I didn't realize it was my fault

[SHRED]

Shoulda gotten me one uv dem dare edumacations!!

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EXCERPT:

His references to education provided a convenient scapegoat for the failure of the economy, rather than to blame the actions of the Wall Street hustlers to whom Obama is now sucking up. Yes, it is an obvious good to have better-educated students to compete with other economies, but that is hardly the issue of the moment when all of the world’s economies are suffering grievous harm resulting from the irresponsible behavior of the best and the brightest here at home. It wasn’t the students struggling at community colleges who came up with the financial gimmicks that produced the Great Recession, but rather the super-whiz-kid graduates of the top business and law schools.

What nonsense to insist that low public school test scores hobbled our economy when it was the highest-achieving graduates of our elite colleges who designed and sold the financial gimmicks that created this crisis. Indeed, some of the folks who once designed the phony mathematical formulas underwriting subprime mortgage-based derivatives won Nobel prizes for their effort. A pioneer in the securitization of mortgage debt, as well as exporting jobs abroad, was one Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of GE, whom Obama recently appointed to head his new job creation panel.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/hogwash_mr_president_20110126/

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[phleshdef]

1. Whoever wrote that has Palin-esque listening skills.

Obama never said anything about low public school test schools causing the economy to crash. When he was talking about education, he was talking about the long view of America competing on the national stage of having an educated work force. I don't know what it would take for a person to come to the idiotic conclusion this writer came to, whether it be just straight lying, some really good drugs or a complete inability to understand the words coming out of aonther person's mouth.

[SHRED]

2. I for one grew tired of the speech

So tired of this rah rah "global competitive" mantra.

I wanted to hear why American corporate profit margins were at record level highs while our quality jobs market is in the toilet and what his vision for fixing that was.
What his proposals for trade policy overhaul would be.

Oh well...still waiting for Clinton's promises on NAFTA.

[phleshdef]

6. He touched on SEVERAL reasons for that.

He just didn't say it in the angry, partisan way that your ears are likely attuned to hearing.

He spoke at length about the long period we've had lacking investments in nation building here at home. And yes he spoke at length about how we need to get the workforce up to speed education wise for the kind of jobs we need now as opposed to the kind of jobs that were prevalent before technology changed things. He talked about how we haven't invested in building and producing things to export. Those are just a handful of the many things he talked about that are directly connected to what you are complaining about.

He just didn't talk about any of this in a negative, condemning fashion.

Your problem isn't that he didn't talk about many of the problems responsible for our job market woes or our lack of trade that otherwise benefits our economy. Your problem is that he didn't address those things in a way that appeals to your anger.

[SHRED]

7. That's weird

I didn't hear one word about tariff and trade law (or the lack therein) being of any consequence in the flight of jobs overseas.
I did hear talk about the quaint notion that there is somehow a corporate structure left here in the USA that is beholden to the nation.

Maybe I am just too "angry".

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[phleshdef]

8. He very clearly made the case that PUBLIC investments in innovation are the foundations...

...of any strength our economy has. And he cited several historical and current examples to back that up. That was nearly his entire argument. Then he called for clean energy, asked us to set a goal of running 80% on it within 25 years. He called for 80% of the nation to have high speed rail access within that time. He called for us to begin the challenge to replace the roads with electric cars. He called for government investments in education from every quarter.

Thats almost as progressive as it gets.

He has talked about the job offshoring issue only half a trillion times over the past 3 years. He didn't get into that during this SOTU. So what? Everyone knows its a problem and everyone knows where Obama stands on it.

[SHRED]

10. "job offshoring"..."everyone knows where Obama stands"

Yes we do:

Some 57,000 Minnesota jobs at risk under proposed Korean trade pact
26 January 2011
MINNEAPOLIS - Approximately 57,000 Minnesotans work in industries at risk of being off-shored should a proposed trade pact with South Korea be enacted, the Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition said.
According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the proposed trade agreement will increase the U.S. global trade deficit, negatively affecting employment in industries prevalent in Minnesota, the federation said. The findings are at odds with President Obama’s remarks during Tuesday’s State of the Union speech that passage of the agreement would create jobs in the United States.

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4739

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[phleshdef]

12. So they took the number of people employed in tech manufacturing...

...and said thats how many people will be laid off. Based on what? I read that entire article and I don't really see them backing up that claim with anything more than "its a trade deal, NAFTA was also a trade deal, this is what will happen".

[treestar]

9. +1000. You have it exactly.

He also didn't pit one group against another.

[polmaven]

3. What reaching this kind of conclusion takes

makes the president's point. The writer heard what he wanted to hear, and used absolutely no objective reasoning at all.

[Statistical]

4. +1. Some people have trouble seperating the crash from the recovery

There was a crash and economic collapse, leading to a recession which was caused by financial corruption, fraud, and greed.

Ok got it!

NOW WHAT?

US needs jobs.
US needs exports.
US needs GDP growth.

How do we achieve that. Obama outlined some ideas. Somehow people are linking those ideas back to the crash.

[SHRED]

5. Obama is linking to the crash

Why just look at his Cabinet now and the past two years.

[dionysus]

11. kick for bizzare-ass intepretations of the speech.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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