Who Hijacked Our Country

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

“Workplace Policies that Belong in a Mad Men episode”

...and a few other one-liners from tonight's State of the Union speech.

Before Obama's speech, talking heads were saying the President needed to play offense instead of defense, and to be upbeat and not too confrontational.  He delivered.

Referring to equal pay for equal work and paid sick leave for employees taking time off to care for a sick child/spouse/parent, President Obama said It’s time to do away with workplace policies that belong in a 'Mad Men' episode.

His speech basically stressed the broad areas where everyone agrees (hopefully) and avoided doing too much partisan toe-stepping-on.  Other memorable quotes included:

...here in America, our success should depend not on accident of birth but the strength of our work ethic and the scope of our dreams.

And my administration's launched two hubs for high-tech manufacturing in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Youngstown, Ohio, where we've connected businesses to research universities that can help America lead the world in advanced technologies.Tonight, I'm announcing we'll launch six more this year. Bipartisan bills in both houses could double the number of these hubs and the jobs they create. So, get those bills to my desk and put more Americans back to work.

And taken together, our energy policy is creating jobs and leading to a cleaner, safer planet. Over the past eight years the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution more than any other nation on Earth.

So tonight, I've asked Vice President Biden to lead an across- the-board reform of America's training programs to make sure they have one mission: train Americans with the skills employers need, and match them to good jobs that need to be filled right now. (Cheers, applause.) That means more on-the-job training, and more apprenticeships that set a young worker on an upward trajectory for life. It means connecting companies to community colleges that can help design training to fill their specific needs. And if Congress wants to help, you can concentrate funding on proven programs that connect more ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled jobs.

Americans understand that some people will earn more money than others, and we don't resent those who, by virtue of their efforts, achieve incredible success. That's what America's all about. But Americans overwhelmingly agree that no one who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty.

[referring to Obamacare] So again, if you have specific plans to cut costs, cover more people, increase choice, tell America what you'd do differently. Let's see if the numbers add up.  But let's not have another 40- something votes to repeal a law that's already helping millions of Americans.

Anyway, that was just a few highlights.

Apparently, Obama's SOTU speech was so good how good was it? it was soooooo good, the GOP needed not one, not two, but THREE rebuttal speeches.

I surfed through all our TV channels, and the only counterpoint speech I saw was the official one from Cathy McMorris Rodgers.  Now, nobody will admit it, but the GOP has an unwritten ironclad rule that when their designated drone delivers the SOTU rebuttal speech, he/she MUST maintain a fixed simple-minded thousand-yard-stare smile while bobbing one's head up and down in a GOP-prescribed rhythm.  (And if GOP and rhythm isn't an oxymoron, I don't know what is.)

The one meaningful phrase uttered among McMorris Rodgers' platitudes was But the real gap we face today is one of opportunity inequality.

OK, good point.  And your solution is ________??????????????????

Uh, we're still waiting...I guess we'll never know.  Or, film at eleven.  Probably not though; don't hold your breath.

Senator Mike Lee (RWall Street) delivered the rebuttal to the rebuttal.  I couldn't find anything on TV or the Internet except for this video link.  Go ahead and watch in case you care.

And Rand Paul:  as of this writing about an hour and a half after the SOTU speech the only thing I've found on the Intertubes about Rand Paul's rebuttal to the rebuttal to the rebuttal speech was a few news stories saying Rand Paul will rebut the president's SOTU speech

Stay tuned...


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10 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I heard there were going to be 4 rebuttals so another teatard probably had more inflammatory nothing to say in addition to the other three rebuttals, HA!

January 29, 2014 at 1:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

10 deployments!!!!!

Life as I know it now

January 29, 2014 at 1:19 AM  
Blogger Mr. Charleston said...

It's easy to lead the world in carbon reduction when you use half of the world's energy. Kind of like a 100% improvement when you start at zero. Yet another call for re-positioning into a peace-time military. Yet again, no applause. Can't stop all of those weapon systems and the jobs they create ya know. But all in all, a pretty damned good speech.

January 29, 2014 at 6:33 AM  
Blogger Jerry Critter said...

There is a fundamental difference between Democrats and republicans. The president tells us what he is for, and the republicans tell us what they are against.

January 29, 2014 at 10:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Years ago the president called for the Republicans to introduce another "Pay As You Go Plan" The Bush Plan that Gave Clinton his surplus, We are still waiting for the bill.

I mean it would give them another Surplus to trash.


Erik

January 29, 2014 at 12:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Erik - how many years ago? Which president? Sheesh, you never make any sense, hurts to read what you write. You hang out with too many libertarians! Throw away the tinfoil before it's too late!

HA HA HA - Mike Huckabee is leading as the republican nominee!!! HA HA HA!!!!

January 29, 2014 at 2:30 PM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

Anonymous: After reading some news sites this morning, it looks like there 5 or 6 rebuttals to Obama's SOTU speech. The more the merrier I guess.

Life: Yup, 10 deployments. Un-fuckin'-real, isn't it.

Mr. C: Agreed. Good speech, and with our massive carbon footprint, there's nowhere to go but down.

Jerry: That pretty well sums up the difference.

Erik: I guess it's only excessive spending when a Democrat is in the White House.

Anonymous: I assume Erik was referring to the first Pres. Bush. Erik is anything but a Libertarian or conservative.

January 29, 2014 at 3:47 PM  
Anonymous Jess said...

I'm hoping all the rebuttals to the rebuttal are over with today. That was some nerve and the progressive caucus does none of that.

January 30, 2014 at 6:04 AM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

Jess: I think they're just making themselves even more of a laughingstock with their ongoing rebuttal to the rebuttal speeches.

January 30, 2014 at 1:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Obama called for it in one of his previous SOTU addresses a few years ago.


Erik

January 30, 2014 at 1:53 PM  

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