[absynthe]

All right, now the Republican Response by Paul Ryan. Ugh. Yep..total douchebag

This post has been edited by absynthe: 25 January 2011 - 08:25 PM

[KYA]

Wait, what? Why would I want you to explain anything? Condensation of what? Directed to whom?

[xclite]

After much research (AKA clicking some stuff) you must have been referring to sloth's post if my posts don't make sense to you, although I'm not seeing a branch issue in it but a level issue, which is why I assumed it couldn't have been his post.

[KYA]

I was referring to this:

absynthe, on 25 January 2011 - 07:59 PM, said:

Health Care for the country will define him as a successful President. It was untouchable until he was elected.

[absynthe]

im not included in this little lovers quarrel you two have going on


and it was untouchable. no other president worked hard enough to get it passed or had the balls to make the promise to do it and work his ass off till it was done. and i know the roles of the branches of govt. im just saying..

This post has been edited by absynthe: 25 January 2011 - 08:36 PM

[xclite]

Apologies, haha. I figured you would have quoted if the referenced post were that far back, so I assumed you thought I had made a mistake in generalizing the creation of the internet/interstate by government initiatives. I double checked in the event of an error, and was surprised to be called wrong again - but now it definitely makes sense.

Edit: Holy run-ons, Batman!

This post has been edited by xclite: 25 January 2011 - 08:36 PM

[absynthe]

And now the "Tea Party Express" response to the speech...ugh. Michelle Bachman..she looks like a prettier Sarah Palin.

[KYA]

Nope that's on me, I should have quoted. That turn a hard turn fast though. Go Lounge!

[xclite]

That was the most confusing argument I've had in a long time and it wasn't even valid. DAMN YOU INTERNET.

[anonymous26]

The State of the Union is the usual rhetoric.

[xclite]

It's not rhetoric I disagree with from a politician, it's the usual that I disagree with.

[Craig328]

Well, as I've always said, he seems like a really nice man. For myself, he's always seemed much more weighted to the "airy-fairy" talk than actual concrete proposals for how to do things. Most of his speech (like most of these addresses usually are) was the airy-fairy. But he did actually set down things we can all put on a list and later evaluate how well he's delivered on them:

Quote

• "...we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen since the height of the Space Race. And in a few weeks, I will be sending a budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal. We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology..."
  
• "I’m asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies."
  
• "By 2035, 80 percent of America’s electricity will come from clean energy sources."
  
• "...this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that’s more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids."
  
• "...this year, I ask Congress to go further, and make permanent our tuition tax credit..."
  
• "...I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration. And I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers..."
  
• "...over the last two years, we’ve begun rebuilding for the 21st century, a project that has meant thousands of good jobs for the hard-hit construction industry. And tonight, I’m proposing that we redouble those efforts...We’ll make sure this is fully paid for, attract private investment, and pick projects based [on] what’s best for the economy, not politicians."
  
• "...I’m asking Democrats and Republicans to simplify the [tax] system. Get rid of the loopholes. Level the playing field. And use the savings to lower the corporate tax rate for the first time in 25 years –- without adding to our deficit."
  
• "...we set a goal of doubling our exports by 2014."
  
• "...I ask this Congress to pass it [trade agreement with South Korea] as soon as possible"
  
• "We can start right now by correcting a flaw in the legislation that has placed an unnecessary bookkeeping burden on small businesses"
  
• "...I am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years..."
  
• "I’m willing to look at other ideas to bring down costs...medical malpractice reform to rein in frivolous lawsuits"
  
• "...for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans...we should ask millionaires to give up their tax break"
  
• "..the best thing we could do on taxes for all Americans is to simplify the individual tax code...members of both parties have expressed an interest in doing this, and I am prepared to join them."
  
• "In the coming months, my administration will develop a proposal to merge, consolidate, and reorganize the federal government in a way that best serves the goal of a more competitive America. I will submit that proposal to Congress for a vote..."
  
• "...you deserve to know exactly how and where your tax dollars are being spent, you’ll be able to go to a website and get that information...you deserve to know when your elected officials are meeting with lobbyists, I ask Congress to...put that information online"
  
• "If a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it. I will veto it."
  
• "This year, we will work with nearly 50 countries to begin a transition to an Afghan lead. And this July, we will begin to bring our troops home."
  
• "...I call on all our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and ROTC."

The rest of his speech was talking about these direct statements of intent and promises for the most part. There was a lot of cheerleading but that's to be expected and, quite honestly, the man is well spoken and when he has a subject that doesn't require too much detail to be laid out, he's his most effective. What truly surprised me is the decidedly "conservative" themes he's decided to back (at least in this speech). Cutting the federal budget, reforming the tax code, cut down the size of government, putting a focus on the success of American business. I didn't vote for the man and a number of his statements are decidedly left of center but, as a whole, if the entirety of his pledges above were enacted, the country would be in much better shape.

However, these are the things we can all look at next year and see just how many of them actually had something done about them. Whether they actually got introduced as new legislation or new regulations or whatever. These statements can be quantitatively assessed whereas the rest is just the normal fluffy vagaries. For concrete proposals, he could have done a ton worse than he did. But let's see how much can be done.

Edited to bold the things he can actually do.

This post has been edited by Craig328: 26 January 2011 - 09:49 AM

[dorknexus]

Are we also going to take into consideration how often the conservatives block his proposed legislation in the coming year?

[Craig328]

If you want...but that wasn't what I had mentioned:

Quote

However, these are the things we can all look at next year and see just how many of them actually had something done about them. Whether they actually got introduced as new legislation or new regulations or whatever.

That's the thing about the president. He can't introduce legislation, can't vote on it and he can't control what Congress does with his proposals. He can get someone from his party to do so for him but a fair chunk of the things I listed from his speech are actions HE can take. What he delivered was a prepared speech wherein every word was scrutinized down to the last detail in its preparation and delivery. Nothing he said last night was unscripted so it's a good opportunity to tally up the things a president vows to do/promises/pledges and then check back later and see how many of those meticulously crafted statements of intent he actually follows through on.

It's a rare opportunity to divorce the promises of a politician from the normal bullshit they shovel when they're campaigning. He's already won the election...the promises he makes now aren't the "if you elect me this is what I'll do" they're the "since you elected me here's what I'm going to do". Important difference.

Edit: I went back and bolded the activities he can actually do and be held accountable for later.

This post has been edited by Craig328: 26 January 2011 - 09:49 AM

[dorknexus]

Let's see here, what the heck is the State of the Union Address again?

Quote

The State of the Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda (for which he needs the cooperation of Congress) and his national priorities

Ohhhh. So it IS about his legislative plans and it DOES depend on whether or not the conservatives want to cooperate.

I'm not really sure what magical powers you think the executive branch of our government possesses but most of what he said is going to require cooperation from the legislative branch.

EDIT: Just about everything you bolded would require legislation to actually come to fruition. Being completely pragmatic about the situation anyways.

EDIT EDIT:

Quote

The best part- Boehner was welling up. That man is way too in touch with his inner self.

When I saw that shit my roommate said "Is that Boehner about to cry?!"
to which I responded "No. I'm not crying. I just got bronzer in my eyes."

This post has been edited by Dark_Nexus: 26 January 2011 - 10:02 AM