STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS 2012

Here is the transcript of President Obama’s State of the Union Address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday, as released by the White House:

January 24, 2012

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

United States Capitol Washington, D.C.

9:10 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT:  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:
Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq.  Together, we offered a final, proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought — and several thousand gave their lives.
We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world.  (Applause.)  For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq.  (Applause.)  For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country.  (Applause.)  Most of al Qaeda’s top lieutenants have been defeated.  The Taliban’s momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home.
These achievements are a testament to the courage, selflessness and teamwork of America’s Armed Forces.  At a time when too many of our institutions have let us down, they exceed all expectations.  They’re not consumed with personal ambition.  They don’t obsess over their differences.  They focus on the mission at hand.  They work together.
Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example.  (Applause.)  Think about the America within our reach:  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.  An economy built to last, where hard work pays off, and responsibility is rewarded.
We can do this.  I know we can, because we’ve done it before.  At the end of World War II, when another generation of heroes returned home from combat, they built the strongest economy and middle class the world has ever known.  (Applause.)  My grandfather, a veteran of Patton’s Army, got the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.  My grandmother, who worked on a bomber assembly line, was part of a workforce that turned out the best products on Earth.
The two of them shared the optimism of a nation that had triumphed over a depression and fascism.  They understood they were part of something larger; that they were contributing to a story of success that every American had a chance to share — the basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement.
The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive.  No challenge is more urgent.  No debate is more important.  We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.  (Applause.)  What’s at stake aren’t Democratic values or Republican values, but American values.  And we have to reclaim them.
Let’s remember how we got here.  Long before the recession, jobs and manufacturing began leaving our shores.  Technology made businesses more efficient, but also made some jobs obsolete.  Folks at the top saw their incomes rise like never before, but most hardworking Americans struggled with costs that were growing, paychecks that weren’t, and personal debt that kept piling up.
In 2008, the house of cards collapsed.  We learned that mortgages had been sold to people who couldn’t afford or understand them.  Banks had made huge bets and bonuses with other people’s money.  Regulators had looked the other way, or didn’t have the authority to stop the bad behavior.
It was wrong.  It was irresponsible.  And it plunged our economy into a crisis that put millions out of work, saddled us with more debt, and left innocent, hardworking Americans holding the bag.  In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly 4 million jobs.  And we lost another 4 million before our policies were in full effect.
Those are the facts.  But so are these:  In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than 3 million jobs.  (Applause.)
Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005.  American manufacturers are hiring again, creating jobs for the first time since the late 1990s.  Together, we’ve agreed to cut the deficit by more than $2 trillion.  And we’ve put in place new rules to hold Wall Street accountable, so a crisis like this never happens again.  (Applause.)
The state of our Union is getting stronger.  And we’ve come too far to turn back now.  As long as I’m President, I will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum.  But I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.  (Applause.)
No, we will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt, and phony financial profits.  Tonight, I want to speak about how we move forward, and lay out a blueprint for an economy that’s built to last -– an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values.
Now, this blueprint begins with American manufacturing.
On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse.  Some even said we should let it die.  With a million jobs at stake, I refused to let that happen.  In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility.  We got workers and automakers to settle their differences.  We got the industry to retool and restructure.  Today, General Motors is back on top as the world’s number-one automaker.  (Applause.)  Chrysler has grown faster in the U.S. than any major car company.  Ford is investing billions in U.S. plants and factories.  And together, the entire industry added nearly 160,000 jobs.
We bet on American workers.  We bet on American ingenuity.  And tonight, the American auto industry is back.  (Applause.)
What’s happening in Detroit can happen in other industries.  It can happen in Cleveland and Pittsburgh and Raleigh.  We can’t bring every job back that’s left our shore.  But right now, it’s getting more expensive to do business in places like China.  Meanwhile, America is more productive.  A few weeks ago, the CEO of Master Lock told me that it now makes business sense for him to bring jobs back home.  (Applause.)  Today, for the first time in 15 years, Master Lock’s unionized plant in Milwaukee is running at full capacity.  (Applause.)
So we have a huge opportunity, at this moment, to bring manufacturing back.  But we have to seize it.  Tonight, my message to business leaders is simple:  Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed.  (Applause.)
We should start with our tax code.  Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas.  Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world.  It makes no sense, and everyone knows it.  So let’s change it.
First, if you’re a business that wants to outsource jobs, you shouldn’t get a tax deduction for doing it.  (Applause.)  That money should be used to cover moving expenses for companies like Master Lock that decide to bring jobs home.  (Applause.)
Second, no American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas.  (Applause.)  From now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax.  And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay here and hire here in America.  (Applause.)
Third, if you’re an American manufacturer, you should get a bigger tax cut.  If you’re a high-tech manufacturer, we should double the tax deduction you get for making your products here.  And if you want to relocate in a community that was hit hard when a factory left town, you should get help financing a new plant, equipment, or training for new workers.  (Applause.)
So my message is simple.  It is time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America.  Send me these tax reforms, and I will sign them right away.  (Applause.)
We’re also making it easier for American businesses to sell products all over the world.  Two years ago, I set a goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years.  With the bipartisan trade agreements we signed into law, we’re on track to meet that goal ahead of schedule.  (Applause.)  And soon, there will be millions of new customers for American goods in Panama, Colombia, and South Korea.  Soon, there will be new cars on the streets of Seoul imported from Detroit, and Toledo, and Chicago.  (Applause.)
I will go anywhere in the world to open new markets for American products.  And I will not stand by when our competitors don’t play by the rules.  We’ve brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration –- and it’s made a difference.  (Applause.)  Over a thousand Americans are working today because we stopped a surge in Chinese tires.  But we need to do more.  It’s not right when another country lets our movies, music, and software be pirated.  It’s not fair when foreign manufacturers have a leg up on ours only because they’re heavily subsidized.
Tonight, I’m announcing the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trading practices in countries like China.  (Applause.)  There will be more inspections to prevent counterfeit or unsafe goods from crossing our borders.  And this Congress should make sure that no foreign company has an advantage over American manufacturing when it comes to accessing financing or new markets like Russia.  Our workers are the most productive on Earth, and if the playing field is level, I promise you -– America will always win.  (Applause.)
I also hear from many business leaders who want to hire in the United States but can’t find workers with the right skills.  Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job.  Think about that –- openings at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work.  It’s inexcusable.  And we know how to fix it.
Jackie Bray is a single mom from North Carolina who was laid off from her job as a mechanic.  Then Siemens opened a gas turbine factory in Charlotte, and formed a partnership with Central Piedmont Community College.  The company helped the college design courses in laser and robotics training.  It paid Jackie’s tuition, then hired her to help operate their plant.
I want every American looking for work to have the same opportunity as Jackie did.  Join me in a national commitment to train 2 million Americans with skills that will lead directly to a job.  (Applause.)  My administration has already lined up more companies that want to help.  Model partnerships between businesses like Siemens and community colleges in places like Charlotte, and Orlando, and Louisville are up and running.  Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers -– places that teach people skills that businesses are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.
And I want to cut through the maze of confusing training programs, so that from now on, people like Jackie have one program, one website, and one place to go for all the information and help that they need.  It is time to turn our unemployment system into a reemployment system that puts people to work.  (Applause.)
These reforms will help people get jobs that are open today.  But to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, our commitment to skills and education has to start earlier.
For less than 1 percent of what our nation spends on education each year, we’ve convinced nearly every state in the country to raise their standards for teaching and learning — the first time that’s happened in a generation.
But challenges remain.  And we know how to solve them.
At a time when other countries are doubling down on education, tight budgets have forced states to lay off thousands of teachers.  We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000.  A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance.  Every person in this chamber can point to a teacher who changed the trajectory of their lives.  Most teachers work tirelessly, with modest pay, sometimes digging into their own pocket for school supplies — just to make a difference.
Teachers matter.  So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let’s offer schools a deal.  Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones.  (Applause.)  And in return, grant schools flexibility:  to teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn.  That’s a bargain worth making.  (Applause.)
We also know that when students don’t walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma.  When students are not allowed to drop out, they do better.  So tonight, I am proposing that every state — every state — requires that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18.  (Applause.)
When kids do graduate, the most daunting challenge can be the cost of college.  At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July.  (Applause.)
Extend the tuition tax credit we started that saves millions of middle-class families thousands of dollars, and give more young people the chance to earn their way through college by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years.  (Applause.)
Of course, it’s not enough for us to increase student aid.  We can’t just keep subsidizing skyrocketing tuition; we’ll run out of money.  States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets.  And colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down.
Recently, I spoke with a group of college presidents who’ve done just that.  Some schools redesign courses to help students finish more quickly.  Some use better technology.  The point is, it’s possible.  So let me put colleges and universities on notice:  If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down.  (Applause.)  Higher education can’t be a luxury -– it is an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.
Let’s also remember that hundreds of thousands of talented, hardworking students in this country face another challenge:  the fact that they aren’t yet American citizens.  Many were brought here as small children, are American through and through, yet they live every day with the threat of deportation.  Others came more recently, to study business and science and engineering, but as soon as they get their degree, we send them home to invent new products and create new jobs somewhere else.
That doesn’t make sense.
I believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration.  That’s why my administration has put more boots on the border than ever before.  That’s why there are fewer illegal crossings than when I took office.  The opponents of action are out of excuses.  We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now.  (Applause.)
But if election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let’s at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, defend this country.  Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship.  I will sign it right away.  (Applause.)
You see, an economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country.  That means women should earn equal pay for equal work.  (Applause.)  It means we should support everyone who’s willing to work, and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs.
After all, innovation is what America has always been about.  Most new jobs are created in start-ups and small businesses.  So let’s pass an agenda that helps them succeed.  Tear down regulations that prevent aspiring entrepreneurs from getting the financing to grow.  (Applause.)  Expand tax relief to small businesses that are raising wages and creating good jobs.  Both parties agree on these ideas.  So put them in a bill, and get it on my desk this year.  (Applause.)
Innovation also demands basic research.  Today, the discoveries taking place in our federally financed labs and universities could lead to new treatments that kill cancer cells but leave healthy ones untouched.  New lightweight vests for cops and soldiers that can stop any bullet.  Don’t gut these investments in our budget.  Don’t let other countries win the race for the future.  Support the same kind of research and innovation that led to the computer chip and the Internet; to new American jobs and new American industries.
And nowhere is the promise of innovation greater than in American-made energy.  Over the last three years, we’ve opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration, and tonight, I’m directing my administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.  (Applause.)  Right now — right now — American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years.  That’s right — eight years.  Not only that — last year, we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the past 16 years.  (Applause.)
But with only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, oil isn’t enough.  This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy.  (Applause.)  A strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.
We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years.  (Applause.)  And my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy.  Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade.  And I’m requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use.  (Applause.)  Because America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.
The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy.  (Applause.)  And by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock –- reminding us that government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground.  (Applause.)
Now, what’s true for natural gas is just as true for clean energy.  In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries.  Because of federal investments, renewable energy use has nearly doubled, and thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.
When Bryan Ritterby was laid off from his job making furniture, he said he worried that at 55, no one would give him a second chance.  But he found work at Energetx, a wind turbine manufacturer in Michigan.  Before the recession, the factory only made luxury yachts.  Today, it’s hiring workers like Bryan, who said, “I’m proud to be working in the industry of the future.”
Our experience with shale gas, our experience with natural gas, shows us that the payoffs on these public investments don’t always come right away.  Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies fail.  But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.  I will not walk away from workers like Bryan.  (Applause.)  I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here.
We’ve subsidized oil companies for a century.  That’s long enough.  (Applause.)  It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that rarely has been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising.  Pass clean energy tax credits.  Create these jobs.  (Applause.)
We can also spur energy innovation with new incentives.  The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change.  But there’s no reason why Congress shouldn’t at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation.  So far, you haven’t acted.  Well, tonight, I will.  I’m directing my administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes.  And I’m proud to announce that the Department of Defense, working with us, the world’s largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history -– with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year.  (Applause.)
Of course, the easiest way to save money is to waste less energy.  So here’s a proposal:  Help manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings.  Their energy bills will be $100 billion lower over the next decade, and America will have less pollution, more manufacturing, more jobs for construction workers who need them.  Send me a bill that creates these jobs.  (Applause.)
Building this new energy future should be just one part of a broader agenda to repair America’s infrastructure.  So much of America needs to be rebuilt.  We’ve got crumbling roads and bridges; a power grid that wastes too much energy; an incomplete high-speed broadband network that prevents a small business owner in rural America from selling her products all over the world.
During the Great Depression, America built the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge.  After World War II, we connected our states with a system of highways.  Democratic and Republican administrations invested in great projects that benefited everybody, from the workers who built them to the businesses that still use them today.
In the next few weeks, I will sign an executive order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many construction projects.  But you need to fund these projects.  Take the money we’re no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home.  (Applause.)
There’s never been a better time to build, especially since the construction industry was one of the hardest hit when the housing bubble burst.  Of course, construction workers weren’t the only ones who were hurt.  So were millions of innocent Americans who’ve seen their home values decline.  And while government can’t fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn’t have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief.
And that’s why I’m sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low rates.  (Applause.)  No more red tape.  No more runaround from the banks.  A small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won’t add to the deficit and will give those banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust.  (Applause.)
Let’s never forget:  Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that do the same.  It’s time to apply the same rules from top to bottom.  No bailouts, no handouts, and no copouts.  An America built to last insists on responsibility from everybody.
We’ve all paid the price for lenders who sold mortgages to people who couldn’t afford them, and buyers who knew they couldn’t afford them.  That’s why we need smart regulations to prevent irresponsible behavior.  (Applause.)  Rules to prevent financial fraud or toxic dumping or faulty medical devices — these don’t destroy the free market.  They make the free market work better.
There’s no question that some regulations are outdated, unnecessary, or too costly.  In fact, I’ve approved fewer regulations in the first three years of my presidency than my Republican predecessor did in his.  (Applause.)  I’ve ordered every federal agency to eliminate rules that don’t make sense.  We’ve already announced over 500 reforms, and just a fraction of them will save business and citizens more than $10 billion over the next five years.  We got rid of one rule from 40 years ago that could have forced some dairy farmers to spend $10,000 a year proving that they could contain a spill — because milk was somehow classified as an oil.  With a rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk.  (Laughter and applause.)
Now, I’m confident a farmer can contain a milk spill without a federal agency looking over his shoulder.  (Applause.)  Absolutely.  But I will not back down from making sure an oil company can contain the kind of oil spill we saw in the Gulf two years ago.  (Applause.)  I will not back down from protecting our kids from mercury poisoning, or making sure that our food is safe and our water is clean.  I will not go back to the days when health insurance companies had unchecked power to cancel your policy, deny your coverage, or charge women differently than men.  (Applause.)
And I will not go back to the days when Wall Street was allowed to play by its own set of rules.  The new rules we passed restore what should be any financial system’s core purpose:  Getting funding to entrepreneurs with the best ideas, and getting loans to responsible families who want to buy a home, or start a business, or send their kids to college.
So if you are a big bank or financial institution, you’re no longer allowed to make risky bets with your customers’ deposits.  You’re required to write out a “living will” that details exactly how you’ll pay the bills if you fail –- because the rest of us are not bailing you out ever again.  (Applause.)  And if you’re a mortgage lender or a payday lender or a credit card company, the days of signing people up for products they can’t afford with confusing forms and deceptive practices — those days are over.  Today, American consumers finally have a watchdog in Richard Cordray with one job:  To look out for them.  (Applause.)
We’ll also establish a Financial Crimes Unit of highly trained investigators to crack down on large-scale fraud and protect people’s investments.  Some financial firms violate major anti-fraud laws because there’s no real penalty for being a repeat offender.  That’s bad for consumers, and it’s bad for the vast majority of bankers and financial service professionals who do the right thing.  So pass legislation that makes the penalties for fraud count.
And tonight, I’m asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorney general to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis.  (Applause.)  This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans.
Now, a return to the American values of fair play and shared responsibility will help protect our people and our economy.  But it should also guide us as we look to pay down our debt and invest in our future.
Right now, our most immediate priority is stopping a tax hike on 160 million working Americans while the recovery is still fragile.  (Applause.)  People cannot afford losing $40 out of each paycheck this year.  There are plenty of ways to get this done.  So let’s agree right here, right now:  No side issues.  No drama.  Pass the payroll tax cut without delay.  Let’s get it done.  (Applause.)
When it comes to the deficit, we’ve already agreed to more than $2 trillion in cuts and savings.  But we need to do more, and that means making choices.  Right now, we’re poised to spend nearly $1 trillion more on what was supposed to be a temporary tax break for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.  Right now, because of loopholes and shelters in the tax code, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households.  Right now, Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.
Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans?  Or do we want to keep our investments in everything else –- like education and medical research; a strong military and care for our veterans?  Because if we’re serious about paying down our debt, we can’t do both.
The American people know what the right choice is.  So do I.  As I told the Speaker this summer, I’m prepared to make more reforms that rein in the long-term costs of Medicare and Medicaid, and strengthen Social Security, so long as those programs remain a guarantee of security for seniors.
But in return, we need to change our tax code so that people like me, and an awful lot of members of Congress, pay our fair share of taxes.  (Applause.)
Tax reform should follow the Buffett Rule.  If you make more than $1 million a year, you should not pay less than 30 percent in taxes.  And my Republican friend Tom Coburn is right:  Washington should stop subsidizing millionaires.  In fact, if you’re earning a million dollars a year, you shouldn’t get special tax subsidies or deductions.  On the other hand, if you make under $250,000 a year, like 98 percent of American families, your taxes shouldn’t go up.  (Applause.)  You’re the ones struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages.  You’re the ones who need relief.
Now, you can call this class warfare all you want.  But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes?  Most Americans would call that common sense.
We don’t begrudge financial success in this country.  We admire it.  When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it’s not because they envy the rich.  It’s because they understand that when I get a tax break I don’t need and the country can’t afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference — like a senior on a fixed income, or a student trying to get through school, or a family trying to make ends meet.  That’s not right.  Americans know that’s not right.  They know that this generation’s success is only possible because past generations felt a responsibility to each other, and to the future of their country, and they know our way of life will only endure if we feel that same sense of shared responsibility.  That’s how we’ll reduce our deficit.  That’s an America built to last.  (Applause.)
Now, I recognize that people watching tonight have differing views about taxes and debt, energy and health care.  But no matter what party they belong to, I bet most Americans are thinking the same thing right about now:  Nothing will get done in Washington this year, or next year, or maybe even the year after that, because Washington is broken.
Can you blame them for feeling a little cynical?
The greatest blow to our confidence in our economy last year didn’t come from events beyond our control.  It came from a debate in Washington over whether the United States would pay its bills or not.  Who benefited from that fiasco?
I’ve talked tonight about the deficit of trust between Main Street and Wall Street.  But the divide between this city and the rest of the country is at least as bad — and it seems to get worse every year.
Some of this has to do with the corrosive influence of money in politics.  So together, let’s take some steps to fix that.  Send me a bill that bans insider trading by members of Congress; I will sign it tomorrow.  (Applause.)  Let’s limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries they impact.  Let’s make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress can’t lobby Congress, and vice versa — an idea that has bipartisan support, at least outside of Washington.
Some of what’s broken has to do with the way Congress does its business these days.  A simple majority is no longer enough to get anything -– even routine business –- passed through the Senate.  (Applause.)  Neither party has been blameless in these tactics.  Now both parties should put an end to it.  (Applause.)  For starters, I ask the Senate to pass a simple rule that all judicial and public service nominations receive a simple up or down vote within 90 days.  (Applause.)
The executive branch also needs to change.  Too often, it’s inefficient, outdated and remote.  (Applause.)  That’s why I’ve asked this Congress to grant me the authority to consolidate the federal bureaucracy, so that our government is leaner, quicker, and more responsive to the needs of the American people.  (Applause.)
Finally, none of this can happen unless we also lower the temperature in this town.  We need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction; that politics is about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building consensus around common-sense ideas.
I’m a Democrat.  But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed:  That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.  (Applause.)  That’s why my education reform offers more competition, and more control for schools and states.  That’s why we’re getting rid of regulations that don’t work.  That’s why our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a government program.
On the other hand, even my Republican friends who complain the most about government spending have supported federally financed roads, and clean energy projects, and federal offices for the folks back home.
The point is, we should all want a smarter, more effective government.  And while we may not be able to bridge our biggest philosophical differences this year, we can make real progress.  With or without this Congress, I will keep taking actions that help the economy grow.  But I can do a whole lot more with your help.  Because when we act together, there’s nothing the United States of America can’t achieve.  (Applause.)  That’s the lesson we’ve learned from our actions abroad over the last few years.
Ending the Iraq war has allowed us to strike decisive blows against our enemies.  From Pakistan to Yemen, the al Qaeda operatives who remain are scrambling, knowing that they can’t escape the reach of the United States of America.  (Applause.)
From this position of strength, we’ve begun to wind down the war in Afghanistan.  Ten thousand of our troops have come home.  Twenty-three thousand more will leave by the end of this summer.  This transition to Afghan lead will continue, and we will build an enduring partnership with Afghanistan, so that it is never again a source of attacks against America.  (Applause.)
As the tide of war recedes, a wave of change has washed across the Middle East and North Africa, from Tunis to Cairo; from Sana’a to Tripoli.  A year ago, Qaddafi was one of the world’s longest-serving dictators -– a murderer with American blood on his hands.  Today, he is gone.  And in Syria, I have no doubt that the Assad regime will soon discover that the forces of change cannot be reversed, and that human dignity cannot be denied.  (Applause.)
How this incredible transformation will end remains uncertain.  But we have a huge stake in the outcome.  And while it’s ultimately up to the people of the region to decide their fate, we will advocate for those values that have served our own country so well.  We will stand against violence and intimidation.  We will stand for the rights and dignity of all human beings –- men and women; Christians, Muslims and Jews.  We will support policies that lead to strong and stable democracies and open markets, because tyranny is no match for liberty.
And we will safeguard America’s own security against those who threaten our citizens, our friends, and our interests.  Look at Iran.  Through the power of our diplomacy, a world that was once divided about how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program now stands as one.  The regime is more isolated than ever before; its leaders are faced with crippling sanctions, and as long as they shirk their responsibilities, this pressure will not relent.
Let there be no doubt:  America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal.  (Applause.)
But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible, and far better, and if Iran changes course and meets its obligations, it can rejoin the community of nations.
The renewal of American leadership can be felt across the globe.  Our oldest alliances in Europe and Asia are stronger than ever.  Our ties to the Americas are deeper.  Our ironclad commitment — and I mean ironclad — to Israel’s security has meant the closest military cooperation between our two countries in history.  (Applause.)
We’ve made it clear that America is a Pacific power, and a new beginning in Burma has lit a new hope.  From the coalitions we’ve built to secure nuclear materials, to the missions we’ve led against hunger and disease; from the blows we’ve dealt to our enemies, to the enduring power of our moral example, America is back.
Anyone who tells you otherwise, anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn’t know what they’re talking about.  (Applause.)
That’s not the message we get from leaders around the world who are eager to work with us.  That’s not how people feel from Tokyo to Berlin, from Cape Town to Rio, where opinions of America are higher than they’ve been in years.  Yes, the world is changing.  No, we can’t control every event.  But America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs –- and as long as I’m President, I intend to keep it that way.  (Applause.)
That’s why, working with our military leaders, I’ve proposed a new defense strategy that ensures we maintain the finest military in the world, while saving nearly half a trillion dollars in our budget.  To stay one step ahead of our adversaries, I’ve already sent this Congress legislation that will secure our country from the growing dangers of cyber-threats.  (Applause.)
Above all, our freedom endures because of the men and women in uniform who defend it.  (Applause.)  As they come home, we must serve them as well as they’ve served us.  That includes giving them the care and the benefits they have earned –- which is why we’ve increased annual VA spending every year I’ve been President.  (Applause.)  And it means enlisting our veterans in the work of rebuilding our nation.
With the bipartisan support of this Congress, we’re providing new tax credits to companies that hire vets.  Michelle and Jill Biden have worked with American businesses to secure a pledge of 135,000 jobs for veterans and their families.  And tonight, I’m proposing a Veterans Jobs Corps that will help our communities hire veterans as cops and firefighters, so that America is as strong as those who defend her.  (Applause.)
Which brings me back to where I began.  Those of us who’ve been sent here to serve can learn a thing or two from the service of our troops.  When you put on that uniform, it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white; Asian, Latino, Native American; conservative, liberal; rich, poor; gay, straight.  When you’re marching into battle, you look out for the person next to you, or the mission fails.  When you’re in the thick of the fight, you rise or fall as one unit, serving one nation, leaving no one behind.
One of my proudest possessions is the flag that the SEAL Team took with them on the mission to get bin Laden.  On it are each of their names.  Some may be Democrats.  Some may be Republicans.  But that doesn’t matter.  Just like it didn’t matter that day in the Situation Room, when I sat next to Bob Gates — a man who was George Bush’s defense secretary — and Hillary Clinton — a woman who ran against me for president.
All that mattered that day was the mission.  No one thought about politics.  No one thought about themselves.  One of the young men involved in the raid later told me that he didn’t deserve credit for the mission.  It only succeeded, he said, because every single member of that unit did their job — the pilot who landed the helicopter that spun out of control; the translator who kept others from entering the compound; the troops who separated the women and children from the fight; the SEALs who charged up the stairs.  More than that, the mission only succeeded because every member of that unit trusted each other — because you can’t charge up those stairs, into darkness and danger, unless you know that there’s somebody behind you, watching your back.
So it is with America.  Each time I look at that flag, I’m reminded that our destiny is stitched together like those 50 stars and those 13 stripes.  No one built this country on their own.  This nation is great because we built it together.  This nation is great because we worked as a team.  This nation is great because we get each other’s backs.  And if we hold fast to that truth, in this moment of trial, there is no challenge too great; no mission too hard.  As long as we are joined in common purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey moves forward, and our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union will always be strong.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)
END                10:16 P.M. EST

The Fat Vegan (What You Need To Know About The Vegan Lifestyle)

The Fat Vegan

You may consider this title an oxymoron—a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms, but in real life this concurrence is all too common. You may also think the title is offensive. My intention is to help, not to provoke anger.  People who have declared themselves “vegan,” have said “no” to eating all animal-derived foods. At extraordinary personal costs, many of these guardians labor tirelessly to protect the welfare of all animals. Fat vegans, however, have failed one important animal: themselves. Furthermore, their audiences of meat-eaters and animal-abusers may be so distracted by their appearance that they cannot hear the vital issues of animal rights and the environment; resulting in an unacknowledged setback for a fat vegan’s hard work for change. 

I have a vested interest in helping vegans lose weight and become healthier. People living the vegan lifestyle have already embraced the most important tenet of the McDougall diet: consuming meat, poultry, fish, and dairy-products is at the root of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and intestinal problems. Ours is a growing relationship. When I began my lifestyle-oriented medical practice as an intern in 1978, I was interested in dietary change only for the sake of my patients—I was unaware of animal rights and environmental issues. Over the years I have grown to understand that changing what humans eat is also essential for planet survival; meaning eliminating cruelty at the dinner table, and slowing climate change and pollution.  People who believe in any or all of these issues must stand together; helping each other in order to make a difference in the future.

My first vegan experience was in 1977 in Honolulu, Hawaii.  I was working as a resident doctor at Queens Medical Center training to become an internist.  Jeff Lane, a young doctor, was my intern and a vegan for ethical reasons—he did not want to harm animals. Outward proof of his convictions was his nylon belt and plastic shoes.  But there was one glaring inconsistency: Jeff was not the picture of good health. He was very overweight with greasy skin and acne. I soon discovered why Jeff’s health was so poor: most of his calories came from potato chips and Coke—items easily available to him in the hospital dining room, gift shop, and vending machines. He was the ultimate “junk food vegan.”  Yet, most vegans are very conscious of food quality and still many are overweight and unhealthy. What’s wrong with this picture?

Dietary Change Is Terrifying. 

Almost all of us were raised on meat, poultry, seafood, milk, cheese, oils, flours, and sugars. These foods have provided all of our life-sustaining calories. To give these familiar foods up, in our minds, means starvation. This would be akin to asking us to stop breathing or go thirsty—unbearable, if not impossible, tasks.  I remember well my first experience with foods different from those I was raised on.  Mary, my wife of 37 years now, was pregnant with our first child, Heather, in 1974.  We were living on the Big Island of Hawaii at that time. Buzz and Susan Hughes, a couple we met at our childbirth education class, invited us over for dinner. Susan prepared a wheat and barley casserole, a Caesar salad, vegetable side dishes, and a peach pie for dessert.  The meal was tasty, but a drastic departure from my usual beef, chicken, cheese, egg, and ice cream menu. Even after second helpings my stomach was still empty of its customary fillings.  On our drive home after dinner, I felt unsatisfied and actually believed that I would be unable to sleep through the night without “food.” I entered the front door of our house, which led directly to the kitchen with a well-stocked refrigerator. I eagerly opened the bottom bin where the sliced turkey was kept and made myself a Dagwood sandwich.  After eating sufficient amounts of fat, protein, flour, and sugar, I slept well.

Old Habits Doom Vegans

Fat vegans are as terrified as anyone else of giving up their familiar protein- and fat- centered diet. In their minds, this change would be akin to starvation. How could they overcome the fear and still transition to a vegan diet painlessly? By simply replacing real animal foods with non-animal foods, that look, feel, smell, and taste the same as the original. “What’s for dinner?” Before, the answer was steak, fried chicken, pork chops or cheese pizza. Now, as a vegan, the response is “soy burgers, faux meatballs, meat substitute cold cuts, soya chicken chunks, soy hotdogs, soy mozzarella pizza, and mockduck (made with seitan).”  Instead of animal fats and proteins, fuel becomes vegetable oils and isolated soy proteins. Olive oil and Earth Balance spread replace lard and butter. Glassfuls of Elsie the cow’s milk become soymilk. For dessert: a “dairy-free decadent indulgence (ice cream)” and soy yogurt. Vegetables remain insignificant side dishes, glistening with droplets of oil. 

Calorie for calorie, in terms of nutrition, the fake food is no better, and in some ways worse, than the “real thing.” Isolated soy protein causes greater calcium loss, leading to osteoporosis and kidney stones, and also produces greater increases in growth factors (IGF-1) that promote cancer and aging, than does isolated cow’s milk protein.  “The fat you eat is the fat you wear”—olive oil and Earth Balance spreads are just as unattractively worn on the thighs, hips, and buttocks, as are lard and butter.  Vegetable oils are often more cancer promoting than are animal fats.

Comparison of Real and Fake Food (Percent of calories)
Item	Fat	Protein	Carbohydrate	Fiber
Burger	65	35	0	0
Soy Burger	28	62	10	5
Cheese	70	28	2	0
Soy Cheese	60	10	30	0
Lard	100	0	0	0
Earth Balance	100	0	0	0
Olive Oil	100	0	0	0
Ice Cream	55	7	38	0
Soy Ice Cream	20	13	67	4
Duck	75	25	0	0
Mockduck	0	65	35	0

Do You Really Want the Same Food?

In 1986 I started planning for my first live-in program at St. Helena Hospital in the upper Napa Valley in Northern California.  This community is largely made up of people of the Seventh Day Adventist faith.  Their church is known for supporting vegetarian diets.  Naturally, I asked the local people where to eat.  They recommended the A&W restaurant on main street, Highway 29, on the west side of St. Helena.  That evening I ordered their famous “veggie burger.” My first bite told me a serious mistake was made. I complained to the man behind the counter, “I ordered the veggie burger and you gave me a beef hamburger.”  His response, “Thanks for the compliment—our veggie burger tastes so real.”  I threw the burger in the trash and walked out.  It was disgusting—A burger so greasy and beef-flavored, that I expected to find chunks of bone and blood vessels.

The Natural Human (Near) Vegan, Starch-based Diet

Fortunately, there is one single big solution that will revitalize people, cut food and health care costs, protect animals, and reduce environmental pollution, overnight: reestablishing the natural human diet of starches. My battle to spread this message relies on those people most ripe for change: especially vegans of all shapes and sizes.  The switch is a simple one: rather than getting calories, like all other Americans and Westerners—and most vegans—now do, from fat and protein, the primary fuel becomes carbohydrate from starches. Rather then starvation, this change means fuller satisfaction and radiant health. The more you eat the trimmer and healthier you become. All large populations of active, healthy people, throughout written human history, have obtained the bulk of their calories from starch. Examples of people once thriving on common starches include Japanese and Chinese in Asia eating sweet potatoes, buckwheat, and/or rice, Incas in South America eating potatoes, Mayans and Aztecs in Central America eating corn, and Egyptians in the Middle East eating wheat. Men following diets based on grains, vegetables, and fruits have accomplished all of the great feats in history. The ancient conquerors of Europe and Asia, including the armies of Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC) and Genghis Kahn (1167 - 1227 AD) consumed starch-based diets.  Caesar’s legions complained when they had too much meat in their diet and preferred to do their fighting on grains.

You Are What You Eat: The Low-fat Vegan

At every step of recipe design and food preparation, starches replace fake meats and dairy products manufactured from soy, seitan, sugar, salt, artificial flavorings and other chemicals.  Oils, even the “healthy ones,” are banned. 

• Bean and grain burgers replace Boca Burgers.
• Add rice to your bean chili instead of Gimme Lean.
• Oatmeal for breakfast rather than greasy sausages and breakfast links.
• Olive oil is substituted with low-fat salad dressings.
• Leave the soy cheese off the whole wheat pizza.
• Replace oils in baking with fat replacers like “Lighter Bake,” prune puree, or applesauce.
• Just leave the oils out of the recipe whenever possible.
• Have fruits for dessert.
• Finally, for faster, greater weight loss minimize the use of all processed plant foods, which means simple sugars and flours.

There is really no excuse for not making this big change.  Even my intern, Jeff Lane, had alternatives while working a 100-hour week in the hospital.  The dining room served oatmeal and cold grain cereals with fruit juice for breakfast.  For lunch and dinner Jeff could have chosen salads with vinegar or salsa, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, beans, low-fat vegetable soups, vegetables, and fruit.  The end result would have been—with a little basic knowledge and minimal effort—he, as an influential doctor, could have been an extraordinary crusader.

Vegans Are Ripe For Change

Being vegan says to me this is a person with outstanding character.  Vegans are self-sacrificing and committed to making a difference.  When everyone else is certain that it is our God-given right to mistreat and kill cows, pigs, chickens, and fishes in order to be properly nourished; a vegan would rather risk protein and calcium deficiency than to harm these beautiful creatures.  Of course, this deep sacrifice ends with the discovery that plants provide all needed proteins, amino acids, essential fats, vitamins, and minerals (including calcium) without the inherent risks of flesh and dairy. Vegans are self-confident. They remain steadfast even when mom, dad, dietitian, and doctor are visibly angered by their religion of “veganism.” Vegans are industrious. To avoid eating animals in a world where beef, chicken, and cheese are mixed in with everything in the market and on the menu is a daily struggle.  Reading labels, turning down invitations to dinner, and occasionally, going hungry, require more effort than the average person is willing to muster. 

Obviously vegans are exceptional people. With this one simple shift to a starch-based diet the word “vegan” will become synonymous with terms like healthy, trim, active, young, strong, and energetic, and finally the most important adjective, earth-changing.

You may subscribe to this free McDougall Newsletter at http://www.drmcdougall.com

Yes, I’m a fat vegan.

Posted on January 11, 2010

I’ve battled other people my entire life, over my size. I don’t really remember being thin. I gained over 70 pounds in one year around the age of 11. The doctors still really don’t know why, and since then, I have battled my weight every single day of my life.
I’ve gone through hell and back because of my weight. I’ve been made fun of publicly, I’ve been humiliated, I’ve been physically hurt, I’ve been called names by strangers. I have had people stop me in the street to tell me they have some magic pill to help me lose weight.
One day I was walking to the metro, to go home from work. A car stopped short right next to me (not a comforting thing when you are in DC). This woman quickly jumps out of her car STOPPING traffic. And starts flagging me down “HI!!!!! YOU ARE FAT AND I CAN HELP YOU!!!!”
I have had members of the fat acceptance association try to recruit me. I have been asked by doctors why I let myself go. I have been told by complete strangers that they feel sorry for me.
I have been told far too many times that I’m lucky that my husband fell in love with me. People who hint that my husband is pretty amazing for looking past my weight. When we started dating we had an uphill battle with some people in our lives who did not want him dating me, because of my weight.
It’s been that way my entire life, maybe not to that extreme, but every day it seems to be a battle for me. Even over 100 pounds lighter (but still obese) I get stares, I get looks and I get comments.
There are days where it would be easier to wear a t-shirt that says “YES I know I’m fat” or “You think I’m big now, you should have seen me 120 pounds ago” or some really bad word all together. It’s frustrating, even the people who say they don’t see my weight, I have a hard time believing, it’s not because of them, it’s because I’ve been through this for 22 years of my life, and it’s hard to trust and believe anyone who tells you they don’t see your size.
I have tremendous sympathy for obese people. Not in a feeling sorry kind of way – but in a – I totally understand kind of way. The things that overweight people go through are far more than they will ever tell you or ever admit to. Most people will make fun of it, say that we should just work out or just stop eating. People have told me to pray it away, to try different diets, pills and surgery. I have been to over-eaters anonymous, weight watchers, jenny craig, TOPS, and jazzesize. I am a expert on being fat.
I think that the assumptions are generally the worst when it comes to being overweight. I have had assumptions made of me from even the most well intentioned people. When I meet someone new I become overcome with fear of if they can get past my weight. I go into doctor offices with a written out list of all the things I am doing and how much weight I’ve lost, I am constantly on the defensive.
If you are not overweight, and have made assumptions about people who are obese or overweight, I am going to encourage you to hold those assumptions. Know that MOST of the people you see who have weight to lose, know they have weight to lose. Not only that, chances are that they have tried more than you will ever try in your life, in regards to being healthy. They have cried themselves to sleep, they have contemplated ending their life, they have tried every single diet out there, they have worked out more than you could ever imagine. Chances are they are completely different than the assumptions you have made. And I promise, it’s a lot harder than you could ever know.
I wish I could say this has gone away with the vegan community. Granted, I have met some of the most gracious and wonderful people – the world outside of vegan is different all together. I would be lying if I told you that it’s sometimes hard for me to tell someone I’m a vegan because people assume that all vegans are thin – not just thin – sickly thin. There are times in which I feel that by telling someone I’m vegan, gives people this bad impression of veganism. I run through in my head the person saying “OMG I know this girl she’s vegan and she is huge!”
Granted, sometimes I get to tell my story, but there are situations almost every day that I can’t just go into my entire story. For many, I am just a fat vegan, and for many it just means that ALL vegans must be unhealthy.
Going vegan in and of itself does not promise weight loss. It will certainly help with health – eliminating animal products is one of the healthiest things you can do. But just going vegan? Won’t make you thin overnight. Learning to eat right, working out is still an important part of being healthy. Being vegan is more than losing weight – being vegan is an entire lifestyle.
Being vegan is not about my physical appearance, or my health. Being on a plant based healthy diet, is all about my physical appearance and about my health. There is a difference. And yes, you can be a fat vegan. You can be a curvy vegan, or a skinny vegan. Being vegan does not mean a certain look or a certain size. It means a certain lifestyle – a lifestyle of compassionate living. And you can be compassionate at any size, and any state of health.
I believe with out a doubt that eating a healthy plant based diet is a huge key to unlocking many health problems, including obesity. And I believe that being vegan is not a size, it’s a way to live life, a way that can include any person, no matter their religion, race, background, income level, size, shape or weight.

The GOP’s Big Lie on Obama and jobs

By Greg Sargent

In the wake of today’s better-than-expected jobs report, Newt Gingrich has now released a statement bashing Obama for failing on the economy. He did this by echoing Mitt Romney’s favorite Big Lie — i.e., that the way to evaluate the success or failure of Obama’s jobs policies is to look at how many net jobs have been created or lost since he took office:

“Three full years into the Obama presidency, and there are still 1.7 million fewer Americans going to work today than there were on Obama’s Inauguration Day.

“Today’s new December unemployment figure doesn’t capture the full scale of the tragedy: almost 24 million Americans still unemployed, working part-time for economic reasons, or discouraged from looking for work.

“The Obama experiment has failed, and it is time to look to proven solutions that have successfully empowered job-creators in the past...”

It’s actually a good thing that Gingrich did this, because it perfectly reveals the reason the Republican presidential hopefuls are insisting on using the “net” jobs metric: It’s the only way they can continue to attack Obama as a job destroyer, even as jobs continue to be created on his watch.
Again: Romney, and now Gingrich, are basing their case that Obama has failed on the economy — and worse, that Obama has actually destroyed jobs — on the assertion that overall, jobs have been lost on Obama’s watch. Gingrich is claiming that this metric proves that “the Obama experiment has failed.” In other words, like Romney, he is claiming that this metric proves that Obama’s policies have failed.
But they reach this conclusion by factoring in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of jobs that the free-falling economy continued to shed in the months that passed after Obama took office but before his stimulus took effect. Indeed Gingrich is quite explicit about this, defining his metric as a comparison between how many Americans are going to work today versus how many went to work at the time of Obama’s inauguration.
Though today’s numbers are cause for cautious optimism, there’s no denying that jobs have not been created as fast as we would like on Obama’s watch. But come on — the citation of jobs lost before Obama’s policies passed as evidence that those policies were a failure is just ludicrously, cosmically absurd, and should not be allowed to stand.
This claim is absolutely central to the entire case the GOP candidates are making — and will continue to make — against Obama’s reelection. As Gingrich’s statement today neatly reveals, it is the only way they can continue claiming that Obama is a destroyer of jobs even as jobs continue to be created. Put more simply, it is the only way they can continue to claim Obama has failed on the economy, even as the private sector has created jobs for over 20 months straight at this point.
And this claim is only spreading. So at some point news outlets are simply going to have to press the GOP candidates to justify it. Right?
UPDATE: And right on cue, Romney repeats the claim again in a statement:

“Of course it is good news fewer Americans are out of work, but thirty-five consecutive months of unemployment above 8 percent is no cause for celebration. Under President Obama, we have lost 1.7 million jobs — America deserves better. Eventually our economy will recover, America always does. But President Obama’s policies have slowed the recovery and created misery for 24 million Americans who are unemployed, or stuck in part-time jobs when what they really want is full-time work. As President, I will refuse to accept high unemployment as the ‘new normal’ for our economy.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Latest Job Stats Are Good News For Obama, But For How Long?

Latest jobs figures provide some good news for Obama

By LESLEY CLARK

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- The 200,000 new December jobs and the dip in the unemployment rate announced Friday are good news for President Barack Obama, whose chances of retaining the White House are lashed to improving the sluggish economy.
Whether the jobs rate can sustain a positive trajectory - and influence public perception that things are getting better by November - is unclear, however.
Improved economic numbers are always a positive, but no president since Franklin Roosevelt has won re-election with an unemployment rate that's higher than 7.2 percent. Analysts say that even if the economy shows a sustained recovery - as it has started to before, only to falter - it takes time to register with the public. Indeed, the White House sought Friday to temper expectations, saying the improving numbers show a recovering, not a recovered, economy.
Obama touted the 3.2 million jobs created over the past 22 months, and said the numbers showed that it would be risky to change paths.
"A lot of families are still having a tough time," the president said. "A lot of small businesses are still having a tough time. But we're starting to rebound. We're moving in the right direction. We have made real progress. Now is not the time to stop."
Years of recession have soured the public, and analysts said it was impossible to know how long it would take for opinions to improve.
"Right now the negative views of the economy are pretty entrenched, which suggests that it's going to take some sustained positive news for things to turn around," said Carroll Doherty, an associate director at the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which measures perceptions of economic news and opinions about the national economy.
"I think most voters do not pay much attention to economic statistics. All most people know is, are things currently excellent, are they acceptable or are they terrible," said Gary Burtless, a senior fellow for economics at the Brookings Institution, a center-left research center. "And I think, objectively, speaking for most of the country - maybe not in Iowa and New Hampshire - things remain terrible."
Pew poll findings from December reflect that, Doherty said: "People say they're hearing better news, but their overall view of the economy and optimism hasn't shown much improvement."
He suggested a positive trajectory in the jobs numbers could boost Obama, as it did Ronald Reagan in 1983-84.
Unemployment "came down dramatically, more than a point, in late '83 to '84, and that really set him on the way for the '84 election," Doherty said.
President George H.W. Bush's re-election was plagued by a negative trajectory, a rising unemployment rate.
Nigel Gault, the chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, a leading economic forecasting group, said if the U.S. continued "to get no growth in the labor force and we sort of carry on roughly where we are, we could get under 8 percent by Election Day."
That would be a substantial improvement after the rate was stuck at 9 percent or more for most of the past three years.
Obama's challengers maintain that the rate remains perilously high.
Campaigning in South Carolina, Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney looked past the strong month to argue that 35 straight months with a jobless rate above 8.5 percent is "no cause for celebration."
Rick Santorum said he was "very gratified" that the unemployment numbers had declined, but, with a smile, suggested that it was due to increasing optimism that a Republican would win the White House.

The Republicans have hammered Obama, saying that his sweeping health care and stimulus spending bills have run up the U.S. debt and hampered job creation.
A $447 billion job-creation package that the president proposed last fall failed to get much traction in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. The White House has embarked on a strategy of taking small steps of its own, using Obama's executive power to cast him as working to improve the economy despite an obstinate Congress.
The president stepped up the push aggressively this week, defying Congress by making a recess appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
And after scoring a win last month on an effort to extend a payroll-tax cut for two months, Obama stood with Cordray on Friday, calling on Congress to pass a one-year extension of the tax reduction to keep the recovery going.
"There should not be delay. There should not be a lot of drama," he said.

 

 

 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/06/2577329/latest-jobs-figures-provide-some.html#storylink=cpy

Can Obama Do It Again?

As I survey the Republican field of candidates vying for the right to oppose President Obama in the 2012 presidential election I know that most intelligent persons regardless of their political background have to see the hopelessness in this group. None of them seem up to the task they have laid out before themselves which is to dethrone President Obama.
They seem to have so much to say about President Obama and what he has allegedly  done wrong, but none of them has come up with real alternatives to bring this country out of the problems that former President G.W. Bush put us in. They would like for us to forget that Bush took us into a very costly war with Iraq on the false premises that 1 Iraq was aligned with al Qaida and 2 that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. None of these were true then and now!
Let us ask a few questions that might help us to understand what is going on with this campaign. Why is it that the Republicans feel they can do a better job than the current administration when the prior administration which was republican did such a terrible job? Maybe they do not really care about helping this country so much as they hate the current President. Some people have even put forth a reason for this hatred of President Obama. The reason, they postulate is racism and prejudice! This proposition which has not been proven or demonstrated but is considered to be self evident is based on the high level of disrespect shown to our President Obama and an almost total lack of cooperation from the Republicans in congress.
 Just read the following which I pulled from a CNN article- Former President Jimmy Carter reiterated Wednesday that he believes racism is an issue for President Obama in trying to lead the country.
"When a radical fringe element of demonstrators and others begin to attack the president of the United States as an animal or as a reincarnation of Adolf Hitler or when they wave signs in the air that said we should have buried Obama with Kennedy, those kinds of things are beyond the bounds," the Democrat who served from 1977-1981 told students at Emory University.
"I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African American.
"It's a racist attitude, and my hope is and my expectation is that in the future both Democratic leaders and Republican leaders will take the initiative in condemning that kind of unprecedented attack on the president of the United States," Carter said.
Carter's comments came a day after he said racial politics played a role in South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during Obama's speech to Congress last week and in some of the opposition the president has faced since taking office.
"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told "NBC Nightly News."
"I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shares the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans."
Michael Steele, the first African-American to chair the Republican National Committee, denied Wednesday that race is fueling protests.
"President Carter is flat-out wrong," Steele said in a statement. "This isn't about race. It is about policy."
The House voted Tuesday to formally disapprove of Wilson's behavior during the joint session of Congress. The resolution was approved largely along party lines, with Republicans calling the measure unnecessary partisan politics.
Wilson apologized to the White House last week, but congressional Democrats said he owed the chamber a similar statement of regret.
Steele said Democrats are just trying to divert attention from what he called the president's "wildly unpopular government-run health care plan."
Actor and comedian Bill Cosby, who is black, said Wednesday in a written statement that he agrees with Carter.
As well check out what Actor Morgan Freeman had to say- 
Morgan Freeman laid down the chips on the Tea Party in a new interview with Piers Morgan that is due to air Friday night.
The Oscar-winning actor sat down with the British TV host and, amongst other things, discussed his belief that the right wing Tea Party's anti-Obama stance is rooted in racism.
When asked by Morgan whether Obama's presidency has made racism in the United States better or worse, Freeman, who once played apartheid-defying South African president Nelson Mandela, frankly stated that his time in office has made it worse, as he has become a target of the right's aggression.
"Their stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term," the actor said. "What’s, what does that, what underlines that? 'Screw the country. We’re going to whatever we do to get this black man, we can, we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here.'"
Declaring once again that "it's a racist thing," Freeman said the group's rise has shown the hate still lingering in America.
"Well, it just shows the weak, dark, underside of America," he said. "We’re supposed to be better than that. We really are. That’s, that’s why all those people were in tears when Obama was elected president. “Ah, look at what we are. Look at how, this is America.” You know? And then it just sort of started turning because these people surfaced like stirring up muddy water."
The actor continued, saying that he understood President Obama not fighting back, seeking to stick to his principles, but wishes that he'd be more aggressive now.
Freeman endorsed Obama during his run for the presidency, but declined to campaign with him, saying that he was an actor, not a politician. He attended a White House Civil Rights concert in 2010.
And here is what Bill Maher had to say-  Bill Maher appeared on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno to give his political perspective and to offer President Obama some advice.
"He's got to understand that with the Republicans, it's not the entree they don't like. They don't like the waiter," he said.
"Stop trying to make everyone like you. You can give all the money to the rich, they will still call you a socialist. They are never going to like him. He could personally save them from drowning, but they would still not like him. He is the wrong age, the wrong party, the wrong color. He will never pry their irrational fears from their cold, dead minds and he should just stop that tactic," Maher said
"Flip the script, make them nervous. Grow your hair out," Maher advised the President.

This current congress has folded its hands and done almost nothing to help this country move forward and thus has a low 9% approval rating.
They would like for us to believe that fundamental party differences are the reason they oppose so vehemently President Obama, but even when he attempts to get approval of their so called bills and plans which they have put forth in the past they still refuse to work with him. This shows that their goal is to make President Obama appear to have failed at his job. We should not buy into this ploy.
The Tea Party has helped in causing this country to have it's credit rating down graded by hold us hostage to their ill informed notion they we can survive as a nation without revenue from our citizens.
The Republicans have also used lies, scare tactics and fear mongering to turn the masses away from supporting President Obama.
They say that he is a socialist, was not born in the U.S.A., and is a Muslim. All of these are false!
What I believe is that many of those who do not like President Obama did not  believe that he'd win the first election. In their minds there was not way he could win, yet he did. It was a difficult pill to swallow and they vowed to undo him at almost any cost.
According to most President can and will win the next election. It might not be as easy as the first time, but it will happen.