SOTMFU

Though I was unable to actually view the State of the Union address last night and get wasted because of school, I was able to read the transcript on the bus this morning. And though there is plenty of good analysis out there (for example, privatizing social security will cost more than just letting it go bankrupt), I'd like to point out the things he said that made so little sense that I can only say to myself, "Hey, it must be 2005."

• "...so we must free small businesses from needless regulation and protect job-creators from junk lawsuits." Double-speak for "help my rich buddies." Look at the size standards for what defines a small business—those can be some big-ass companies.
  
  
• "...our economy is held back, by irresponsible class actions and frivolous asbestos claims -- and I urge Congress to pass legal reforms this year." Tort reform only benefits the rich (read). However, he singled out "frivolous asbestos claims"? Huh?
  
  
• "...tax credits to help low-income workers buy insurance, a community health center in every poor county, improved information technology to prevent medical errors and needless costs, association health plans for small businesses and their employees, expanded health savings accounts, and medical liability reform that will reduce health-care costs..." Respectively—won't work, never happen, kick backs for donors, taking credit for programs that already exist, more privitization, total bullshit.
  
  
• "...I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy." He can say it; they don't have to do it, and the President still looks like the good guy. They play a great game. Furthermore, reliance on foreign oil has nothing to do with American corporate interest in foreign oil, which is where a lot of the animosity comes from—it's not that we buy it and consume it; it's that we also own it and exploit it.
  
  
• "...you and I will work together to give this nation a tax code that is pro-growth, easy to understand, and fair to all." Double-speak for flat tax or national sales tax, which would put more burden on the poor and middle class. I like this proposal.
  
  
• "It is time for an immigration policy...that rejects amnesty..." Uh, what? I think you need to be a little more specific, hoss.
  
  
• "Some have suggested limiting [social security] benefits for wealthy retirees." And this is a bad idea?
  
  
• Re: federal employee Thrift Savings Plan: "It is time to extend the same security, and choice, and ownership to young Americans." Good. So can we also have access to the government health plan like John Kerry proposed?
  
  
• "Because marriage is a sacred instituion..." So much for separation of church and state. "...and the foundation of society,..." I thought law was the foundation of society. Marriage is the foundation of family, which is similar but not a dependent facet of society.
  
  
• "Soon I will send to Congress a proposal to fund special training for defense counsel in capital cases..." I don't get this at all. What sort of "special training" are we talking about here? (That's not rhetorical—I actually want to know. Anyone?)
  
  
• "And because democracies repect their own people..." ...unless those people are gay.
  
  
• On Iraq: "That country is a vital front in the war on terror, which is why the terrorists have chosen to make a stand there... Our men and women in uniform are fighting terrorists in Iraq so we do not have to face them here at home." Lends credence to the Flypaper Theory, that the War in Iraq served the purpose of misdirecting the terrorists' attention and drawing them to one area.