State of the Union Address - Enhanced version

[Reynod]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/01/24/youve-never-seen-state-union-address

Taken from the offical whitehouse webpage:


a new feature for WhiteHouse.gov that will offer an enhanced viewer experience for President Obama's State of the Union address.

As President Obama addresses the Nation, WhiteHouse.gov will offer a companion stream of visual aids, like charts and quick stats to provide context and emphasize key points. Anyone will be able to use this feature by heading to WhiteHouse.gov/sotu and using the "Enhanced" tab.

So Tuesday night at 9 p.m. EST, be sure to load WhiteHouse.gov to make your State of the Union experience as informative and interactive as possible.

 

[badge]

Quote:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 30% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-five percent (35%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -5 (see trends).

Other than yesterday, this is the president’s best Approval Index rating in nearly a year.


http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

My comment. Ef obama.

 

[buwish]

It was a decent address, at least in my opinion. Compared to the previous 2 addresses though, you can tell that he is moving to the center to play nice with the GOP.

 

[Reynod]

I thought it worthy of 67 minutes of my time.

The only unhappy people there seemed to be the senior military staff ... the gay issue didn't go down well with them but it did with the rest.

I was very impressed with the comments about the importance of teaching as a profession worthy of respect ... "nation builders".

His emphasis on wifi across the country vs ours on fibre is interesting ... so I will have to look at that a bit further.

I give it an "A" ...mind you I am an outsider (Aussie).

What did you think Bu ?

 

[wanamingo]

Its a sad fact we will never be able to pay off this debt, which is partially a by-product of fiat currency. When you have a society that does nothing but grow of course we are going to run into issues. So we should be spending out the ass, I know this sounds counter-intuitive but hear me out. India produces more doctors then America produces College graduates in a year. And we spend tons on our education (Comparatively). The only way to get the economy moving is by investing in infrastructure , AKA paying people to improve roads, build bridges, Tidy up the country. Invest heavily (cant stress this enough!) in education. In the next 20-30 years we could be producing Highly skilled labor working at the forefront of a technologically advanced society. If we retreat and start yelling "WE NEED TO STOP SPENDING SO WE WILL HAVE SOME MONEY LEFT TO INVEST!!" We will be a 3rd world country in 50 years, because the rest of the world outgrew us while we stood back and let our economy and society to shrink. Besides, money is fake.

 

[wanamingo]

That analogy is apples and oranges though, the point im proposing is that right now we need to make sure America can be competitive in the near future. E

 

[wanamingo]

No one look at that capital E. ^

 

[Reynod]

Probably the former.

I worry about the polar bears self esteem.

 

[wanamingo]

Just tell Bobby that the ice is melting and polar bears are dieing because he has 2 mommies. Polar bear self esteem is a reality show waiting to happen.

 

[nashir]

From here I knew a lot of information about American politics. Thanks for nice sharing.

 

[Onus]

Oldmangamer is dead-on.
The absence of consequences for wrongdoing is astounding. That is indeed one of the things the Chinese have right. Willful dishonesty merits a bullet, not a bonus.

The parasites in this country are out of control, simple as that.

 

[Reynod]

From here I knew a lot of information about American politics. Thanks for nice sharing.

Nashir I wouldn't rate any of us highly on politics ...

We are mainly about having a bit of fun.

 

[AGPC]

obama is telling GOP:
Do what i want and every thing will work out!
we voted in dems to be dems and Repbulians to be repbulicans

 

[Onus]

The right mixture of each will give us the best possible outcome: GRIDLOCK, which means less damage (and helps expose them as the worthless parasites they are).

Edit: Republican or Democrat, politicians sit around with others of their ilk, voting to confiscate the earned wealth from one group, in order to provide unearned benefits to another, buying themselves votes in the process.

 

[Wisecracker]

Its a sad fact we will never be able to pay off this debt, which is partially a by-product of fiat currency. When you have a society that does nothing but grow of course we are going to run into issues. So we should be spending out the ass, I know this sounds counter-intuitive but hear me out. India produces more doctors then America produces College graduates in a year. And we spend tons on our education (Comparatively). The only way to get the economy moving is by investing in infrastructure , AKA paying people to improve roads, build bridges, Tidy up the country. Invest heavily (cant stress this enough!) in education. In the next 20-30 years we could be producing Highly skilled labor working at the forefront of a technologically advanced society. If we retreat and start yelling "WE NEED TO STOP SPENDING SO WE WILL HAVE SOME MONEY LEFT TO INVEST!!" We will be a 3rd world country in 50 years, because the rest of the world outgrew us while we stood back and let our economy and society to shrink. Besides, money is fake.

1) Net interest paid annually on the Federal Debt as a percentage of GDP is less now than Reagan / 1st Bush; and

2) India has 4x the population of the USA
■ 1.5 bachelors degrees and 700,000 associates degrees a year are granted in the USA
■ Per capita the USA has 7x the college graduates of India

3) Yah gotta love a Supply-Sider and their Voodoo Economics.


I'm not defending the Federal debt. I was upset in 1981 when Reagan started jacking the debt, and even more torqued when Bush and the Cons tossed PayGo and budget sequestration in 2001 (and didn't pay for one damn thing over the next 6 years). How did that work out for the pocketbook of Uncle Sam?

One-third of the Federal Debt is monies borrowed from the trust funds. Over the next 5 years the good ol' USofA will borrow over one trillion dollars from the trust funds. Here's an idea: Don't do it!

Excess trust fund cash which accrues each fiscal year should be loaned/invested in local and state capital projects, and repaid over 10-20-30 years. Not only does such activity maintain the principle, repayments of interest and principle contribute to future cash flow to pay benefits out of the trust funds.

AND .... You can't run the United States of the 21st Century on a revenue stream from 1950. It is well past time to stop incurring debt for tax cuts, never-ending wars and Big Pharma Drug Give-A-Ways. Voodoo "Supply-Side' Economics has not worked for 30 years.

What makes the geniuses think it will work for the next 30 years?

Have you ever wondered what caused the "roaring twenties"? In 1921 we were on the verge of a depression with unemployment at 21%. Harding slashed spending, cut taxes, and basically got out of the way of business in this country. Coolidge kept his policies after Harding passed, and bammo, the roaring twenties!

This of course angered the international banksters who were looking forward to an American depression so they could gobble up the smaller banks. Unfortunately they got their wish when the manipulated markets crashed in 1929.

Yeaaaah.

You need a better basis for your claim as that is not credible.

What trust fund are you talking about? Do you mean the Federal Reserve Bank?

Nope.

'Social Security' and 'Medicare' are the primary examples of trust funds. There are easily a half-dozen more. The Federal 'Gub'mint' borrows heavily from these funds each year (end result: the trust funds are owed nearly $5 trillion).

For FY 2011, Uncle Sam will 'pay' (the operable word is actually 'borrow' the money to reimburse) the trust funds over $225 billion in interest owed on that $5 trillion.

By 2015, the interest on the monies borrowed from the trust funds will exceed $300 billion annually.

 

[Reynod]

Possibly ... or your state owned superannuation funds (401K?) ... are they all not part of the Fed Reserve?

I am not a finance guru ...

 

[Reynod]

I am awake ... I am awake.

I am a Gen X (1964) prototype ... obviously you can see I am quite flawed.

Here in Australia our Fed Reserve (Reserve Bank) has tons of money and I think our public super funds are part of it ... like Hesta and others.

I imagine the govt borrows against it too.

In the US your probably right ... the baby boomers who were savings conscious are dying out ...

Gen X and Y are not so good at managing money.

Can you help?

 

[Reynod]

I understand ...

It's my deodorant ... isn't it??

 

[Wisecracker]

There is no social security "trust fund". Either you are being dishonest or are very naive. Socials security and medicaid are insolvent. The taxes withheld from my paycheck do not go into a "trust fund". The taxes I pay are paying the current recipients of social security and medicare What do you think is going to happen when the baby boomers begin to retire in greater numbers?

Sheesh, wake up!

When is your next Tea-Bagger rally?

The only delusion here is you. I bet you are a Birther, too. :lol:

It must be easy in your world to ignore simple facts -- like the $4.628 trillion in govt securities that represent the monies borrowed from all the trust funds ...

Feel free to email the United States Department of the Treasury with your revelations on the "trust funds" (or the lack thereof - LOL) --- I'd think they need a good laugh, these days, after the abuse they've taken over the last 10 years.

It's also easy for you to ignore the fact that Social Security revenues will exceed expenditures again in FY2011 (something in the range of $86 billion) with tens of millions of Americans being unemployed and not paying taxes; and that the annual surplus is anticipated to easily rise above $100 billion/fiscal year if folks ever return to work from the Bush/GOP Great Recession and Bank Insolvency.

I suspect you also think that po' folks and their sub-prime mortgages are to blame for the Great Recession, while you ignore the simple truth that banks and financial institutions were leveraging a single dollar 40-50 times to create tranches in their fancy (and subsequently worthless) CDOs.

Of course ... with your level of confirmation bias and ignorance it's just easier to call someone dishonest, ignore reality and spout hollow Wing-Nut platitudes with no basis in fact ...

Here are some more facts you can ignore: In the last year of The George Bush Debt Star Presidency, the total Federal debt rose $1.4 trillion (thanks for breaking the federal gov't, Dubs, and squandering that $220 billion annual surplus President Bubba left you!) .... from $9.189 trillion to $10.625 trillion. Feel free to verify that at the US Treasury website linked above.

Though, I suspect you have no interest in doing so, because such simple facts don't fit in your La-La-La-La-La World. You expect the black guy to somehow turn that around in The Great Recession, with gov't revenues at their lowest level of GDP since 1950, while spending ...

■$150 billion/year (unfunded, of course, by Bush and the GOP) to fight War
■$75 billion/year (unfunded, of course, by Bush and the GOP) for the Part D Big Pharma Profit Program
■70% above inflation DoD spending (NOT counting The War Machines) since 2001 (I won't bother noting it was unfunded by Bush and the GOP, too, along with everything else).

You need more facts to ignore?

Cost to Continue the 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts (in billions)

FY2012 . . . . . $234.1
FY2013 . . . . . $264.3
FY2014 . . . . . $294.4
FY2015 . . . . . $315.2
FY2016 . . . . . $330.0
FY2017 . . . . . $344.7
FY2018 . . . . . $360.5
FY2019 . . . . . $377.8


And finally, to further prove my point, here are the actual and projected annual surpluses of the Old Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund (sorry if it makes you look even more silly)

Annual Surpluses of the Social Security Trust Fund (in billions)

2016 . . . . . $127
2015 . . . . . $116
2014 . . . . . $112
2013 . . . . . $108
2012 . . . . . $103
2011 . . . . . $86
2010 . . . . . $103
2009 . . . . . $146
2008 . . . . . $183
2007 . . . . . $180
2006 . . . . . $177
2005 . . . . . $163
2004 . . . . . $139
2003 . . . . . $140
2002 . . . . . $140
2001 . . . . . $141


Pssssst .... the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund (I linked it for you) has a current fund balance of around $2.4 trillion, projected to grow to around $3.05 trillion by 2016, backed by those govt securities you claim don't exist.


Any more questions or comments, partner?

 

[Reynod]

This topic has been closed by Reynod