Tonight is the state of the union address. Rumors abound that Bush will continue his trend of large spending increases.
I like some of the thing our President does. He supports some things I like. He's good for the military, which I like. He also is concerned about the security of our nation - which to me is going to be the number one issue for a few elections.
Here is what I don't like: He isn't for the legalization of drugs. He isn't for abandoning our income tax and going to a sales tax (for those of you who are about to say who horrible that will be for the poor, there is a bill sitting in congress right now which would abandon our income tax - repeal the amendment in fact - create a sales tax and refund poor people their sales tax based off of a set amount based on their income that they need to live. Also, items such as clothing (under a certain amount) and food would not be taxed. Only non-essential goods and services. But, I digress.) He hasn't reformed social security - a campaign promise.
I'm not to sure how I feel about his immigration proposal, because on the one hand we are talking about people who came into this contry illegally. But then, we have out of work Americans who don't want to take the jobs that our illegal aliens will take.
Then there is the big issue. His spending habits. He's increasing spending faster than Bill Clinton!
Tonight, it seems he will continue this trend. Out of everything I've read that he plans to propose, there is only one thing that I like: increasing NASA's funding.
One plan I find particularly distasteful is his plan to have the FHA take no-down-payment loans from low-income buyers. I see this becoming disasterous very quickly.
The people who would get these loans will probably be people who have poor credit...of their own irresponsibility. This means they will probably be irresponsible homeowners and one of 3 things will happen. They could, turn over a new leaf, realize they have made some mistakes, and correct them. This will be a very small minority of the people. Then, their will be people who are great homeowners, but poor bill payers - people who got into something they couldn't afford. They will quickly be foreclosed. The last group and probably largest group will be the people who let the home fall into disrepair. The home loses value and eventually for whatever reason stop making the payments. They will be foreclosed and the government will either sell the home at a loss, or have to destroy it. Who will pick up the tab for this loss? Me, and the other members of the 50% of income earners who pay taxes in this country. (Okay, so we only pay 98% of the taxes...)
Sounds like bad news to me.
*Edit* I have found one other potential proposal I like - Super IRAs.
Posted by Skywalker at January 20, 2004 09:16 AM | TrackBackI hope he has something to say for the economy other than "stay the course" or "the economy is recovering" so far we have seen a jobless recovery, not good.
The deficit spending is hurting the economy so bad that even US dollars in savings accounts are unsafe. read this for some info on how to protect your savings from losing value as the dollar continues to weaken due to national debt.
http://www.thestreet.com/_more/funds/jubak/10136757.html
Not sure why I watched it. There was nothing new but the same old banter every other President has rambled on about. We need Mr. Smith to go to Washington! Jimmy Stewart where are you when your country needs you the most? ;-)
Posted by: muddy at January 21, 2004 10:03 AMMuddy:
"Not sure why I watched it."
What about those moments when we noticed the "crowd" starting to act a little like those in the 'British House of Commons'? You know, with their "Boo's" and "Yea's" - not to mention the moment when I swore I heard someone hiss. That was kind of entertaining.
Posted by: mrs. muddy at January 21, 2004 10:56 AMThe most amusing part(s), for me, was watching Ted Kennedy shake his head, roll his eyes and chuckle whenever Junior made a boast. The camerman obviously thought it was amusing too; he cut to Ted every 90 seconds or so.:)
Posted by: Lurker at January 23, 2004 10:19 AMThe best part is when they panned the camera onto Hillary Clinton. She didnt know she was on camera and she looked like a total bi*ch. That is until she realized she was on camera. Then she totally snapped into a hugh smile and started clapping like she was enjoying life. It was so funny.
She is so phony.
Posted by: cwilli at January 23, 2004 11:48 AMcwilli:
LOL!
You caught that too, huh? I think the shots of Hillary and Ted were indeed some of the best shots taken....can't stand either one personally but that's beside the point.
Did anyone also notice how easy it was to spot where the Dem. where sitting in comparison to the Rep.? The Rep. constantly stood up to clap while the Dem. just had the "I guess we should probably stand up too." kind of looks on their faces. That too was funny, I thought.
Posted by: mrs. muddy at January 23, 2004 12:44 PM