Thanks again to our guestbloggers for their contributions this evening. Contact info is available via our news release.
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Ben Malley
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mfwolff
Maybe this is the bigger story:
Tonight on Bloomberg
“Now the firms and their chiefs, confronting a wave of public anger against their bonuses awarded in the wake of the financial industry bailout, are trying to devise a strategy to fight both the proposed new limits on banks’ size and activities as well as the bank tax. While they are still plotting tactics, one thing has become clear: The banks don’t want to go to war with the commander-in-chief.
“We don’t want to fight the administration,” said Rob Nichols, whose trade group, the Financial Services Forum, represents the chief executive officers of the largest financial companies. “We just want to sit at the table and have a productive conversation about the kinds of reforms needed to address the real causes of the recent crisis.”
That the president’s top advisers failed to give the financial executives a heads-up, even while reporters were being briefed on the plan, underscores how strained the banks’ relationship with the administration has become.
Political Attack
Some Wall Street executives are seething over what they see as a political attack by the president after the Democratic Party lost the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts, according to interviews with a half-dozen people who work for or consult with the largest financial firms and who declined to be named in order to speak freely.
They are equally concerned that they will remain targets for the rest of the year, the people said, and are willing to take steps to try to prevent that from happening. Some of the executives dining with Geithner and Jarrett indicated that Obama’s bank tax would be a small price to pay if it made the taint of the Troubled Asset Relief Program go away, according to one attendee.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ahZWYpjH1as0&pos=10
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mfwolff
Debt games are always badly handled by both parties.
If anyone cares to look it was the Reagan Revolution that ushered in the mega deficits and we have never moved off those policies, structurally or ideologically. There was no evidence that this vital move will be made across the last year or in tonight’s SOTU. In this I include the Republican response now. -
mfwolff
The jobs front needed more time and we needed less of a lesson on small business that both creates and destroys more jobs than large firms.
It might also be time to downplay the corporations as engines of employment. This has not really been true for middle class America since 1974! -
Margaret Flowers
I hope I can get to the White House tomorrow before the President leaves for Tampa. I’m busy writing my letter.
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mfwolff
This speeach was strong but stood out in two ways:
1) Unusually kitchen sinked- no policy or issue left unmentioned
2) Very Congress targeted. It was really only the first and last 10 mins that were targeted at the general public. -
Gwendolyn Mink
Chris Matthews: “It was astounding. I forgot that he was Black for an hour. So profound was the seduction tonight.”
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Gwendolyn Mink
The MSNBC folks said “there was a lot in the speech to make the base happy.” ???
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Doug Henwood
Turning to Fox for the reviews. Charles Krauthammer says he didn’t pivot towards the center. I love living under a radical leftist regime. It’s what I’ve dreamt of all my life!
Where’s Brit Hume? It’s just not the same without his scowl.
Juan Williams is concerned that the pres “intimidated” the Supreme Court. What’s wrong with that? To steal a phrase from an old grad school prof of mine, they’re a hotbed of inertia.
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Kim Ives
“It lives on in the 8-year old boy in Louisiana, who just sent me his allowance and asked if I would give it to the people of Haiti. And it lives on in all the Americans who’ve dropped everything to go some place they’ve never been and pull people they’ve never known from rubble, prompting chants of “U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A!” when another life was saved.”
This is a complete distortion of the feeling on the ground in Haiti. People there are disgusted with the belated and ”pathetic” US response (to quote Italy’s disaster chief) and outraged by all the gun-pointing US Marines whose deployment has muscled aside cargo planes from France and other countries carrying doctors, medicine and inflatable hospitals, effectively increasing quake casualties. The Pentagon, on Obama’s watch, is cynically using a natural calamity to take over a nation of a people who have courageously fended for themselves (with the help of about 500 Cuban doctors in the capital) through most of the post-quake horror but who need “more gauze, not guns” in the words of one US doctor helping there.
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Doug Henwood
We do love to be told how decent and wonderful we are, don’t we? “USA! USA!” You’d never know we occupied Haiti for 20 years and left them nothing but an oppressive army as our parting gift. Or that we overthrew an elected government? Or are now giving priority to security over rescue? Of course not, because we are so wonderfully wonderful.
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Gwendolyn Mink
He’s playing the martyr, as if he actually has taken courageous stands as President. He’s blaming people for not understanding that politics is messy, not taking responsibility himself for creating a mess.
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Doug Henwood
He’s going to end with the now-required “God bless you.” Ever since Reagan, every president now has to end the SOTU that way. Carter, an actual born-again Christian, never did that. Nor did Roosevelt, Truman, or Eisenhower. When will we shed all these empty pieties and get serious?
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Margaret Flowers
Can anybody explain the difference between the corporations, the media and the government? Didn’t realize we were supposed to have faith in them.
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David Swanson
Yes $30 billion to Israel and $708 billion to the Pentagon, not counting war funding, energy, homeland insecurity, VA, CIA, state, etc, but CONSIDER: “the 8-year old boy in Louisiana, who just sent me his allowance and asked if I would give it to the people of Haiti” That oughta do it.
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Gwendolyn Mink
Equal pay; good. But women’s wage inequality is less about earning less than men in the same jobs than it is about being in jobs that are devalued because mostly women do them.
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Gwendolyn Mink
Will he file a brief for same sex marriage in the California case? Will he fight for repeal of DOMA?
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Sam Husseini
Obama talks about eliminating nuclear weapons as a vision, but it’s a treaty obligation. In 2005, former Secretary of Defense McNamara told the Institute for Public Accuracy: “The NPT was signed by a president. It was submitted to the Senate; it was ratified by the Senate. It is today the law of the land. The U.S. government is not adhering to Article VI of the NPT and we show no signs of planning to adhere to its requirements to move forward with the elimination — not reduction, but elimination — of nuclear weapons. That was the agreement, these other countries would not develop nuclear weapons and the nuclear powers would move to elimination. We are violating that.”
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kathykelly
The President could express his concern for the hundreds of thousands of Haitians who are threatened with forced relocation away from their homes in Port au Prince. President Preval is planning to live in a tent in solidarity with Haitians facing forced relocation.
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Kim Ives
Dumb-founding applause for increasing US troops in Afghanistan. Some 20,000 troops are also being deployed in Haiti right now, not for relief, but in the 3rd US military occupation there in 16 years. US troops are there to cap continuing popular resistance against Washington-promoted neoliberal reforms, to prevent refugees from fleeing toward Miami, and to secure Haiti as a cheap labor platform now that oil scarcity is making it too expensive and strategically foolish to rely on China a half a world away.
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David Swanson
Iran violating NPT? President of UNITED STATES has gall to say that of another nation?
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kathykelly
The 30 billion to Israel is designated for military spending.
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kathykelly
Why is the U.S. giving 30 billion dollars over the ten year stretch from 2007 – 2017 to Israel when Israel has refused to acknowledge it possesses 200 – 400 thermonuclear weapons?
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David Swanson
“I have embraced the vision of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan”
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Margaret Flowers
Support military famiies by bringing their family members home… alive.
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kathykelly
Resources they need in war include 22 gallons of fuel per soldier, per day, in Afghanistan and it costs approximately 400 dollars for each gallon of fuel to arrive in the tank of a land or air vehicle.
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Gwendolyn Mink
Is spending for veterans exempted from the budget freeze?
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Margaret Flowers
He forgot to finish his sentence: “and all of our men and women will come home” when there isn’t anybody left to kill.
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David Swanson
“We will have all of our combat troops out of Iraq by the end of this August … all of our troops are coming home.” When?
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Doug Henwood
Would someone in a position of power please define “victory” in Afghanistan?
“Combat troops” out of Iraq. How many does that leave?
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kathykelly
President Obama has an opportunity to support political negotiations with the leaders of Afghanistan’s insurgencies and with Afghanistan’s regional neighbors, –Pakistan, Iran, China, India, and Russia.
Karzai himself is promoting political negotiations among Afghanistan’s warring factions to bring resolution to Afghanistan’s armed conflicts.
Not supporting such negotiations — as it is current US policy to do — merely delays resolution, giving our government an excuse to delay our departure.
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Gwendolyn Mink
Has he taken responsibility for anything negative in this speech?
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David Swanson
“I’m not interested in relitigating the past” because it’s never been litigated so relitigating it would be just too hard, plus it’s cooler to prosecute future crimes like in the movies
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David Swanson
SURRENDER TO REPUBLICANS: “if the Republican leadership is going to insist that sixty votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well”
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David Swanson
“Neither party should delay or obstruct every single bill just because they can.” End the filibuster rule??
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David Swanson
“the American people can see how their money is being spent.” We’re going to have video coverage of wars now?
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Margaret Flowers
Are they standing and clapping because they are excited about receiving all that corporate cash? Not much clapping for reforming campaign finance.
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Doug Henwood
“Let’s try common sense.” While it may be common it’s rarely sensible. It’s usually just the unexamined cliches we grow up with.
As my wife, LIza Featherstone, just pointed out, it’s hilarious that Congress is applauding the anti-lobbyist rhetoric. Without lobbyists, who’d pay for their campaigns or buy them lunch?
Nice, though, to see him hammer the Supreme Court. What a collection of ghouls.
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Gwendolyn Mink
Beware of political nationalism.
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Margaret Flowers
So… if he wants to rein in debt, apart from cutting military spending, passing a Medicare for all system will provide comprehensive high quality health care to everybody, relieve businesses and families of the costs of health care and control and decrease health care costs in a rational way.
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Gwendolyn Mink
Clinton redux. with a bit o’ Jimmy Carter mixed in.
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David Swanson
“Congress blocked a bill to create a commission to put SS, Medicare, Medicaid on chopping block, so I’ll do it with an Executive Order.” AND Congress cheers at that! First branch or court jesters?
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Margaret Flowers
That bipartisan approach which worked so well for health care? Will he ever learn?
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David Swanson
spending not for national security will freeze: In a sane discussion that would mean no increases at pentagon
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Kim Ives
Military spending and wars can grow, but social spending will be frozen.
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kathykelly
Will he veto spending for the military which is entitlement spending which we can’t afford?
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Margaret Flowers
I’m writing a letter tonight and taking it to the White House tomorrow so I can meet with the President and tell him about a better plan for health care.
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kathykelly
Digging ourselves out of the massive fiscal hole in which we find ourselves could begin by cutting the corporate welfare given to companies profiting from U.S. defense spending.
Zinn’s obituary quotes him calling on people to push Obama beyond being a mediocre president, noting that a mediocre president is a dangerous one.
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Margaret Flowers
I am ashamed of this charade that passes for a government.
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Sam Husseini
Obama says that if someone has a better plan on healthcare to “let him know” — while he has acknowledged that single payer (expanded Medicare) would fit that bill.
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Doug Henwood
Finally a few sensible words about the source of the deficit—tax cuts, war, deep recession. What took so long?
But then he pivots, as the pundits like to say, toward deficit reduction. Ronnie’s spectre is quick to re-assert itself.
I’ve done the math. Cut the military by a third—which would take it back to 2000 levels, relative to GDP—and sprinkle, not soak, the rich, and the deficit will go away. But we can’t say that, much less do it.
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Margaret Flowers
The doctors, nurses and health experts who agreed to stand with the President and smile support his plan. Those who actually do have a plan and who spent the past year trying to get the President to meet with them and hear from them were excluded! Do you think he’ll meet with the Single Payer Movement (over 20 million people nationwide) now?
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Gwendolyn Mink
Self-righteous proclamations will not fix bad legislation. What is the “plan we proposed”? Funny that he’s actually claiming authorship after pussyfooting around all important issues for so long. What’s the “it” in “let’s get it done”? The Senate Bill? The boondoggle for private insurance?
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Margaret Flowers
In 2003, Obama said that we could have single payer when the Democrats took back the White House, the Senate and the House. What happened? The health bills in Congress are better known as the Private Health Insurance Industry Protection and Enrichment Act.
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David Swanson
Again with the anti-democratic approach: “I didn’t take on healthcare because it was good politics.” Please DO take on a few things that would be good politics. Like taking our money out of wars and the military. Did you hear there were wars going on, by the way?
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Margaret Flowers
We don’t need health insurance reform, we need health CARE reform. 62% of bankruptcies are due to medical debt and nearly 80% of those families had health insurance. Health insurers are the problem. They cause the waste of 1/3 of our health care dollars, at least $400 billion each year – enough to pay for comprehensive health care right now for all people who are uninsured and underinsured.
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Doug Henwood
A $10,000 tax credit for tuition? No more than 10% of one’s income on servicing education debt?
You could eliminate all student debt in the U.S. by expropriating the wealth of the 5 richest people in New York City (starting with our mayor). Just saying.
Tax credits to encourage saving? People can’t save because they don’t have the money.
Promoting higher house prices? Didn’t we just get hurt by a housing bubble? Why is a good thing when one of life’s essentials, shelter, rises in price? We should be promoting housing affordability, not another bubble.
Oh and now he’s going on about health care. By defending a proposal about which an industry lobbyist said, “We win!” Please.
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Gwendolyn Mink
Proposed child care tax credit is not refundable, so is of less value as earned income declines and for families that do not owe taxes.
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Margaret Flowers
Why doesn’t the government pay for college education like civilized nations do? Tax credits will only help those who can afford tuition in the first place.
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David Swanson
Are we going to double our exports largely by exporting mercenaries?
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Gwendolyn Mink
If you’re female, even if you earn a college degree you will earn only a couple thousand dollars more than a white man with only a high school diploma.
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kathykelly
Compare the amounts spent on locking up a prisoner, (approximately 35,000 per year) for one year with the amount spent on a youngster’s education for one year. It will cost one million to keep one soldier in Afghanistan for one year (Congressional Research Service); compare this to what is spent to sustain a student in college.
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David Swanson
Education plans with no dollar figures.
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David Swanson
We will double our exports over the next five years. How? And why not produce for our own use? Instead he goes right into “free trade” agreements.
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Gwendolyn Mink
Good that job creation is on his radar; but job quality & job conditions have to be part of the package. Will he say anything about workers, unions, labor rights?
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David Swanson
The Republicans boo recognizing climate change. Muffled a little due to them having their heads up their clean coal plants
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Doug Henwood
What’s he going to do to revamp the economy? It would take big money to do the things he’s fantasizing about. But he wants to freeze domestic discretionary spending, which is where all that money would come from. Is that the way to get serious?
“I’m not interested in punishing banks.” Why not? How can you prevent a rerun without punishing these maniacs?
“Encourage American innovation.” Actually the worthless cash-for-clunkers program was financed by raiding the funds for alternative energy research—a budget that was too small in the first place. Omigod, a new generation of nuclear power plants. Yeah, that’s just what we need. More oil & gas, biofuels, and clean coal. We’ll choke on more oil and gas. Biofuels are an enormous boondoggle. There is no such thing as clean coal—producing coal is filthy and burning it emit CO2. We could generate energy by boiling water with sunlight. But you can’t make much money off that, can you?
And the yahoos are booing climate change. I suspect there are frathouses with higher collective IQs than Congress.
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kathykelly
It’s disappointing that President Obama doesn’t use this opportunity to educate U.S. people about our responsibilities individually and collectively,to change our approach toward consumption of fossil fuels and other limited sources of energy.
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Kim Ives
Clean nuclear. Clean coal. Clean oxymorons.
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Margaret Flowers
Still thinks he can pass meaningful reform with a bipartisan approach?
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David Swanson
Even Congress didn’t like that “I’m not interested in punishing banks” line. But look how they cheer for nuclear power plants and offshore oil drilling and “clean coal”.
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Margaret Flowers
Treatment that kills cancer cells if you are wealthy enough to afford it.
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David Swanson
Hard measurable specifics: “if the bill that ends up on my desk does not meet the test of real reform, I will send it back”
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Margaret Flowers
If the President doesn’t accept 2nd place then please don’t accept 37th place for health outcomes in the world and 54th for fairness in financing of health care. We already have a solution for health care and the President knows exactly what it is: single payer.
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Kim Ives
“Well I do not accept second-place for the United States of America.”
How about last place as the country which gets the lowest education scores in proportion to its per capita income ?
Ben Malley
Sam Husseini
Gwendolyn Mink
Andrew Coates, MD
Don McCanne, MD
Doug Henwood
Deborah Burger
mfwolff
Margaret Flowers
Kim Ives
David Swanson
kathykelly