Unlive Blogging the State of the Union
Let’s have fun with this. I’ll write down my thoughts about the State of the Union as it happens, but I don’t really see the value in literally live-blogging this sort of thing. Anyway:
Interesting opening. Talking about times in the past when the future has been uncertain. That’s one way to spin the shit-tastic times we find ourselves in.
“The worst of the storm has passed.” No way that’s gonna bite him in the ass, is there? But at least he’s acknowledging that we’ve still got more to do to fix things, and that many of our problems are nothing new.
And now he’s talking about how much he hated the bank bailout. Interesting. Followed that up by making the case for it, of course. Oh, and he’s also pointing out that the recovery plan was partly the previous administration’s idea. And the recovery of funds and bank fees, now.
Sick burn against the banks giving themselves bonuses.
Bragging about cutting taxes is one way to remind people that the administration actually is trying to help them, but I worry about giving into right-wing anti-government frames. At least he hasn’t said that “government is the problem”. Ah, I see he’s countering that by bragging about the stimulus bill. Not a terribly bad idea, especially now that he’s backing it up with examples.
Oh, calling for a new jobs bill. Awesome! Yet again making up for the anti-tax theme just a minute ago. I wonder if he’s going to make this his big push and just let Congress sort out the HCR bill. I kind of hope not, because I don’t trust Congress to get it right without a kick in the ass. But I don’t necessarily trust him to make the right compromise on it.
Tax credits for companies that either hire more or raise wages? Very, very interesting.
Oh, infrastructure stuff. That’s going to be the real meat of this.
FUCK YEAH, TRAINS!
Aaaaaaaaaand, this thing about taxing companies who export jobs outside the country is not going to make my employer very happy.
Anyway, I’m glad he directly called out the Senate on passing the House’s jobs bill. The Senate are definitely the hold-up on just about everything right now.
Now he’s pushing transparency and regulation. I knew there was a reason I voted for this guy.
Oh, and he’s calling out the Senate for holding things up again. He’s said “the House already passed…” at least three times now, on separate issues. Putting a lot of emphasis on what they’re up to, which is great since they’re the ones actually doing stuff right now.
New off-shore oil and gas development? That was out of left field. Is there anything that’s not currently being exploited? Is that bone being thrown, or is it going to lead to a serious new program? Hum.
“I know there are those who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change.”
I’m not so sure about this bit about education. “Funding success” sounds a lot like abandoning the lower-performing schools, which are predominantly in poor and inner city areas.
“I urge the Senate to follow the House…” Heh. About community college funding this time.
!!! Take money away from bank subsidies for student loans and increase direct grants to families. Cool. And debt forgiveness for college, too? 20 years is a long time, but that’s still pretty good. Very, very interesting. I’m really interested to hear what the education policy folks have to say about all of that.
Oh, now he’s on to health reform. Interesting that he called it “health insurance reform” and not “health care reform”, but I think that’s a more accurate term anyway. I’m glad he’s making the point that this is something that’s been attempted before without result. It really is about damned time we actually passed something.
Good, he’s citing the CBO numbers on deficit reduction. That can’t be emphasised enough. It’s not just good for the uninsured, it actually saves us money, too.
“I will not walk away from these Americans, and neither should the people in this chamber.”
Switching to government spending now… Talking about the 2000 budget surplus that turned to a deficit. Oh, and he’s directly calling out Bush, too, though by policy rather than by name. Which is likely more effective, anyway. It’s fucking true.
Blech, but now he’s talking about cutting spending. I don’t really like that. See above, re giving over to right-wing frames. But it’s probably a political…
He just singled out military spending as one of the programs that won’t be affected by his spending freeze. I hate this idea more and more. It seems like such a cheap stunt, which it is. Ask California how well it’s working out for them. Oh, see? Congress is laughing about the freeze taking affect next year.
Oh, somebody was unhappy about his anti-lobbyist stuff. I wonder who. Anyway, he’s directly calling out the Supreme Court for their stupid decision on corporate campaign financing, too.
Interesting bit about publishing earmarks before the vote, though. Hm.
Heh. We “… shouldn’t be held hostage to the pet projects of grudges of a small number of Senators.”
Ooooooh, now he’s calling out the Republicans for obstructionism. Specifically on forcing cloture votes for every godddamned thing, too. “Simply saying ‘no’ to everything is not leadership.”
The non-proliferation stuff is a great example of something extremely important but unsexy that Obama’s been working on for a long time.
Finally! Get the fuck rid of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell already.
And he’s done… Maybe I’m just a brainwashed O-bot or whatever, but that actually succeeded in making me somewhat confident about the future. Not that I’m without doubts — I’m not sure the Senate will rise to the challenge that he gave them — but overall, it sounds like he has his priorities straight. Which is the best thing we can hope for right now, I think.