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Full Obama State Of The Union Address
Here is the text of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address as prepared for delivery at 9 p.m. ET.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:
Tonight I want to begin by congratulating the men and women of the
112th Congress, as well as your new Speaker, John Boehner. And as we
mark this occasion, we are also mindful of the empty chair in this
Chamber, and pray for the health of our colleague – and our friend –
Gabby Giffords.
It’s no secret that those of us here tonight have had our differences
over the last two years. The debates have been contentious; we have
fought fiercely for our beliefs. And that’s a good thing. That’s what a
robust democracy demands. That’s what helps set us apart as a nation.
But there’s a reason the tragedy in Tucson gave us pause. Amid all
the noise and passions and rancor of our public debate, Tucson reminded
us that no matter who we are or where we come from, each of us is a part
of something greater – something more consequential than party or
political preference.
We are part of the American family. We believe that in a country
where every race and faith and point of view can be found, we are still
bound together as one people; that we share common hopes and a common
creed; that the dreams of a little girl in Tucson are not so different
than those of our own children, and that they all deserve the chance to
be fulfilled.
That, too, is what sets us apart as a nation.
Now, by itself, this simple recognition won’t usher in a new era of
cooperation. What comes of this moment is up to us. What comes of this
moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight,
but whether we can work together tomorrow.
I believe we can. I believe we must. That’s what the people who sent
us here expect of us. With their votes, they’ve determined that
governing will now be a shared responsibility between parties. New laws
will only pass with support from Democrats and Republicans. We will move
forward together, or not at all – for the challenges we face are bigger
than party, and bigger than politics.
At stake right now is not who wins the next election – after all, we
just had an election. At stake is whether new jobs and industries take
root in this country, or somewhere else. It’s whether the hard work and
industry of our people is rewarded. It’s whether we sustain the
leadership that has made America not just a place on a map, but a light
to the world.
We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most
of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate
profits are up. The economy is growing again.
But we have never measured progress by these yardsticks alone. We
measure progress by the success of our people. By the jobs they can find
and the quality of life those jobs offer. By the prospects of a small
business owner who dreams of turning a good idea into a thriving
enterprise. By the opportunities for a better life that we pass on to
our children.
That’s the project the American people want us to work on. Together.
We did that in December. Thanks to the tax cuts we passed, Americans’
paychecks are a little bigger today. Every business can write off the
full cost of the new investments they make this year. These steps, taken
by Democrats and Republicans, will grow the economy and add to the more
than one million private sector jobs created last year.
But we have more work to do. The steps we’ve taken over the last two
years may have broken the back of this recession – but to win the
future, we’ll need to take on challenges that have been decades in the
making.
Many people watching tonight can probably remember a time when
finding a good job meant showing up at a nearby factory or a business
downtown. You didn’t always need a degree, and your competition was
pretty much limited to your neighbors. If you worked hard, chances are
you’d have a job for life, with a decent paycheck, good benefits, and
the occasional promotion. Maybe you’d even have the pride of seeing your
kids work at the same company.
That world has changed. And for many, the change has been painful.
I’ve seen it in the shuttered windows of once booming factories, and the
vacant storefronts of once busy Main Streets. I’ve heard it in the
frustrations of Americans who’ve seen their paychecks dwindle or their
jobs disappear – proud men and women who feel like the rules have been
changed in the middle of the game.
They’re right. The rules have changed. In a single generation,
revolutions in technology have transformed the way we live, work and do
business. Steel mills that once needed 1,000 workers can now do the same
work with 100. Today, just about any company can set up shop, hire
workers, and sell their products wherever there’s an internet
connection.
Meanwhile, nations like China and India realized that with some
changes of their own, they could compete in this new world. And so they
started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater
emphasis on math and science. They’re investing in research and new
technologies. Just recently, China became home to the world’s largest
private solar research facility, and the world’s fastest computer.
So yes, the world has changed. The competition for jobs is real. But
this shouldn’t discourage us. It should challenge us. Remember – for all
the hits we’ve taken these last few years, for all the naysayers
predicting our decline, America still has the largest, most prosperous
economy in the world. No workers are more productive than ours. No
country has more successful companies, or grants more patents to
inventors and entrepreneurs. We are home to the world’s best colleges
and universities, where more students come to study than any other place
on Earth.
What’s more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an
idea – the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own
destiny. That is why centuries of pioneers and immigrants have risked
everything to come here. It’s why our students don’t just memorize
equations, but answer questions like “What do you think of that idea?
What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you
grow up?”
The future is ours to win. But to get there, we can’t just stand
still. As Robert Kennedy told us, “The future is not a gift. It is an
achievement.” Sustaining the American Dream has never been about
standing pat. It has required each generation to sacrifice, and
struggle, and meet the demands of a new age.
Now it’s our turn. We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and
industries of our time. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and
out-build the rest of the world. We have to make America the best place
on Earth to do business. We need to take responsibility for our deficit,
and reform our government. That’s how our people will prosper. That’s
how we’ll win the future. And tonight, I’d like to talk about how we get
there.
The first step in winning the future is encouraging American innovation.
None of us can predict with certainty what the next big industry will
be, or where the new jobs will come from. Thirty years ago, we couldn’t
know that something called the Internet would lead to an economic
revolution. What we can do – what America does better than anyone – is
spark the creativity and imagination of our people. We are the nation
that put cars in driveways and computers in offices; the nation of
Edison and the Wright brothers; of Google and Facebook. In America,
innovation doesn’t just change our lives. It’s how we make a living.
Our free enterprise system is what drives innovation. But because
it’s not always profitable for companies to invest in basic research,
throughout history our government has provided cutting-edge scientists
and inventors with the support that they need. That’s what planted the
seeds for the Internet. That’s what helped make possible things like
computer chips and GPS.
Just think of all the good jobs – from manufacturing to retail – that have come from those breakthroughs.
Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the
launch of a satellite called Sputnik¸ we had no idea how we’d beat them
to the moon. The science wasn’t there yet. NASA didn’t even exist. But
after investing in better research and education, we didn’t just surpass
the Soviets; we unleashed a wave of innovation that created new
industries and millions of new jobs.
This is our generation’s Sputnik moment. Two years ago, I said that
we needed to reach a level of research and development we haven’t seen
since the height of the Space Race. In a few weeks, I will be sending a
budget to Congress that helps us meet that goal. We’ll invest in
biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy
technology – an investment that will strengthen our security, protect
our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.
Already, we are seeing the promise of renewable energy. Robert and
Gary Allen are brothers who run a small Michigan roofing company. After
September 11th, they volunteered their best roofers to help repair the
Pentagon. But half of their factory went unused, and the recession hit
them hard.
Today, with the help of a government loan, that empty space is being
used to manufacture solar shingles that are being sold all across the
country. In Robert’s words, “We reinvented ourselves.”
That’s what Americans have done for over two hundred years:
reinvented ourselves. And to spur on more success stories like the Allen
Brothers, we’ve begun to reinvent our energy policy. We’re not just
handing out money. We’re issuing a challenge. We’re telling America’s
scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds
in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy,
we’ll fund the Apollo Projects of our time.
At the California Institute of Technology, they’re developing a way
to turn sunlight and water into fuel for our cars. At Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, they’re using supercomputers to get a lot more power out of
our nuclear facilities. With more research and incentives, we can
break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country
to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
We need to get behind this innovation. And to help pay for it, I’m
asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we
currently give to oil companies. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but
they’re doing just fine on their own. So instead of subsidizing
yesterday’s energy, let’s invest in tomorrow’s.
Now, clean energy breakthroughs will only translate into clean energy
jobs if businesses know there will be a market for what they’re
selling. So tonight, I challenge you to join me in setting a new goal:
by 2035, 80% of America’s electricity will come from clean energy
sources. Some folks want wind and solar. Others want nuclear, clean
coal, and natural gas. To meet this goal, we will need them all – and I
urge Democrats and Republicans to work together to make it happen.
Maintaining our leadership in research and technology is crucial to
America’s success. But if we want to win the future – if we want
innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas – then we also
have to win the race to educate our kids.
Think about it. Over the next ten years, nearly half of all new jobs
will require education that goes beyond a high school degree. And yet,
as many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school.
The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other
nations. America has fallen to 9th in the proportion of young people
with a college degree. And so the question is whether all of us – as
citizens, and as parents – are willing to do what’s necessary to give
every child a chance to succeed.
That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes
and communities. It’s family that first instills the love of learning in
a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework
gets done. We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of
the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the
science fair; that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard
work and discipline.
Our schools share this responsibility. When a child walks into a
classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high
performance. But too many schools don’t meet this test. That’s why
instead of just pouring money into a system that’s not working, we
launched a competition called Race to the Top. To all fifty states, we
said, “If you show us the most innovative plans to improve teacher
quality and student achievement, we’ll show you the money.”
Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools
in a generation. For less than one percent of what we spend on education
each year, it has led over 40 states to raise their standards for
teaching and learning. These standards were developed, not by
Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the
country. And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year
as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that is more flexible and
focused on what’s best for our kids.
You see, we know what’s possible for our children when reform isn’t
just a top-down mandate, but the work of local teachers and principals;
school boards and communities.
Take a school like Bruce Randolph in Denver. Three years ago, it was
rated one of the worst schools in Colorado; located on turf between two
rival gangs. But last May, 97% of the seniors received their diploma.
Most will be the first in their family to go to college. And after the
first year of the school’s transformation, the principal who made it
possible wiped away tears when a student said “Thank you, Mrs. Waters,
for showing… that we are smart and we can make it.”
Let’s also remember that after parents, the biggest impact on a
child’s success comes from the man or woman at the front of the
classroom. In South Korea, teachers are known as “nation builders.” Here
in America, it’s time we treated the people who educate our children
with the same level of respect. We want to reward good teachers and stop
making excuses for bad ones. And over the next ten years, with so many
Baby Boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000
new teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and
math.
In fact, to every young person listening tonight who’s contemplating
their career choice: If you want to make a difference in the life of our
nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child –
become a teacher. Your country needs you.
Of course, the education race doesn’t end with a high school diploma.
To compete, higher education must be within reach of every American.
That’s why we’ve ended the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies that went to
banks, and used the savings to make college affordable for millions of
students. And this year, I ask Congress to go further, and make
permanent our tuition tax credit – worth $10,000 for four years of
college.
Because people need to be able to train for new jobs and careers in
today’s fast-changing economy, we are also revitalizing America’s
community colleges. Last month, I saw the promise of these schools at
Forsyth Tech in North Carolina. Many of the students there used to work
in the surrounding factories that have since left town. One mother of
two, a woman named Kathy Proctor, had worked in the furniture industry
since she was 18 years old. And she told me she’s earning her degree in
biotechnology now, at 55 years old, not just because the furniture jobs
are gone, but because she wants to inspire her children to pursue their
dreams too. As Kathy said, “I hope it tells them to never give up.”
If we take these steps – if we raise expectations for every child,
and give them the best possible chance at an education, from the day
they’re born until the last job they take – we will reach the goal I set
two years ago: by the end of the decade, America will once again have
the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.
One last point about education. Today, there are hundreds of
thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not American
citizens. Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing
to do with the actions of their parents. They grew up as Americans and
pledge allegiance to our flag, and yet live every day with the threat of
deportation. Others come here from abroad to study in our colleges and
universities. But as soon as they obtain advanced degrees, we send them
back home to compete against us. It makes no sense.
Now, I strongly believe that we should take on, once and for all, the
issue of illegal immigration. I am prepared to work with Republicans
and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws and address the
millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows. I
know that debate will be difficult and take time. But tonight, let’s
agree to make that effort. And let’s stop expelling talented,
responsible young people who can staff our research labs, start new
businesses, and further enrich this nation.
The third step in winning the future is rebuilding America. To
attract new businesses to our shores, we need the fastest, most reliable
ways to move people, goods, and information – from high-speed rail to
high-speed internet.
Our infrastructure used to be the best – but our lead has slipped.
South Korean homes now have greater internet access than we do.
Countries in Europe and Russia invest more in their roads and railways
than we do. China is building faster trains and newer airports.
Meanwhile, when our own engineers graded our nation’s infrastructure,
they gave us a “D.”
We have to do better. America is the nation that built the
transcontinental railroad, brought electricity to rural communities, and
constructed the interstate highway system. The jobs created by these
projects didn’t just come from laying down tracks or pavement. They came
from businesses that opened near a town’s new train station or the new
off-ramp.
Over the last two years, we have begun rebuilding for the 21st
century, a project that has meant thousands of good jobs for the
hard-hit construction industry. Tonight, I’m proposing that we redouble
these efforts.
We will put more Americans to work repairing crumbling roads and
bridges. We will make sure this is fully paid for, attract private
investment, and pick projects based on what’s best for the economy, not
politicians.
Within 25 years, our goal is to give 80% of Americans access to
high-speed rail, which could allow you go places in half the time it
takes to travel by car. For some trips, it will be faster than flying –
without the pat-down. As we speak, routes in California and the Midwest
are already underway.
Within the next five years, we will make it possible for business to
deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless coverage to 98% of all
Americans. This isn’t just about a faster internet and fewer dropped
calls. It’s about connecting every part of America to the digital age.
It’s about a rural community in Iowa or Alabama where farmers and small
business owners will be able to sell their products all over the world.
It’s about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning
building onto a handheld device; a student who can take classes with a
digital textbook; or a patient who can have face-to-face video chats
with her doctor.
All these investments – in innovation, education, and infrastructure –
will make America a better place to do business and create jobs. But
to help our companies compete, we also have to knock down barriers that
stand in the way of their success.
Over the years, a parade of lobbyists has rigged the tax code to
benefit particular companies and industries. Those with accountants or
lawyers to work the system can end up paying no taxes at all. But all
the rest are hit with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the
world. It makes no sense, and it has to change.
So tonight, I’m asking Democrats and Republicans to simplify the
system. Get rid of the loopholes. Level the playing field. And use the
savings to lower the corporate tax rate for the first time in 25 years –
without adding to our deficit.
To help businesses sell more products abroad, we set a goal of
doubling our exports by 2014 – because the more we export, the more jobs
we create at home. Already, our exports are up. Recently, we signed
agreements with India and China that will support more than 250,000 jobs
in the United States. And last month, we finalized a trade agreement
with South Korea that will support at least 70,000 American jobs. This
agreement has unprecedented support from business and labor; Democrats
and Republicans, and I ask this Congress to pass it as soon as possible.
Before I took office, I made it clear that we would enforce our trade
agreements, and that I would only sign deals that keep faith with
American workers, and promote American jobs. That’s what we did with
Korea, and that’s what I intend to do as we pursue agreements with
Panama and Colombia, and continue our Asia Pacific and global trade
talks.
To reduce barriers to growth and investment, I’ve ordered a review of
government regulations. When we find rules that put an unnecessary
burden on businesses, we will fix them. But I will not hesitate to
create or enforce commonsense safeguards to protect the American people.
That’s what we’ve done in this country for more than a century. It’s
why our food is safe to eat, our water is safe to drink, and our air is
safe to breathe. It’s why we have speed limits and child labor laws.
It’s why last year, we put in place consumer protections against hidden
fees and penalties by credit card companies, and new rules to prevent
another financial crisis. And it’s why we passed reform that finally
prevents the health insurance industry from exploiting patients.
Now, I’ve heard rumors that a few of you have some concerns about the
new health care law. So let me be the first to say that anything can be
improved. If you have ideas about how to improve this law by making
care better or more affordable, I am eager to work with you. We can
start right now by correcting a flaw in the legislation that has placed
an unnecessary bookkeeping burden on small businesses.
What I’m not willing to do is go back to the days when insurance
companies could deny someone coverage because of a pre-existing
condition. I’m not willing to tell James Howard, a brain cancer patient
from Texas, that his treatment might not be covered. I’m not willing to
tell Jim Houser, a small business owner from Oregon, that he has to go
back to paying $5,000 more to cover his employees. As we speak, this
law is making prescription drugs cheaper for seniors and giving
uninsured students a chance to stay on their parents’ coverage. So
instead of re-fighting the battles of the last two years, let’s fix what
needs fixing and move forward.
Now, the final step – a critical step – in winning the future is to make sure we aren’t buried under a mountain of debt.
We are living with a legacy of deficit-spending that began almost a
decade ago. And in the wake of the financial crisis, some of that was
necessary to keep credit flowing, save jobs, and put money in people’s
pockets.
But now that the worst of the recession is over, we have to confront
the fact that our government spends more than it takes in. That is not
sustainable. Every day, families sacrifice to live within their means.
They deserve a government that does the same.
So tonight, I am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual
domestic spending for the next five years. This would reduce the deficit
by more than $400 billion over the next decade, and will bring
discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight
Eisenhower was president.
This freeze will require painful cuts. Already, we have frozen the
salaries of hardworking federal employees for the next two years. I’ve
proposed cuts to things I care deeply about, like community action
programs. The Secretary of Defense has also agreed to cut tens of
billions of dollars in spending that he and his generals believe our
military can do without.
I recognize that some in this Chamber have already proposed deeper
cuts, and I’m willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do
without. But let’s make sure that we’re not doing it on the backs of
our most vulnerable citizens. And let’s make sure what we’re cutting is
really excess weight. Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in
innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by
removing its engine. It may feel like you’re flying high at first, but
it won’t take long before you’ll feel the impact.
Now, most of the cuts and savings I’ve proposed only address annual
domestic spending, which represents a little more than 12% of our
budget. To make further progress, we have to stop pretending that
cutting this kind of spending alone will be enough. It won’t.
The bipartisan Fiscal Commission I created last year made this
crystal clear. I don’t agree with all their proposals, but they made
important progress. And their conclusion is that the only way to tackle
our deficit is to cut excessive spending wherever we find it – in
domestic spending, defense spending, health care spending, and spending
through tax breaks and loopholes.
This means further reducing health care costs, including programs
like Medicare and Medicaid, which are the single biggest contributor to
our long-term deficit. Health insurance reform will slow these rising
costs, which is part of why nonpartisan economists have said that
repealing the health care law would add a quarter of a trillion dollars
to our deficit. Still, I’m willing to look at other ideas to bring down
costs, including one that Republicans suggested last year: medical
malpractice reform to rein in frivolous lawsuits.
To put us on solid ground, we should also find a bipartisan solution
to strengthen Social Security for future generations. And we must do it
without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or
people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future
generations; and without subjecting Americans’ guaranteed retirement
income to the whims of the stock market.
And if we truly care about our deficit, we simply cannot afford a
permanent extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.
Before we take money away from our schools, or scholarships away from
our students, we should ask millionaires to give up their tax break.
It’s not a matter of punishing their success. It’s about promoting America’s success.
In fact, the best thing we could do on taxes for all Americans is to
simplify the individual tax code. This will be a tough job, but members
of both parties have expressed interest in doing this, and I am prepared
to join them.
So now is the time to act. Now is the time for both sides and both
houses of Congress – Democrats and Republicans – to forge a principled
compromise that gets the job done. If we make the hard choices now to
rein in our deficits, we can make the investments we need to win the
future.
Let me take this one step further. We shouldn’t just give our people a
government that’s more affordable. We should give them a government
that’s more competent and efficient. We cannot win the future with a
government of the past.
We live and do business in the information age, but the last major
reorganization of the government happened in the age of black and white
TV. There are twelve different agencies that deal with exports. There
are at least five different entities that deal with housing policy. Then
there’s my favorite example: the Interior Department is in charge of
salmon while they’re in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles
them in when they’re in saltwater. And I hear it gets even more
complicated once they’re smoked.
Now, we have made great strides over the last two years in using
technology and getting rid of waste. Veterans can now download their
electronic medical records with a click of the mouse. We’re selling
acres of federal office space that hasn’t been used in years, and we
will cut through red tape to get rid of more. But we need to think
bigger. In the coming months, my administration will develop a proposal
to merge, consolidate, and reorganize the federal government in a way
that best serves the goal of a more competitive America. I will submit
that proposal to Congress for a vote – and we will push to get it
passed.
In the coming year, we will also work to rebuild people’s faith in
the institution of government. Because you deserve to know exactly how
and where your tax dollars are being spent, you will be able to go to a
website and get that information for the very first time in history.
Because you deserve to know when your elected officials are meeting with
lobbyists, I ask Congress to do what the White House has already done:
put that information online. And because the American people deserve to
know that special interests aren’t larding up legislation with pet
projects, both parties in Congress should know this: if a bill comes to
my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it.
A 21st century government that’s open and competent. A government
that lives within its means. An economy that’s driven by new skills and
ideas. Our success in this new and changing world will require reform,
responsibility, and innovation. It will also require us to approach that
world with a new level of engagement in our foreign affairs.
Just as jobs and businesses can now race across borders, so can new
threats and new challenges. No single wall separates East and West; no
one rival superpower is aligned against us.
And so we must defeat determined enemies wherever they are, and build
coalitions that cut across lines of region and race and religion.
America’s moral example must always shine for all who yearn for freedom,
justice, and dignity. And because we have begun this work, tonight we
can say that American leadership has been renewed and America’s standing
has been restored.
Look to Iraq, where nearly 100,000 of our brave men and women have
left with their heads held high; where American combat patrols have
ended; violence has come down; and a new government has been formed.
This year, our civilians will forge a lasting partnership with the Iraqi
people, while we finish the job of bringing our troops out of Iraq.
America’s commitment has been kept; the Iraq War is coming to an end.
Of course, as we speak, al Qaeda and their affiliates continue to
plan attacks against us. Thanks to our intelligence and law enforcement
professionals, we are disrupting plots and securing our cities and
skies. And as extremists try to inspire acts of violence within our
borders, we are responding with the strength of our communities, with
respect for the rule of law, and with the conviction that American
Muslims are a part of our American family.
We have also taken the fight to al Qaeda and their allies abroad. In
Afghanistan, our troops have taken Taliban strongholds and trained
Afghan Security Forces. Our purpose is clear – by preventing the
Taliban from reestablishing a stranglehold over the Afghan people, we
will deny al Qaeda the safe-haven that served as a launching pad for
9/11.
Thanks to our heroic troops and civilians, fewer Afghans are under
the control of the insurgency. There will be tough fighting ahead, and
the Afghan government will need to deliver better governance. But we are
strengthening the capacity of the Afghan people and building an
enduring partnership with them. This year, we will work with nearly 50
countries to begin a transition to an Afghan lead. And this July, we
will begin to bring our troops home.
In Pakistan, al Qaeda’s leadership is under more pressure than at any
point since 2001. Their leaders and operatives are being removed from
the battlefield. Their safe-havens are shrinking. And we have sent a
message from the Afghan border to the Arabian Peninsula to all parts of
the globe: we will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat
you.
American leadership can also be seen in the effort to secure the
worst weapons of war. Because Republicans and Democrats approved the New
START Treaty, far fewer nuclear weapons and launchers will be deployed.
Because we rallied the world, nuclear materials are being locked down
on every continent so they never fall into the hands of terrorists.
Because of a diplomatic effort to insist that Iran meet its
obligations, the Iranian government now faces tougher and tighter
sanctions than ever before. And on the Korean peninsula, we stand with
our ally South Korea, and insist that North Korea keeps its commitment
to abandon nuclear weapons.
This is just a part of how we are shaping a world that favors peace
and prosperity. With our European allies, we revitalized NATO, and
increased our cooperation on everything from counter-terrorism to
missile defense. We have reset our relationship with Russia,
strengthened Asian alliances, and built new partnerships with nations
like India. This March, I will travel to Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador
to forge new alliances for progress in the Americas. Around the globe,
we are standing with those who take responsibility – helping farmers
grow more food; supporting doctors who care for the sick; and combating
the corruption that can rot a society and rob people of opportunity.
Recent events have shown us that what sets us apart must not just be
our power – it must be the purpose behind it. In South Sudan – with our
assistance – the people were finally able to vote for independence
after years of war. Thousands lined up before dawn. People danced in the
streets. One man who lost four of his brothers at war summed up the
scene around him: “This was a battlefield for most of my life. Now we
want to be free.”
We saw that same desire to be free in Tunisia, where the will of the
people proved more powerful than the writ of a dictator. And tonight,
let us be clear: the United States of America stands with the people of
Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people.
We must never forget that the things we’ve struggled for, and fought
for, live in the hearts of people everywhere. And we must always
remember that the Americans who have borne the greatest burden in this
struggle are the men and women who serve our country.
Tonight, let us speak with one voice in reaffirming that our nation
is united in support of our troops and their families. Let us serve
them as well as they have served us – by giving them the equipment they
need; by providing them with the care and benefits they have earned; and
by enlisting our veterans in the great task of building our own nation.
Our troops come from every corner of this country – they are black,
white, Latino, Asian and Native American. They are Christian and Hindu,
Jewish and Muslim. And, yes, we know that some of them are gay. Starting
this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they
love because of who they love. And with that change, I call on all of
our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and
the ROTC. It is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past.
It is time to move forward as one nation.
We should have no illusions about the work ahead of us. Reforming our
schools; changing the way we use energy; reducing our deficit – none of
this is easy. All of it will take time. And it will be harder because
we will argue about everything. The cost. The details. The letter of
every law.
Of course, some countries don’t have this problem. If the central
government wants a railroad, they get a railroad – no matter how many
homes are bulldozed. If they don’t want a bad story in the newspaper, it
doesn’t get written.
And yet, as contentious and frustrating and messy as our democracy
can sometimes be, I know there isn’t a person here who would trade
places with any other nation on Earth.
We may have differences in policy, but we all believe in the rights
enshrined in our Constitution. We may have different opinions, but we
believe in the same promise that says this is a place where you can make
it if you try. We may have different backgrounds, but we believe in the
same dream that says this is a country where anything’s possible. No
matter who you are. No matter where you come from.
That dream is why I can stand here before you tonight. That dream is
why a working class kid from Scranton can stand behind me. That dream
is why someone who began by sweeping the floors of his father’s
Cincinnati bar can preside as Speaker of the House in the greatest
nation on Earth.
That dream – that American Dream – is what drove the Allen Brothers
to reinvent their roofing company for a new era. It’s what drove those
students at Forsyth Tech to learn a new skill and work towards the
future. And that dream is the story of a small business owner named
Brandon Fisher.
Brandon started a company in Berlin, Pennsylvania that specializes in
a new kind of drilling technology. One day last summer, he saw the news
that halfway across the world, 33 men were trapped in a Chilean mine,
and no one knew how to save them.
But Brandon thought his company could help. And so he designed a
rescue that would come to be known as Plan B. His employees worked
around the clock to manufacture the necessary drilling equipment. And
Brandon left for Chile.
Along with others, he began drilling a 2,000 foot hole into the
ground, working three or four days at a time with no sleep. Thirty-seven
days later, Plan B succeeded, and the miners were rescued. But because
he didn’t want all of the attention, Brandon wasn’t there when the
miners emerged. He had already gone home, back to work on his next
project.
Later, one of his employees said of the rescue, “We proved that Center Rock is a little company, but we do big things.”
We do big things.
From the earliest days of our founding, America has been the story of
ordinary people who dare to dream. That’s how we win the future.
We are a nation that says, “I might not have a lot of money, but I
have this great idea for a new company. I might not come from a family
of college graduates, but I will be the first to get my degree. I might
not know those people in trouble, but I think I can help them, and I
need to try. I’m not sure how we’ll reach that better place beyond the
horizon, but I know we’ll get there. I know we will.”
We do big things.
The idea of America endures. Our destiny remains our choice. And
tonight, more than two centuries later, it is because of our people that
our future is hopeful, our journey goes forward, and the state of our
union is strong.
Thank you, God Bless You, and may God Bless the United States of America.
viw the WSJ
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"Engineers! New Moon Shot! Built the railroads interstate highway system!"
What does a C student with an online MBA from U of Phoenix call an engineer? Caddy.
What does the Secretary of Treasury call the developers who made turbo tax? Incompetent.
RACE is bigger than EXPORTS and MANUFACTURE.
NEED is bigger than both of those combined.
And if you believe the above, you know the USA has the best President money can buy. Anyone who fully believes everything Pussy President says should join the US MIL and fight in whatever war for oil the USA deems is necessary.
I can't believe I read that.
You guys are so fucked.
You are right. I can't believe you read it, either.
lol
Hillary looks brutal ...
This is new? Or do you mean particularly brutal? Of course, that would have to be a purely subjective thing, as even the word brutal thinks that Hillary is a better word to describe "extremely brutal"...
extranormal ??
extraterrestrial.
yeah, true....and for M. Obama....her ass has got to be 10 times the size of her head....how the heck do you get a booty that big?
PS Thanks and great job for posting the speech Tyler....now any chance you can do this for The Bernank's lip quivering before 2:15 tomorrow??? Now THAT would be SWEET!
As my friend Walter says, "Hillary's success has gone to her ass." Maybe Madame Obama has a similar situation.
MO got back.
>>....how the heck do you get a booty that big?
A shitload of of junkfood and a lot of anal
"Hillary looks brutal ..."
Thank god I'm not watching that. I can't look at her. She is starting to resemble Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi when he takes his mask off. Remember that? That has to be sort of what Hill looks like when she wakes up. Just imagine what that beaver smells like. Keep that away from the Gulf or it will kill all of the mutant shrimp that surviced the oil spill.
OT but ....
Great link for free t.v. online cnbc, sports, tnt, espn ect .... click on live sports up top will bring up main page. You can download free player -
http://atdhe.net/terms.html
My t.v. is turned off. I won't be victimized anymore . The scamming & outright lying is just getting too much for me to deal with anymore. Unfortunately (for me) , most of my friends & family have fallen under his influence & think he's just the best, most wonderful president ever !! After all, he is our first black president & no one could possibly believe that he'd sell the American Citizen down the river !! ........ we all love him so .........
Your on the right path Lynnybee..... God's speed to you and yours.
I love racism when it is black racism. It's like it's not racism at all, even though it still is.
Yeah, it's kind of like drinking a Diet Coke. Or having sex with truckers so you aren't really cheating on your wife. Uhm did I just say Truckers? I meant hookers.
LOL...
"I gave you change, Nigga!"
almost 4 million hits and counting - great music video. a village idiot "must watch"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ-hPNrKdZI&feature=related
I don't think lynnebee was being racist. I know many black people who voted for Obama and would never admit, not once in a million years, that he was part of a giant cabal that pulled the wool over their eyes real good.
Can you imagine your first black president, a potential hero, turns out to be in the same lineage as Johnson, Nixon, Bush, Clinton and Bush? Same guy, different suit.
That would have to hurt, don't you think?
" I don't think lynnebee was being racist " . Thank you for sticking up for me ! I truly do not mean harm to anyone & try hard to be kind. We all know that we must "walk on eggshells" so as not to say the wrong thing for fear it being construed in the wrong way; which is exactly why OBAMA was selected as the current puppet-in-chief ........ we don't dare criticize President Obama ! ...... if we do we're called racist ! ........ regards to all, go buy a little more silver 'cause you are going to need it BIGTIME !
& remember my GRANDMA JOSEPHINE's words (born 1915, god rest her soul) : NEVER TRUST THE GOVERNMENT & DO NOT GO INTO THE STOCK MARKET.
I do think that we should refer to BO as the first African American president.
I think that REALLY is the better, more PC, and possibly accurate term to use.
Other than that lynny, right on track. Been without cable for about 4-5 years here.
pods
I get free 100+ channel cable where I am. TV hasnt been on since I moved here.
"Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love. And because there are no jobs for the youth of America, I call on all of our college campuses to open their doors to our military recruiters and the ROTC. The military-industrial-complex is in desperate need of cannon fodder. Young lives to be forged on the battlefields of foreign lands in our relentless pursuit of natural resources from around the globe. Peak oil is here and it is time to leave behind the divisive battles of the past. It is time to move forward as one nation."
gayification of military
"Starting this year, no American will be forbidden from serving the country they love because of who they love."
Where is Archie Bunker when you need him?
somewhere in a cave, jihadists are making a recruiting video
"They're sending in the gays! Air raid!!"
"Where is Archie Bunker when you need him?"
Hanging out with Meathead according to Barry.
This year I'm turning the sound down and playing Metal Machine Music so it makes more sense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr0KkzbbqPI
I tried to sync it up to Dark Side of the Moon. I put a quick stop to that and said 25 Our Fathers as a penance.
Yeah it's like mixing. Sometimes it takes a pro.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ng74hxX61E
I actually have it muted with rap music playing on the radio.
I'm surpirsed that Obama is being so blunt. This is strong, no BS, concise language, a real call to action:
Before we take money away from our schools, or scholarships away from our students, we should ask millionaires to give up their tax break.
He didn't say billionaires. You know what a millionaire is?
A comfortable california or new york resident.
$20m and under ='s Middle Class.
Somewhere Jamie Dimon is holding his pinky out and laughing a deep, evil laugh.
A millionaire these days is someone with a NW of $10 million or more...
By next week that'll be 15 million.
Have you been drinking seagrape wine again. You know what i'm talking about. The fix is for those areas to drop prices big time. Because they are not nearly as giant of a capital sucking machine as military industrial complex or information technology spy and control complex but it's a big burdern.
he meant madrasas, sex clinics, obama cheer camps and ivy league insane aslyums
Millionaires?
Where the hell did that come from?...I thought 250k was rich?...ROTFLMAO!!!
What is that crap about... India and China found they could compete.... blah blah blah. Let's talk about labor arbitrage, hmmm. Nothing about bringing justice and balance back to our financial complex? Did he say anything that mattered? Yes, he said we should reinvent ourselves, good on you Mr. President, lets do have a revolution.
Fuck the Republicans, the Democrats, the Fed, DC, Wall St, the banksters, and the mega corporations who have sold our nation and people down the creek.
+1000
He did spend ONE WHOLE PARAGRAPH on getting rid of the illegals.
WOW........... WTF. That is all you have to say. 5 seconds out of 10 minutes to talk about the wide open borders and our country turning from English speaking into Spanish. I am so ashamed that I had a moment of faith at one time this could be turned around without a revolution
"We do big things."
Fraud and mass dilusional thinking come to mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K12ThB088SA&feature=
at least I died doin what I luv'd..
whats that?????
Lip Sinking! i love that shit.
Its just noise, beware.
I wonder how Biden's hedge fund is doing ...
Found this early draft in a waste basket near the White House....
"But there’s a reason the tragedy in Tucson gave us pause. Amid all the noise and passions and rancor of our public debate, Tucson reminded us that no matter who we are or where we come from, each of us is a part of something greater – a target bigger than my wife's ass".
"We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. And more importantly, no matter your party, no matter your stand on the issues, your campaign coffers are filling up again (Standing Ovation).
+10...nice find ;-)
It was nice of Obama to invite those two homeless drunk guys behind him to listen to his speech.
Pffft, the homeless don't drink out of highball glasses.
They do if you pay for it.
They do in DC, baby - thanks to O, DC is where da money is...
Isn't the cry baby on the right?
Must be good, he's already received a standing ovation.
He's such a lying mother fucker.
His mother was pretty hawt...just sayin...
http://www.buzzfeed.com/savage/is-this-obamas-mom-naked-1g6
that is her alright, in the apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Marshall Davis...
Note the resemblance to Mr. Davis: http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/Davis_Frank_Marshall.jpg
I just posted it for the picture. I read the caption after, My bad!
That about sums it up - he is scary good at it though
O:
Gov't motors is now going to build green engines in Mexico vs. in good ol' USofA.
They come with a free gardener?
Si, Senor.
"Mexican President Felipe Calderon welcomed the GM news..."
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70J3DT20110120
We shall continue our greatest exports... dollars and jobs.
100% snake oil delivered smooth as you like while you screw your country ever deeper into debt. It just comes easy to some
SNL had a skit showing the Chinese leader Hu getting screwed, would have been more accurate to have them both standing over an American factory worker.
"100% snake oil delivered smooth as you like while you screw your country ever deeper into debt. It just comes easy to some"
+2011
"And, yes, we know that some of them are glee."
We can't even say the man has no clothes as he is not the emperor... this entire artifice is so banal and self serving - they are merely functionaries not representatives and the executive leader is nothing of the sort.
Its beyond painful to listen to this actor - Reagan was the best post presidential President - at least until he became senile back in 81.
Reagan was Irish. Right?
And by the way, how does Taoiseach get pronounced "tea-shock"?
Reagan may have become senile but while he was P the populace had a below average emotional intelligence IQ therefore a benefit to Reagan in the relative context.
Reform school has a nice ring to it.
And you think it's better now? We are the dumbest fuckers on the planet. Richest, most decadent, lucky sons a bitches to ever walk the face of the Earth, and we have completely blown it. And then to top it all off, we think our shit doesn't stink; not so much out of arrogance I think, but rather that we're too fucking lazy to bend over and give the steaming pile a quick sniff every once and a while.
We should make early stage alzheimer's a job requirement...
"We should make early stage alzheimer's a job requirement..."
Good point Hulk...one of his best lines on statism's tireless quest to crush an economy.
“If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Ronald Reagan
Revisionist History 101 seems to be a requisite class before moving on to higher learning in the Ivy League.
We have to make America the best place in the world to do business.
Pretty f'n good place to be a bank.
Watch the new Wal Mart commercials, that's what they have envisioned for us.
Wal-mart will be considered upscale to most by the time this is all said and done.
"Brandon started a company in Berlin, Pennsylvania that specializes in a new kind of affordable housing. One day last summer, he saw the news that all over the country, families that have lost their house were trapped living in tent cities, and no one knew how to save them. Brandon thought, why live in a tent when you can live in a PODh. Brandon quickly developed Portable On Demand Housing by converting Portable Storage Boxes into housing for homeless families. This is American ingenuity. This is what makes America exceptional."
The best part is when the alarm clock goes off and Biden hits him on the head with the gavel.
+"How many lumps do you want?"
hey was that HU they just showed sleeping?
how did he get in
He has a key
Landlords usually do...
That's hilarious! Thanks, Misean.
tyler, wtf, who wanted to see this ?
It's Tyler's annual Public Service message. He does just one a year so the staff let's him pick which one. Last year it was the "Save a Banker, Write a Check" PS campaign. It was very successful.
ANDDDDD .... Silver goes over $27 an ounce, right on cue.
ES starts the evening ramp... even the algos agree that this is such a wonderful country!
Very much like watching the Golden Globes.
Euro going up - at least we can say his speech was "moving" lOL
I cringe every time he talks about the welfare of our children, thinking of the debt and ongoing deficits we pile on...
They have to suffer so we can live...they have never been rational.
Educating our children on Mars. I think these numb-nuts are on to something...
That's why I watch this theater, so I can see people like Jaba The Hut there tell everyone around her who can stomach looking at her, "that's me!. that's me!"
"What’s more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea..." - What nonsense. Switzerland was founded in 1291 on the idea of liberty from the then ruling Habsburgs.
And dear POTUS, where is the capital going to come from for all these great porgrams and how long do you think you can keep going with a zombie banking system?
And finally, do you really believe, that the US economy is growing again? I suggest you think again.
I didnt listen to it and I didnt read it here, just read some of the above comments to confirm that it would be platitudes and hogwash. Saved at least a half an hour and spared myself getting upset at hearing optimistic BS when its all crashing around us. Obama should receive an honorary captainship of the Titanic.
Throw him the anchor as a bonus.
No TSA pat-downs on high speed trains - yeah right
Comforting that he jokes about it isn't it?
I'm not even going to try and verify that...sounds just like him.
monkey clap now..clap. clap
Ceasar Augustus implemented his changes in the beginning of his regime, then changed his rhetoric (but not his policies) as he completed destruction of the Roman Republic.
(real-time-O is talking about rigging the tax code: how rich)
- Ned
This schmuck is like all blabbering liberals. All talk. No substance.
He still is a community organizer, and that's apparent in all this BS smalltalk called SOTU address.
"He still is a community organizer'
You mean race-baiter. Right? I doubt this guy could organize a sock drawer.
i suggest they throw small fish to the congress critters when they stand and clap
Save the fish and throw some shoes!
Congress applauded? Multiple times?
God, we're so fucked.
Okay, I think I figured out the quote function now.....ugh.
O:
Repeal the whole fricken mess.
- Ned
(I can quote O with the best of 'em)
He's a shyster. Key word, unwarranted.
It seems so fake!? Why do I have this overwhelming feeling that he is speaking to lul all the sheep back to sleep? It is a sense of a flashback moment to what Richard Nixon said many years ago, y'know the line, "I am not a crook."
Clean coal, no such thing, but it can be used to create imaginary energy...
"By 2020 80% of Americans will have access to high speed rail" or some shit. Big talk when you'd have to borrow money to even buy a Greyhound ticket.
God, can't we just fulfill the statist's fantasy by instead installing a train set in the WH living quarters, thus saving a trillion or so.
He's going to have your ass, and mine, on one of those trains en route to a FEMA camp.
A rail of high grade speed.
Fixed it for ya.
tl;dr bitchezzz
this might be the biggest lie of the night
In the coming year, we will also work to rebuild people’s faith in the institution of government. Because you deserve to know exactly how and where your tax dollars are being spent, you will be able to go to a website and get that information for the very first time in history. Because you deserve to know when your elected officials are meeting with lobbyists, I ask Congress to do what the White House has already done: put that information online. And because the American people deserve to know that special interests aren’t larding up legislation with pet projects, both parties in Congress should know this: if a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it.
did king earmark really say that
"... if a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it."
Hasn't happened yet. And ol' Harry has given O a big Trav777 middle finger on the minor matter of earmarks.
(real time Boehner looks like he's falling asleep, not risking any blunt force trauma on his palms or his fingertips).
"In the coming year, we will also work to rebuild people’s faith in the institution of government"
Isn't that what this asshole was elected for back in 2008? What the freak has he been doing for 2 years? Oh yeah, that's right. Never mind.
"Isn't that what this asshole was elected for back in 2008?"
No...mostly a marketing guilt trip.
++++
Colonel those little marks you just put up look suspiciously like cross hairs,
are you trying to say sumpin?
UUhhm... No.
Actually, A RESOUNDING NO!!. The last thing I need is to be visited by the Jackboots because I hesitated when denying my viscious rhetoric and targeting tactics.
Be sure to paperclip those earmarks to the outside of the bill, then, wink wink.
Were they all sitting together, kum-ba-ya like, as promised? Who's lap was Bawney on?
actually, bawney is usually in the chair while the action is above him.
- Ned
(OT, he used to be my congresscritter until he was thankfully gerrymandered away).
Congressman Weiner's.
http://www.weiner.house.gov/
Whatever happened to bawneys.underage asian boy in the bathroom.escapade? Anybody old enough to temember that? It was back in the eighties before anybody knew the definition of pedophile.
TopTroll-that is so '80s. Bawney was just expressing his natural urges as he was born, it is just his nature. Besides, there was all this other stuff going on to cloud the issues, e.g.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_congressional_page_sex_scandal
Watching Obama + Testor model glue + plastic bag + breath deep = America, Fuck Yea!
They stopped making the good stuff after Loyd Bridges uttered the immortal "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue." You gotta huff WD40 to get a buzz these days...or so I'm told.
I've been preppin for a long time. Got nice stash of Testor circa 1975, properly sealed and preserved for maximum effect.
Hardworking federal workers, you're killing us BO...
But keep that old money printer pumping. That negates anything else you have to say about growth and innovation. What a pawn.
and heartfelt sentiments at that time from loyal readers of HuffPo, such as this:
and heartfelt repsonses to those sentiments from other HuffPo readers:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/proudtobeliberal/obamas-nomination-...
I think i am getting sick now.
I guess you`re not a troll afterall
the man is a total tosser...a dishonest, bent, venal puppet
Aren't you being a little unfair to tossers?
The longest speech: Bill Clinton holds the record for the longest SOTU speech. It was the one he gave in 1995, shortly after his party lost control of Congress. Apparently, he felt he had a lot of explaining to do. That speech weighed in at a hefty 9,190 words.
What is the word count for Obama? Tyer get on it.
have you no clue?
Pages: 14
Paragraphs: 113
Words:6802
Lines: 500
Characters: 32025
Characters with spaces: 38766