The History Book Club discussion
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY - GOVERNMENT
>
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESSES
message 1:
by
Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief
(new)
Jan 26, 2012 07:08PM
Mod
reply
|
flag
Mod
Barack Obama - President
Source: New York Times
This link is especially good because it has a scrolling transcript:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/20...
Fox News - just the transcript - http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/...
PBS's version shows him coming into the chambers:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012...
What was great about the last link was Obama hugging Gabriel Giffords and telling Panetta that he did a great job tonight.
Also did anybody wonder what happened to John Kerry?
http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/...
Gabrielle Giffords:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBOVpI...
Mod
Barack Obama - President
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdEmj...
Mod
Barack Obama - President
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTMrs9...
Mod
Barack Obama - President
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A8AYa...
Mod
George W. Bush - President
http://hiram7.wordpress.com/2008/01/2...
Mod
George W. Bush - President
http://millercenter.org/president/spe...
Mod
George W. Bush - President
http://millercenter.org/president/spe...
Since I assume that you would like to keep this thread as non-partisan as possible, my comments on the 2012 SOTU address are as follows:1. As the speech progressed, he became more animated and really hit a home run with his delivery.
2. I could have done without the Warren Buffet secretary schtick.
3. I expected that it would be a re-election campaign speech. He certainly flirted with campaign rhetoric but pretty much steered clear of it....at least more than I thought he would.
4. He avoided the mention of Obamacare which is a huge issue, especially for those of us in the health care delivery profession.
5. Much too long. I don't have a clue how long other President's SOTU speeches were but this one seemed to drag on for an inordinate length of time.
That is my short list......one thing irritated me and always does.....the kissing, hugging and other patently false displays of emotion as the POTUS enters the chambers. They act as if they haven't seen him for 20 years and are just being reunited. It looks so bogus.
Mod
George W. Bush - President
http://millercenter.org/president/spe...
Mod
George W. Bush - President
http://millercenter.org/president/spe...
Jill wrote: "Since I assume that you would like to keep this thread as non-partisan as possible, my comments on the 2012 SOTU address are as follows:1. As the speech progressed, he became more animated and rea..."
the President's SOTU 2012 speech was in many ways a disaster - a sign that he is so focused on winning
He gave the hydro-fracking natural gas industry an endorsement that will endanger public health and our environment that could, long term, be more detrimental to America than George W's Iraq war.
He proposed extension of the payroll tax cut (this is the Social Security Tax) letting employers off the hook as much as workers and undermining the earlier projections of the health of Social Security which is the foundation of most Americans stability in retirement. As it becomes more and more underfunded the efforts of the right to change it will gain strength as it will be less self-supporting. The first cut of income to the system since FDR got it started in the 30s.
Obama may be a great speaker but he has not in my view a vision of what America can and should be.
Nobody I know was excited by this SOTU.
I think he did not steer clear of campaign rhetoric - it was virtually all campaign rhetoric.
Just my views.
Mod
Vince,I do not embrace or endorse hydro-fracking either and there have been many situations where hydro-fracking has been to blame for many environmental woes.
I also think that everybody should leave Social Security alone and I am aghast at this too.
I was not that excited about his SOTU speech either and thought he was long winded and catering to the Republicans who actually were standing cheering way more than they used to be. You can understand why.
As far as the Healthcare bill (I hate when there try to coin names); I am for it and always have been; it is about time insurance companies were not so much in the driver's seat. And if you had known anybody who had pre-existing conditions you would be all for it too.
I do think he should have had the gumption to stand up for what he believes in though. He blows with the wind too.
The kissing and hugging has gone on for the last 10 years anyways. And it was poignant seeing him hug Giffords who is doing remarkably well considering the circumstances.
But as long as everybody is respectful, discussion of the SOTU speeches can take place here. I find them interesting to see what folks said and then what really happened after them. Pretty amazing.
Hugging Gifford was indeed poignant..........it is all the other "love fest" that gets my goat....but I realize that it doesn't really have anything to do with the SOTU, I just mentioned it as an aside.I still am of the opinion that it wasn't as much of campaign speech than I expected it to be....but if one is running for office, I imagine every speech at this point is a campaign speech. I just expected worse.
I think that the premise of the Healthcare bill or whatever appellation it takes on, is fine on the surface but there is so much that is buried in the 1,000+ pages that legislators neither understand nor have read, that it scares me. The establishment of patient medical homes and MCOs make sense, especially for underserved populations but what else is lurking in those pages?.....I tried reading portions of the bill and it was practically undecipherable. But I digress.....again!!!
Mod
No problem about the healthcare bill; I understand.
A little bit of information as to why we have a State of the Union address.The practice arises from a command given to the president in the Constitution of the United States:
“ He shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. "
— Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution
Although the language of this constitution is not specific, by tradition, the President makes this report annually in late January or early February. Between 1934 and 2013 the date has been as early as January 3, and as late as February 12.
While not required to deliver a speech, every president since Woodrow Wilson has made at least one State of the Union report as a speech delivered before a joint session of Congress. Before that time, most presidents delivered the State of the Union as a written report.
Since Franklin Roosevelt, the State of the Union is given typically each January before a joint session of the United States Congress and is held in the House of Representatives chamber of the United States Capitol. When a presidential inauguration occurs in January, the date may be delayed until February.
What began as a communication between president and Congress has become a communication between the president and the people of the United States. Since the advent of radio, and then television, the speech has been broadcast live on most networks, preempting scheduled programming. To reach the largest television audience, the speech, once given during the day, is now typically given in the evening, after 9 pm ET.
Also, in recent decades, newly inaugurated presidents have chosen to deliver speeches to joint sessions of Congress in the early months of their presidencies, but have not officially considered them State of the Union addresses. (Source:) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of...
Mod
The first State of the Union speech on radio was that of Calvin Coolidge but it does not seem to be available. In 1947, Harry Truman's SOTU was the first televised. The link below covers that speech but I believe this is from a newsreel rather than the actual television broadcast (who had a television set in 1947?)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc3iTG...
Mod
http://www.goodreads.com/videos/38388...
State of the Union Addresses of George Washington
by
George WashingtonSynopsis:
George Washington is so often seen as that stern man in a wig frozen in stance for all of history. Early historians painted him as a demigod in a white wig. Washington was a landowner, politician, and military leader. He was commander of the Continental Army and the first President of the United States. Washington did not belong to any political party and was the only President elected unanimously. He signed The Residence Act of 1790, which authorized the President to select the specific location of the permanent seat of the government. During the Whiskey Rebellion Washington invoked the Militia Act of 1792 to summon the militias of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and several other states. Hamilton and Washington designed the Jay Treaty to normalize trade relations with Britain, remove them from western forts, and resolve financial debts left over from the Revolution.
Mod
This is the full text of the speech:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014...
Source: The Guardian
From the White House:
The full coverage of the 2014 State of the Union address:
http://youtu.be/arhBRouSmWs
Mod
Obama's 2015 SOTU:Transcript:
http://www.npr.org/2015/01/20/3786808...
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cse5c...
Mod
Mod
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-...
Video: https://www.c-span.org/video/?439496-...
Sources: The White House, C-Span
Mod
https://www.npr.org/2018/01/31/582051...
Source: NPR
Mod
State of the Union - President Donald Trump - February 5, 2019
Link: NPR - https://www.npr.org/2019/02/05/688043...
Mod
Mod
Mod
Mod
Mod
NASA is being promoted and aptly so. "There is nothing anywhere in the world that can compete with America" - A lovely sentence but we need to reach out to our global communities. Good beginning sentiments - speech not divisive so far. Reject the politics of revenge - (Pelosi stands - and Trump stares at her) - Revenge is in his eyes. Vision or vengeance - tonight I ask you to choose greatness - good line.
Mod
Unleashed a revolution - natural gas producer in world. We are now a net exporter of energy. Our economy is the envy of the world (we a need a fact checker here). America is winning each and every day (fact checker needed). Now the Republicans are chanting USA - everything from President Trump is "like never before" It is extraordinary - now he is talking about investigations - very personal and self serving.
Mod
Now he is talking about Alice Johnson. Alice looks like a great person and deserved her pardon. A nice moment.
Mod
Oh oh, here comes the urgent national crisis - we are on the wall topic again. He is back to large caravans are marching toward the United States - (Fact Checkers will have a field day again). Now he has ordered more troops to the border - even the military officers sitting in the audience look like they are having a hard time keeping straight face on this one. There were audible gasps and you could hear many groans. Trump is saying that he wants immigrants to come into the country in the largest numbers possible but to come in legally. That statement is borne out by Trump's policies so far. Legal immigration is necessary but there are no large caravans that are coming this way. Fact checkers will have a field day here to this part of his speech. This part of the speech is quite sketchy and critical of immigration; trying to increase fear and divisiveness.
Mod
Mod
Mod
Mod
Mod
He is talking about protecting pre existing conditions - that is because Republicans have taken a hit in elections - threat to healthcare. Now he is talking about drugs and the dramatic increase in drug prices. He says he will stop it and will stop it fast. Wants to take on the problem of global freeloading - Mitch McConnell not clapping.
Mod
Mod
Mod
Mod
Mod
Mod
https://abc7chicago.com/politics/fact...
Point One:
WASHINGTON -- The Associated Press and ABC News are fact-checking remarks from President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech. Here's a look at some of the claims we've examined:
LIMITING LEGAL IMMIGRATION
TRUMP: "I want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever, but they have to come in legally."
THE FACTS: This is false. Trump has repeatedly sought to reduce the number of people legally allowed into the United States.
Last fall President Trump set the lowest cap in the history of the refugee admission program -- permitting only just 30,000 a year. In President Obama's last year he proposed a cap of 110,000 amid the height of the crisis in Syria. In fiscal year 2017 the Trump administration allowed the second fewest refugees ever.
Trump also won a battle in the Supreme Court to restrict all forms of travel and immigration from 7 countries, five of which have Muslim majority populations. Just last week, the administration began selectively enforcing a new policy at the southern border that requires migrants seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while their applications are processed. He has also called for the elimination of the diversity visa program, which typically awards up to 50,000 immigration visas each year.
Mod
https://abc7chicago.com/politics/fact...
Point Two:
MINORITY UNEMPLOYMENT
TRUMP: "African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment have all reached their lowest levels ever recorded."
THE FACTS: What he's not saying is that the unemployment rates for all three groups have gone up since reaching record low levels.
Black unemployment reached a record low, 5.9 percent, in May, but rose to 6.8 percent in January.
Latino unemployment fell to 4.4 percent, its lowest ever, last October, and Asian unemployment fell to a record low of 2.2 percent in May. But Latino and Asian unemployment also have increased, in part because of the government shutdown, which elevated unemployment last month.
The African-American rate is still nearly double the jobless rate for whites, at 3.5 percent.
The most dramatic drop in black unemployment came under President Barack Obama, when it fell from a recession high of 16.8 percent in March 2010 to 7.8 percent in January 2017.
Mod
https://abc7chicago.com/politics/fact...
DRUG PRICE DECLINE
TRUMP: "As a result of my administration's efforts, in 2018 drug prices experienced their single largest decline in 46 years."
THE FACTS: This is mostly spin. While President Trump is correct that drug prices dropped in the last year - and that hasn't happened since 1972 - the drop was less than1 percent. Drug prices and spending remain at historically high levels - including for drugs like insulin, which more than doubled in price since 2012 - and many of Trump's efforts to bring down those costs haven't been enacted yet.
According to the Consumer Price Index, that dip is .62 percent looking at data collected on December 2017 to data from December 2018. Last fall, an Associated Press analysis examined the list prices for some 26,000 brand-name drugs and found 96 price hikes for every one price cut.
What Trump can point to in favor of consumers is an aggressive push by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during his administration to approve generic drugs. White House advisers in an October 2018 report estimated that the recent approval of generic drugs has resulted in $26 billion in savings for consumers that would have otherwise had to choose brand name drugs. Among those approved under Trump was the first generic version of EpiPen, the lifesaving auto injector used to treat emergency reactions. EpiPen injectors went from costing $100 in 2009 to $600 in 2016.
And while out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs remained mostly flat in 2017 - Trump's first year in office -- out-of-pocket physician and hospital costs increased.
Many of Trump's ideas to drive down drug costs haven't taken effect yet and are still winding their way through the rulemaking process. One proposal would upend the usual system of drug rebates when people buy prescription drugs through Medicare or Medicaid. The plan would prohibit drug makers from offering discounts or rebates to "pharmacy benefit managers" that administer drug plans. Instead, the manufacturers would be encouraged to provide rebates directly to consumers. Democrats pushed back, insisting they think the plan will raise costs for consumers.
Another proposal, announced last fall, is to limit what it pays for certain drugs for Medicare recipients by tying the price for some drugs to prices paid overseas. The measure, which would be phased in over several years, would only apply to certain types of drugs via Medicare that are administered by a physician. The drug industry fought back and said the administration was discouraging innovation
Mod
https://abc7chicago.com/politics/fact...
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
TRUMP: "Human traffickers and sex traffickers take advantage of the wide open areas between our ports of entry to smuggle thousands of young girls and women into the United States and to sell them into prostitution and modern-day slavery."
THE FACTS: His administration has not supplied evidence that women and girls are smuggled by the "thousands" across remote areas of the border for these purposes. What has been established is nearly 80 percent of international trafficking victims cross through legal ports of entry, a flow that would not be stopped by a border wall.
Trump distorts how often trafficking victims come from the southern border, according the Counter-Trafficking Data Collaborative , a global hub for trafficking statistics with data contributed by organizations from around the world.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline, a venture supported by federal money and operated by the anti-trafficking group Polaris , began tracking individual victim records in 2015. From January through June 31, 2018, it tracked 35,000 potential victims. Of those, there was a near equal distribution between foreigners on one hand and U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents on the other.
Most of the labor trafficking victims were foreign, and most of the sex trafficking victims were U.S. citizens. Of foreign nationals, Mexico had the most frequently trafficked.
Mod
https://abc7chicago.com/politics/fact...
'COUNTLESS MURDERS'
TRUMP: "Year after year, countless Americans are murdered by criminal illegal aliens."
THE FACTS: There is no national database that compares crimes committed by immigration status, making it difficult to confirm or dispute the president's assertions. What available studies do show is that overall, crime rates are lower among immigrant groups than they are among native-born Americans.
According to ICE data, over the past two years, there were nearly 4,000 arrests made for people both convicted of - and simply charged with -- homicide among immigrants released into ICE custody for deportation -- but the homicides could've been committed over any number of years.
More generally, the President's speech referenced 266,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants with criminal records over the past two years, a number that mainly includes immigrants who were convicted of crimes in the past, and perhaps served jail time before they were released into ICE custody.
