Jay’s response to Obama’s SOTU, 2011

My desk to God's ears. ^ | January 26, 2011 | It's Mr. the 'Krag to you...

[arderkrag]

Please note – I have only quoted what I felt were relevant points. If you would like to read the speech yourself, you can find the full transcript at any number of places online.


Now, by itself, this simple recognition won't usher in a new era of cooperation. What comes of this moment is up to us. What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow.

Ah, yes, “era of cooperation”. Translation: Barry thinks that he can calm down the right. He just wants us to shut up, and not be so polarizing. I’ve got news for you, Mr. President. Polarization is exactly what the country needs MORE of, not less. Compromise is the Devil's language.


We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again.

You live in an alternate reality. The stock market is still catching its breath, and if oil prices continue to rise (thanks in part to our “no drill” policies), it will dip again before the end of the year.


The steps we've taken over the last two years may have broken the back of this recession – but to win the future, we'll need to take on challenges that have been decades in the making.

The steps you and your kind took over the last two years did nothing but extend the recession, just like Roosevelt’s policies did nothing but extend the Depression.


Our free enterprise system is what drives innovation. But because it's not always profitable for companies to invest in basic research, throughout history our government has provided cutting-edge scientists and inventors with the support that they need.

The only thing government can do to “support” innovation is get out of the way. No amount of federal funding will ever truly help innovation.


We'll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology – an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.

Invest. You mean spend. You’ve already maxed out the credit card, now you want a loan.


Now, I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the issue of illegal immigration. I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows. I know that debate will be difficult and take time. But tonight, let's agree to make that effort. And let's stop expelling talented, responsible young people who can staff our research labs, start new businesses, and further enrich this nation.

I’ll believe you mean this when you start putting the National Guard at the border with standing orders to warn border jumpers once to stay back and to fire at will if they don’t listen.


The third step in winning the future is rebuilding America. To attract new businesses to our shores, we need the fastest, most reliable ways to move people, goods, and information – from high-speed rail to high-speed internet.

High speed rails are a MONEY PIT. How is there are some people still dumb enough not to grasp this? If it can’t make in the marketplace, then it simply isn’t worth dumping federal funds into.


Within the next five years, we will make it possible for business to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98% of all Americans.

Businesses haven’t done this so far because it simply isn’t profitable to run the lines out that far. If it made sense to do it, the business in control of internet service would have already done it years ago.

So tonight, I'm asking Democrats and Republicans to simplify the 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.

I’ll be very surprised if anything substantive comes of this proposal. If this actually goes through, it may be the one good thing he does in his term.


But I will not hesitate to create or enforce commonsense safeguards to protect the American people. That's what we've done in this country for more than a century. It's why our food is safe to eat, our water is safe to drink, and our air is safe to breathe. It's why we have speed limits and child labor laws. It's why last year, we put in place consumer protections against hidden fees and penalties by credit card companies, and new rules to prevent another financial crisis. And it's why we passed reform that finally prevents the health insurance industry from exploiting patients.

That “financial crisis” would have never happened if your buddies in Congress hadn’t ordered banks to offer subprime mortgages and to stop redlining low-income neighborhoods. If the government had never got involved, the banks would have remained in the black.


What I'm not willing to do is go back to the days when insurance companies could deny someone coverage because of a pre-existing condition.

Well, I am, and I’m not the only one. Companies should do that which is most lucrative, so long as it does not directly interfere with the rights of the citizenry. It is simply foolish for an insurance company to guarantee coverage for pre-existing conditions. It’s the equivalent of investing in a lemon of a car – there’s no sense in it.


But now that the worst of the recession is over, we have to confront the fact that our government spends more than it takes in. That is not sustainable. Every day, families sacrifice to live within their means. They deserve a government that does the same.

So tonight, I am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years. This would reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, and will bring discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president.

This freeze will require painful cuts. Already, we have frozen the salaries of hardworking federal employees for the next two years. I've proposed cuts to things I care deeply about, like community action programs. The Secretary of Defense has also agreed to cut tens of billions of dollars in spending that he and his generals believe our military can do without.

Ok, you have a point. But why stop at freezing spending? Cut some federal employees. Fire some people. Cut some of the tens of thousands of redundant agencies in D.C. – We don’t need a thousand versions of the same agency. Cut federal funding to unions and let them survive on dues alone.


And if we truly care about our deficit, we simply cannot afford a permanent extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. Before we take money away from our schools, or scholarships away from our students, we should ask millionaires to give up their tax break.

History has proven over and over, that lower tax rates result in more revenue. It’s very easy to understand.

That’s about it. There wasn’t a lot of crunch, just fluff.

[Joann37]

Who is Jay? Leno?

I don’t get it.

[arderkrag]

I am Jay.