State of the Union in speech discussion....

[Beatles]

When I was in college as an undergrad I was mixing cement for a professor for $4 an hr on weekends. That help a little with the bills. When I went to grad school I got a teaching assistantship and helped pay the tuition and room and board. But I never took a loan. So when I finished school and started working I was actually saving money.

Kids now take loans and don't realize they will be paying them off for the next 30 years.

why are you on sbr all day if you have a graduate degree?

[dherd]

great job mr. president. thank you for saving our country.

[Shafted69]

Did you see the rebuttals by the Tea Party thugs? Nothing but talking points, generalities & insults. Talk about somber & depressing. Not one specific idea on how to improve this country.

[shaggy3000]

guys just face it he is in office for what his 3rd year now and hasnt done anything to make the country better. we just have to wait this out and hope that the same dumb ***** that voted him in dont get fooled by all the celebs backing him. he might give great speeches but at this point id take a cracked out tranny hooker if they could create some jobs. hes the most powerful man in the world and i cant see one thing hes done... well there seem to be more cops on the road giving out tickets.

[King Mayan]

guys just face it he is in office for what his 3rd year now and hasnt done anything to make the country better. we just have to wait this out and hope that the same dumb ***** that voted him in dont get fooled by all the celebs backing him. he might give great speeches but at this point id take a cracked out tranny hooker if they could create some jobs. hes the most powerful man in the world and i cant see one thing hes done... well there seem to be more cops on the road giving out tickets.

if people that voted for Obama are dumbfucks.. What are the people that voted that "daddy buy me this" retard before him??

[itchypickle]

if people that voted for Obama are dumbfucks.. What are the people that voted that "daddy buy me this" retard before him??

2nd cousins to the same people...anyone who continues to vote these groomed nominees in is lost....I can't wait for a TRUE third party candidate to somehow beat the system and get backing by the people. I remember laughing at people who liked Bush because "he was a real guy who we could share a beer with, he gets us" and next in line were the crowds of "Obama is a man of the people from the streets of Chicago...an outsider who we can meet on the street in Georgetown and he'll have ice cream with us"

[shaggy3000]

if people that voted for Obama are dumbfucks.. What are the people that voted that "daddy buy me this" retard before him??

dont worry i voted for Bush and am fine with what i did. you can actually do some research and find out where the housing problem really started ( which lead to several other problem were facing now ) or you can just keep blaming Bush. i know its the cool thing to do so i understand you have to make fun of him to keep your place with your peers. and really i am over the 2-party system anyways. i just find it funny that you can cant find one thing he has actually made better so you take the easy way out and bash the guy before him...

[King Mayan]

dont worry i voted for Bush and am fine with what i did. you can actually do some research and find out where the housing problem really started ( which lead to several other problem were facing now ) or you can just keep blaming Bush. i know its the cool thing to do so i understand you have to make fun of him to keep your place with your peers. and really i am over the 2-party system anyways. i just find it funny that you can cant find one thing he has actually made better so you take the easy way out and bash the guy before him...

it was under his watch right?? Name one thing that bush did for the middle class??? Obama( I actually voted 4 McCain) has been in office two years and he's the second coming of hitler... Stop being brainwashed.. And like itchypicke said all these guys are puppets anyways so stop being hypocrites...

[Shafted69]

dont worry i voted for Bush and am fine with what i did. you can actually do some research and find out where the housing problem really started ( which lead to several other problem were facing now ) or you can just keep blaming Bush. i know its the cool thing to do so i understand you have to make fun of him to keep your place with your peers. and really i am over the 2-party system anyways. i just find it funny that you can cant find one thing he has actually made better so you take the easy way out and bash the guy before him...

As all educated voting Americans should know, the party in power completely controls the legislative and oversight agenda in Congress through chairmanships of, and majorities on, all congressional committees. The Republican party controlled both houses of Congress from 1994 until early 2007.

Also, it is not the Congress but the secretary of HUD, an appointee of the President, who sets the lending standards and dollar cap on morgages Fannie and Freddie are allowed to buy. George Bush's HUD secretary Mel Martinez set those limits after February 2001.

So it was the GOP, not the Democrats, who were overseers of Fannie and Freddie during the 2001-2007 housing bubble. And it was under a Repulican appointed HUD director who initiated for the 1st time ever zero down payment loans to low income borrowers with low credit ratings. And let's not forget the biggest housing welfare program( The American Dream Down Payment Act) in U.S. history was crafted by the GOP congress & signed into law in 2003 by GWB

And when Bubba left office in January 2001, the lowest standards left in place by the Democrats for Fannie and Freddie were those mandated for affordable housing. The standards for these "sub-prime" loans, called alt-A, were a minimum of 3% down, a debt to income ratio less than 45%, and a loan limit of $240,000. And significantly, the Democratic HUD secretary Andrew Cuomo had also capped Fannie and Freddie's triple A prime loan limit at $240,000.

[shaggy3000]

no ill tell you the best thing he did. he extended unemployment. by far the best thing he did in office.

[onetrickpony]

i wish one of u fukers would get to the oval office and make these calls.

oh wait its much easier to talk about it on a forum with no repercussions

there all puppets anyways since JFK

[Carseller4]

I skipped it, Obama lies so much, not worth it.

[shaggy3000]

Shafted i was trying to find the report that was done in my class a couple years that was overseen by Dr. Burton ( has a Phd. in the field ) which predates your info. but i guess im not as good with google as i thought. it was called "Some Causes of the Current Mortgage Crisis in the United States" which was about the subject. dont worry i dont think any of my work was used in the final report. apparently our school is 3rd highest in published articles. ( could be a lie thats just what the Dean said at the graduation. i might be able to trust his word but probably not )

doesnt really matter to me the problem is still going on so doesnt matter when it started anymore. and like i said i dont care who is in office just create some jobs.

[Chuck Sims]

Shit head Obama cuts the space program and then says this is our "Sputnik" moment.

What a douchebag.

[eidolon]

Good schools = good funding.
Respect to the teachers!!!!!

I used to think this was true because everyone says it. But I looked at average fund per student at the k-12 schools i went to (70k citizens). And average per student was about 75% of what the state average was. Yet, the k-12 testing is top 1% in the state.

So I don't know what to believe.

[wtf]

all politicians suck

you need a business man in the white house, till then zero will CHANGE

[jjgold]

Bottom line is Obama goes down as the worst President in USa history

[McBa1n]

*rolls eyes*
Bush already won that derby before his second term and yet we elected him again. It don't matter, we're all screwed anyway. The goal of the legislature now is to protect the wealth of 1% (and has been). How poor shmucks have anything in common with millionaire/billionaires is beyond me. The system is broken.
Also, you have to go back to Reagan to start the fundamentals of the liquidity melt down/biggest heist in the history of mankind.
Not one administration is to blame, weak oversight/regulation and deregulation helped create more slick accounting and saleable securities that over time would have to pay the piper. It doesn't take 1 year to f up the economy and it takes more than 2 to fix it... Especially since it's been proven that the 'trickle down' theory doesn't work for the vast majority of the country.

[crustyme]

As all educated voting Americans should know, the party in power completely controls the legislative and oversight agenda in Congress through chairmanships of, and majorities on, all congressional committees. The Republican party controlled both houses of Congress from 1994 until early 2007.

Also, it is not the Congress but the secretary of HUD, an appointee of the President, who sets the lending standards and dollar cap on morgages Fannie and Freddie are allowed to buy. George Bush's HUD secretary Mel Martinez set those limits after February 2001.

So it was the GOP, not the Democrats, who were overseers of Fannie and Freddie during the 2001-2007 housing bubble. And it was under a Repulican appointed HUD director who initiated for the 1st time ever zero down payment loans to low income borrowers with low credit ratings. And let's not forget the biggest housing welfare program( The American Dream Down Payment Act) in U.S. history was crafted by the GOP congress & signed into law in 2003 by GWB

And when Bubba left office in January 2001, the lowest standards left in place by the Democrats for Fannie and Freddie were those mandated for affordable housing. The standards for these "sub-prime" loans, called alt-A, were a minimum of 3% down, a debt to income ratio less than 45%, and a loan limit of $240,000. And significantly, the Democratic HUD secretary Andrew Cuomo had also capped Fannie and Freddie's triple A prime loan limit at $240,000.

b i n g o.

neo-cons love to blame the democrats and cra for the housing meltdown yet facts say otherwise (gee what else is new).

facts are lending under cra was declining by 2001 and only increased thanks to bush softening banking regulations and giving downpayments to the poor to buy homes they clearly could not afford.

in 2000, anti-predatory lending rule was put into place to prevent risky high cost loans but bush removed this rule in 2004. these type of deregulations helped the subprime market full of predatory lenders to explode out of control.

pretty funny how they think a youtube clip of barney frank is proof of the democrats fault yet cant name a single legislation the neocon controlled congress introduced during this period. why? because there were none. instead they relaxed regulations and eliminated rules so their political donors could rake in the $$$$$$$$$$$.

but of course its the dems fault.

[pavyracer]

why are you on sbr all day if you have a graduate degree?

When I signed up here it didn't ask for my educational credentials and I didn't mention it but if it is illegal to post here with a graduate degree I will stop posting promptly.

[Hotdiggity11]

Pretty solid speech. I'll watch Paul Ryan's speech later.

[Hotdiggity11]

I skipped it, Obama lies so much, not worth it.

It's ok, you'll just get your talking points later on today anyways.

[rkelly110]

I thought it was funny, the John of Orange, John Boner, Crybaby Johnny was ready
to flood the gates again.

[Hotdiggity11]

I thought it was funny, the John of Orange, John Boner, Crybaby Johnny was ready
to flood the gates again.

I saw that, hilarious. People were even clapping for it lol.

[Facepunch]

i wish one of u fukers would get to the oval office and make these calls.

oh wait its much easier to talk about it on a forum with no repercussions

there all puppets anyways since JFK

JFK, yes, when he wasn't busy with his brother trying to squash civil rights "insurgents" with illegal wiretaps and the first domestic surveillance programs. He was starting the war in Vietnam with illegal secret wars.

all the while talking about how "repugnant" secrecy of govt was.

Too bad we couldn't have more like him

[Facepunch]

As all educated voting Americans should know, the party in power completely controls the legislative and oversight agenda in Congress through chairmanships of, and majorities on, all congressional committees. The Republican party controlled both houses of Congress from 1994 until early 2007. Also, it is not the Congress but the secretary of HUD, an appointee of the President, who sets the lending standards and dollar cap on morgages Fannie and Freddie are allowed to buy. George Bush's HUD secretary Mel Martinez set those limits after February 2001. So it was the GOP, not the Democrats, who were overseers of Fannie and Freddie during the 2001-2007 housing bubble. And it was under a Repulican appointed HUD director who initiated for the 1st time ever zero down payment loans to low income borrowers with low credit ratings. And let's not forget the biggest housing welfare program( The American Dream Down Payment Act) in U.S. history was crafted by the GOP congress & signed into law in 2003 by GWB And when Bubba left office in January 2001, the lowest standards left in place by the Democrats for Fannie and Freddie were those mandated for affordable housing. The standards for these "sub-prime" loans, called alt-A, were a minimum of 3% down, a debt to income ratio less than 45%, and a loan limit of $240,000. And significantly, the Democratic HUD secretary Andrew Cuomo had also capped Fannie and Freddie's triple A prime loan limit at $240,000.

all good points, but how do you reconcile that with the fact that the dems blocked legislation that would have given oversight to freddie and fannie and stopped some of the lending practices that lead to the disaster?

In Bill Clintons words LINK

And Bush Link

CSPAN from 2004 hearings with dems blocking
Link

[itchypickle]

Shit head Obama cuts the space program and then says this is our "Sputnik" moment.

What a douchebag.

I didn't even think about that....nice catch.

[Facepunch]

JFK, yes, when he wasn't busy with his brother trying to squash civil rights "insurgents" with illegal wiretaps and the first domestic surveillance programs. He was starting the war in Vietnam with illegal secret wars.

all the while talking about how "repugnant" secrecy of govt was.

Too bad we couldn't have more like him

I suppose that the characterization of Kennedy as "against civil rights" is not fair. Many have said that he was for it, but his actions and his feelings are two different things.

JFK was a puppet of the Democratic machine that would have abandoned him had he gotten behind Civil Rights, as the KKK was still a large swath of the Democrat's power in the south.

I find your characterization of JFK as somehow "above reproach" hilarious.

I suppose death makes angels of us all, but the love for JFK is just mind blowing (no pun intended)

[BIGDAY]

There are so many teachers that are protected by the union and have no right to be a teacher.
If you work at Walmart and don't do your job you get fired. If you are the CEO of a company and don't do your job you get fired. If you are a teacher and don't do your job you get to keep it... and hurt the education of the children you impact.
THAT NEEDS TO CHANGE

I believe you. I bet there are a lot of teachers that should not be in classrooms. Basically they just go through the motions and collect a check. Not actually inspiring and challenging our next generation as some teachers are just plain lazy.

[crustyme]

all good points, but how do you reconcile that with the fact that the dems blocked legislation that would have given oversight to freddie and fannie and stopped some of the lending practices that lead to the disaster?

In Bill Clintons words LINK

And Bush Link

CSPAN from 2004 hearings with dems blocking
Link

name a single legislation the democrats supposedly blocked.

i cant watch the clinton clip since no flash on my phone. but is it the full interview or the chopped version? if its the latter then its useless. just another neocon trick of taking videos and speeches out of context for the sole purposes of a smear campaign.

just like back in 2008 where an email was circulated with obama's quote saying he would stand behind his muslim brothers. it was obviously taken out of context because what he said was if due to 9/11 all muslim americans were rounded up and put in internment camps just like the japanese during ww2 then he would stand by them. which i think most americans would do. but of course neocons purposefully took it out of context to paint him as a muslim and a terrorist.

[DwightShrute]

boring fukking speech over all. All talk and no action. Said nothing different really than last year and unless you are Chris Mathews I doubt anyone had a tingle running down their leg.

His approval rating stopped sliding downhill once the GOP gain the house before he was able to screw up America even more. He has 2 years to move towards the center and get something accomplished in order not to hold the unenviable distinction of being the worst president ever. I wish him luck.

[King Mayan]

It's ok, you'll just get your talking points later on today anyways.

Alot of guys here are sheltered from the real
World..

[pavyracer]

Because Obama never promised cheap gas. Bush promised us cheap gas as long as we let him invade Iraq.

[King Mayan]

boring fukking speech over all. All talk and no action. Said nothing different really than last year and unless you are Chris Mathews I doubt anyone had a tingle running down their leg.

His approval rating stopped sliding downhill once the GOP gain the house before he was able to screw up America even more. He has 2 years to move towards the center and get something accomplished in order not to hold the unenviable distinction of being the worst president ever. I wish him luck.

inbreds. How much was gas in 1999 compared to 2002??? 2008 to 2011??

[crustyme]

obamas to blame for high gas prices now? lol

opec has gone on record as saying they love the inflated prices that bush brought them and will do everything in their power to keep it above $3, including manipulating pricing by cutting oil production. they actually said this.

blaming obama for this is like blaming john fox for the broncos failures.