@jane hughes: You are so right... he's the Bobblehead-in-Chief! Bobble bobble bobble to the left... Bobble bobble bobble to the right!

He has that crowd-gaze thing with his nose cast upward yet his eyes are looking down upon the commoners below.

Good Lord, hurry up 2012!

If the federal government really wants to help business, how about an across-the-board exemption from all federal regulations for the real innovators and job creators - small business? Because federal regulations are designed for (and all too often by) big companies, "one-size-fits-all" national regulations impose far higher compliance costs per employee on small businesses than on big business, which can afford to absorb the costs of large internal staffs and armies of lawyers to comply with massively complex federal regulations. Let the states regulate small businesses so the federal government can focus on the big corporate malefactors. Following the original meaning of the interstate commerce clause and freeing small business from federal regulation will do far, far more to unleash the job-generating power of small business than a dozen of Mr. Obama's token regulatory reviews. See External Link 

Editors, good work.

"It is a fact not an idea. We have to choose. And the choice is between freedom and tyranny…That is the difference between collectivism and the market economy" William F. Buckley Jr., 1978

For you "independents" (code for spineless switch-hitters)...you can't have it both ways!!! Make up your mind and decide!!! The independents will be fooled again and BHO will be re-elected...God help us all!!!

Why do we even debate what Obama says as if there is ever any real substance to it? I just hope the sound bites have been gathered that show he says one thing one day to one group, and another exactly opposite opinion when it suits the occasion. He is a fraud, and has proven it on many occasions. Have you ever seen a speech or seen a picture where he is looking directly at the audience or camera? He is always looking slightly up and to either side. Arrogance and disdain characterize his interactions with the American people.

Investment in "education and infrastructure" is progressive code for "state bailouts".

To Bladerunner:
Be careful when attempting to satirize leftists. I guarantee you there are some of them somewhere that sincerely argue that windpower on the high seas is the right way to go.

"Distrust and verify."

You have less faith in the Democratic Party than Reagan had in the Communist Party.

It's not less trust, MikeB. It's knowledge that they are in a position to do more damage without hurting themselves -- at least in ways that they comprehend.

Did Obama say this -

"Our free enterprise system is what drives innovation. But because it’s not always profitable for companies to invest in basic research, throughout our 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 these breakthroughs."

before or after he introduced the business owner from PA who designed the drill to rescue the miners in Chile?

I wonder what Government largess this small company received to spur the innovation of this life saving drill bit.

After telling us that it is the freedom to shape our own destinies that makes this country great, Barack Guevera Chavez proceeds to tell us all the many ways in which he and his minions will try to plan our destiny for us.

Gorbachev could not have said it any better!

So, every year I read the SOTU speech - I don't watch it. I find it more informative to read the substance without the pomp and circumstance and imagery of the TV circus atmosphere.

And the speech I just finished reading at the end of my work day lays out plainly that Barack Hussein Obama believes that American exceptionalism is solely and directly due and owing to our government's benevolence.

Here is the MONEY paragraph where he makes this point tacitly:

"Our free enterprise system is what drives innovation. But because it’s not always profitable for companies to invest in basic research, throughout our 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 these breakthroughs."

The implication is that all or many of our most life-changing breakthroughs and entrepreneurial successes were brought to us courtesy of Uncle Sam. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially with the internet.

In its 223 years of constituted existence, the United States government has NEVER had a chief executive that so thoroughly misunderstands or, more importantly, DISRESPECTS his own country's history, traditions, and economic system.

This man doesn't love his country, he loves government statism, which feeds the power of people who wish to control the lives of others.

And like a good liberal, his overly compassionate double speak puts paid to the logic of liberal activism:

"Think about it", he said yesterday. "Over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school education. 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."

So after all the hundreds of billions of dollars we've "invested" in education at the federal level, not to mention state and local levels, that's what we've got to show for it - 25% of our students don't graduate, and they don't learn math and science very well?

So, comes now Oliver, extending folded hands. He begs for more of our hard-earned money, which he values as much as slop in a cruddy metal bowl.

With all due respect, Mr. President, #@$% off!

His SOTU address was nothing more than the kick-off speech for his re-election campaign. Any talk of his moving toward the center is only him trying to be a Leftist in an American's clothing.

I'm looking forward to returning to the days of wind-powered shipping vessels. Those clipper ships were the epitome of grace in motion.

Okay, it may take an extra thirty, sixty days to get there from here, but so what? Think of all the fossil fuel that will free up for the Chinese to use in their fleet.

"jirish"; You assert issues with the second paragraph... what? Cite what you think is wrong and provide facts to refute the paragraph. You can't just say "you are wrong" and not elaborate...

Are you contending high-speed rail is a good thing? If so, why can it not raise private capital? After all, BHO cited the trranscontinental railroad as an example of what Americans can do when motivated. To my recollection, it was funded privately. There were government incentives to be sure -- mostly land alongside the track laid, but by no means was it paid for by government investment. And BTW... who else would have built a railroad across the North American continent if not us?

I once had a boss who mastered this technique: Make two contradictory statements in one paragraph – sometimes in one sentence – and let you pick whichever part of the statement you wanted to believe. That was designed to keep everyone happy, but more often it left a few satisfied and the rest confused. Eventually, people caught on to this little game, and satisfaction turned to disappointment and confusion to resentment.

I know he was trying to be "cute", but hiding the message in plane sight via a "cute" presentation doesn't make it any less true.

"Sputnik moment"

Right to the guy who defunded NASA and relegated them to hyping past Muslim scientific glory.

The man obviously did not get what the last election was all about.
Americans are on to the progressives destructive agenda and have rejected it.
Progressivism = Totalitarianism
Wake up folks these people want to totally run your life.
They do not believe you are capable or smart enough to do it yourself.
That is the basic contention and split right now.
Can we be responsible and rule ourselves like the founders envisioned or as progressives would have it with central planning and big government telling us what to do?

High-speed train to nowhere?

Dead wrong.

High-speed train to bankruptcy.

High speed rail = tens of thousands of new union cronies. It is so obvious. This is a payback to big labor.

Billcarson:

The Dems are attempting to put the high speed rail infrastructure into place before they forcibly shift us away from personal use automobiles. "Built it they will be forced to come!"

Could I say just a word about "high speed rail?" The Dems forced construction of a commuter rail line between Santa Fe, NM (where I reside), Albuquerque and a few towns just south of Albuquerque. Bill Richardson, the governor at the time, pushed this because he thought it just might get him in the White House or some top federal job. Papers say about $335 million were spent.

But what a waste! I've taken the train from Santa Fe, a town of only 70,000 to Albuquerque (pop. 500,000 or so). The trains run infrequently with a very light passenger load. What the heck else would you expect in a sparsely populated state like mine? Now, all the federal subsidies are running out and the new governor is talking about shutting the whole thing down. New Mexico can't pay for this completely on its own. What a terrible waste of taxpayer money! And the Dems are still talking about even more rail projects!

The Obama speech was designed to accomplish two goals: First, to indicate to the American citizenry that, he has accepted the decision of the voters in the last election. Second, he has rhetorically positioned himself into a governing position whereby if the republicans do not legislatively support him, they are defying the will of the public. Of course it all is yet another cleaver lie. The king is dead long live the king.

Obama will say whatever he needs to in order to keep himself in office and continue his "transformation" of the USA. I didn't watch the speech--I've gotten to the point that I can't watch the President of the United States without getting angry and disheartened. 2012 can't come soon enough.

@Mike B--you're right about trusting the Dems less than the Communists. At least the Communists would look you in the eye and tell you they were going to rob and enslave you--it was their goal! The Dems do this while telling you the exact opposite--and they will look you in the face the entire time. Distrust is the only proper reaction. If you hold out a hand to the Left, you will pull back a stump.

(sigh)

. . . Sputnik moment, it still tickles me. The Teleprompter of the United States of America actually prompted the phrase "Sputnik Moment".

It's times like these when I must believe in Providence regarding Presidential elections. Had Barack Hussein Obama been more of a true democrat centrist, had he been reared in schools of thought other than Saul Alinsky and Marx, had he been bent toward forming a more perfect Union in the founding sense, rather than the wholesale remaking of America, had he been smarter and patient, rather than just calculating; had he been mature rather than just fresh, he could have waged a Presidential war of attrition against conservatism that would have neutered the movement for the next decade and perhaps beyond.

My ardent hope is that dividends of this man as President will continue for conservatism for years to come.

I'm guessing it was a good choice to watch "South Park" last night. It seems I might have done an Elvis on the TV had I watched this.

And WalkingHorse, I'm stealing the line "Distrust and verify". You would be poet laureate in a Garandman1a administration.

This is how we're supposed to "win the future"?

To quote Ronald Reagan: I'll sell my bonds.

Regarding his statement, "Now, I’ve heard rumors that a few of you have some concerns about the new health care law..."

He was trying to be cute. It is one of his often used rhetorical styles. It also belittles those with the concerns.

I'll just mention one item from the speech that clashes with another.

"cut business taxes", and stop subsidies to (that cursed) BIG OIL. The attack on big oil occured within about 5 minutes of the speech.

How do these fit? My guess is that his admin will do what it does, pick winners and losers. Perhaps there aren't enough union workers in the oil industry? Hmmm..

How many policies can the political class just get plain wrong?

Energy and power are the keys to our future. But the key to this is the concept of energy density--the number of calories generated for work per unit of input. Biofuels, solar, and wind energy are extremely inefficient. They are pre-19th century technologies. Fossil fuels supplanted them because they are more efficient in terms of energy density. Obama and the Democrats are "Progressives" who would send us back to a poorer past. What will supplant fossil fuels will be nuclear energy, and specifically fusion and battery technologies that will come as a result of nanotechnology. The "Progressives" want to sell the idea of sustainability, but there is nothing that is sustainable. It is simple thermodynamics. Progressives are idiots who think they are smart, and hence are dangerous.

I am tired of speechmakers!

Were the Presidents pants really on fire last night?

No Representative actually yelled out "you lie!" yesterday, and no member of the Supreme Court exclaimed "that's not true", but his statement about ObamaCare makes me wonder.

"Now, I’ve heard rumors that a few of you have some concerns about the new health care law..."

For anyone curious as to whether Obama "gets it" and has run to the center, re-read that statement.

A summer of town hall meetings, over half the country
polling they want repeal or changes to ObamaCare, the rise of Tea Party candidates, a "shellacking" in
Nov., passage of repeal in the House, enough
pressure and support swelling to most likely bring a
repeal vote in the Senate, dozens of compliance
waivers issued, policies being outright discontinued by
insurers...
Yet these are only "rumors" of dissatisfaction from a "few"?

To at least the Republican half of those cozy couples
at this speech, the President obviously was not talking to you. Rather he was speaking to your dates. Specifically to those three Dems who voted for repeal
in the House, and ESPECIALLY to that handful of Senate Dems who could pass it there as well.

They certainly qualify as a "few" that he's been hearing "rumors" about. Obama is no Centrist. He is a true Liberal and has clearly signaled he will continue to advance the Liberal agenda. If you thought we saw pressure and deals made in the 111th Congress about ObamaCare - you ain't seen nothin' yet!