Obama's State of the Union Address: 2011

President Obama started his State of the Union Address with respectful references to the victims of the Tuscon Arizona incident where Gabrielle Giffords was shot. He stated that we are all rooting for Giffords complete recovery.

He stated that sitting together is not enough. Our political parties must work together.

He stated that this is not about 2012. It is about jobs.

He mentioned the stock market, corporate profits and recent legislation to allow businesses to write off the cost of their investments.

He stated the country has experienced painful changes over the past decades including lower paychecks, less jobs and less workers needed.

He mentioned the US still has the largest most prosperous economy in the world. More students come to study here than any other spot in the world. Robert Kennedy once stated "The future is not a gift. It is an achievement."

He stated that we need to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world. We need to make the US the best place in the world to do business. We need to encourage innovation, spark creativity and spark imagination.

He stated we need research and development investments. We need clean energy investments. We should end the tax cuts and tax incentives for oil companies and invest that money in clean energy and in research and development.

We need to invest in our children. We need to give every child the chance to succeed. We need to instill ethics, hard work, discipline and the love of learning in our children. We need to replace no-child-left-behind with high expectations and high performance in the classroom. In South Korea, teaches are referred to as nation builders. We need higher respect for out teachers. He urged people to become teachers.

He stated that higher education must be affordable for everyone. The tuition tax credit should be permanent.

He stated that it doesn't make sense to educate children of immigrants and then send them back to their respective countries to compete against us. This comment was a reference to the Dream Act.

He stated we need to rebuild the US. He mentioned roads, railways, planes, airports, electric utilities. He mentioned giving 80% of Americans access to high speed rails. He also mentioned the Internet and high speed wireless communications as the medium to markets overseas for US products. 80% of the US energy should come from clean energy sources. He defended government programs by stating that our greatest progress in technology was the result of government investments ( i.e. military contracts.)

He wants to help corporations compete by knocking down barriers. He sited Corporate taxes as one of those barriers. He wants the tax system simplified without adding to the deficit. He also wants to double exports by 2014. To achieve this, he formed new trade relations with India, China and South Korea. He wants to enforce trade agreements and promote US jobs.

He wants to eliminate unnecessary rules and retain consumer protection laws. He stated that he will not compromise the protection of the people from the exploitations of the insurance firms. He stated that Congress should improve the health reform law; not repeal it. One area he mentioned was tort reform. He said he will not sign legislation that allows insurance companies to deny health insurance because of pre-existing conditions nor legislation that decreases the protection on the insured. He stated that Congress should fix what needs fixing and move on. He re-iterated that consumer protection must be part of health reform.

He said to reduce the national debt, the government must not spend more than what it takes in. He wants to freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years. He wants to cut billions of dollars of expenditures on weapons the military does not want and does not need.

He said not to gut programs that help the elderly and the poor. Repealing health care would add a trillion dollars to the national debt. We should strengthen social security without hurting the elderly.

He said our nation cannot afford permanent tax cuts for the wealthy. He will support efforts to simplify the tax code.

He wants to streamline government agencies thereby making government more efficient.

He will veto any bill containing earmarks.

He said we need a new level of engagement in foreign affairs. We need to defeat our enemies where ever they are.He claimed that US leadership has been renewed. He claimed that the current sanctions against Iran are tougher than ever before.

He stated that America transcends religious boundaries. We must reach across religious boundaries. Muslims, Hindus and other religions are a part of the US family. He spoke about new alliances with other nations.

He stated that no American would trade places with any individual in any other nation in the world.

He said we need to enlist our veterans in the rebuilding of the US.

He talked about the dream of the US. We win the future by daring to dream.

I disagree with one part of his State Of The Union speech. I don't think the rich people should be the only ones financing the programs recommended by President Obama. I think the whole nation should share the burden.

The Republicans in the House Of Representatives wasted our tax dollars on a repeal of the Health Reform Law. This was done to gain an edge in the 2012 elections. There is no other reason why the Republicans would refuse to wait until they have a new health reform bill on the House floor for a vote.

The Republicans and the Tea Party must fulfill their responsibilities in Congress. They must compromise with the Democrats whether they like it or not. The voters want jobs.

The Tea Party Congress members appear determine to take out their frustrations on the poor by eliminating Medicare, Medicaid and Welfare. The moderate Republicans are backing away from these radical ideas for fear of losing the 2012 elections.

The bitter split between the Tea Party and the moderate Republicans is exemplified by the two rebuttals to Obama's State of the Union message. One rebuttal by the Tea Party and the other by the Republican Party.

Both rebuttals naturally tried to discredit all efforts of the Obama administration and Congress to end the recession. Both falsely blamed Obama for the deficit.

The fact is that tax cuts and tax incentives created in the past half century have significantly contributed to the deficit.

The fact is that any Republican administration would have driven up the deficit (by trillions of dollars) via tax cuts and tax incentives in order to revive the economy.

The fact is that TARP was a resounding success with regard to the major financial institutions.

The fact is that the Republicans and the Tea Party have voided the pay-as-you-go rule when establishing a budget no larger than the 2008 budget. Instead they hope to place the burden of that budget on the people they have the most contempt for: The elderly and the poor.
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