Obama’s Pettiness
Excerpted remarks by the President in State of the Union Address; U.S. Capitol, January 27, 2010
THE PRESIDENT: Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans . . . (Americans) are tired of the partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness . . . In this new decade, it's time the American people get a government that matches their decency; that embodies their strength . . . We can't afford another so-called economic "expansion" like the one from the last decade – what some call the "lost decade" – where jobs grew more slowly than during any prior expansion; where the income of the average American household declined while the cost of health care and tuition reached record highs; where prosperity was built on a housing bubble and financial speculation . . . Look, I am not interested in punishing banks. I'm interested in protecting our economy. A strong, healthy financial market makes it possible for businesses to access credit and create new jobs. It channels the savings of families into investments that raise incomes. But that can only happen if we guard against the same recklessness that nearly brought down our entire economy . . . At the beginning of the last decade, the year 2000, America had a budget surplus of over $200 billion. By the time I took office, we had a one-year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program. On top of that, the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion hole in our budget. All this was before I walked in the door . . . Now, even after paying for what we spent on my watch, we'll still face the massive deficit we had when I took office . . . From some on the right, I expect we'll hear a different argument – that if we just make fewer investments in our people, extend tax cuts including those for the wealthier Americans, eliminate more regulations, maintain the status quo on health care, our deficits will go away. The problem is that's what we did for eight years. That's what helped us into this crisis. It's what helped lead to these deficits. We can't do it again . . . So, no, I will not give up on trying to change the tone of our politics . . . That's the work we began last year. Since the day I took office, we've renewed our focus on the terrorists who threaten our nation. We've made substantial investments in our homeland security and disrupted plots that threatened to take American lives. We are filling unacceptable gaps revealed by the failed Christmas attack, with better airline security and swifter action on our intelligence. We've prohibited torture and strengthened partnerships from the Pacific to South Asia to the Arabian Peninsula . . . My administration has a Civil Rights Division that is once again prosecuting civil rights violations and employment discrimination . . . We have come through a difficult decade . . . .” (End of excerpts of Obama’s pettiness.)
Then these beauties by the petty Obama-Biden Administration in a Wall Street editorial by Vice President Biden on nuclear weapon proliferation and the maintaining of the US arsenal, “Among the many challenges our Administration inherited was the slow but steady decline in support for our nuclear stockpile and infrastructure, and for our highly trained nuclear work force . . . For almost a decade, our laboratories and facilities have been underfunded and undervalued . . . The budget we will submit to Congress on Monday both reverses this decline and enables us to implement the President’s nuclear-security agenda . . . This investment is long overdue . . . .” Vice President Biden’s petty broadside was published January 29, 2010, just to days after President Obama's petty State of the Union Address.
Or maybe I’m the one being petty for noticing.
Excerpted remarks by the President in State of the Union Address; U.S. Capitol, January 27, 2010
THE PRESIDENT: Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans . . . (Americans) are tired of the partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness . . . In this new decade, it's time the American people get a government that matches their decency; that embodies their strength . . . We can't afford another so-called economic "expansion" like the one from the last decade – what some call the "lost decade" – where jobs grew more slowly than during any prior expansion; where the income of the average American household declined while the cost of health care and tuition reached record highs; where prosperity was built on a housing bubble and financial speculation . . . Look, I am not interested in punishing banks. I'm interested in protecting our economy. A strong, healthy financial market makes it possible for businesses to access credit and create new jobs. It channels the savings of families into investments that raise incomes. But that can only happen if we guard against the same recklessness that nearly brought down our entire economy . . . At the beginning of the last decade, the year 2000, America had a budget surplus of over $200 billion. By the time I took office, we had a one-year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program. On top of that, the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion hole in our budget. All this was before I walked in the door . . . Now, even after paying for what we spent on my watch, we'll still face the massive deficit we had when I took office . . . From some on the right, I expect we'll hear a different argument – that if we just make fewer investments in our people, extend tax cuts including those for the wealthier Americans, eliminate more regulations, maintain the status quo on health care, our deficits will go away. The problem is that's what we did for eight years. That's what helped us into this crisis. It's what helped lead to these deficits. We can't do it again . . . So, no, I will not give up on trying to change the tone of our politics . . . That's the work we began last year. Since the day I took office, we've renewed our focus on the terrorists who threaten our nation. We've made substantial investments in our homeland security and disrupted plots that threatened to take American lives. We are filling unacceptable gaps revealed by the failed Christmas attack, with better airline security and swifter action on our intelligence. We've prohibited torture and strengthened partnerships from the Pacific to South Asia to the Arabian Peninsula . . . My administration has a Civil Rights Division that is once again prosecuting civil rights violations and employment discrimination . . . We have come through a difficult decade . . . .” (End of excerpts of Obama’s pettiness.)
Then these beauties by the petty Obama-Biden Administration in a Wall Street editorial by Vice President Biden on nuclear weapon proliferation and the maintaining of the US arsenal, “Among the many challenges our Administration inherited was the slow but steady decline in support for our nuclear stockpile and infrastructure, and for our highly trained nuclear work force . . . For almost a decade, our laboratories and facilities have been underfunded and undervalued . . . The budget we will submit to Congress on Monday both reverses this decline and enables us to implement the President’s nuclear-security agenda . . . This investment is long overdue . . . .” Vice President Biden’s petty broadside was published January 29, 2010, just to days after President Obama's petty State of the Union Address.
Or maybe I’m the one being petty for noticing.
posted by Zack at 7:11 AM
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