I'll admit it...I was actually impressed with some of the things Pres. Obama said during the speech. Some of it was the usual, but there were some good ideas buried among the sound bites. Here's the good and the bad. (I highly recommend reading the whole thing: Transcript of speech, but if you don't have time, the "big points" are below).
Great-
1- Freeze on government spending for three years. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now will you guys actually do it?
2- Bipartisan fiscal commission. The senate already blocked this, making me think this could be a really good idea.
3- Re-institute the "pay as you go" law. Please, please, please. But I wouldn't hold my breath on the congress actually passing this.
4- Publication of all earmark requests on a single web site. Yes! No more trying to wade through hundred page bills, which are posted in different versions on the senate/house sites. Trust me. I've spent more time trying to find the correct revision of whatever bill I'm studying, and then wading through pages of special amendments trying to find the one I'm looking into.
5- "And that's why Michelle has joined with Jill Biden to forge a national commitment to support military families"...exact quote. Hey, I'm a military wife. My husband goes out to sea. I can handle anything around the house and don't cry when the car breaks. I can fix just about anything around the house, and if I can't, I can find out how to. If I had kids, I would never have to say, "Wait until your Dad gets home." If they can give us a bit of help, I'm not going to complain. They get to keep my husband six months a year...I could use the occasional pat on the back.
Good-
1- Building some clean energy jobs include building clean, safe nuclear reactors. Finally. While nuclear reactors may not be everyone's first source of energy, it currently is the best chance we have of getting off of the oil.
2- Efforts to reduce costs for college. Thank God. I've been to college (I didn't finish, for those of you who are wondering...but I had a 4.0 for the two years I went). My God. We had to use my husband's entire re-enlistment bonus to pay back the student loans. And that was after we had been paying for about a year.
Fair-
1- New jobs bill. This could go either way. It will depend on how it is implemented.
2- New "financial reform" (aka-regulations on banks). This could go either way. I'm betting on "bad", but we'll wait and see.
3- Repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." Again, this might go either way. I've been in the military. This is NOT going to be popular. But denying a segment of the population a chance to be themselves and serve in our military is flat out discrimination. And I won't support that.
Bad-
1- He tried to rationalize yet another fee for the banks who have already paid back the money they owe. Get real. Adding yet another tax to the banks isn't going to get them to lend. And it isn't fair. They paid back the money. With interest and dividends. How long are we going to add "fees"? One year? Ten years? The next century? Forever?
2- National Export Initiative. Increasing exports is a great idea. But I don't think government regulation is going to help this in any meaningful, good way. I think this is going to lead to a very bad outcome.
3- Health Care Reform. Give it up already. And keep your "fuzzy" math about how it is going to REDUCE the deficit to yourself. No one is buying this. Not even if you keep covering it with whipped cream and cherries.
4- "Spank" the Supreme Court on your own time. Those judges were at your speech to show respect. You insulted them and subjected them to the insults of the entire chamber. I would have walked out, but hey, I'm not a supreme court justice.
5- States he is going to raise the tone of politics in Washington, and them turns around and insults the Republicans in the next sentence. Another "schoolyard taunt."
Great-
1- Freeze on government spending for three years. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now will you guys actually do it?
2- Bipartisan fiscal commission. The senate already blocked this, making me think this could be a really good idea.
3- Re-institute the "pay as you go" law. Please, please, please. But I wouldn't hold my breath on the congress actually passing this.
4- Publication of all earmark requests on a single web site. Yes! No more trying to wade through hundred page bills, which are posted in different versions on the senate/house sites. Trust me. I've spent more time trying to find the correct revision of whatever bill I'm studying, and then wading through pages of special amendments trying to find the one I'm looking into.
5- "And that's why Michelle has joined with Jill Biden to forge a national commitment to support military families"...exact quote. Hey, I'm a military wife. My husband goes out to sea. I can handle anything around the house and don't cry when the car breaks. I can fix just about anything around the house, and if I can't, I can find out how to. If I had kids, I would never have to say, "Wait until your Dad gets home." If they can give us a bit of help, I'm not going to complain. They get to keep my husband six months a year...I could use the occasional pat on the back.
Good-
1- Building some clean energy jobs include building clean, safe nuclear reactors. Finally. While nuclear reactors may not be everyone's first source of energy, it currently is the best chance we have of getting off of the oil.
2- Efforts to reduce costs for college. Thank God. I've been to college (I didn't finish, for those of you who are wondering...but I had a 4.0 for the two years I went). My God. We had to use my husband's entire re-enlistment bonus to pay back the student loans. And that was after we had been paying for about a year.
Fair-
1- New jobs bill. This could go either way. It will depend on how it is implemented.
2- New "financial reform" (aka-regulations on banks). This could go either way. I'm betting on "bad", but we'll wait and see.
3- Repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." Again, this might go either way. I've been in the military. This is NOT going to be popular. But denying a segment of the population a chance to be themselves and serve in our military is flat out discrimination. And I won't support that.
Bad-
1- He tried to rationalize yet another fee for the banks who have already paid back the money they owe. Get real. Adding yet another tax to the banks isn't going to get them to lend. And it isn't fair. They paid back the money. With interest and dividends. How long are we going to add "fees"? One year? Ten years? The next century? Forever?
2- National Export Initiative. Increasing exports is a great idea. But I don't think government regulation is going to help this in any meaningful, good way. I think this is going to lead to a very bad outcome.
3- Health Care Reform. Give it up already. And keep your "fuzzy" math about how it is going to REDUCE the deficit to yourself. No one is buying this. Not even if you keep covering it with whipped cream and cherries.
4- "Spank" the Supreme Court on your own time. Those judges were at your speech to show respect. You insulted them and subjected them to the insults of the entire chamber. I would have walked out, but hey, I'm not a supreme court justice.
5- States he is going to raise the tone of politics in Washington, and them turns around and insults the Republicans in the next sentence. Another "schoolyard taunt."
