President Barack Obama (official thread)

[billmac91]

Originally Posted by fourteenandoh

when he started talking about energy i had flashbacks of the last 4 presidents standing behind that same podium saying the exact same thing.

honestly.....I like the enthusiam towards new energy, but that isn't getting us out of this mess.

How about we actually look at the economy and issued loans, and determine who can pay a home loan vs. taking all humans with a heart-beat and not (essentially) forcing all banks to compete in the same fashion to stay afloat.

Again, the gov't owes the American public an apology. From both sides. A heart-felt one for failing their constituants.

Don't hold your breath...

[Bucklion]

I'm still trying to figure this guy out. He talks for weeks like we're never going to recover, we're headed to the abyss, we're in it up to our toe fuzz...then tonight it's sweetness, light, roses, hope springs eternal, it'll be tough but we're going to make it...I dunno.

He had balls though...I'll give him that. He had balls to lay out a clear left-of-center (not radically so) agenda for the first time since the early Clinton Presidency, which got his party summarily creamed in 1994. I think he can pull it off though, as long as he doesn't end up driving small businesses into the ground as he goes after rich people and big corporations, because America is more in tune with a lot of the changes to health care and redeployment of defense spending (right or wrong) that he wants to make, at least for now. He also had balls to say the stimulus package had no earmarks, which was a flatout lie. The postgame comments, not surprisingly, gave him a pass on that one. All in all, it was fine, a return to his campaign rhetoric. We'll see how his first real SOTUA goes next year.

[sandgk]

Obama - insta polls from CNN and others - huge numbers, simply huge in favor of the speech.

It was a commanding command performance, period.

As for the response, Jindal - huge stinking dump in front of the nation in reply. Even Fox called Jindal out for childish delivery, talking down to the audience. It was, frankly, embarrassing.

[CookyPuss]

Originally Posted by billmac91

honestly.....I like the enthusiam towards new energy, but that isn't getting us out of this mess.

How about we actually look at the economy and issued loans, and determine who can pay a home loan vs. taking all humans with a heart-beat and not (essentially) forcing all banks to compete in the same fashion to stay afloat.

Again, the gov't owes the American public an apology. From both sides. A heart-felt one for failing their constituants.

Don't hold your breath...

No, your 401k will be back to normal before you get an apology. That's just how it is. If Obama isn't going to issue an apology for slavery, I don't think he'll be apologizing for any of the actions of prior admins.

New energy may not get us out of this mess but could be a new growth industry, and that would be exciting. I'd be more impressed if he starts hitting his education goals. Education is highly correlated with growth. White males as a group have not improved their educational level in 30 years and as a consequence have not seen increases in income as a group. Education is as important as anything.

[Bucklion]

Originally Posted by sandgk

Obama - insta polls from CNN and others - huge numbers, simply huge in favor of the speech.

It was a commanding command performance, period.

As for the response, Jindal - huge stinking dump in front of the nation in reply. Even Fox called Jindal out for childish delivery, talking down to the audience. It was, frankly, embarrassing.

Well, in his defense, he had absolutely nothing to work with here. It was reminiscent of when some liberal tax-and-spend gloomer had to follow Reagan in 1982-1986, or when that weirdo from Washington State followed Bush at the height of his popularity in 2002 or 2003. Jindal was the sacrificial lamb. I thought the funniest thing (we'll see if any right wing press picks it up tomorrow) is that I had the MSNBC feed on, and when Jindal started to walk out around the corner where the flag was, they forgot to cut all the studio mikes and you heard "Oh my GAWD..."

[CookyPuss]

Originally Posted by sandgk

Obama - insta polls from CNN and others - huge numbers, simply huge in favor of the speech.

It was a commanding command performance, period.

As for the response, Jindal - huge stinking dump in front of the nation in reply. Even Fox called Jindal out for childish delivery, talking down to the audience. It was, frankly, embarrassing.

Chris Matthews got caught in a hot mic moment right before Jindal's speech saying, "Oh God" in his typical sardonic tone. It proved to be a pretty accurate depiction of what we were about to hear.

[Bucklion]

Originally Posted by sandgk

Obama - insta polls from CNN and others - huge numbers, simply huge in favor of the speech.

It was a commanding command performance, period.

As for the response, Jindal - huge stinking dump in front of the nation in reply. Even Fox called Jindal out for childish delivery, talking down to the audience. It was, frankly, embarrassing.

I would have been interested to see those numbers had he been using the same language he was running up to the stimulus bill...I bet they would have been less than half. He is still on his Honeymoon...it could last 8 years or 8 months...we'll see.

[Bucklion]

Originally Posted by Bucklion

Well, in his defense, he had absolutely nothing to work with here. It was reminiscent of when some liberal tax-and-spend gloomer had to follow Reagan in 1982-1986, or when that weirdo from Washington State followed Bush at the height of his popularity in 2002 or 2003. Jindal was the sacrificial lamb. I thought the funniest thing (we'll see if any right wing press picks it up tomorrow) is that I had the MSNBC feed on, and when Jindal started to walk out around the corner where the flag was, they forgot to cut all the studio mikes and you heard "Oh my GAWD..."

Originally Posted by MuckFich06

Chris Matthews got caught in a hot mic moment right before Jindal's speech saying, "Oh God" in his typical sardonic tone. It proved to be a pretty accurate depiction of what we were about to hear.

AHHHH, it was captain leg tingle...that explains it.

[Bucklion]

Originally Posted by Bucklion

AHHHH, it was captain leg tingle...that explains it.

Well, I got my answer:

Michelle Malkin ? Bobby Jindal and the expectations game; plus: which MSNBC host said “Oh, god?”

[Tresselbeliever]

Did the campaign season start earlier than usual this cycle?

[billmac91]

Originally Posted by MuckFich06

No, your 401k will be back to normal before you get an apology. That's just how it is. If Obama isn't going to issue an apology for slavery, I don't think he'll be apologizing for any of the actions of prior admins.

New energy may not get us out of this mess but could be a new growth industry, and that would be exciting. I'd be more impressed if he starts hitting his education goals. Education is highly correlated with growth. White males as a group have not improved their educational level in 30 years and as a consequence have not seen increases in income as a group. Education is as important as anything.

I disagree. People who want education and starve education, find it. I'd love to see the playing field leveled, and the best of the best have the ability to compete for jobs.

As it is now, there are thousands of different college loans, scholarship programs, and academic aide programs.

As much as everyone bashes "No Child Left Behind", I don't see many people bashing Florida and Georgia's essentially same "Bright Future" program.

And again, my issue isn't nearly as much with the speech, as it was with happy politicians who drove our country into the ground now being caught on camera with huge smiles and overjoyed expressions. Thanks for the previous bad behavior guys.....awesome job. I guess I forget now that you're on your feet applauding the President and his agenda.

[CookyPuss]

Originally Posted by billmac91

I disagree. People who want education and starve education, find it. I'd love to see the playing field leveled, and the best of the best have the ability to compete for jobs.

As it is now, there are thousands of different college laonds, scholarship progrmas, and academic aid.

While I agree with this for the most part, our educational system was designed for an earlier time when job opportunities were more limited. It is time for a great overhaul of the entire system. I'm not just talking about the k-12 programs either, we have wayyyy too many psych majors and not enough engineering majors (this is coming from a psych major). Colleges are much more concerned with collecting tuition checks than issuing diplomas. College is not for everyone, but there is a lot of room for improvement in the current system. Career planning is too often an afterthought rather than an integrated part of the educational process.

[billmac91]

Originally Posted by MuckFich06

If anybody should have put on ashes and sackcloth it was the last guy, but he couldn't even think of one mistake he made.

I thought the speech was one of Obama's best. He laid out a vision of the future, which I think is important at a time like this: cleaner energy, universal health care, better education. If you ask me, Obama isn't playing for a second term. He's laying it all out there and going for it all now. It's an extremely ambitious agenda.

Instead of pointing fingers at anyone, how about collectively apologizing as America's gov't. While Bush was president, there were plenty of Democratic policticans who had their hands out within Fannie and Freddie. Do I really need to list the Denocratic politicans that were involved??? The presedential debate threads covered all of that the first time...

Blame Bush, blame Reuplicans, blame Democrats for having House ownership, blame Barney Frank for being in charge of House of Financial Sevices.

It is a collective mess. It's a collective mess b/c those in charge abused power. Let's not worry about it though, those who drove our economy into the ground will save us with new policy. We're saved. Thank God.

[DaytonBuck]

DoD officials vow secrecy on budget

The Obama administration has directed defense officials to sign a pledge stating they will not share 2010 budget data with individuals outside the federal government.

In an undated non-disclosure agreement obtained by Defense News, the administration tells defense officials that ?strict confidentiality? must be practiced to ensure a ?successful? and ?proper? 2010 defense budget process.

The secrecy pact comes as dozens of Bush-era Pentagon appointees remain on the job, asked to stay on by the Obama administration until replacements are confirmed to ensure continuity during wartime.

The pledge covers any data about the 2010 budget, including: ?planning, programming and budgeting system documents and databases, and any other information? that concerns the administration?s internal discussions about ?the nature and amounts of the president?s budget for fiscal year 2010, and any supplemental budget request during the current fiscal year.?

Federal Times

This most transparent administration in history

[fourteenandoh]

Originally Posted by MuckFich06

While I agree with this for the most part, our educational system was designed for an earlier time when job opportunities were more limited. It is time for a great overhaul of the entire system. I'm not just talking about the k-12 programs either, we have wayyyy too many psych majors and not enough engineering majors (this is coming from a psych major). Colleges are much more concerned with collecting tuition checks than issuing diplomas. College is not for everyone, but there is a lot of room for improvement in the current system. Career planning is too often an afterthought rather than an integrated part of the educational process.

I think the government should decide how many of each majors we will need, and they should choose your major for you according to need of the country. /sarcasm