD I TVO'D THIS BLATHERFEST, I WON'T NEED SOMINEX ANYMORE!!!

What the F**K did this guy say???? I thought this was Campaign 2008 all over again. How many times does this buffoon think we're going to keep listening to this BULLS**T?????

This is the exact kind of speech I was expecting. How could he NOT just throw the kitchen sink at us all and hope we all get so bamboozled we'll actually believe it.

Earmarks, fiscal conservative, jobs, green development, health care, immigration, balanced budget, climate change,,,,YADDA, YADDA,,,YADDA!!!

Now his ratings will blip up for a week or two and then the reality of what a lullabye speech this really was will dawn on the American people again.

Well, I don't know about any of you but this was just a RAH RAH OBAMA speech given by OBAMA!!!

It's pretty sad when our own president has to cheer himself on because no one else will.

Dave,

I hope you and the rest of America did as I and did not listen to the rubbish of our elite leader!! We the people of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA need to express our discontentment with our current leadership and their desire to blame the previous administration. The previous president of this great nation could not institutue law without house and senate agreement. Unless I am mistaken these people are the same, thus government has not changed with leadership. I did not listen to this speach nor do I plan to listen to any with in the next 3 years unless it truly is a speach reflecting change and hope. During the campaign we constantly heard the promise of working across the asiles of the house and congress, open sessions let me see maybe, well there isn't enough time or space to cover all these short comings!!!

Derek-

Education; very important. I've been bringing up the importance of political education as well as discouraging the "no child left behind" for some time.

Once in high school and throughout college, politics...namely, recent (past 40 yrs. perhaps) and a decent focus on what's currently going on needs to be done. This will go a LONG ways towards the up and coming making informed decisions. Make it part of the curriculum.

One big caveat, however, is that is must be done non-partisanly. Actual facts; who voted how, who voted for what, what they did vs. what they said they would, what happened with jobs, economy, how votes are "bought", what pork is, special concessions, lobbying, etc., etc, etc....

An ongoing learning process. I'd be interested to see in 30 years, if this was instituted tomorrow, where we'd be, what parties would exist, and have hope for my daughters as well as any grandchildren that may come (that better not be for several years, though!).

There are those who will continue to listen to President Obama and hear him blame President Bush's administration for the economy and joblessness when President Obama entered office. I don't hear that - but I recognize that President Bush faced two recessions during his Presidency and initiated government actions to reduce the effects of the 2003 recession and TARP to reduce the effects of the 2007 recession. The major point we have to recognize is that while President Bush's actions were necessary at the time to generate spending and reduce crisis, the action did not resolve the root of the problem. I actually shudder at the thought of job creation incentives for small business and large corporations. History tells us that initiatives like that during the Carter and Bush administrations did not yield the expected benefit of jobs at the expense to the deficit. The idea we need to pursue is how to sustain jobs in America. Our skills range from no high school diploma/GED to Doctorates. Not every American citizen strives to be the very best they can be - some just strive to get by - yet they want to be able to live respectably. I liked the Presidents words to American businesses that we need to increase exports and stop sending jobs overseas by holding trading partners accountable.

The freeze on government spending is applaudable. Even if it is only on the smaller spending segment of the budget. I sent my Senators and Representatives a letter last night imploring them to hold defense spending and homeland security spending at current levels as well. For defense - their budget should be reduced by the amount defense cannot account for. That will force commanders to prioritize their spending authorizations to those activities that directly support the operation, maintenance, and logistics for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Furthermore, hold military, federal, military retiree, and federal retiree pay at 2010 levels through 2015. We have to ween ourselves from the expectation to expect annual cost of living allowance (COLA) increases. Those COLAs exponentially increase the impact to our growing deficit spending by their compounding effect.

I just hope people will cast aside their cynical nature and allow the opportunity for real discussion to resolve problems. From the appearance of the majority of postings in this thread - I know I have a challenge ahead of me. Many people in this thread openly stated they will not watch or did not watch the President's State of the Union Address post negative comments about the content that they did not listen to or try to understand.

It is our country, I've had my hands on the oars pulling for our country during my 25 year military career, as a student in secondary education and college degrees, and civilian manufacturing manager. I'll keep pulling no matter what party leads Congress or who the President is. I'll keep my vision focused on the intent and purpose instead of attacking characteristics and style. I have enjoyed the diverse styles of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Regan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and now Obama. In my opinion, each of these Presidents clearly demonstrated leadership in the face of serious challenges to the United States. Sure hindsight provides a clear review that some challenges might have been resolved with better results if handled differently. But when faced to make a decision for all the people of the United States - our Presidents have been decisive and leaders. I think it is far beyond time for those who continue to bash President Obama to recognize and respect the challenges and decisions he has made that are not based on political party but were based on the needs of the United States.

I am currently unemployed, and I know the pain people are living just trying to get a resume response. But I also know I affect the minds and attitudes of all people I come in contact with by spreading optimism in the face of cynicism. I've seen how cynical behavior demoralize units while I was in the military and I was charged to improve not only the unit performance but a highly subjective catagory of moral. I was able to manage by producing facts in the face of conjecture, recognizing performance and holding non-performers accountable. Re-enlistments increased, unit members received base, command, and Air Force level recognition; promotion test scores improved and a higher percentage of our unit were receiving promotions in comparison to other units. Fitness levels improved as well as applications to stay with the unit. Our unit exceeded all operation and maintenance performance measurements for like aircraft for three straight years despite being at the end of the logistics support line. The success was not mine, the success was the result of each squadron member recognizing that even though there might be different approaches to solve a problem, leadership selected the course considering possible solutions. Once the course was selected - we all had to pull on our oar for the whole unit to be successful. Today as in the past, it is time for all of us to put aside the elections and political negativity, it is time for us to grab that oar and strongly pull on it with our fellow citizens to get our country back on path of economic growth and employment opportunity.

""“I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people,” Obama said. “... This problem is not going away.”""

what the heck is he talking about? he made all sorts of promises, and spent hundreds of billions of dollars bailing out banks adn car companies, and promised to save and create millions of jobs by doing so...

this guy is a blowhard idiot. I am losing any hope I ever had that this guy could make a difference... he is no different than any other politician, I am sorry to say.

hypocrites and liars, the whole lot of them.

they all need to fly home, coach.

The republican'ts got served!!!! I liked Obama's speech because he is genuine and is not a coward/traitor like bush is and bush will always be a coward/traitor.

if he had given all that money to the people instead of banks and car companies, the economy would be ripping along nicely now...

but the banks got it, adn they are still foreclosing on people instead of changing the mortgages to reflect the new reality... which they could have done and if they had, a LOT of the problems in this country would have been averted...

it is the refusal of the banks to truly renegotiate the mortgages that is one of the main sources of our troubles today... even after they were bailed out they continue to throw people out of thier homes instead of truly trying to help them.

sad...

"That's why we're working to lift the value of a family's single largest investment – their home. The steps we took last year to shore up the housing market have allowed millions of Americans to take out new loans and save an average of $1,500 on mortgage payments. "

Wait a minute haven't house prices been in free fall ever since the Democrats took office? And didn't December have the biggest decline in sales on record for existing homes? Is there the slightest bit of consideration for the remote possibility that maybe..just maybe the policies are not working?

"Let's invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt. Let's meet our responsibility to the citizens who sent us here."

So this is the new policy. Is the plan to give the debt back to Wall St. somehow? I think we need some more details on this one!

AF-

I respect what you say; we all have different opinions, nothing wrong with that. There are some that do talk of the continuance of blaming Bush; others say that it's valid. Both are actually right to some degree, and that's the point.

There wasn't anything said tonight that gives hope or any indication that the goals of this administration, Obama's desires, are going to change whatsoever. This pertains to what I've tried to get across in my past three posts here; there are no changes, no workable or needed changes in how the economy, health care, or jobs that will be made. Admissions only to minor mistakes and most of the blame has been put on us "emotional and not thinking clearly" American Citizens being reactionary.

Yet, he clearly stated that he WILL not change course, WILL continue as has, and many of us know that's simply not going to work. It's not personal, it's common sense. It's not party lines, because the past administration didn't address the real problems, either. The damage is increasing at a much faster rate; the closest anything came to addressing the sell-out of our economy and jobs was talk of "holding our trading partners more accountable".

This is ambivelant at best, and politico speak in reality. Again, cap and trade, amnesty, continued talk of "going green" at our economical expense and others (WORSE polluters) gain hasn't changed.

Believe me; if the massive trade imbalance were REALLY addressed, if REAL jobs and production were to come home and in respectable numbers, if Glass-Steagall were re-encated instead of more "whoops... didn't know they'd do THAT with it" bailouts, then I'd be one to seriously consider Obama as a viable candidate, and would defend his pro-American actions.

It's not about party lines or anything else with me; when or if he does something that truly is beneficial for America, jobs and our economy, I'll be the first to applaude and defend him. I, and many others, aren't just looking for excuses to bash or obstruct; we bash and others in Congress obstruct what is bad.

Just to say again, I understand that opinion plays into this. I respect yours. I just don't agree with much of what has been going on, the direction he and his administration have taken, and where they will continue to go. It's not so much about what he inherited as what his desires and responses are to the crisis.

The mortgage crisis was handled worse than most other policies/issues by this administration.

Those who owe more than their homes are worth are being worked with due to loss mitigation, and those that owe less are being foreclosed on for profits; it's all a plethra of completely voluntary options provided to lenders and banks, it's done with the negativity of tax payer money abuse, and is rewarding those that did abuse and over-reach while punishing those hit by the recession.

And, it's blown out of proportion; more homes are being lossed to joblessness and underemployment than by abuses of buyers. Real legislation would have held those accountable (banks and lenders) without option to deny IF the homeowner could demonstrate that they are employed, can continue to pay, and are refinanced at 30 yr. fixed rates with the new, lower payments.

The only ones that would lose anything are those that perpetrated the fall; banks and lenders. The same that have been bailed out, trade at 0% interest between eachother yet raise rates on all customers. The same that (not a fan of myself, believe me) Bush raised concerns about in 2003 but was silenced due to the PC climate and Big Money.

Social programs are against public sentiment for a good reason; in this instance as in others, they don't hold those responsible accountable. Hence, some misguided outrage from the public about "saving homes" because it's not being done in sound, common sense ways legislativly. It's being "proposed" as being done on everyone elses' backs. So, the minor abuses of ARM and subprimes continue, the tax breaks for mortgage BUYERS continues, but nothing substantial is addressed. And, won't be.

To all the endless whiners in here (the regulars!):

Get back to work or get a job!

Create your own change and stop pointing the finger at everyone else but yourself...

Work is picking up for those who have put a little time and preparation into the future... go get some of it and stop complaining!

It really doesn't have to be that bad!

Obama should have said, no more whining about free rides.

Most people on the street are there cause they got in trouble with the IRS. Why would the government help those that don't pay up like we do.

Obama I really do hope you fix things cause opportunities are not here for us right now. I hope the loss of supermajority has finally helped to create option C, the right option, the middle option. Then these guys on here can get a job and still call you Hitler won't that be nice? : )

Was that an SNL satire last night?

He must have been really uncomfortable with what he was saying to look more like a comedy skit than the real thing.

Get to the point-

What would be your solution then? "Create our own change" by creating our own jobs? Take basic couses to re-train, doing something "seviceable" at a mere percentage of what we made manufacturing, producing?

What work, specifically, is "picking up for those that have put a little time and prepartion into the future"? Full time jobs? Ones that:

Advocate, promote, and regulate so that an American company produces American goods, employs Americans to do so, provides benefits AND these same goods or services to be bought and/or used, consumed by Americans. These same companies are given tax breaks because they ARE the backbone of America, and are encouraged to succeed. There are jobs, there is consumption, there are utilities, mortgages, bills ALL being levied and paid based on this model. Unemployment is next to nill, and thus, AMERICA'S ECONOMY, America's standard of living, Americans pursuit of all that is based on what is and makes America what it is becomes reality.

Or, those part time, PRN, downgraded wage jobs without benefits and that PROMOTE down-waging to fit into this administration's "nanny state" corporate sell-out agenda?

It's the first time that I leave a comment .

Good luck for U.S.A

Joe Wilson showed great restraint as did the rest of Congress and the Justices of the Supreme Court. Since when does the president call out the Supreme Court on national television. They are an equal branch of the government part of the checks and balances of our form of government.

Unlike some of you I took the time to read every post and actually listen to the Address before I formed an opinion. Those of you that condemned before you read or heard the Address have political possibilities. We have several elected officials that function very much the same way. Be it a yes or no vote prior to actually hearing the information just may be a large part of our problem.

Individuals from either party (isn't it interesting they call it a party) that function on that level when we are facing such a difficult period are absolutely useless and counter productive to resolving the problems. If we only had one problem and could spend 100% of our time correcting it, either "party" could present a solution and then we would have meaningful data to determine who and what to vote for. But as most of you are aware we have numerous problems some even created by the "parties".

We complain about other Countries not being able to police their own but politically neither do we. The "party" not holding the majority spend all their time condemning those in majority so that they can be back in power. They do not address the problems with possible solutions and/or alternatives but rather with distortions and efforts to discredit. How does that differ from some of the Countries we love to condemn?

TJM,

Joe Wilson was and is an embarrassment to our Country and should spend his time working on some of the problems of his own State. He had his 15 seconds of publicity and did not use it wisely.

The Supreme Court is a Branch of our Government but it is not one that is approved or voted upon by the people. Regardless of the position you hold on "Corporate Individuality" with unlimited spending and non restricted messages on political campaigns, the fact remains that it like Congress voted on strict party lines. We can only hope that legal decisions made by the Supreme Court that will trickle down to the entire legal system are made from wisdom not politics.

Like you said, they are a Branch of the Government and there could be no greater Government control of the people than our legal system.

Same @!$%#, different day

Mr. Obama, if you want to make a difference, end the drug war and the prohibition of cannabis. I guarentee if you do this you would win reelection. You are a young man still, and it is your youth that seperates you from the old school of thought. I did not vote for you, but I judge a man by his actions. I hear words, but they carry little weight. I will defer any judgement until your full term has finished. We don't need an orator, we need a leader.

The State of the Union speech, was nothing more than another campaign speech and very little to do with how things stand. His openning statements echoed the "Blame George Bush" that has been so often seen from this administration. It was frought with what he wants to do, but very little on how. The tax cuts he claimed they passed, he neglected to say, were under sunset clauses from GWB except for the homeowner credit. He claimed that they didn't raise taxes but not replenishing cuts made before amounts to the same thing. Again we see the lack of leadership and the in your face attitude prevelent in this administration. He heard the message from the latest defeat, but has said openly in his speech that he isn't going to listen. He tried to corner republicans into going along with his agenda by calling them obstructionist if they fail to cooperate. This is typical rhetoric. He mentioned jobs in his speech 29 times and did raise some good ideas, but at the same time he failed to outline an effective approach and continued to hint at an overpowering federal government.

The headline here in our paper above his column is "I Don't Quit"! Well if he doesn't, I guess we won't either. Confrontation after confrontation. He thinks he's right and by God we all can't be right. How do you compromise with someone like that. You have to have common ground and there isn't any. He sees government as the answer to all things. You have to draw that fine line between where government is really needed and where private enterprise can handle it. I believe this. He and the Dems will try to push through whatever they can before the Nov. elections. They know that come Nov. they'll be changes on both sides of the aisle. It's going right, maybe HARD right.

Actually; I am laughing my ass off at all those who voted for this Bull-*%#@er. Obama all had you fooled!!!. All those broken promises and huge spending but yet he still keeps blaming Bush for everything. Obama didn't have to add to the problem with his wasteful stimulus package which was a load of PORK, or the bailouts without any regulations, cash for clunkers, AIG, ECT.... SO YOU SEE PEOPLE! Obama added more problems to the situation which only made it worse. I am so tired of the blame games. Enough already Mr. President! If the voters keep believing in your smooth talking then I hope every American who supports you gets what they deserve. I for one will not be naive. I didn't vote for you then and will never vote for you now. This country needs CHANGE but not from the progressive left or right, someone who is not affiliated with either party will have my vote. Both parties screwed up this great country and now I will vote neither. Tired of the politician rhetoric, corruption of this government. NO MORE!

I say to you Obama, you make great speeches but when it comes time to walk the walk; you STINK!

Highlight of the State of the Union speach for me:

When President Obama talked about "getting rid of lobbyists and earmarks."

The Camera panned to senator John McCain and you could see him say to the person next to him:

"What a bunch of Bull$#iT.........." That was priceless.

Last night's speech finally made me truly realize that BHO is a pathological lier. It deeply saddens me to now know there is little hope for any change. In fact BHO he makes failure Bush look like an honest politician(!). The USD is doomed, as BHO's words never meet up with reality. Looks like i will be doing what my friends are doing and taking all my money, what there is left of it, and buying gold and silver. No need to trust BHO or the banks either.

Same ol' same ol' ..................speech! Said nothing new except his new word for the day is ""HOPE"".I just HOPE the next 3 years goes by quickly and CHANGE will be made .

Just curious for the ones who voted Obama in.......................Are you now ready for a CHANGE or are you going to vote for him again in 3 years on the HOPE he will accomplish one thing in his 8 years? I could swear he has a attention deficit disorder, he cannot stay focused on one thing and accomplish it without bouncing to something else to try and fix. The key word there was TRY. Please stop trying Mr President and stay focused. Get the economy going strong then move on to the next........or we all will be doomed..........!

I guess Obama is now recycling his speeches. What did he say that was any different than the past bunch of tripe? He did back slide on Oil exploration in America, as well as Nuclear endeavors. I did appreciate that. But once again, he had to blame Bush. Obama is truly arrogant and childish. But what do we expect from a man who can’t even address an elementary class without a teleprompter. Thanks Daily show for doing the segment on that embarrassment.

To Persevere post 1.93 I am not part of the party of "NO." However, I am a conservative who is tired of watching America go down the tubes.

Do we need health care reform? Yes, but not the 2000 page bills that are currently on the table. It will not take 2000 pages to correct the weak points of American Health Care. We will lose too much with these bills, not only care, but jobs as well.

Do we need job creation? Absolutely. Has Washington done ANYTHING that will create long-term, products producing jobs. NO Once again, the President showed his lack of business experience in his comments concerning business and job creation during last night's speech. The company I work for has the credit it needs, opening up credit for us won't help. Rolling back the Capital gains tax will not help us create jobs. We can't hire new employees when we don't have anything for them to do. We DO need to quit losing work to Asia. That one thing has had the most devastating effect on our company. We started experiencing the losses not long after NAFTA was enacted.

As for the Republican party being the party of "NO" That is simply not true. The Democrats have ignored the Republicans as they could since they had a solid majority. The Republicans have been trying to do things to help America all along. I am not saying that everything the Republicans are doing is right and true, but they certainly recognize the damage that will be created by voting for the Health care bills and the Cap and Trade. It is not Congress's job to legislate America into a third world country. This has been coming on for some time. (Not just the 8 years the President tries to brainwash us with.) It will take decisive action to begin the process of pulling back from the edge of the cliff. Thus far, the decisions made by the Obama Administration have not done this.

Personally, I would love to see some common sense surface in Washington.

Commenting Time – …Moderation

OK, I also have read every post above mine. Posters talk about the same old talk from the President I could say the same from the vast majority of posters I have just read. Same whining about economic matter s of which they know absolutely nothing about. No President can order me to hire you, without the increase in demand, I have no incentive to hire you and the President cannot make me hire you, period. What escapes every poster is that we are a great shift in global economic dominance. China, Brazil, India and south Asia are the great new economic engines of the global economy. If you would take an hour out of your day you could watch “market wrap up” or the Bloomberg Business channel or listen or even read of were investment money is going. Too save you some time I read that almost half if not more, depending on the investment fund like you 401k manager, is in “emerging markets. That’s right, if you think different show the stats.

I recently have seen the stats for Venture Capital invested in new IPO’s in America on a column chart going back over the last eight years. One sea’s long columns in 2004 and little, itsy bitty, very small columns for the last two years in Venture Capital for start up, expansion and new business concerns. Hum………

Little to no IPO’s offered up on Wall Street so no expansion of and creation of American jobs. There is a direct correlation with this economic fact, if you can argue that with me go for it. I want to hear this. I could go on but the bashers are out in full force with next to no solutions offered up just shallow recommendations and a truckload of criticism.

I do see point post, there a few others, that caught my mind and was far an above the most cogent and well thought out, with some down to earth real life detail, that would be the post of AF Chief.

Chief please don’t thank me for what is almost routine good sense from you. I prefer that you don’t. It’s like as though giving high marks to an artist that knows no different they just paint, paint because they are called too.

As for a certain ‘Moderation”, I don’t read anything but empty rhetoric subtlety blaming the President for not reaching across the aisle to the minority, the people that lost. The minority is just that and they have stated over and over they want this President to fail. The health bill was watered down so much to accommodate the other side that you want to appease so much that even his party has turned against this health bill. How much more accommodation do you want? When a party wins a majority such as this they are called on to lead not to cater to the party that lost big time. Allow me to quote you:

He's corrupt, ignorant, or a terrible leader with no hearing aide. It's not that he's a Democrat, it's not that he ISN'T Republican, it's not that I or many others are die hard right wingers or anything else of the sort; he's bad, he's wrong, he's divisive, has no workable plans of recovery and is using every tool at his disposal to manipulate other Dem's, Congress, the media, and PC card he can find.

Instead of learning one damn thing or changing tactics, listening ability, or approach, he's just said it's not only going to continue as it has been, but will become worse. By Moderation

Now just what in the blazes are you talking about? Amorphous blabber is all I get out of your paragraph. “He is so divisive”, to whom? Those that want him to fail? The tea-baggers? The health industry? Wall Street? You? He is attempting to lead the country that is why 69 Million people voted for him. Obstructionists have made that impossible.

He has no workable plans for recovery? Did you hear the speech or not? You have heard of the Stimulus plan? $179 Billion paid out and another % 380 Billion yet to be paid out. Two wars where we are not losing so many American soldiers as before. Craw backs of bonus money and repayment of bailout money. I could go on, do some work yourself. The president cannot wave a magic wand and make all of your concerns just as you would like to be. Real life does not work like that. The Party of NO sat on their duffs when he proposed an elimination of the capital gains tax on small business, how much more evidence do you need to see why the President cannot do as he wishes? I could go on but you, as others already have your mind made up and expect someone to fix your wrecked world for you while you carp at the one person capable of doing so, is that an oxymoron or what.

Willow more trickle down will not work, the American people are tired of that and have suffered the last thiry years from that economic thought pattern. I have to go but you have to get realistic and know what the limitations of a President are, of either party. The changing World...........

Bye for now..........

Persevere, that's just it. The govt. is in the way. Most of the President'ss ideas continue to stand in the way of recovery. I listened to the President's speech last night and was extremely disappointed. I was hoping to hear something new and different. Instead, it was yet another campaign speech given with a fair amount of attitude.

Why should/ would the Republicans applaud for ideas they do not support? Let alone show disrespect to the Supreme Court applauding Obama's call to overturn their ruling? The event wasn't a high school basket ball game. Believe me, many homes were not applauding either.

My question to you would be: Do you really want America to no longer be a an "economic engine of the global economy?"

Willowbrook -

We have tried for thirty years the Republican economic ideas and the middle class has lost purchasing power and is worse off than they were in year 2000. I can provide the data, it was in all the news and there was an article right here on this website.

I repeat, Wall Street is not investing in American business, the fund managers are investing heavily in Europe and emerging markets and look to America as an economic mess. We are able to stay afloat by borrowing through countries as China and other countries buying our debt instruments. They have already warned us concerning gettingour economic house in order or they may look elsewhere to invest. We will have raise interest rates so high that what you are experiencing now you will look back and see these as good times.

You and so many others do not recognize the Venture Capital to expandand create new industries is going elsewhere. No poster wants to address this critical issue. Initial Public Offerings (to accumulate the capital needed to build a business) go begging for capital while our investment bankers and fund managers invest in overseas markets and why not high return and stability. So for thosethat oppose Obama's economic ideas its everyone is on their own. In most western countries the government has an vested interest in the ownership and success of large scale business.

China's government provides capital as the does their central bank, our political ideology will not permit that. We thus pay the economic consequences. I am reading the history of Goldman Sachs (GS) which first formed in 1869, give or take a few years, they provided the investors for companies like US Steel, F.A. Woolworth, Kinney Shoes, BF Goodrich, trains and many more business entities that as I try to type fast do not come to mind, GS is only one of the many investment bankers through our nations economic history which put together the investors and offered up as an IPO these companies so the different levels of financial instruments could bring the needed capital for the purposes needed. I am trying to break this down so most anyone can see how the basics work.

Now we live in a different economic world which the President is aware of, but most of thees bashers are not aware of the change in the WORLD of markets and the relation of; demand - supply - cost of production - purchasing power - manufacturing capacity (how they are inter-related nationally and globally)

Allow me to point out that as a percentage of GDP our tax revenue is about 13% one of the lowest in the industrialized western nations and even non-western nations. Denmark has the highest national taxes as a part of their GDP than any nation. Just repeating the mantra "lower taxes" is not the answer, but the uneducated do not see that, look to Japan and how they came out and the so-called "lost decade". The poll of citizens of western nations most satisfied with their standard of living and government had Denmark as the most satisfied with their lives. Now please explain that to me, I want to hear this.

The President does not create jobs per se, he proposes legislation and uses the bully pulpit to get congress to act on his proposals. "The Party of NO" has blocked everything he has proposed on the domestic front the only item they have acted in a bi-partisan manner is the funding for additional troops for Afghanistan. In the mean while the business of health has spent upwards of $500,000,000 (half a Billion) to defeat and fashion a health care bill that they like, not one that the American people prefer. COMPETITION...nope. At least half a billion it is probalymore, much more I speculate. The 45,000 thousand of Americans that die each year due too lack of access to health care? Who gives a hoot, The Party of NO does not. Just look at this little peiceof "compromise" the Repub's promoted for their limited support, a real gem:

The Party of NO, they wanted to compromise" and shift 55 years and over to Medicare, these are the most expensive group of people cost of as old age approaches. The party of NO liked that, that is not working together. That is a scam on the American taxpyer. How transparent can it get? These are the people you want running things?

No support from the "The Party of NO", except to lower taxes and insure 6 million new Americans and hand over to the business of health the same monopoly of insurance they have enjoyed since 1942. They said they hoped he would fail and have stood fast in that endeavor. A select members of the Senate are shills for the business of health and Wall Street. Nothing more than that and we tolerate it to our economic detriment.

One example of a member of the Senate that is shoved aside (his ideas) and he is not a shill for the financial overseers of our national economy that have so much influence on the Senate. I am speaking of Senator Rockefeller, he wants to leave (as part of his legacy) as part of his long history of public service a real health plan that insures at least 35 million Americans.

He is a philanthropistwith no desire to line his pockets and his wife does not sit on various board of directors for numerous large business of health corporations as does a number of Senators wife's do. Give me a break. What possible motive other the benefits of a modern civilized society could Senator Rockefeller have? Please tell me?

Lets stop here I have a full day ahead of me and devoted too much time as it is to the Vine today.

Willow your ideas will be blocked by "The Party of NO", they are not in their best interest. It is back to trickle down Willow not trickle up. They want the status guo, just what or rather who do you think will fashion our country in all respects to compete on a global scale? Palin? McCain? I hope you get all that your people that you want to control the countrys economy. May you get those responsible for wrecking this Presidents agenda, then you may reap your harvest and inherit the wind. As you are now.

Final Post: .....Today...pardon my typo's had to type fast

Have a good day.........................

How about a line item veto?????

Darthfrodo - The Supreme Court overturned the 1996 Line Item Veto Act on June 25, 1998. "In a 6 to 3 decision, the court held that the line-item veto law violates a constitutional requirement that legislation be passed by both houses of Congress and presented in its entirety to the president for signature or veto." (Dewar & Biskupic, 1998).

President Clinton used the line item veto 82 times reversing $869 million in spending and tax breaks before the Supreme Court overruled the authority. Only one line item veto was overturned by Congress and it took a 2/3s majority to overturn $289 million 38 project military construction bill. (Dewar & Biskupic, 1998)

President Obama encouraged congress to expand the efforts of some congressionsl representative who post ear marks on their web site. He encouraged the House and Senate to create a web site for all ear marks to be posted for public review before voting on the legislation. (Obama, 2010).

References

Dewar, H., Biskupic, J. (1998, June 26). Courts Strike Down Line-Item Veto. washingtonpost.com. Retrieved January 28, 2010 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/supcourt/stories/wp062698.htm)

Obama, B. (2010, January 27). 2010 Barack Obama. State of the Union Adress Library. Retrieved January 28, 2010 from http://stateoftheunionaddress.org/2010-barack-obama

Persevere, did you ever think that the venture capital is investing in companies that have taken our jobs to another country??? The picture is much larger than Venture Capital. It is obvious that your platform is to blame the Republicans for the problems in this country. This discussion has become pointless. I want solutions that will bring jobs back to Americans.

You didn't answer my question... Do you want America to continue to be a "global engine" or not?

Additionally, Ted Kennedy wanted the same thing Rockefeller did. Doesn't make it any more right. It is sad that folks like that are willing to ascribe to "enlightened" ideas without the ability to pay for the idea. Why do you think health care has not been accomplished in the decades it has been on the table? The rest of us couldn't pay for it. We have watched other countries go down this road. The only way to do it was with high taxes and rationing. Is that what you want? I am not interested in rationing. And the taxes wouldn't be so high if everyone possible was contributing to the program. BUT, it is so easy to "let someone else" pay for your care, where's the motivation to take care of yourself.

Incidentally, I would be interested to see the data on how many of these "emerging market" companies are still in business after the first 5 years and if they are subsidized by the local govt. or not. I say this as our govt. is shelling out money to give high-speed rail service to several states, including mine. This will create jobs in the short term, but will it be a profitable venture in the long run? Probably not. The entire rail system in America is already subsidized by the govt. (from the trucking industry, among others.) The high-speed rail system will most likely be subsidized as well as it will not be profitable either. The route shown in our state will link several of the large cities together, but not service anyone in the country inbetween. If there was a market in the route that is planned, why hasn't Amtrak taken it on? Because they already know better.

WillowBrook –

Did you read my post closely? I stated explicitly that Venture Capital is investing overseas, particularly in South East Asian markets. You want solutions but you did not offer any, if you don’t like the solutions that are in place now and planned for the future, which you have through your power of clairvoyance deem to be a failure. Then what is your solution?

My reference to the lack of funding for IPO's over the last few years you don't want to address, Why? The speculation and not investment from our investment banking concerns on Wall Street you don't want to talk about, why?

Then offer something of substance, not just your same mantra of cut taxes, we already have practically the lowest taxes. Can you possibly think of something else?

Your phantasmagoria idea of our country being the so-called “economic engine of the world” as a modern day notion is an anachronism, you seem to absolutely devoid of the economic strength just gaining steam in countries I previously pointed out to you, mind you a partial list. Misguided economic jingoism ignoring the economic forces of other countries and blaming the President because the world does not kneel and give way for you is neurotic. So there is your answer too if I want us to be the economic engine of the world, which is an empty metaphor borrowed from decades ago, a little trite don’t you think.? Lets move up to the 21^st century – ok.

I can see you are not aware, we already are paying for the uninsured, that simple fact escapes you. Those other countries that offer health care are not going broke as we are, that simple fact you do not want to address. You totally missed the fact that we pay 13% of our GDP for health care, almost the lowest in the western modern countries of which we are a member. You don’t even mention this in your post, is this inconvenient fact?

Obviously you are unaware that we have the highest cost with the lowest over-all coverage of all modern nations, again you do not want to address this issue, why?

Again, the blindness to the emerging markets that have been going strong and picking up momentum as we enter the second decade of this century you seem to be totally unaware of. I don’t know if you live in some sort of jingoistic economic bubble or just have closed your mind and resist doing research. If you want to see the growing strength and investment I suggest you do some work and don’t expect every piece of data to be handed to you to on a “silver platter”, do some work.

The non-profitability of hi-speed rail you offer no evidence of the negative income in other countries or the time line to profitability for such. You ipso facto just say this project is fruitless and will be a drain on our economy. You don’t know that, where is your evidence to support your contention?

You say my “platform” is to blame the Republicans, where have I set out an economic platform? I say we are in dire need of reforming the health plan, is that my “platform”? I suppose by your definition everyone in the country has a “platform” then. That “The Party of NO” and selected democrats have blocked and watered this health plan down so that it greatly enriches the business of health and does not reach the over-all good for the majority of Americans, does not do away with the monopolistic grip of the business of health you don’t want to address, why?

Your answer too why I think health care has not been enacted for all this decades is because of the political strength of the special interests. Do you doubt that, look at any legitimate poll and most Americans want real health care reform. Excepting you.

I have too leave and you are right this conversation is over…..when you find the time re-read my post and try to answer my questions and statements of fact as I have taken the time to answer your post, statements by statement and question by question, can you do that? I doubt it.

End of conversation……………

Post Script:...........

WillowBrook

I just heard on the business channel that GDP grew at 5.7%. The largest groth in the last 5 years, did you get that? the largest groth in the last five 95) years - Willow. Now what is your criticism. It should be that we need faster growth of jobs, that does mean that it is possible. Job creation is a lagging indicator but with strong GDP numbers jobs will follow, with this kind of growth that is inevitable. It will be slower because of global and national changes in our manufacturing and economic frame work, frame of reference if you prefer.

Naysayers............

Willow -

I would like to hear, read a thoughtful post and educated post answering my statements, all of them. Also, offering some solutions of your own, not just the parroting of "we need to lower taxes", we already have the lowest taxes.

Look to Japan and how they lowered taxes to zero for almost a decade and the resulting so-called "lost decade" of the Japanese economy. do some research.

How do you plan on criticizing the 5.7 of GDP growth? I know you will find a way to blemish that fact. That seems to be your expertise.

Persevere, as you have not answered any of my questions, even the one where I was quoting YOUR POST, I don't see the point of wasting any more time on you, particularly since you have lowered yourself to insulting me without cause. (A known Liberal defense mechanism.) You have spent a fair amount of the last couple of posts assuming what I know and what I believe in. Stop, you have no clue as to what I am all about. I am beginning to think that you are a paid troll. Troll elsewhere.

WillowBrook –

I re-read the posts and I answered most if not all of you’re Questions, what particular companies and business concerns have prospered and which have not is not so readily available as you think it is. The growth of Brazil, India, Sri Lanka and most of South East Asia is well documented. The American investment in foreign markets is very evident, fund managers and so forth. This is fairly understood by any average watcher of world economics.

I am not going to feed you as a baby is feed baby food economic data that is readily available and is the subject of hundreds of business articles. Your unawareness has me thinking you have no knowledge of the economic strength of China nor of any other country than our own.

I have not insulted you, where? You have offered the same tangential questions with an edge to me as I have too you.

Just consider any perceived insults aimed at you as strictly gratuitous, without malice.

Have a good day….and enjoy your tea………

Maybe he'll resign.

Obama's resigning would be a disaster!!! We would then have Biden. Wait, let's get rid of Biden too. Can't do that; we would be stuck with .... Pelosi!

Thanks to liberals and progressives, we are stuck with an incompetent and worthless executive office until 2012.

Let's just hope the nation can survive that long.

Amen to that!

Hoax and Chains People, Hoax and Chains!!!!

Hope in one hand and beg for change $ with the other.

More like, hope in one hand sh!t in the other...see which one fills up faster. Get those shovels ready folks because he will be pushing a whole lot of something on us, and it ain't hope.

Then that would make it a "shovel-ready" project and eligible for federal stimulus funding.

Cantor is such a sleaze, no one would even buy a used car from that scumbag.

The President has promised Nuclear and offshore drilling in this speech... awesome (since he removed Bush's same things)...he has promised a web site that will show all pork!

Seriously if it works half as well as the stimulus one I will be happy knowing I am getting half screwed versus a full monty with a reach around :)

Saw a post earlier today that was on the money.

Obama should resign and get a job at McDonalds where he can hand out real change.

I missed the part where "History's Call" involves forceful "change" as we march toward total enslavement in America. You can put conservative lipstick on a pig, but it's still a marxist pig.

WAKE THE F__— UP BARRY!!!! (or was that Shut the F_— up Barry, I guess either will work in this case...)

How dare you attempt to play the race card here, by comparing Washington's budgetary idiocracy to the Civil War or Civil Rights. Any intelligent taxpayer, regardless of color ought to be outraged!!!

A freeze on government spending isn't going to cut it you Moron!! Here is what we actually need to have happen, to straighten this mess around:

1) A huge tax on all imports - this generates needed tax dollars while making American products more competitive with the 3rd world. This will start bringing much needed jobs back home.

2) Welfare reform/elimination- No more freebies people. If you can't get a job in your own field, look in another one. Re-start the CCC. No free health care for illegals!!

3) Strict guidlines for the banking industry - No More Fleecing of America.

4) No more lifetime of benefits for a 4 year politician - This alone will save taxpayers millions...

5) Reduce/eliminate spending abroad - charity starts at home

These 5 basic steps will drastically reverse the direction our poor country is currently headed. Wake up America, vote Libertarian for the long overdue "REAL" change America needs!!! Get Republicans and Democrates out of Washington. They had their chance and continue to blow it!!

GOD BLESS the USA (or whats left of it...)

Lets start with getting the democrats out they have been botching things up for the last three years. Clinton caused our banking melt down the democrats have been lying about it ever since, get the truth out about these people shame them off the planet. If we got rid of the democrats, This country would be better off with republicans and libertarians.

Some thoughts on Obamas lip service last night...

"I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people"
Explaining? Explaining what? Explaining why both he and the government have pretty much blown off the American public the last year?

"All other discretionary government programs will be affected...encompassing education"
Awesome. Let's have a spending freeze on education. They didn't need the little money they were receiving anyway.

"Jobs must be our number one focus in 2010, and that is why I am calling for a new jobs bill tonight...They need our help. And I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay."
If he were really in tune he would have been calling for that jobs bill without delay months ago. If a Dem had won in Mass he would still be ramming the health care through and jobs would still be an afterthought.

What is going on now is battered wife syndrome. Only when the wife threatens to leave does a last minute attempt at corrective action take place. No matter how many times the husband says "I am sorry" or "I will change" it never happens and the wife keeps coming back for more with a hope for change. Obama spent his entire campaign gaining our trust then turned around and systematically broke that trust within a year, now he wants to regain our trust. Massive spending then a spending freeze? He is not a leader, he is a reactionary.

USA - Ultimately Slipping Away

I agree...comparing the current recession to the Civil War or Civil Rghts movement? Obama always works with extremes when he speaks. By making arbitrary comparisons like the above and continually using words like "urgent" or "need" all his retoric loses its self-imposed sense of urgency.

tony-268769

Obama is already involved with a shovel-ready project...digging his own grave.

Commenting Time – …Moderation

OK, I also have read every post above mine. Posters talk about the same old talk from the President I could say the same from the vast majority of posters I have just read. Same whining about economic matter s of which they know absolutely nothing about. No President can order me to hire you, without the increase in demand, I have no incentive to hire you and the President cannot make me hire you, period. What escapes every poster is that we are a great shift in global economic dominance. China, Brazil, India and south Asia are the great new economic engines of the global economy. If you would take an hour out of your day you could watch “market wrap up” or the Bloomberg Business channel or listen or even read of were investment money is going. Too save you some time I read that almost half if not more, depending on the investment fund like you 401k manager, is in “emerging markets. That’s right, if you think different show the stats.

I recently have seen the stats for Venture Capital invested in new IPO’s in America on a column chart going back over the last eight years. One sea’s long columns in 2004 and little, itsy bitty, very small columns for the last two years in Venture Capital for start up, expansion and new business concerns. Hum………

Little to no IPO’s offered up on Wall Street so no expansion of and creation of American jobs. There is a direct correlation with this economic fact, if you can argue that with me go for it. I want to hear this. I could go on but the bashers are out in full force with next to no solutions offered up just shallow recommendations and a truckload of criticism.

I do see point post, there a few others, that caught my mind and was far an above the most cogent and well thought out, with some down to earth real life detail, that would be the post of AF Chief.

Chief please don’t thank me for what is almost routine good sense from you. I prefer that you don’t. It’s like as though giving high marks to an artist that knows no different they just paint, paint because they are called too.

As for a certain ‘Moderation”, I don’t read anything but empty rhetoric subtlety blaming the President for not reaching across the aisle to the minority, the people that lost. The minority is just that and they have stated over and over they want this President to fail. The health bill was watered down so much to accommodate the other side that you want to appease so much that even his party has turned against this health bill. How much more accommodation do you want? When a party wins a majority such as this they are called on to lead not to cater to the party that lost big time. Allow me to quote you:

He's corrupt, ignorant, or a terrible leader with no hearing aide. It's not that he's a Democrat, it's not that he ISN'T Republican, it's not that I or many others are die hard right wingers or anything else of the sort; he's bad, he's wrong, he's divisive, has no workable plans of recovery and is using every tool at his disposal to manipulate other Dem's, Congress, the media, and PC card he can find.

Instead of learning one damn thing or changing tactics, listening ability, or approach, he's just said it's not only going to continue as it has been, but will become worse. By Moderation

Now just what in the blazes are you talking about? Amorphous blabber is all I get out of your paragraph. “He is so divisive”, to whom? Those that want him to fail? The tea-baggers? The health industry? Wall Street? You? He is attempting to lead the country that is why 69 Million people voted for him. Obstructionists have made that impossible.

He has no workable plans for recovery? Did you hear the speech or not? You have heard of the Stimulus plan? $179 Billion paid out and another % 380 Billion yet to be paid out. Two wars where we are not losing so many American soldiers as before. Craw backs of bonus money and repayment of bailout money. I could go on, do some work yourself. The president cannot wave a magic wand and make all of your concerns just as you would like to be. Real life does not work like that. The Party of NO sat on their duffs when he proposed an elimination of the capital gains tax on small business, how much more evidence do you need to see why the President cannot do as he wishes? I could go on but you, as others already have your mind made up and expect someone to fix your wrecked world for you while you carp at the one person capable of doing so, is that an oxymoron or what.

Post Script:

Sorry for the double post I did not hit the "Post Comment" tab so I assumed the post would not "post". I moved the post up to respond to another poster.

Sorry...................

I'm still hoping to find some change.....

OK People:

Look on the ground; you might find a few pennies.

In tonight's speech,just reverse everything he says and you'll get the truth.No new taxes=there going up.I'll create more jobs=unemployment will go up,etc etc

Tina you are so right,this is what he HOPES Americans won't do is reverse "his'' truth ,but we all know he is full of lies. Just hope these 3 years go by fast without him ruining our great country to the point there is no return.

The whole lot of them up there in Washington need to be impeached or resign on their own, and I say whole because it only gets worse if we get the next in line Biden ,then Polopsi & so on..........We just need to start over with a new batch of HOPEFULS.

The biggest mistake he made was running for an office he was in no way qualified to occupy.

I'm no huge fan of the Republicans either, but the "just say no" Republicans are the only thing saving us from a bigger disaster. No more spending, no more grand socialist programs, no more too big to fail, no more saving homes for people that couldn't and can't afford them in the first place. Stop interferring. Let the free market and capitalism get us back on track.

And NO, capitalism is not what created this mess. It was caused by government iterferance from both parties and several administrations.

Donna, Why don't you be specific, what promises did he make and keep and what promises did he not keep. Statements without fact are mere opinions

Lisette53 - He promised smaller government. Not - government got bigger. He promised that the Healthcare bill would be televised on C-Span. Not - did not happen. He promised that un-employment would not go above 8% - it is now over 10%. He promised that taxes would not go up - Are you kidding me - tell me who does not PAY more taxes now for anything. And Yes Lisette - I am ENTITLED to my opinion because I vote and PAY TAXES!!!!!!

Now Pay close attention to the speech tonight and please you get a clue. Thank you for proving that you can make useless comments.

TOUCHDOWN !!!

Donna 7 -- Lisette 0

The implicit "promise" made when running for elective office is that one will be "honest". From the way he spoke on the campaign trail, this president has proven that honesty is a trait we should not look for in his arsenal.

John P-905546 - Why thank you! And by the way - I love football. I am glad to see that I scored a touchdown. I would have loved to have gone for an extra 2 points!

Donna-367223 and John P-905546 The Review Booth at Politifact.com has determined that John's ruling on the field for a touchdown was short on fact. Lisette53 ask what promises had been made and kept, and what promises did he make and not keep. Donna recited only promises President Obama has not kept while not mentioning any promises President Obama kept. Politifact.com notes that over 503 promises were made, 91 have been kept in the first year, 33 compromises, 15 broken; 87 are stalled; and over 275 are still in work; with 2 not rated. You can go to their website for more details http://www.politifact.com/

The ball is returned to Donna's last forward progress and Lisette has possession.

Chief

It has been determined that the 91 promises kept to increase gov and pay off special interests are inconclusive to overturn the ruling on the field.

Touchdown stands!

tunanut - Thank You - I get tired of people like AF Chief that have to push it to the limit and get so technical. I was just trying to put my opinion out there on some of the issues that bothered me the most.

TOUCHDOWN!

The president is going to explain why he thinks the American people are angry and frustrated

He probably thinks we are angry because we fear tax cuts are on the horizon and our grandchildren still have a few pennies too spend when they grow up..

I use to have a mirror on my desk facing towards the guest chairs. It said your looking at the problem. I would be more than happy to send it to Obama.

Who's going to watch this phony, narcissitic speech?

Hope and Change. Yes, in 2012!

Hawaii...

I'm watching the president !!! Chips & dips and a nice cocktail. I wonder if all the teenagers who voted for him will be watching too. Or is "voting" their sole political contribution ?

dude in chicago,the mob was in chicago a long time,lotsa time to procreate lotsa little mobsters,on top of more little mobsters an then some!generation after generations of mobsters what else do you expect from chicago?they are the only ones who want to waste their time running for power,well...everyone else just wants to sit on their fat ass an drink beer an watch the bears!!!

Tony:

I "Hope" you enjoyed the evening watching O give the State of the Union Address! No, the people who were bussed in did their job during the election and are not interested anymore. They didn't get a dime from O's promise of free this and that. Why should they help O out anymore.

I did not watch it. He has lost all credibility with me. Why give him more attention and ratings. What could this President say new, that we couldn't already predict. Watch the Liberal Media make a spin on a non factual or to action call to get this country turned around.

More taxes, more spending, and lying to the people with cover ups. All Cable Stations will repeat and analyze his speech till you will want to upchuck your cocktail and chips. Enough is enough.

Have a good evening. Thanks for the comment.

Well I'm definitely not a teenager - but I did watch and think it was a pretty good summary of the State of the Union as required by our Constitution. I didn't get bussed in, in fact I voted for the first time in 9 elections for a Democrat President and it wasn't because of color (I'm white). I really admire and still do admire Senator McCain, but I felt and still believe President Obama has the vision to work through and resolve critical issues facing the United States.

It makes you wonder what that red white and blue lapel pin actually means to him.

Obama is the only president that I can remember that cannot give a talk at a grade school without his teleprompters and his presidential podium. He is not leading this country he is too busy campaigning.He Hopes we aren't looking when he tries to Change the rules. Sorry haven't had my coffee yet.

this is scary stuff... these politicians are ruining our nation, and ruining it for generations to come. they need to be stopped.

Isn't that why Nancy Pelsoi sits behind Obama - to start the standing ovations!

I am with you - don't think I can watch. Will do something else tonight. I have been lied to enough already.

I just hope people will cast aside their cynical nature and allow the opportunity for real discussion to resolve problems. From the appearance of the majority of postings in this thread - I know I have a challenge ahead of me. Many people in this thread openly stated they will not watch or did not watch the President's State of the Union Address post negative comments about the content that they did not listen to or try to understand.

It is our country; I've had my hands on the oars pulling for our country during my 25 year military career, as a student in secondary education and college degrees, and civilian manufacturing manager. I'll keep pulling no matter what party leads Congress or who the President is. I'll keep my vision focused on the intent and purpose instead of attacking characteristics and style. I have enjoyed the diverse styles of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Regan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, and now Obama. In my opinion, each of these Presidents clearly demonstrated leadership in the face of serious challenges to the United States. Sure hindsight provides a clear review that some challenges might have been resolved with better results if handled differently. But when faced to make a decision for all the people of the United States - our Presidents have been decisive and leaders. I think it is far beyond time for those who continue to bash President Obama to recognize and respect the challenges and decisions he has made that are not based on political party but were based on the needs of the United States.

Why he thinks? Hey how about just ASK US and quit trying to muze it out on your own.

willie-749103 - I'm not sure you know, but President Obama initiated Whitehouse.gov and has a section where you can tell him what you think. I let him and his administration know regularly and I get feeback from the White House on my suggestions. Just like I get responses from my Senators and Congressmen. Check the site out if you haven't already.

urjoknright

Good one!

At least Obama can read the teleprompter, not like the last idiot

Lisette53- You said is correctly - that is all Obama can do is read the telepromter. He has done nothing else for America. You better look in the mirror before you call anyone else an idiot.

How funny the little obamettes are that are still infected with bush derangement syndrome... they are limp and pathetic...

I supported President Bush when he made his tax cuts because I believed they would help reduce the effects of the 2003-2004 recession. I also supported the Job Creation Tax Reduction Incentive to stimulate jobs. However after studying the impact, I know understand the huge impact these programs had on the deficit. So I am supporting a different approach. And I will not stoop so low to lable any of our leaders as idiots for making decisions when faced with dynamic challenges during their tenure. Our process elected President Bush even over the challenge of a hanging chad, and we re-elected him in 04. President Bush had his vision for progress now President Obama has to administer facing challenges and making decisions that are clearly not in-line with party principles. He is making decisions based on the needs of the American people from his principles just as all Presidents before him. My hope for President Obama and members of Congress is that we can reach solutions on health care, energy, jobs, financial reform, and deficit reduction.

According to Obama, it's my duty to report you to his administration...

I say Pelosi brings pom-pons and then jumps on his shoulders half way through.

The ONLY standing ovation this doofus bag should get is when he declaries: "Geez, dudes! I've fvcked up!"

amf1211

I needed a laugh this morning. Thank you!

Question. Do you think she will get a burial discount when she dies because the mortician will not have to do anything with her face?

Yo, amf1221 . . . how much you wanna' bet the old girl goes into an orgasmic frenzy when the dirtbag struts into the chambers?

If you hear a buzzing sound tonight, you'll know where it's comming from...

Oh no, we have to watch Nancy Pelosi acting like a penguin flapping her wings everytime Obama speaks of his socialist utopia. I think I'll watch re-runs of the military channel.

Well I think that some people could use a paycheck!!

Well...at least he KNOWS he's gonna be a ONE-TERM ZERO!!

Job losses, in fact have been moving in a positive direction. Believe it or not, we have been losing less jobs each month than we did under Bush. AND the current administration staved off a depression. Alot of ingrates on this post so boring. The economy was not going to magically change over night regardless of who was President. This mess was years in the making.

Ben, I hope all this is true...thanks for the laugh.

Americans are angry because of global warming. Americans are angry because of healthcare. Americans are angry because terrorists are not treated with respect. Americans are angry because there is not enough deficit spending. Americans are angry because CEOs make more money than garbage collectors. Americans are angry because they are not taxed enough. Americans are angry because Walmart is not union. And Americans are angry because there is too much transparency in this administration.

Ben. Excellent. I'm going to use this.

And the day after the speech he and vp are going on a let's spend money tour across the U.S.

The arrogance the complete and utter arrogance that he would believe that we don't want his health care bill because he has not explained it well enough for us!!!??? We do understand Obama! We do not want the Government in control of our lives, our money or our health care decisions.

hahahaha! spongebob for president! he would do a better job! anyone would!

I am so sick of obama I could puke... no way would I watch him and pelosi tonight.

rather nail my hand to the floor...

Speaking of "fundamentaly change". how many that voted for him heard those words during the campaign, and how many understood what he was intending? If you didn't understand, why did you vote for him. If you did understand, is everything working out the way you thought it would?

[H]ow many that voted for him heard those words during the campaign, and how many understood what he was intending? If you didn't understand, why did you vote for him[?]

They were too busy smoking the "hopium".

TJM, we really had some great choices:Rip Van Wrinkle McCain and Mindless ValleyGirl Palin!!!....oh and I almost forgot Greenthumb Nater!

To all of you naysayers:Why the hell didn't you run???!!!!! You've got all the answers, get on up there and fix ALL the problems!!!

Thank You Isabella, most of the posters here just want to spew their mindless hate. It is so dull. There is barely a fact in any of these posts just enough hearsay to mouth off and not really say anything

I will say that Socialism is NOT the answer.

Here is the answer. Government is not the end all be all. Government is not the answer to everything. In fact Government has created this disaster that we are in.

Elect your Representatives, Senators and President based upon their ability to adhere to the Constitution. We need small limited government, private property rights, individual rights, state rights all said we need to get back to the Constitution and stop the "Government is the answer to everything" approach. Stop the blind party allegiance. The Elitist that are in Congress for 20, 30, almost 40 years are killing us. We allow a party to gain control and tell us what is what. The small group of men at the top of the party control us. This is wrong. We elect and argue over an (R) or (D) versus what is truly important...America. We need term limits to stop this.

I noticed that your statement ripped on every candidate but a Democrat. So let me use a statement from a Democrat "Ask not what your Country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your Country." This is actually a great statement that somehow has been twisted by the Democratic Progressive Socialist Party. It is now the exact opposite.

We also need to stop aiding the world. Money and energy needs to be focused on America. I will leave you with an excerpt of Washington's farewell address written with help from James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. Washington was not only the First President but he presided over the Constitutional Convention, Hamilton and Madison were delegates also. Madison is regarded as the Father of our Constitution. This lends credence to the position on Foreign affairs.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent Patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the Public Councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop.

The freeze applies only to tax paying voters.

This nonsense 'freeze' is going to amount to virtually nothing...

314159, I have news for you. According to Charles "The Hammer" Krauthammer, the spending freeze is based on the 2009 budget, which was increased by 20% due to the economic crisis. So by "freezing" the budget, he is ensuring that the govt. entities will continue to recieve funding 20% higher than Fiscal year 2008-2009. Usually, these budgets go up by 3% per year on average. Obama raised it 20%, and this freeze will ensure that his buddies get to keep that 20% raise.

So in actuallity, he is looking like he is being fiscally responsible, but is actually still spending irresponsibly.

I heard 12% on Greta last night, but either way he is telling us one thing and doing another. I believe the date they gave last night was 12/8 when they raised it 12% (or 20% whatever it doesn't matter) and just over a month later he says it being freezed.

Isn't that like a drug addict, Buying a huge amount of drugs in December (probably enough to get him though the year) and then telling everybody I won't be buying drugs this year.

The problem has been 30 years of tax cuts since the Reagan revolution. Americans must learn you can't have your cake and eat it too. If people want all those wonderful free highways, public transit, medicare, FEMA, military defense, police and fire protection, parks and recreation, beaches, free libraries, free schools, airline service, street lights, sewage, traffic lights, weather service, etc., that all costs money and that money has to come from taxes.

The deficit would go away by doing one of two things: either raise taxes or cut out the above mentioned services. You are absolutely right...Americans got the short stick because those who benefited from the big tax cuts are those institutions who pay no taxes...the big banks and Wall Street.

Mark-306015-

Exactly right! They need to restore the upper-income 70-94% tax brackets on all their income, including & especially on capital gains. These upper-income tax brackets after WW2 paid down the national debt and created wide scale prosperity and a strong middle class for decades until they were lowered in 1964, then especially in the 1980's. The 1980's tax cuts saw the national debt skyrocket in proportion to the tax cuts. The majority of taxes paid were shifted from Corporations and the wealthy to the middle class (read the "America" series by Bartlett & Steele). This national debt must be paid back and get our country working again. Tax cuts do not create jobs, as the past 25-30 years have shown. Raising taxes on the wealthy & corporations creates jobs because the excess profits that would be taxed away go back into the wages & benefits of workers instead. This is historically proven to work and is the only option now.

How many ways can you two above be wrong (every way) If your boss cant afford you, YOU dont have a job. We have just been through this cycle of job loss because oif the threats of tax increases. The employers have cut jobs for the tax increases to come.

Lets put it this way If i took half your money you would be spending twice as much or half as much?

What happend when president Kennedy lowered taxes? It fueled seven years of economic growth in the USA.

I really do not think that anyone can pay the debt this administration has and will cause this country. What have they shown for all they have spent this year? A big fat nothing.