Community | January 27, 2010 | 159 comments

State of the Union: Reactions

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/jan/27/state-of-the-union-addresses

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afitzgerald
Post your reaction to the State of the Union address in the comments - our live blog is below.

President Obama asked Congress to work together, to pass health care reform, to end don't ask don't tell and to pass a jobs bill to get Americans back to work.

What did you think? What moments stood out to you? What would you say in response?


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Image: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/jan/27/state-of-the-union-addresses


Live blog from the event:
"We all hated the bank bailout...I hated i you hated it, it was about as popular as a root canal."

Obama credits the stimulus bill with help to create/save jobs. "Economists on the left and the right..." says it's saved/created jobs.

Obama says jobs are the focus in 2010 and he will ask for a new jobs bill tonight. Start with small businesses...take $30B from the TARP funds and give it to community banks to lend to small businesses.

Obama: "I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay."

"I do not accept second place for United States of America." Obama calls for competition for jobs creating green technology.

Obama hat-tips nuclear power plant creation. Full ovation. Offshore gas and oil drilling. Full ovation. Biofuel, clean coal, etc. And then he lumps in clean energy bill. Half ovation.

Double our exports over the next five years - create 2 million jobs. (Has anyone seen the math on this?)

Education: Community colleges, More financial aid - "No one should go broke because they chose to go to college."

Middle Class - segue into health insurance reform. Loud applause.

Health care: Obama didn't take this on because I wanted an easy victory
Michelle Obama to work on tackling childhood obesity
"I will not walk away from these Americans and neither should the people in this chamber."

Adding another trillion to national debt was right thing to do in crisis, Obama says. Proposes to freeze government discretionary spending for three years starting in 2011. "If I have to enforce this discipline by veto, I will."

Obama criticizes the Supreme Court decision to let corporations "spend without limit in our elections." Says it will give more power to special interests. Urges Congress to pass a bill to correct.

Obama calls on Congress to work together. "Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership. We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions."

Wars and military: "As we take the fight to al Qaeda, we are responsibly leaving Iraq to its people. As a candidate, I promised that I would end this war, and that is what I am doing as President. We will have all of our combat troops out of Iraq by the end of this August."

Here it is: Obama: "This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are."

And wrapping it up:
"We have finished a difficult year. We have come through a difficult decade. But a new year has come. A new decade stretches before us. We don't quit. I don't quit. Let's seize this moment – to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more."

What did you think?
  1. groups:
    Community,   News and Politics
  2. tags:
    Obama,  Congress,  State of the Union Address
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159 comments // State of the Union: Reactions

  • GrahamP
    • 0
      GrahamP  

    • Screw off shore drilling, and nuclear power! We continue to support an infrastructure that is broken. Petroleum causes the health issues, environmental decay and funds the war against us. We wouldn't need to worry so much about health insurance if we weren't filling our bodies with toxins. We wouldn't be spending so much on a war if we weren't escorting oil tankers down the Persian Gulf...And Nukes...By the time we have nukes online the world will already be suffering from extreme gas prices...oh and it will cost us twice as much to build. Get real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is nothing but the white man's puppet! And ya'll are fools buying it all. I'm sick of this country! Screw America...yes I said it, screw America! And I'll be happy to leave for you all to strugle over rising energy prices, deminshing food supplies, mass migration, pandemics, and war. Good luck!

    • 2 years ago
  • ryan8566
  • stephenthomson
  • NuclearLullaby
  • pmurph364
    • 0
      pmurph364  

    • President Obama was correct. The debt was 11.4 trillion when he arrived . The media had failed to notice that.
      Unemployment was over 9%, now it seems to be staying at about 10%.
      What is needed now is a plan to solve problems. President Obama has put one forth. We the USA needs to once again be competing for the number one spot in production, teaching , communications and transportation.Success will not come overnight, we do however need to get started. Expanded tech. and better communications will have the side effect of reducing energy use and increased production.
      We build some of the most advanced devices on Earth here, the Carrier task force that so dominated the Air and Naval Theaters in the Mideast in two sets of wars. We make a remote control device the UCAS that makes the Predator look like the Wright brothers early attempts. We have a new generation of weapons now being tested by Special Forces in the war.
      We need to start making our own TV's , shoes, shirts, stoves and a new smaller , lighter cars.We can no longer be the least efficient of the advanced nations.
      We need to be smarter , work harder,and hold the leaders of industry that have lost trillions accountable.

    • 2 years ago
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • magnusdeus
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • 02
    • 0
      02  
    • pmurph364:

      The economy is like a snow ball - it gets bigger over time. The figures you see are inherited.
      What you see a couple years from now will still be a result of what came before.

      There's no right and left side - those are sucker categories. Some eat quiche, some eat steak but they both are griping about the exact same wrongs.

      The government of our country has been bought off by big money interests - for bottom-line, short term self-interest.

      Big money, per say, isn't even the problem - if it were controlled by ethical men the way it used to be.

      But their children took over and they never grew a moral spine. They are selling out our country for a one world new order where everyone is poor and they are left to play golf.

      Throw 'right/left' BS in the toilet. We need to get private interests out of influence with public affairs.

      And we need a couple of good smart leaders who think more America and less self.

    • 2 years ago
  • magnusdeus
    • 0
      magnusdeus  
    • pmurph364:

      I don't understand the relevance. Unemployment has increased, therefor we're doomed? I'm from Michigan dude; I don't need to see a fucking map cause it's already as bad as it gets.

    • 2 years ago
  • 2hellnwait
  • itzelectrik
    • 0
      itzelectrik  

    • I think his speech was excellent and hes!.i do not want to go to college and find myself broke till i die. I think this is a very hopefully statment and i know many people and young adults will never have to think twice about education. Europe and Japan are way more involved with studies and they rank higher than U.S!. Its time for a change finally!

    • 2 years ago
  • ocanada
    • 0
      ocanada  

    • Amen unimatrix. This is as good and as needed as was FDR's first inaugural. It was that good. I couldn't fault it and the flashpolling is reading close to 80 percent in what seems to be the most hyper partisan era in politics, after the most favorable climate for republicans in the last three years. To make a speech that resonates that strongly and deeply in this climate the rhetorical skill can not be underestimated and its importance to the sweeping scope of American history reflecting upon the great orations of our past makes it that important. In this era, we are still Americans. We will behave as Americans!

      btw, its nice to be in agreement with you.

    • 2 years ago
  • unimatrix0
  • current89
    • 0
      current89  

    • Well some 'flash polling' has been done by CNN and the reaction was overwhelmingly positive with 78% approving of his speech. In addition, the twittersphere/blogosphere/pundintsphere are also having a positive reaction.

      Furthermore, Nate Silver, the political polling expert said Obama hit a 'three run home run.'

    • 2 years ago
  • kennymotown
    • 0
      kennymotown  

    • It was an excellent speech and when he chewed the Supreme court out for their corporate decision I noticed the repugs did not applaud and while the President chewed the supremes did you notice Judge Alito was talking back too him at the same time. I am not a good lip reader but he was not happy and said something in resistance to Obama.

    • 2 years ago
  • flipriza
  • ahiguy
  • VoyagerFilms
    • 0
      VoyagerFilms  

    • Excellent! I like everything he said. I especially like the idea of putting money into small local banks to help stimulate the economy. That is brilliant! This will no doubt have more impact on our economy than the crazy money that went to the big banks and AIG. Good for Obama, give that man a raise.

    • 2 years ago
  • bbar
    • 0
      bbar  
    • VoyagerFilms:

      The banks already have access to $1 trillion through the discount window at a target rate between 0 - 0.25%. Increasing the money supply via taxing reserves or lowering interest rates will only artificially bid up the factors of production. We don't want that again. That's how we got here in the first place.

      The Fed can only print money, not resources.

    • 2 years ago
  • ocanada
    • 0
      ocanada  

    • My only criticism is that Obama was too lenient to republicans in treating them like citezens, adults, and equal partners in governance. They earned their eighteen seat minority in the Senate. They earned their ouster in most of the halls of government. When we handed them the reigns during a time of unrivaled peace and economic growth they drove the nation into the ditch and have offered no support for the nation and its new president in remedying the crises they take the lions-share of blame in creating! They never accepted responsibility for their own actions or the failure reaped by their ideology. Government inept enough to drown in a bathtub takes scores of millions of Americans into the sink with it and they had nearly a decade to prove that point with great success.

      They have harangued the leader of the nation in matters both large and small. Calling a positive address to children an attempt at indoctrination and encouraging parents to pull their children from school despite the presidents own school age children. They criticized the stimulus package yet pose with comically large checks when the stimulus funds are passed out in their home districts taking credit for allocating the funds they voted against. They criticized the public option, but its removal netted not even a single republican vote in the final analysis. Nor did the offer of tort reform legislation, removing bans on buying insurance across state lines, and creating high risk insurance pools for those with pre existing conditions all causes championed just one year ago by their own presidential campaign. They even used the attempted murder of 300 Americans on Christmas day as a fundraising opportunity. The republicans aren't honest brokers, they aren't even honest citizens they are spoiled children who offer no respect for any institution unless they occupy it.

    • 2 years ago
  • blackadile
    • 0
      blackadile  
    • ocanada:

      ThankYou! The party symbolized by the regal elephant, which they would probably like to shoot if given the chance, offers only negative denunciations of the opposition's proposals. They hardly offer an alternative proposal, just try to drag them down, along with america. It's ridiculous that our whole system is based on an argument over how much government to have, and call it an Idealogical difference. Isn't there some other better argument we could be divided on?
      Republicans remind me of spoiled children, or maybe rather spoiled teenagers, plotting against everyone behind closed doors for their own personal benefit in a popularity contest. If the other side(s) used even half of their propaganda and manipulative tactics, we would have universal healthcare, civil rights, green practices and a lot more peace on earth. But nobody wants to stoop that low to get it!

    • 2 years ago
  • abehammy
  • Dagum
  • Ares
  • dwb2585
  • Elisalouise
  • ibrake4rappers13
  • zHellas
  • ahiguy
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • He said what he had to say to semi-please both sides and try to set the restart button on his presidency. I truly don't take promises made in these speeches to heart. They haven't materialized as of yet. The State of The Union address to me has become nothing but a show.

    • 2 years ago
  • current89
    • 0
      current89  

    • I thought it was very good, not as good as his speech in September but good nonetheless. He called out the obstructionists, called for an end to DADT and presented the facts to the American people, not everything he does will be popular, but that does not mean it isn't right.

    • 2 years ago
  • ocanada
  • richardcorsale
    • 0
      richardcorsale  

    • He talks of human rights, while just today the administration pushed the free nations of the world to convict file-sharers based solely on accusations. Today in Guadalajara the ACTA treaty's enforcement negotiations took place. Guilt by accusation is a human rights violation last time I checked. He talks of stopping lobbies the fortune 100 companies are the ones that crafted this treaty. He talks of transparency, HE IS the one that hid this treaty from the people calling it a "National Security" top secret. The only people that have seen it, are the intellectual property lobbies who wrote it, and the trade negotiators of these foreign nations who we're threating with embargo if they don't betray their Citizens on behalf of our corporate elite. we were duped, look at what he does not what he says...

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement

    • 2 years ago
  • 2hellnwait
    • 0
      2hellnwait  
    • Image
    • richardcorsale:

      Seven things stood out.

      First, at no point did Barack Obama acknowledge that the promises that he made in campaigning for the so-called stimulus bill have gone unredeemed and that unemployment has continued to grow in a fashion that, he told us, it would not.

      Second, much of the speech consisted in self-praise that, in the grim circumstances that we now face, seemed out of place.

      Third, despite what the Climategate scandal has revealed concerning the dishonesty of those who have shilled for bills like the cap-and-trade measure passed by the House of Representatives, the President insists on our basing American public policy on discredited science.

      Fourth, our President is still telling the same old lies concerning the healthcare reform measures passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives; and, despite everything that has happened, he intends to push for their reconciliation and passage into law by one means or another.

      Fifth, he intends to raise taxes on the investing class — both by means of imposing a tax on the large banks and investment operations which will be passed on to those who make use of the services they provide, and by allowing the tax cuts introduced by President Bush to lapse for those making over $250,000 a year — and he has no appreciation for the role which the investing class, if not denied the rewards for which it has incurred considerable risks, can play in creating new jobs and fostering prosperity.

      Sixth, Barack Obama has a vast array of programs that he wants to put in place, and he provided no information as to how these would be paid for.

      Seventh, he is not in any way serious in the arguments that he makes for fiscal prudence.

      I doubt that President Obama helped himself or his party with his State of the Union Address. A year ago, such a speech might have done him some good and would have done him no harm. By now, however, too many people are aware that they are being had. If anything, his decision to continue pushing his signature measures — cap and trade and healthcare reform — is likely to wreak havoc on his party in November.

      http://biggovernment.com/2010/01/28/what-did-obama-say-in-his-state-of-the-union...

    • 2 years ago
  • richardcorsale
    • 0
      richardcorsale  
    • 2hellnwait:

      Great... So option
      A. War mongering, cry babies who cower on the floor over some magical space carpenter, while rejecting science "because we can't play God"..WE INVENTED GOD, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY HIM ANYTIME WE WANT!!! I mean, if you said you were talking to a magic bird you would get institutionalized? BTW, a carpenter? Why didn't his dad pull strings over at Goldman Sachs... or maybe he did????

      B. If republicans are the "party of no" the Dems are the party of Show.. as in.. you show me the money and I'll show you how to sell snake oil -- then later we can play hide the public domain.. if you catch my drift bong-chica-wow-wow ... The party carries on like a band of Gypsies robbing a house thats burning to the ground. Feuding amongst themselves over stolen trinkets while the window of salvation closes forever. so cliche

      HOW ABOUT C
      A party that storms Capitol Hill and runs this country like the business that it is! We need Steve Jobs Not "Green Jobs"! Not some re-re who hides behind rhetoric and mythology, but tough and fair CEO who will put R&D and ROI ahead of ROFL!

    • 2 years ago
  • DeliaTheArtist
    • 0
      DeliaTheArtist  
    • Image

    • Creative Writing group + US Politics group + State of the Union = Obama challenge!

      http://current.com/items/92010193_obama-one-year-later-challenge.htm

      "Obama may have given tonight's State of the Union speech, but Current's US Politics and Creative Writing groups are teaming up to ask YOU what the State of Obama is!

      Using tonight's speech as a jumping point, what do you think of Obama after his first year in office? Is it different than how you felt a year ago? Have you given up hope on the politician who made hope a campaign promise, or are you still optimistic?"

      Personally I thought the speech was strong, covered a lot of topics, outlined specific action plans and I particularly liked the ideas behind small businesses and education reform. However I think Obama needs to seriously think about what Clean Energy means as he is tying it to "clean coal" and nuclear energy.

    • 2 years ago
  • cztheday
    • 0
      cztheday  
    • DeliaTheArtist:

      I am disappointed that Obama waited a year to focus on small business. Big business enjoyed advantages in obtaining stimulus package money that went far beyond the advantages inherent in being able to devote entire departments to writing their proposals. I understand the temptation to focus on big businesses because they can hire people by the hundreds or even thousands while small businesses tend to hire one or two at a time. But the same numbers tend to occur when layoffs happen, too.

      Of course, there were two or three issues of some significance waiting for him from the previous occupant of his desk...

    • 2 years ago
  • realitybytes
  • DeliaTheArtist
    • 0
      DeliaTheArtist  
    • DeliaTheArtist:

      reality- I'm aware that he has speech writers and uses a teleprompter, but so has every other president since the tech was available. I don't know what climate change has to do with Obama; indeed he made a point to say that even if you don't believe in climate change, switching to cleaner energy is the right thing to do for many reasons. I don't know what you think I'm being "fooled" into.

    • 2 years ago
  • Pajarito7
  • 02
  • Johnll
    • 0
      Johnll  

    • My only comment is that America has had a white president for so long that we are not ready for what we have now..not to sound racist...

    • 2 years ago
  • ii386
  • VoyagerFilms
  • stephenthomson
  • Commentor
    • 0
      Commentor  
    • Johnll:

      Color and Race are immaterial. He's just as hamstrung as any other President since Roosevelt. I want the Constitutional Republic BACK. Money that is Real MONEY. etc.

      As Thomas Jefferson said, 'Any nation that expects to be ignorant and free expects what never was and never will be.'

    • 2 years ago
  • ocanada
    • 0
      ocanada  
    • Johnll:

      We are. And comments like that and the ubiquitous take my America back rhetoric from the right simply seek to divide us. We spoke with our electoral process, the process is over, your objection isn't even noted because your reticence doesn't mean one iota in the face of that mans legitimate claim as the president of the United States, commander in cheif of the United States Armed Forces, head of the executive branch of the United States, and the symbolic leader of the free world. Our republic is in safe hands, the hands of the vast majority of its people.

    • 2 years ago
  • JonRaymond
  • nkeg87
  • NuclearLullaby
  • mojojuju
  • bailey78
    • 0
      bailey78  
    • Johnll:

      Hey I don't know you so I can't call you a racist. But others here will just because you speak your mind. You have to be careful how you use your words here. There are some folks around here with thin skin.

    • 2 years ago
  • SleepDirt
  • ryan8566
  • BUILDUSMAXIMUS
  • BUILDUSMAXIMUS
  • BUILDUSMAXIMUS
  • BUILDUSMAXIMUS
  • DeliaTheArtist
  • DeliaTheArtist
    • 0
      DeliaTheArtist  

    • "I do not accept 2nd place for the United States of America" (in reference to clean energy & green jobs) W00t! Looks like we're getting a new Energy bill too!

    • 2 years ago
  • DeliaTheArtist
  • DJverboten
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