Reflection from the Right: The State of the Union

Let's talk about corporate taxes first. It is possible to lower tax rates without lowering revenue. All it takes is eliminating a lot of loopholes. If you eliminate the loopholes, we could lower the top corporate tax rate to 25% and not effect federal revenue. The Treasury Department determined this during the Bush administration.

The reference to Sputnik is not as crazy as some have made it seem. Sputnik represents a time in our history when we were in danger of losing our technological edge to Russia. In less than 10 years we surpassed them. It is very applicable to our current times. We are losing our manufacturing and technological edge again. It was a call to action to not let it happen.

Our 9.4% unemployment is directly due to jobs moving offshore i.e America losing its manufacturing and technology edge. American based companies hired 1.1 million people last year in other countries. If that hiring had been done in the US our unemployment would be at about 8%.

Citing the deficit as a percent of GDP is something Bush II did often and with good reason. Its a useful measure because it is comparable across years without adjustment for inflation.

The comments about wanting jobs now is also puzzling. You listed a lot of things you were against including infrastructure and R&D spending, and providing stimulas money to the states (money they used to employ people such as teachers and law enforcement and for economic development projects like attracting businesses to depressed areas). What would you have the Federal Government do to support job creation?

One last note on spending cuts. The UK has just gone through some pretty tough spending cuts and guess what happened? Their economy shrunk. Cutting spending means cutting jobs which increases unemployment. (If you layoff a public employee there is no job waiting for them after you lay them off they become unemployed just like anyone else would.)

Spending does need to be cut but it needs to be done in a manner that does kill the economic recovery.

I'm sorry that you weren't inspired but then I wasn't really inspired by Paul Ryan either.
Centerist Cynic

www.whatweshouldknowblog.com ( http://www.whatweshouldknowblog.com )

So this is the America that Republican polices promises us? The so called US Chamber of Commerce that funnels millions of dollars into Republican campaigns, in conjunction with the Chinese government has spent the last 10 years teaching American business men how to send millions of manufacturing jobs overseas. And you hold up as a shining example of hope a foreign car company that USA today contends was lured to Tennessee by a pool of workers who have shown other European and Asian assembly plants that they can live without the United Auto Workers?

Now that the American worker is broken and willing to compete by working for wages and benefits that are more in keeping with European and Asian counterparts the Republicans are trying to sell Americans on the "Global Dream" one where our children feel lucky to have a job and work for half of what their parents did.

Another of your statements that jumped out at me. Where did you get your figures on the national debt? George W. Bush added 5 trillion to the debt during his administration alone(doubled it from 5.7 to 10.7).The fact is that 2/3 of the current debt was added by the last 3 Republican administrations. The debt was at about 10.7 trillion when Bush left office
That does leave Obama with a little over 3 trillion to his credit, but he also inherited 2 wars and a near depression from Bush. The last time that the debt was this high as it relates to GDP was, what a coincidence, during the WWII era.

I totally agree with your interpretation of the sputnik moment. From someone in her 50's it was a call to action for America to compete.

And while that may not resonate with young people. It does resonate with older voters, and which group does he need to reach out to more in the next election?

I'd say the wild criticism is an effort to undermine that.

Look at history. What happened in the last election has happened to every sitting president in recent history. It seems that Americans don't feel comfortable with one party holding a trifecta and so they give (usually the house AND senate) to the other party. It happened to Bush jr, Clinton, Bush Sr, Reagan and so on.

These elections were hardly a mandate. They were in general very close races, many neck and neck.

It seems that many people don't understand that our government is a repbublic, not a democracy in the truest sense, and was set up in a way to protect the 49.5% from the 50.5%.

Mandate? No.

Nicole,
Thanks for this spot-on reply.

I had vowed never to respond to bitter, angry posts—-there's little point and fortunately on BlogHer it doesn’t happen very often.

But I was tempted until I read your post. You said exactly what I was thinking and said it very well!

Karen Bojar blogs about retirement life, feminist activism,  grassroots politics and gardening at http://www.the-next-stage.com/

Totally agree with Nicole-its all about solutions now; no more excuses and wallowing in the self-pity of the past.

"If Obamacare is allowed to continue, that number will only get worse." Do you have anything to back this up?

CBO said repeal of the health care reform act will raise the deficit.
http://cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=1750

I live in Ohio and at my high school you either went to college or worked at the basket factory. For years people earned and lived higher than my college educated husband and I, all with a factory job. Now, our unemployment rate is horrible and those basket weavers are jobless or working for minimum wage. They cannot continue to wait for another company to come in and save them. They have to get an education and do something else.

We get new companies every few years in our area and they just leave when the tax breaks run out. Seems to me like they are using the system and leaving people in the dust. Shame on companies for this.

It amazes me how people on welfare get reamed for using the system when big business does the same.

As for companies leaving the US for the sake of making themselves richer...shame on them. Talk about un-American.

Trickle down doesn't work because the people at the top don't let it.

Mandy W.

FourAgainstTwo.com

Have I not listened to Fox News analysts? No, you got me there. See, I used my own brain to interpret the President's speech - not some blowhard with a hatred for liberals.

I think you're overthinking this Sputnik thing to a point of distraction. You're saying some interesting things about the context of the event, but none of that has anything to do with what President Obama said or the current situation.

Adrienne - I'm a liberal who appreciates ideas counter to my own. In fact, I'm a bleeding-heart liberal who understands the need for conservative thought. I respect that you don't agree with President Obama's ... everything. That's fine.

However, I would really like to see some constructive thoughts from you on the conservative perspective. This piece you wrote is just snarky complaining - and misinterpretations. There is a saying that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

From you, and other conservatives, I want to see some solutions - as does the rest of the country.

Thanks,
Nicole

Have you not listened to analysts? His Sputnik comment has been wildly criticized.

At the time, Soviet Russia launched a satellite into space. This was an unheard of concept. It was terrifying. Would it bomb us? Would it hurt us? What was it?

It was a moment of fear that President Kennedy was able to translate into a shining moment in history. How has Obama done that?

Also as to the election, just look at demographics. Every voting block but African Americans went with Republicans, including women. That reversed a 20 year trend. If that's not a mandate, I don't know what is.

Adrienne works in the conservative movement and blogs at Cosmopolitan Conservative. ( http://www.cosmopolitanconservative.com )

Which is why Rep. Paul Ryan delivered the Republican response. His Roadmap for America's Future ( http://www.roadmap.republicans.budget.house.gov ) has been out for two years now.

To a large degree, we're stuck cleaning up after Democrats spending spree. It took us just over 200 years to reach $5.4 trillion in debt. In just TWO years, we've more than doubled that to $14 trillion. If Obamacare is allowed to continue, that number will only get worse.

Adrienne works in the conservative movement and blogs at Cosmopolitan Conservative. ( http://www.cosmopolitanconservative.com )

Agree to a certain perspective that the days of blue collar factory jobs are over, but it's not impossible.

My hometown of Chattanooga, TN was able to woo Volkswagen to build their FIRST American plant. Why? The state has no income taxes, is right to work and had a strong connection w/ community colleges to build training facilities.

This led to a numer of other suppliers moving into town. Amazon.com just announced the creation of two distribution hubs that will provide up to 2,500 jobs in the area.

Reduce taxes and corporations will expand. Raise taxes on the wealthy and those with capital will just shift it to countries with lower tax burdens.

Adrienne works in the conservative movement and blogs at Cosmopolitan Conservative. ( http://www.cosmopolitanconservative.com )

"The hard fact that many do not want to face is that the day of factory jobs is over. You can no longer make $25 an hour with a high school degree. OVER."

That's tough to say because a good chunk of our people are from a long line of factory-workers - but it's true. Some industries are just dead and it's time to look to the future.

Great analysis, Mandy.

The last election was a mandate? WRONG. The midterm election was a meltdown of a fed-up electorate. "Vote the bums out," was what the American people said, not "whatever you say, GOP."

I'm not going to try to explain how the health care reform act helps more than hurts because, frankly, your tone is so bitter against our President that it would be a moot point. Is the law perfect, no. But like our President said, "everything can be improved."

One thing I feel I need to correct you on, though, is your interpretation of President Obama's Sputnik comparison. Comparing us to "a 60-year-old hunk of metal" is not what he meant and leads me to believe you didn't really understand at least that part of the speech.

Adrienne, our "Sputnik moment" means this: we are being rapidly outpaced by other countries in the field of technology. When Earth-orbiting Sputnik was launched in 1957, the US had major egg on it's face because, despite being a superpower, Russia beat us into space.

THAT'S what that analogy means.

Your article is just lots of nit-picking and nothing really helpful or constructive to say. Typical of Republicans.

http://www.aviewfromtheedge.net/blog/

Let’s face it, if the sun shone out his, um, ears, that still wouldn’t be enough for some people. Partisanship is the fatal logjam in our Democratic system. For the most part, self interest, rather the interest of constituents, prevails. On all sides. This is the fifty sixth State of the union address I have been alive for. In that time nothing has changed.

The President might not have set the world on fire with his speech last night. But I do believe he is a good and earnest man who wants to do the best for our country. He said “We will move forward together or not at all…” That is the message we must take away and the message we must send to our representatives: the old way does not work and we will no longer accept it. Now is the time to not be a Republican, a Democrat or anything else. Now is the time to be an American.

Marie

www.nourishourselves.blogspot.com ( http://www.nourishourselves.blogspot.com )

www.theshorebookworm.blogspot.com ( http://www.theshorebookworm.blogspot.com )

I found his speech to be incredibly inspirational and full of realism.

The hard fact that many do not want to face is that the day of factory jobs is over. You can no longer make $25 an hour with a high school degree. OVER.

This speech highlighted that we have to look towards the future. Educate our kids, PARENT our kids by turning off the TV, encourage our kids to THINK and use IMAGINATION to come up with new ways of living.

Every SOTU address is going to talk about promises that may or not come true. That is politics. However, what I saw last night was a house full of people. Not the left and the right. No one yelling "lier". How refreshing. I hope that lasts.

We can pay for these programs if we cut big business and cut the tax breaks on the wealthiest Americans. It does work, if we work together and not be greedy.

People are our most valuable resource. We have to invest in people, not special interests. People need healthcare, people need education.

Sputnik motivated us to stretch ourselves. Americans need to again stretch ourselves and get away from the past that will never come back.

Mandy W.

FourAgainstTwo.com

Now it's time for Republicans to step up and lead, instead of constantly being critical of this adminstration and offering no solutions. The GOP can no longer just be the party of NO. That time has ended. Let's start offering some solutions to deal with the issues we face instead of the partisan blamegame we've been playing for the past two years.