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When President Obama gave his first State of the Union address on Wednesday night, he had a lot of ground to cover. Presidents have traditionally used this annual address before congress to touch on the most pressing issues in the national zeitgeist. Healthcare, the economy and campaign finance law were at the top of the list of domestic issues the president tackled, while the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as disaster relief in Haiti dominated the portions of the speech dedicated to international affairs.
But how does everything look from here, 3000 miles away from the pomp and circumstance, the partisan applause lines and the presidential shout-outs?
How do you assess the state of the union? What is your assessment of the president, the federal government and where the country is headed? How have government programs — such as the stimulus package, the first time home buyer tax credit and the bank bailout — affected your life? Are you better off now than you were a year ago? What hopes and fears do you have going into this year?
GUESTS:
- Tom Cox: Managing consultant for Cox Business Consulting and chair of the candidate recruitment committee for the Oregon Republican Party
- Karol Collymore: Co-edior of Blue Oregon and communications and project manager for Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogan
Photo credit: ladybugbkt / Creative Commons
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Dear Rev
Why don't you set an example by paying property taxes and income taxes voluntarily. These could then filter down to the poor with the usual government theft of 80%.
If I were you I would keep quiet, folks might figure out the religion scam.
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Memo - Like other clergy, I do pay both personal income taxes and personal property taxes. So I'm not sure what your point is. Maybe stop with the personal attacks and think about policy options that benefit the common good of our country. Best wishes, Rev. Currie.
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Rev he meant your church until they admit they are vicious corporations with and agenda the same as AIG (profits) religion holds no water. asking the president to save the poor when the church does not pay the taxes he would need to keep these programs in place is insane
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Of course His newest deceit is to "freeze" his spending of last year at a level which should be rescinded. Can't wait for His newest lies. What a fraud! Obama makes Jesse Jackson's Chicago style extortion racket look tame. I suggest Rainbow push buy some shovels and get to work and actually accomplish something.
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Interesting how President Obama's praise of small business, and those that take the risk to form, is so diametrically opposed to most of the Pro Measure 66 & 67 posts on the OPB blogs!
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As I listen to the State of the Union, I am struck by the question…
Do you think that the leadership of the Democratic Party will let this new Republican President get anything done? -
Speeches don't impress me. Right and beneficial action is what I want to see.
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What can the feds/Congress do for us?
Help fund the new I-5 interstate bridge.
Provide oversight and funding to actually complete the Hanford cleanup.
Backstop the shredded funding in WA and OR for K-12 schools.
Keep hands off Bonneville Administration power pricing.
Other than that, let's hope they just remain a collection of dysfunctional eccentrics and leave us alone.
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If Obama can't or won't end the wars, he'll go the way of LBJ. We are spending up to a trillion a year on war while the nation goes bankrupt.
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People tend to deify or villify leaders. This says more about most peoples need to oversimplify the overwhelmingly complex than it does about the leaders. For most people; life is too complex if it is not somebodies fault.
We elect - by human standards - remarkable people. When they don't 'fix' things, we 'throw the bums out'.
Tragicaly, life keeps getting more complex, with the predictable result that more and more people are un-hinged. Fewer and fewer people are actually able to funtion effectively in existing institutions, as problem solvers. Those who could are shackled by those who can't.
Short of benficial mutations, our species had better learn to teach 'Mind mapping' skills, if we are to keep pace with the complexity.
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I was impressed with President Obama's state of the union speech because he both addressed the progress that the nation has taken and where he wants us to go next. I also appreciate his reminding us all that the progress hasn't been as great as he would like because of the immenseness of the problems he inherited.
The Republicans continue to act like bullies on the playground. They did this with Carter and Clinton. Nothing they could do was good enough, even though both presidents had major problems to fix with the exit of the previous Republican presidents. The Republicans distracted both presidents with spurious attacks that hamstrung their power. Clinton had to give up on the health care reform that Republicans want to prevent. I'm glad Obama will not give up. We desperately need this reform. The big business of health insurance doesn't want reform because they will lose power and money.
Calling Obama a whiner is an example of bully behavior. Of course, it is appropriate for the President to acknowledge the previous problems because they require context for the current situation. The Republicans don't like to be reminded of that so they call names.
When will we have adults involved in the political discourse. I want to hear the Republicans acknowledge that our previous president left major problems and that we all need to work hard to correct them. Stop distracting us from working on problems.
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I long for the day we have a president who realizes how good the country is and has been for the world in general and one who actually says something true once in a while.
I love his endorsement of nuclear power but don't believe he will back it up with action.
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The stimulus package did not help home owners struggling to keep their homes due to unemployment at no fault of their own.
Our bank declined our request for a mortgage modification because Oregon unemployment benefits are not gaurenteed for 36 weeks, the funds are gaurenteed for 27 weeks. will the stimulus buy me a tent so I can have some sort of roof over my head?
100 = Resume's sent with one response, "thanks for sending your resume, unfortunately we are not hiring at this time"
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The stimulus was not supposed to help keep you in your home. it was supposed to keep some people from loosing there job and start new ones this year. If the bank refused to modify your home call the FHA or how bout you don't buy a home you can't afford
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We are at the point where we realize, the hope was indeed a dream. That we elected a mascot, who is little but a placeholder, a half-empty shell. Frankly, the warning signs were there all along. We are a country that, sadly, likes to define itself into Mac and PC people; and, we think this is substantive! There was a lot of hip design, a lot of savvy marketing, a lot of fluff in the election of Mr. Obama. Unfortunately, the most that can be said about Mr. Obama's abilities is: he has good manners, and likes to think before he speaks. But, while those characteristics are important, they don't speak to much more then a penchant for social charisma. He is not, nor will he ever be, and intellectual visionary. The symbolism is more revolutionary then the man. But, alas, that is what you get when you elect a man based on the color of his skin. It was a crapshoot. What did we expect? Patting ourselves on the back, because we were allegedly changing things, with our superficial good deeds.
We elected a man, who for appearances was change---but, we ourselves have not changed. The anger we felt, on both sides, at Mr. Bush, created a cohesive sense of purpose. Now, the anger has faded into the background, and we've divided ourselves into the luxuries of who we are as a nation. Progress will never occur, based solely on an appeal to the center, to the average; the outcome of this direction produces mediocre policy. Mr. Obama needs to fight for something, for the change he spoke about---he needs a revolution! Too much compromise produces a corporate blandness, it is like we have a Marriott for president---convenient, comfortable, safe, for sure---but nothing special!
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Scottmill,
The problem we/Obama faces is not so much about compromise as it is about unwinding reactionary sides long enough to see if each side has a few members that are able - in a less hostile setting - to consider seriously the concerns of the other side.
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dirtguy,
So, through trite good-manners, we might game some Republicans into going along with us. Terribly lovely, if that is the way things work, give 'em some swag, so we can get what we want. On a personal note, even though I am against praising the meaningless, I have great manners! In person, some might even say I have uptight and extremely old-fashioned manners. I am excessively polite, quiet and courteous. Manners and diplomacy tell only a teensy bit about a person, as you can see from my comments on here, I can also be angry or 'passionate'---and most readers probably think I am an obnoxious ass. It is a wholly different concept to be gracious in areas that are meaningless, or interactions that are cursory, then in areas of substance: human rights, life and death. It is perhaps a waste of time, and a perfunctory luxury, to extend a kid-gloved hand to a dog that wants to bite it off.
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The state of union is terrible: jobs and the economy, ongoing war and global political unrest, corporate and special interests influence in policy-making, a dysfunctional and efficient health insurance system and the same for taking care of our vets - and that is just the beginning.
And I think President Obama is doing great.
The fact that he is taking a lot of heat right now is in direct correlation to the extent that he attempting to guide this country through real and needed change.
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Partisanship aside, the state of the union is that we're still in trouble, I also think that a single year isn't sufficient to judge results (ask me next year).
Government programs haven't affected me yet, but the deficit's we're running may affect my retirement and will certainly affect my children. I'm only slightly worse off than last year due to tax increases, but that's manageable through reduced spending.
My hope for the coming year is that we'll focus on three things:
1) Increasing govmt revenue in a green-way thru significant gas tax increases and elimination of exemptions for children.
2) Scrap the current health care bill and propose one whose centerpiece is a public option.
3) Get out of southern Asia as quickly as possible. -
I got to agree with you except on the gas tax.... i drive a large 150. but the removal of child tax credits i have wrote to the president, my rep, and senators. They like the president seem to feel that we are wrong and the tax credit should be increased
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:-) I understand completely... I have an F350 that I'm going to sell or donate this year... just doesn't makes sense anymore when I can use a small truck (at 20+mpg) for what I need.
I always figure that a $1.00 gas tax could be used something like (MHO):
$0.25 to subsidize trade-ins
$0.25 to subsidize green-energy
$0.50 to retire the debtNote that I wouldn't propose taxing diesel commensurately... this is something we can learn from Europe.
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I was laid off late March last year and was looking for work for 8 months. I finally found a position with a company, but I had to take a paycut. It's a good company that will hopefully parlay into more.
I can say that those 8 months were the toughest of my life. I have a 3 year old son and my wife and I own a bungalow in Rose City Park. We came dangerously close to defaulting on our loan. The only way we avoided that was by borrowing money from family, which I avoided as long as I could and was extremely embarrassing to me.
I hope that we, as a nation, can turn ourselves around. However, something within me says that we will be faced with several more downturns before it gets better.
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My state of the union. One year (almost exactly) I lost my job. For the last 12 months, I've applied to hundreds of jobs and had only three interviews. As a professional, this has been the most difficult year of my career.
Finally, within the last two weeks, the thaw has begun. I've picked up a contract consulting job and have had three interviews in the last week with another couple on the way. I think people are beginning to believe that things are getting better.
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The government can rarely help anyone. And if it does it does it very inefisiontly. So to say lets give the government more tax money so they can help. you can give half asmuch money to a private group and do twice asmuch good.
I am sorry did the lady on the radio just say Republicans were abstructing! How does that work until a week ago the demacratic party had 60 people in there party in the senate and could pass any thing?!?!?!
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The president speach seems to me was a lot of the same uforic double talk that manage to sway people into voting for him even though he had little or no experiance. Not that I wanted John Mc cane to win either.
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As an entrepreneur who has spent the last year struggling because of the credit freeze, I feel like the President was talking to me with encouraging words last night. These banks have taken our money and run - and we are left holding the bag. Small business is the backbone of this country and we will not grow without some support from Capital Hill. The banks need to lend again - not just to fortune 500's, but to the ma n pop shops in this country. Tax breaks, grants, loans - entrepreneurs need the support of the people.
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Karol said that she wants Democrats to pick up the "quality" of loyalty from Republicans. I actually think the opposite. I think Republicans need to drop this "quality".
I would much rather see more parties and term limits on the House and Senate.
The Republican lockstep crap would be fine if the had the right answer 100% of the time, but it is not so fine when their answer to everything is "cut taxes, cut spending, cut regulation, go to war."
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While I don't agree with some of his politics or ideas, I am happy to hear a respectful and intelligent commentary from Tom Cox.
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Laura Is correct. The bamks did take the money and run. however thath would be Bill Clintons fault becaus ein 1999 he repealed an act that kept banks from doing this kind of thing. yet some how again it is all bushes fault. I am not a huge fan of bush I think for myself an I dont vote party line I think people need to think about us all as a comunity not just their own situation and what you want.
Al I am hering is republican need to be less partisan while democats are being more partisan.
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Karol Collymore is full of 'dumb objectivity,' or perhaps, even, dumb subjectivity. But, yes she seems delightful and cheery. Yep, I am doing exactly what she spoke out against, criticism. Really, the main benefit she sees in Mr. Obama, besides that he is black, is that he has good manners and diplomatic skills. Diplomacy can be useful in getting what you want, but it is also, at base, a superficial quality. Certainly there is value in trying to have people get along, and creating an air of hippie-bliss, but that works best on a personal level, as a way of life, not as a method to change a country. I am all for sophistication and style, I wish Mr. Obama had more of it! But, I also wish he would stand for something, something useful, besides his plentiful platitudes.
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P.S. Tracy Morgan seemed angry on Fresh Air, and a little crazy---and, not because he was black, but because he was angry.
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For me it came down to:
Obama: is at least out there talking about my core values (open government, shutting down the Torture Dome, shutting down the Fear State, shutting down the Police State, total health care reform, talking to our enemies instead of calling them an 'Axis of Evil', etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.).
McCain: throwing out all of his convictions to tow the party line and let his handlers pick Palin.
Now, it hasn't turned out that well so far, but it seemed like the only choice given that everyone else in the race was either bats**t crazy or completely unoriginal and uninspiring.
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Scottmill,
Again - The problem we/Obama faces is not so much about compromise as it is about unwinding reactionary sides long enough to see if each side has a few members that are able - in a less hostile setting - to consider seriously the concerns of the other side.
People are incapable of hearing the other side of natural, selectively fortified , polarized camps, in an environment of combat induced defensiveness. People have binary and linear thinking processes. All the brain circuits in each camp get used up, binarily, collecting only two types of evidence to support a single, linear, self-preservational goal, i.e., our biggest strengths & the other sides biggest weaknesses. Unfortunately, if you combine the two categories of evidence gathered by both sides in the polarity, you get four categories. Hmmm.....!
Obama sees all four catagories. Very few of those in the warring camps feel they have the luxury of seriously concidering more than the two catagories that strengthen their own side. Further, there are Representatives and Senators that would be more capable of considering more variables if the folks back home were capable.
This is one of the most ominous clues about the magnitude of the 'increasing complexity dilemma' in a democracy, i.e., leaders end up inncreasingly being limited by the limits of their constituents to handle enough variables to not be automatically in a specialized, insular, belief dependent, waring camp.
Mind mapping anyone? -
dirtguy,
Unfortunately, to me, this is a superficial solution to a complex problem. It obviously didn't work in the health-care debate. Careful consideration amongst idiots only gets you so far. I think the concept I am poorly explaining is that even with diplomacy, and serious consideration of all 'four categories', you are still left with the quality of the participants as your deciding factor. It is like with grammar and spelling, many people take them as something more then they are, but truly they are largely superficial and don't inherently speak to the quality of the message or thought. It is grand to be proficient in them because it expands your audience, but it doesn't really change the quality of the message itself, just the appearance of it.
We give diplomacy too much credit. In many ways it is a traditional credit. You can't use something superficial to truly change things. Because all you will achieve are superficial changes, which is exactly what we have seen with President Obama. I admit you can get lucky, and some potential good can come of it, but it is too big of a gamble, to put all your stock in it, especially at the expense of some phenomenal strategy and ideas. It is like a great artist who may live a messy life and be verbally inarticulate, but yet they create great work. Why? Because the qualities they lack are surface anyway, and they don't really matter. Mr. Obama can be aided by his diplomatic skills, but they alone are not nearly enough. Not for me anyway!
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Scottmil,
You bring up 3 concerns:
1.Quality of the participants.
2.Limits of diplomacy.
3.Superficial strategies not being effective.
Quality participants are less likely to get shouted down when the passionate partisans don't have the podium/big microphones.
Piplomacy works better away from the microphones, for the same reasons.
What you see as a superficial strategy to change that does not produce change, is only the first step to create the conditions where the best problem solvers on both sides can have the space to safely consider the weakesses of their own side and the strengths of the other side. [Sometimes both sides have become virtually impotent to think creatively because they resorted to beliefs. This usually happen when even after speciallizing in one side of a polarity, the problem is still too complex for the unaided mind.]
At their best, both sides, in a 'natural' polarity, have strengths and weaknesses. That does not mean they are equal, and that the solution is exactly in the middle. But to find out where the best balances are you have to have many smart people, (usually with pencil and paper), weighing all of the variables. This has to be done as free from the, typically human, binary, linear thinking process - and the beliefs they produce - as possible.
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There is nothing in his bill to lower health costs, get the damn lawyers out of the business of ruining medical practice, increasing the number of physicians, making insurance available without regard to the state one lives in but good things for Louisiana and Nebraska and the UAW
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I don't the idea of more coal plants and of the government subsidising nuclear plants. We don't need either of those.
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Well, until we have a technology that has the same or better power to land use ratio, we do kind of need nuclear power. The largest solar plant is only a proposal and is only expected to produce 600 MW but takes up 6,000 acres. The Crystal River Energy Complex in Florida has 4 fossil fuel plants and 1 nuclear plant on 4,700 acres and generates a total of 3,140 MW. 910 MW are the nuclear plant alone, which takes up less than 1/5 of that 4,700 acres.
They are currently upgrading the nuclear plant and expect it to generate over 1,000 MW.
It's also just sad that our existing nuclear plants are aging, wasteful monstrosities far behind the state of the art plants in the rest of the world. State of the art plants are smaller, more powerful, and produce far less waste.
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The employed aren't likely adding comments here; they're working hard to keep their jobs.
I've been unemployed for nearly a year. The jobs that are listed pay 40% below my last job. My 401K has taken a huge hit. Soon my COBRA will end and I will not be able to aford health insurance because of a prexisting condition of a knee injury. I saved for the past 10 years for a down payment for a house which I now use for living expenses. The government is propping up housing prices for those who made unwise purchases of houses. The banks, saved by govenment intervention, are handing out huge bonuses to the very people who caused this economic mess. The govenement, by policy, encourged the outsourcing of jobs for the past decade.
There has been little acountability for bad decisions and it looks like the President and Congress are still unwilling to make decisions with the long term vision that need to be made. Until then nothing significantly will change.
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Here is a question some reporter said that brown won in Mass. is because there are a bunch of racists there. if that is the case wasnt kenedy elected for the last 30 year by racists?
I find it iritating that people say conservatives are racist, conservatives beleave we are all equale more than any group they believe we are all capable of acheaving what we work for.
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Clarification Re: Voting record for the Civil Rights Act House of Representatives: Democrats for: 152 Democrats against: 96 Republicans for: 138 Republicans against: 34 Senate: Democrats for: 46 Democrats against: 21 Republicans for: 27 Republicans against: 6
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Obama is a socialist. He is not for the people he is for big government, he has proven that time and time again. He has brought our country to the point of no return, he is a joke. The stimulus plan was a joke, bailing out banks, bailing out freddie and fannie may, he wants the government to control EVERTHING. What happen to businesses sinking or swimming, since when did the gov. bail all these people out? You dont see small businesses getting bailed out. Obama is by far the worst President we have ever had, he keeps making mistake after mistake. He is more interested in being a celebrity than running this country. More people everyday are disgusted with his administration, I for one, NEVER approved of him as President, he has no experience to do the job he is suppose to be doing.
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Actually President Obama is a moderate, just a little to the right of center.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is the only socialist left in the US and he proudly describes himself as a socialist.
But I am just "throwing pearls before swine", aren't I?
Oh well.
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We were always a toxic mess, we have just become more willing to admit it, just like we are more willing to admit many things, and talk about things, we didn't talk about before. Unfortunately, our toxicity, is perhaps progress.
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I think the problem lies with everyone. No matter who started it because it started 30 years ago. People are no longer willing to compromise and weather you talk about sate or federal government.
elected officials no longer compromise and come up with a decent solution for most people. Instead both sides either fight for all or nothing and if they cant get what they want they just throw it away or sell out for anything or to be able to pass blame to the other party.
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Like I said, we could use some 'Mind mapping'. We've exceeded our ability to handle enough variables....., and so, fall back on the security of a 'fortified camp'.
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I appreciate what Karol said about not being able to turn around 8 years in just one. I think many people want change to happen immediately and it's just not possible. Our country was in extreme debt and extreme downward spiral.
I liked the state of the union, mostly. Basically, it is nice to have a president that can speak eliquently and make sense. We spent the last 8 years in a cloud of secrecy and unclear speaches.
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He might speek well but nothing Obama sais has any substance
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Get the transcripts of his speeches. That is the only way you can go through (with a high lighter) and sort which statements go in which catagory.
Obama's statements can be divided into many catagories. But one catagory I appreciate is the one designed to discourage people on both sides from digging bigger holes for themselves. While this does not solve the complex problems, it is prerequisite for any problem solvers to emerge out of the two warring camps.
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He does have substance. It's just hard for some to listen!!! Many people just wait to hear what they want to hear rather than listen. I did not agree with everything he said but I understand it. Bush could barely speak (correct spelling) English and being president was always a joke to him.
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I love the movement to require members of congress and the supreme court (neither rates capitalization now) to wear NASCAR type suits with the logos of their corporate owners emblazoned thereon.
There, in the Kaiser Permanente colors, the senator from North Dakota! And here, representing the defense industry, the supreme court justice from Texas!
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Don't forget the UAW, AFL-CIO, ACLU, trial lawyers, etc - every politician is swayed by "special interests" - in general, if people agree with the special interest they call them "advocates fighting for the right cause". If people disagree with the special interest they call them "evil special interest groups". It is the way government has functioned since the caveman days!
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"NASCAR type suits with the logos of their corporate owners "
Wow! What fun!
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Probably the most effective thing to do would be to take away "person-hood" from Corporations and limit them in what they can do. That would restore some semblance of balance for small and medium sized businesses and workers. Re-Regulate Corporations so that they serve The People instead of The People serving the Corporations as they are now.
In general the way it sorts out now is that Conservative Republicans fight for Extremely Large Mega-Corporations and the Democrats fight for small and medium sized businesses and for workers.
Conservatives fight for the Corporate State and Moderates fight for Democracy and Freedom, just like in WW2.
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If that is the case and moderate fight for fredom then what do demacrats fight for comunism?
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Democrats and moderate Republicans have always been the moderates, the centrists, and the only Socialist in the US is Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and even he is not a communist.
The extremists of today are the Conservative Republicans, the extreme right. I wish moderate Republicans would take their party back from the extremist Conservatives and go back to the center.
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On a more cheerful note, young Bend skier makes good:
The Team is subject to final review by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
2010 U.S. OLYMPIC ALPINE SKI TEAM
(name, hometown, age as of opening ceremonies, birthdate, (past Olympics))
Men
Will Brandenburg, Spokane, WA, 23, 1/1/87
Jimmy Cochran, Keene, NH, 28, 5/29/81 (2006)
Erik Fisher, Middleton, ID, 24, 3/21/1985
Tommy Ford, Bend, OR, 20, 3/20/89
Tim Jitloff, Reno, NV, 25, 1/11/1985
Nolan Kasper, Warren, VT, 20, 3/27/89
Ted Ligety, Park City, UT, 25, 8/31/84 (2006)
Bode Miller, Franconia, NH, 32, 10/12/77 (1998, 2002, 2006)
Steven Nyman, Sundance, UT, 28, 2/12/82 (2006)
Marco Sullivan, Squaw Valley, CA, 29, 4/27/80 (2002, 2006)
Andrew Weibrecht, Lake Placid, NY, 24, 2/10/86
Jake Zamansky, Aspen, CO, 28, 6/26/81
Women
Stacey Cook, Mammoth Mountain, CA, 25, 7/3/84 (2006)
Hailey Duke, Boise, ID, 24, 9/17/85
Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 25, 3/9/84 (2002, 2006)
Chelsea Marshall, Pittsfield, VT, 23, 11/15/86
Megan McJames, Park City, UT, 22, 9/24/87
Alice McKennis, Glenwood Springs, CO, 20, 8/19/89
Kaylin Richardson, Edina, MN, 25, 9/28/1984 (2006)
Sarah Schleper, Vail, CO, 30, 2/19/79 (1998, 2002, 2006)
Leanne Smith, Conway, NH, 22, 5/28/87
Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO, 25, 10/18/84 (2002, 2006)
http://www.usskiteam.com/alpine/news?storyId=2382Whoop, whoop, whoop! Yippee!
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Go Oregon!
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Go United States!
All of those kids are some of the hardest working people I have ever been around and they are up against the best in the world from Nations like Austria where skiing is what football is to the US.
I'm a proud Uncle Tom.
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The President came across as snarky and defensive in his speech, and the speech itself was disjointed and lacked direction. Regardless of one's opinion of the recent supreme court ruling, his countenance and comments were thinly veiled, nearly personal attacks on the justices sitting in front of him and were disrespectful. This kind of whining while threatening was pervasive throughout the speech, and tells us a lot about his skills and experience which, as we feared, are sadly lacking.
On social issues we are losing ground because the projects and bills we have proposed have snowballed into unmanageable fireballs with incomprehensible budgets. The easy button is gone now, the opportunity wasted. On the upside, perhaps some responsible budgeting really will take place. The older I get, and the more countries I visit, the more realistic I become about things like poverty, migrant issues, universal healthcare, etc... We will spend all of our money and that of our children, and it will be wasted, handed out in drops to individuals, and in buckets to government agencies and irresponsible organizations. I'm leaning the other way. I can do more good work with my money than the government can.
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That snarky comment that Tom Cox made about "mob Rule" has it's origins back in the day of the Monarchists in France fighting against Democracy and slandering The People who wanted Liberte, Egalite, and Fraternite. Cox is extremely Reactionary Conservative.
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Actually the Federalist Papers -- particularly #10 -- discuss the Tyranny of the Majority and the threat it poses to individual liberty.
Much of the discussion about this threat pre-dates the French Revolution.
If you want to embrace the Terror, be my guest. I'll embrace Liberty.
Sorry if I came across as snarky - and thanks for listening to the show.
-Tom Cox
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Bringing up the serender monkeys, I do believe they gave us a gift called the statue of liberty. largly as a reminder to the people of france of what reall fredon was. and I do believe that that was back when we were run by conservatives.
To quote patton I would rather have a german division infront of me than a french devition behind me
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I am always curious about the way the Conservatives selectively forget that France helped us in 1776 to overthrow the British Conservatives and their Corporation and send them packing back to Great Britain with their Conservative tails betwen their legs.
It hardly polite to label our very long term French friends like you do just because the German Nazis, who American Conservatives including the Bush family, Henry Ford, and Charles Lindbergh, supported and financed in the 1930s, overwhelmed them with their Blitzkrieg(Lightning War).
We Americans defeated Conservatism in 1776, the Civil War, WW2, and many other times, but the Malignant Cancer of Conservatism keeps up its attack on our body politic.
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Oh and I know it is hard for liberals to get through my deplorable spelling and grammer. When I was in second grade my publick school told my parents that I would never be able to read past a 5th grade reading level. my parents put me in a pravet school and what do you know after graduating from college 10 years ago. I still stuggle with my grammer but I have very good comprehention.
I bring this up becaus I have ready almost every piece of shakespear and I know the difference between a speach with content and one that sounds good lacking any substance what so ever
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I'm a "Bleeding Heart" Liberal and I don't judge people on their spelling and grammar.
Maybe you are mistaken in other beliefs about Liberals, too.
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Well ; seems to me the A'broc o'Bomba is doing a fine job of keeping most of the people so bizzzzzzy that they have no time to see what is going on al'around them ... This is much like the church hate pointed to the gay lez' population ... have any of you ever incountered a site out of Canada known as globalresearch.ca ? check it out A'bomba is neather a good guy nor'a bad guy .... Nor dose he like bushs have your best intrest in mind ... Obomba saports "black water" just the same as bushs ........He Is after all adding a trillion dollars to the religious wars efforts ...Giving millions to the nasty not eco friendly "prius"...search hummer Vs. prius for more on that joke ... So with Rockafeller controled schools and what is tought that history may have been we tend to learn deception is truth ... We / You are simple being told that what will keep our christian mas'population supplyed with what will keep them pas'afied much like the story of 451 ... Listening to think out loud this morning reminds me most of the fire'mans wife and here tV walls ... Ruff'l any fethers ? hope so cauz it really is time to start thinking even though our schools / churchs have trained you behave rather than to think ...... State of the union is simply the current drama and nothing in Irac or any place else around the world will be different .... war is still our #1 national value ...
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Utube / obomba new world order / search
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I totally agree the government should not be picking and choosing cars and promoting sertian products over other because often what is promoted is done more for political issues and not to really solve the problem.
I actually saw a test that showed a 350 hp BMW getting bettter milage than a preus. in addition the production of a prius or (at this time) any hybrid that uses litium batteries causes far more polution than all the preuse could ever save.
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"I totally agree the government should not be picking and choosing cars and promoting sertian products over other because often what is promoted is done more for political issues and not to really solve the problem."
Did you know that in the 1990s, the Conservative Republicans who were in control of the Congress, pushed through a bill giving tax credits to people who bought an SUV weighing over something like 5,000 pounds? So that is proof that Conservative Republicans have a record of "picking and choosing certain products over others". They chose huge gas guzzling SUVs over other cars.
My brother could not afford to buy a vehicle that got better mileage than an SUV, because of the tax advantage.
So that's another Conservative Republican myth self disproved by the facts on the ground. -
What happened to your series on 'Finding Solutions'?
What is the solution to partisanship? How do we fix this mess? When each party, is a party of 'no.' Can you ethically get people to change, without forcing them and bribing them into it? How do you change people's minds instead of forcing their hands? Is there a solution for America? Or are we stuck in this seemingly endless divide? Is perhaps, our leaders' seemingly garish, old boy style negotiations and bargaining, a product of our political architecture? Is it possible to really change, progress and reform, with our current legislative structure. Is not the structure as much of a problem as the leaders themselves? I think what stood out to me most in President Obama's State of the Union, was, he in a way, albeit unknowingly, framed the impossible and perhaps insurmountable dilemma that faces our country. We can't change, unless we change the system itself. Like that old aphorism about the dented mold. Our mold is broken, and unless we address it, we will not have a revolution. We will keep producing our broken widgets.
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The solution to partisanship is for more people to understand it - the impulse, the dynamic, and the limitations.
Just like with a math problem, we can handle many more variable on paper than we can in our heads.
Intellectual honesty is still required for good problem solving.
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To set the record straght, I have gone from a very liberal to fiscally conservative/socially liberal. So what ever my fellow Oregonians want to lable me as - so be it. I voted for Barack Obama simply because he brought a new "idea" to the table about changing politics, and I have also never witnessed a person in my 30 years of life to be so intelligent and articulate that also ran for President.
After losing faith in Obama's ability to change politics - I did see some more assertiveness when he said something like "2nd place is not acceptable" when speaking of our stance in the global economy, the clean energy economy etc. For the first time since his campaign days, I saw some fight, adversity, desire in those words. Characteristics that our country was created on.
That being said, is he still campaigning? I am so tired of hearing the same stuff from both parties, and not seeing a damn thing done by anyone. In fact, I think we as American citizens - not politicians should just fire all their asses and take care of our country ourselves! Now that the supreme court passed the law that allows corporations to feed politicians, it is clear that all those suits are in it for the money and not the greater good of our country.
There is not one politician that has represented the majority of their constituants. I would like to see a longitudial study done to see what the overall percentage of what an elected official has SAID there going to do, and have actually carried out their words into actions.
I guarantee that the overall percentage is below 10%.
I will not believe a word any politician speaks until I see results that take a positive effect on the MAJORITY of Americans. Not the rich, not the politicians, not the corporations, but us peasants that do things because they make sense, because the help our neighbors, our friends, our family, our children, etc.
Down with politics - then up with hope.
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"I totally agree the government should not be picking and choosing cars and promoting sertian products over other because often what is promoted is done more for political issues and not to really solve the problem."
Did you know that in the 1990s, the Conservative Republicans who were in control of the Congress, pushed through a bill giving tax credits to people who bought an SUV weighing over something like 5,000 pounds? So that is proof that Conservative Republicans have a record of "picking and choosing certain products over others". They chose huge gas guzzling SUVs over other cars.
My brother could not afford to buy a vehicle that got better mileage than an SUV, because of the tax advantage.
So that's another Conservative Republican myth self disproved by the facts on the ground.
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Oops, double post.
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1. There are voices saying that Obama is constantly blaming the Bush administration. It will take decades before anyone can get us out of the mess left by that administration. It should not only be stressed that it was the fault of the Bush administration, but also it should concretely be shown what they did. The people who are guilty of this calamity should be brought to justice. If this will not happen, there will never be closure, and it will invite future people to act lawlessly. They would know that they would never be caught. In Great Britain right now there is a hearing about the reasons why that country went to war in Iraq. Here there is nothing like that.
2. Obama said we would be leaving Afghanistan soon. Everyone knows how corrupt the Afghanistan election in 2009 was and that Karzai is not there legally. First of all, since that country is under US control right now (since 2001 basically), the US was supposed to have made sure that there would be no corruption during the voting. This did not occur. And now Karzai is in office illegally. It should be beneath the dignity of the Obama administration to even speak with him, and yet he is being treated like a legitimate leader. Helena & Mark Greathouse
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I should clarify that I'm intrigued by Fareed Zakaria's observations in The Future of Freedom, that increases in direct democracy and increases in public access to Congressional committee work may actually lead to a reduction in freedom.
However, I am not an advocate of "secret government" as our host put it. I didn't want to disrupt the flow of the conversation to stick that clarification into the broadcast, so I'm posting it here, where it will be enshrined forever. ;-)
-Tom Cox
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My own state of the union is horrid. I have been unemployed for nearly 21 months, and it seems no one wants to hire an experienced employee. I'm 45 and getting very discouraged with the "system" which seems to be broken beyond repair.
As you may imagine, the state of my union is discouraged, disgusted and dismayed.
And here's the kicker: In a state where discriminating on the basis of gender identity is just as unlawful as age discrimination, I am a transperson. -
Comments are now closed.
I just finished participating in a White House conference call briefing on the proposed 3-year domestic spending freeze that the president is scheduled to propose during the STOU. As a minister in the United Church of Christ and as an advocate for those living in poverty, I want to hear the president make promises during the State of the Union that the reduction of poverty remains a top goal.
In early January, I wrote the president urged him to re-affirm his election promise to reduce poverty by 50% over the next ten years.
Letter to President Obama on the State of the Union Address and Poverty
Any budget reductions must protect those living in poverty in America. “The nation’s official poverty rate in 2008 was 13.2 percent, up from 12.5 percent in 2007. There were 39.8 million people in poverty in 2008, up from 37.3 million in 2007,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
My understanding is that the budget that will be released next Monday will include further increases in anti-poverty programs. However, I have been given no specifics by the White House or any other source.
- Rev. Chuck Currie
http://www.chuckcurrie.com