[Why am I using my revised laughing userpic? In addition to showing it off, if I wasn’t laughing, I’d be crying.]
I just finished reading the transcript of the State of the Union speech on CNN. We have just seen a facade presented by another facade.
(Climbs up on soapbox)
America’s prosperity requires restraining the spending appetite of the federal government. I welcome the bipartisan enthusiasm for spending discipline. I will send you a budget that holds the growth of discretionary spending below inflation, makes tax relief permanent, and stays on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009.
Well, we had a balanced budget before you came into office; since then, our deficit is increasing. However, keeping the income low is the not the way to do it. Although you claim to be cutting programs, I have yet to see the government become efficient (and I know this from working with the government).
Now we must demand better results from our high schools, so every high school diploma is a ticket to success. We will help an additional 200,000 workers to get training for a better career,
Never mind that we are teaching people what is on tests, and not how to think and continue to learn. Never mind that 200,000 workers is a drop in the bucket when considering how many people really need retraining. We need a real visionary to solve this problem.
I ask Congress to move forward on a comprehensive health-care agenda — with tax credits to help low-income workers buy insurance, a community health center in every poor county, improved information technology to prevent medical errors and needless costs, association health plans for small businesses and their employees, expanded health savings accounts, and medical liability reform that will reduce health-care costs, and make sure patients have the doctors and care they need.
Note the improved information technology line. He has also mentioned (later in the speech) increased dependence on DNA evidence. Increased networking of medical databases can be for good or bad. I sure hope they ensure sufficient security… and this is not just privacy, but integrity. Consider the risks of an integrity attack that simply changes bloodtypes in the database!
Social Security was created decades ago, for a very different era. In those days people did not live as long, benefits were much lower than they are today, and a half century ago, about 16 workers paid into the system for each person drawing benefits. […] And instead of 16 workers paying in for every beneficiary, right now it’s only about three workers — and over the next few decades, that number will fall to just two workers per beneficiary. With each passing year, fewer workers are paying ever-higher benefits to an ever-larger number of retirees.
Think about this closely. I should be able to get from social security, at minimum, what I paid into it. I should be able to get more, if it is invested wisely. What this is saying is that the savings weren’t collected and invested; we’ve been robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Here is why personal accounts are a better deal. Your money will grow, over time, at a greater rate than anything the current system can deliver — and your account will provide money for retirement over and above the check you will receive from Social Security.
Is this guaranteed? (Steve Martin Voice On) I don’t think so! (Steve Martin Voice Off). What about those who don’t know investing that lose it all? Of course, think of all the investment advisors making money off of this.
Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be re-defined by activist judges. For the good of families, children, and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage.
No, Marriage is not the foundation of society. Perhaps stable relationships are, but marriage is no guarantee of a stable relationship. I don’t see one whit what this has to do with governence. Oh, and by the way, what was this you said earlier about unnecessary government spending.
Because courts must always deliver impartial justice, judges have a duty to faithfully interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. As president, I have a constitutional responsibility to nominate men and women who understand the role of courts in our democracy, and are well qualified to serve on the bench — and I have done so. The Constitution also gives the Senate a responsibility: Every judicial nominee deserves an up-or-down vote.
OK. I vote “down”.
Soon I will send to Congress a proposal to fund special training for defense counsel in capital cases, because people on trial for their lives must have competent lawyers by their side.
So, right now, people are defended by incompetant lawyers? What does this say about our education system? What does it say about congress, which is filled with lawyers.
The Smothers Brothers had a joke: You can tell who’s running the country by how many clothes people wear. The normal people can’t afford much; you can call them the “less-on”s. So who’s running the country?
Pursuing our enemies is a vital commitment of the war on terror…
Which is why we have invested so much effort on finding Osama… about as much as OJ spent on finding Nicole’s killer, or Michael Jackson spent forming normal healthy relationships.
The United States has no right, no desire, and no intention to impose our form of government on anyone else.
We don’t? So why don’t we let the countries pick the form they want. Would we let a country we “liberated” establish a monarchy? A dictatorship? A country headed by religious leaders? An anarchy? Oh wait, we’ve done the latter many times.
Today, Iran remains the world’s primary state sponsor of terror — pursuing nuclear weapons while depriving its people of the freedom they seek and deserve. We are working with European allies to make clear to the Iranian regime that it must give up its uranium enrichment program and any plutonium re-processing, and end its support for terror. And to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.
Those words sound awfully familiar. Yesterday, Afganistan. Today, Iraq. Tomorrow…
Our men and women in uniform are fighting terrorists in Iraq, so we do not have to face them here at home.
Actually, we do, but of a different, more acceptable kind. We have the corporate terrorists. We have the terrorists who want to impose their version of morality on everyone. We’ve fought such religious terrorists in other countries.
Thank you, and may God bless America.
For those that don’t understand this line, either Penn and Teller or Michael Moore pointed out the code words: That’s “My God” blessing America. Not yours.
(Climbs off of soapbox)
Sigh. underpope said it best: “It’s February 2! And today President Bush will poke his head out of his protective cubby. If he sees his shadow, we’ll get four more years of idiocy!”
