Tonight I’ll be running an open thread while the President delivers the State of the Union Address at 9:00pm.
The White House tweeted that the speech will focus on “middle class economics”.
His proposals include:
–raising “$320 billion over the next 10 years in new taxes targeting wealthy individuals and big financial institutions to pay for new programs designed to help lower- and middle-income families”.
–raising the capital gains and dividend tax rates to 28% on some higher earners
–creating a “fee on the liabilities of about 100 big financial institutions”
–tax credits to small businesses to help “cover costs” of requiring “employers without 401(k) plans to make it easier for full-time and part-time workers to save in individual retirement accounts”
–expanding tax credits for child child care
—expanding paid sick leave and “to fund Labor Department feasibility studies on paid leave”
—providing two years free of community college tuition for up to 9 million students
Also expect comments on free trade, cyber-security, and ISIS, though likely not to the that Obama’s economics will be highlighted. Since several of these items have been rolling out the last couple of weeks in the media, feel free to post your thoughts below. I will be around starting at 8:45pm with continual updates during the speech if you want to tune in and discuss the absurdity together.
Update #1: Montage: 112 unkept promises from earlier SOTU addresses
Update #2: NRO weighs in on the child care tax credits as “social engineering
Update #3: If you are watching with a group of friends, here’s a handy set of drinking game rules. Here’s another one.
Update #4: Watch SOTU coverage with MSNBC and Krystal Ball. Or not. C-Span will also cover it.
It’s almost show time!
Update #5: Here’s a link to the full text of the speech as prepared for delivery
Update #6: Word mentions
Economy: 18
Revenue: 0
Tax/taxes: 6
Job: 28
Fair share: 2
Middle-class: 6
Loopholes: 3
Rich: 3
Workers: 11
America/American: 76
Update #7, Quote: “At this moment — with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production — we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth. It’s now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next fifteen years, and for decades to come.
Update #8: “a budget filled with ideas that are practical, not partisan.”
Update #9: “over the past five years, our businesses have created more than 11 million new jobs.”
Update #10: “We believed that sensible regulations could prevent another crisis, shield families from ruin, and encourage fair competition”
Update #11: “And in the past year alone, about ten million uninsured Americans finally gained the security of health coverage.”
Update #12: “we’ve seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds”
Update #13: “we need to set our sights higher than just making sure government doesn’t halt the progress we’re making”
Update #14: “That’s what middle-class economics is — the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. We don’t just want everyone to share in America’s success — we want everyone to contribute to our success.”
Update #15: “middle-class economics means helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change.”
Update #16: “Send me a bill that gives every worker in America the opportunity to earn seven days of paid sick leave.”
Update #17: “vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.”
Update #18: “To give working families a fair shot, we’ll still need more employers to see beyond next quarter’s earnings and recognize that investing in their workforce is in their company’s long-term interest. We still need laws that strengthen rather than weaken unions, and give American workers a voice.”
Update #19: “I want to spread that idea all across America, so that two years of college becomes as free and universal in America as high school is today.”
Update #20: “Let’s pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than thirty times as many jobs per year, and make this country stronger for decades to come.”
Update #21: “But as we speak, China wants to write the rules for the world’s fastest-growing region. That would put our workers and businesses at a disadvantage. Why would we let that happen? We should write those rules. We should level the playing field.”
Update #22: “I intend to protect a free and open internet, extend its reach to every classroom, and every community, and help folks build the fastest networks, so that the next generation of digital innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our world.”
Update #23: “Where we too often run onto the rocks is how to pay for these investments. As Americans, we don’t mind paying our fair share of taxes, as long as everybody else does, too. But for far too long, lobbyists have rigged the tax code with loopholes that let some corporations pay nothing while others pay full freight. They’ve riddled it with giveaways the superrich don’t need, denying a break to middle class families who do.”
Update #24: “And let’s close the loopholes that lead to inequality by allowing the top one percent to avoid paying taxes on their accumulated wealth. We can use that money to help more families pay for childcare and send their kids to college. We need a tax code that truly helps working Americans trying to get a leg up in the new economy, and we can achieve that together.”
Update #25: “I believe in a smarter kind of American leadership”
Update #26: “we are demonstrating the power of American strength and diplomacy”
Update #27: “Between now and this spring, we have a chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran; secures America and our allies — including Israel; while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict. There are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed”
Update #28: “We are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats”
Update #29: “2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. Now, one year doesn’t make a trend, but this does — 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all fallen in the first 15 years of this century.”
Update #30: The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it.
Update #31: “As Americans, we respect human dignity…we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities…”
Update #32: “Over the past six years, the pundits have pointed out more than once that my presidency hasn’t delivered on this vision. How ironic, they say, that our politics seems more divided than ever.”
Update #33: “Understand — a better politics isn’t one where Democrats abandon their agenda or Republicans simply embrace mine.”
Update #34: “A better politics is one where we spend less time drowning in dark money”
Update #35: “My only agenda for the next two years is the same as the one I’ve had since the day I swore an oath on the steps of this Capitol — to do what I believe is best for America”
Update #36: “I want this chamber, this city, to reflect the truth”
So have at it. What was your favorite quote? Truth? Untruth? What did Obama omit?
