Does the state of the union address unsettle any Canadians

[William Ashley]

Think about the America within our reach,” he said.

“A country that leads the world in educating its people. An America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs. A future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t so tied to unstable parts of the world.”

By god he is going to invade Canada.

[bush_cheney2004]

...By god he is going to invade Canada.

Gosh, they might even force you to watch State of the Union addresses.

[Moonlight Graham]

We have oil, I guess we're a target now.

[sharkman]

He can talk the talk with the best of them, but 3 years of his talk proves he is an empty suit.

[CPCFTW]

I was unsettled by how much Obama sounded like an Occupy protester. Might as well have been chanting his state of the union address in sentence fragments, with mindless Occupy drones repeating each fragment.

I fear for the free world if Obama gets re-elected. He could very well bankrupt the world superpower which has kept the world safe for half a century.

[Boges]

LOL at Canadians who watch the entire State of the Union. What CPAC wasn't exciting enough for you?

[Topaz]

Think about the America within our reach,” he said.

“A country that leads the world in educating its people. An America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs. A future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t so tied to unstable parts of the world.”

By god he is going to invade Canada.

He doesn't to invade, Mulroney and Harper have pointed the country in that direction. First Free Trade with the US and now the NAU or Perimeter Security, I say within twenty years, they will have Canada and the powers that be are smart and taking it slow, my question is what's in it for any PM that helps them?

[PIK]

He has proved that he is a communist. And he does not understand taxes for being a president.

[Boges]

He has proved that he is a communist. And he does not understand taxes for being a president.

I'm a bit of a righty but c'mon, raising the tax rate on millionaires and billionaires to 35% isn't that extreme.

[Shady]

"My Message is Simple": Obama's SOTU Written at 8th Grade Level for Third Straight Year

Obama's SOTU addresses have the lowest average Flesch-Kincaid score of any modern president; Obama owns three of the six lowest-scoring addresses since FDR

Link

[Smallc]

And you think that's a bad thing because??? If you're implying that Obama is stupid, that says a great deal about your perception, or lack thereof.

[jacee]

He has proved that he is a communist. And he does not understand taxes for being a president.

A "communist" ?!?!

Omigod ... for taxing the ultrawealthy powerful who stack the deck in their favour?

All he's doing is taking back some of the wealth they've gouged from employees and consumers - ie, the public.

All he's doing is trying to reverse some of the corruption of taxation that was put in place by the republican lackies of the wealthy which led to the large and growing and unsustainable wealth gap of today.

It isn't "communist". In fact it is a necessary step to regain a healthy free market economy.

[capricorn]

I was unsettled by how much Obama sounded like an Occupy protester. Might as well have been chanting his state of the union address in sentence fragments, with mindless Occupy drones repeating each fragment.

Obama's SOTU addresses have the lowest average Flesch-Kincaid score of any modern president; Obama owns three of the six lowest-scoring addresses since FDR

For the third consecutive State of the Union Address, Barack Obama spoke in clear, plain terms.

And for the third straight Address, the President's speech was written at an eighth-grade level.

In Obama's own words: "My message is simple."

But was it too simplistic?

A Smart Politics study of the 70 orally delivered State of the Union Addresses since 1934 finds the text of Obama's 2012 speech to have tallied the third lowest score on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test, at an 8.4 grade level.

Obama also delivered the second lowest scoring address in 2011 (at an 8.1 grade level) and the sixth lowest in 2010 (at an 8.8 grade level)

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/smartpolitics/2012/01/my_message_is_simple_obamas_so.php

It appears the SOTU address has veered away from being a true accounting of the affairs of the State and its future direction and has become a political soapbox.

edit: I see Shady beat me to linking this story.

Edited January 25, 2012 by capricorn

[CPCFTW]

I'm a bit of a righty but c'mon, raising the tax rate on millionaires and billionaires to 35% isn't that extreme.

Yes it absolutely is. It doesn't even make sense for starters. I suspect there would be many Americans who suddenly only make 990k.

Let's say most of your income is derived from capital gains and dividends, and your effective tax rate is around 15% because of it. You pay 0.15 x 990k = approx 150k in taxes. Will you realize 10k more cap gains so that your tax bill doubles?

The tax haven banks must be rooting for Obama though.

Besides tax havens, the other possibility is that some people move from the US and start realizing their cap gains in another country. Most of their income is derived from investments so they aren't exactly bound within any borders.

It's just not going to work and will most likely hae the opposite effect. Watch for US tax receipts to decrease if this ever sees the light of day.

[CPCFTW]

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/smartpolitics/2012/01/my_message_is_simple_obamas_so.php

It appears the SOTU address has veered away from being a true accounting of the affairs of the State and its future direction and has become a political soapbox.

edit: I see Shady beat me to linking this story.

No wonder it sounded so much like an Occupy protestor to me... It was probably written by one.

[Shady]

And you think that's a bad thing because??? If you're implying that Obama is stupid, that says a great deal about your perception, or lack thereof.

No, I'm not implying that Obama is stupid. Lighten up a bit and grab yourself a sense of humour. I thought it was kind of funny, that's all.

[Shady]

I'm a bit of a righty but c'mon, raising the tax rate on millionaires and billionaires to 35% isn't that extreme.

I thought that the current rate was 35%, and that he wants to take it back up to 39.5%. When you add in a state income tax around 10%, and local taxes like property taxes and sales taxes, you're up over 50%. Should the government really be taking over half of what somebody earns? I don't think so. At that point, you're working for the government, and not for yourself or your family. The government should never take more than half of what you earn. That's my opinion.

[Smallc]

No, I'm not implying that Obama is stupid. Lighten up a bit and grab yourself a sense of humour. I thought it was kind of funny, that's all.

Oh yes, that was so funny. Why do so many conservatives lack any kind of a sense of humour?

[Shady]

Oh yes, that was so funny. Why do so many conservatives lack any kind of a sense of humour?

I wasn't aware that they did.

[CPCFTW]

I thought that the current rate was 35%, and that he wants to take it back up to 39.5%. When you add in a state income tax around 10%, and local taxes like property taxes and sales taxes, you're up over 50%. Should the government really be taking over half of what somebody earns? I don't think so. At that point, you're working for the government, and not for yourself or your family. The government should never take more than half of what you earn. That's my opinion.

I'm pretty sure what he said was that the effective tax rate would be 35% or whatever. If you make over 1mil, you're tax bill automatically becomes at least 35% of your income regardless of the source of your income. So basically he just wants to tax the hell out of anyone making most of their income from investments.

I guess that's fair.. Pay the highest marginal tax rate on employment income, then when you've saved and invested the left over money that the fed hasn't taxed, pay at least 35% on the income those investments derive. Because you haven't paid enough taxes at the highest marginal rate accumulating that wealth in the first place..

[Shady]

Obama's actually repeating the same lines he used in prior SOTU speeches, word for word!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDDRiGIUYQo&feature=relmfu

[capricorn]

So basically he just wants to tax the hell out of anyone making most of their income from investments.

One argument used to justify this is that the lower taxation rate on invested income means less money injected into the treasury; therefore, lower income taxpayers get stuck to pay an inordinate share of the cost of government operations in relation to those investors.

The counter argument I have heard to the above is that the companies in which they invested have already paid corporate taxes and the capital gains flow from after tax dollars. So the treasury got it's pound of flesh up front from said companies hence the above argument fails.

I think the bigger question is, as you alluded, the impact of these proposed tax measures on the economy as a whole.

[bush_cheney2004]

....All he's doing is trying to reverse some of the corruption of taxation that was put in place by the republican lackies of the wealthy which led to the large and growing and unsustainable wealth gap of today.

Then why did he extend the Bush era tax cuts for all marginal rates?

[waldo]

Then why did he extend the Bush era tax cuts for all marginal rates?

for... all? Well, say hello to the 42 GOP members of the Senate who pledged to block all bills unless Obama extended the cuts for... all marginal rates. More/most specifically, see 42 GOP members of the Senate blocking unemployment benefits for millions of Americans until Obama agreed to extend the tax cuts for... all marginal rates.

[bush_cheney2004]

....see 42 GOP members of the Senate blocking unemployment benefits for millions of Americans until Obama agreed to extend the tax cuts for... all marginal rates.

See Democrats and Obama extending the 2% FICA payroll tax cuts (again). Nobody is in any hurry to turn the tax revenue spigot back on despite blustery rhetoric.