“He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
— Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution
No declaration regarding the state of our union - possibly because he can't say it is strong.
"The notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead in America" - Nice to hear the President talk about responsibility and hard work. It seems we often focus on government as the primary mechanism for personal improvement.
"America does not stand still and neither will I - so wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families; that's what I'm going to do." - What a strange statement from the person who is entrusted with implementing legislation, not sidestepping it. From a Constitutional perspective, this remark should be very concerning.
"We can take the money we save [...] and use it to create jobs rebuilding our roads, upgrading our ports, and unclogging our commutes" - Shouldn't the government already be doing this? It seems this is an essential and appropriate function of government that should be prioritized over other discretionary spending.
These zones with reduced regulations are an interesting proposal - if these are good ideas, why not have these reduced regulations everywhere? How can we recognize that reducing regulation spurs growth but then deny that it should be one more broadly and that it should be restricted to certain zones?
How ironic it is that the President touts the promise of natural gas when his party for years attempted to block natural gas exploration via fracking due to unfounded environmental concerns (note the connection between increase regulation and reduced growth).
"Invest more in fuels of the future" - the government does not need to be picking winners and losers in the energy industry. They should abolish tax incentives for big oil and incentives for "sustainable" energy. The free market will find the most efficient equilibrium regarding energy.
"The debate is settled - climate change is a fact" - so what? The question isn't whether or not the climate is changing (although interestingly it hasn't in the last 15 years). The questions are 1) are we responsible for the change 2) can we do anything about it and 3) how much are we willing to spend and harm our economy to impact the environment?
Immigration reform - by this he means ignoring the law and forgiving illegal behavior
Regarding the story of the woman who lost her unemployment benefits - "I'm not dependent on the government" - and yet she's writing to complain about losing her government benefits. Also, what is the President's proposal regarding the limit of unemployment benefits? It seems he would extend them indefinitely. And if unemployment benefits spur the economy, why not give everyone money - wouldn't that spur the economy even more? We don't do that because it doesn't work as a stimulative mechanism because the money going into the economy also comes out of the economy in the form of taxes...
"Woman still make $.77 for every dollar a man makes; that is wrong, and in 2014 it is an embarrassment" - Really? A few questions 1) is this taken in aggregate (which is skewed by the industries women and men tend to self-select) or are we talking about apples-to-apples within the same job? 2) Are the women working the same number of hours as the men in these apples-to-apples jobs? 3) Is the experience level equal for the men and women in these apples-to-apples jobs? If these factors are not accounted for, this is basically a lie, or at the very least a useless fact. It would be like complaining that a janitor and lawyer have dissimilar incomes.
The President's story about the pizza parlor owner giving a raise to his employees - if it was in the owner's interest to raise his employees' wages (because his employees work harder), why are mandatory regulations needed? A regulation is only needed if it is NOT in their business interest and they must be forced by law to comply with what the central planners believe is best.
"Give America a raise" - the President is always very generous with other people's money.
"Send me legislation that protects taxpayers from footing the bill for a housing crisis every again." - Not sure exactly what this means, but if it means "too big to fail" is going to be reconsidered, I'm all for it.
Regarding the President's comments about the ACA - his basic point is insurance prices are now totally disconnected from insurance costs - this is not sustainable in the long-run unless those who should be covered cheaply pay more to cover those who aren't paying their fair share.
Hmm - hard work and responsibility mentioned a second time. Now it's starting to sound like a throw-away line, especially since it isn't really reflected in any of the policies being proposed.
"We will complete our mission there [Afghanistan]" - what, exactly, is our mission there right now? It isn't exactly clear. Generally our goal in a war is to win. I haven't heard anything about winning in a long time...
"Close the prison at Guantanamo Bay" - Any move those dangerous individuals where, exactly?
Iran - the President claims Iran is rolling back parts of its program. Strange, the Iranian president didn't seem to get the memo.
Love the featuring of the Army Ranger injured by the roadside bomb. A great moment in the speech and wonderful to see our military men and women honored.
What wasn't heard today (because the President apparently doesn't have anything to say about these topics):
1) Anything about Syria (beyond a vague promise to support some elements in the country) - remember when Assad had to go and that he would pay for his use of chemical weapons? By "paying", apparently he means forcing Assad to promise not to do it again.
2) Anything about bringing the perpetrators of the Benghazi attack to justice
3) Anything of substance about NSA snooping or the snooping on our allies
4) Anything about trade agreements that would bring jobs to the US
New Spending Proposed by the President:
1) "Investment" in fuels of the future
2) Spending on Infrastructure
3) Increased spending on pre-K education
4) Extending unemployment benefits
5) Increased spending on student loans
6) Increasing the minimum wage for Federal Employees
7) Increased tax spending through the Earned Income Tax Credit
8) Medicaid spending via the ACA
9) Subsidies for companies that create domestic manufacturing jobs
10) Tax spending via MY-RA (some marketing work needed on that program name)
Spending Reductions Proposed by the President
1) Reducing oil subsidies
2) Yeah, that first one was pretty much it.
And that's why the national debt is through the roof.
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