State of the Union

by YankeeJim | January 23, 2011 at 05:48 am

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State of the Union

My fellow Americans, I want to be succinct in reporting to you how things are in the USA and where I think we will be by next year at this time. Let’s get right to the message.

1. Our economy is in a slow recovery mode as you know with the jobless rate still too high. Many people are unemployed and have given up trying to reenter the workforce. Our system of accounting for jobless is flawed and many people are unaccounted for. This bad situation is getting better and you may well ask, how fast?

2. Growing private sector employment in the US is our main objective now. When people are working in the private sector for companies that are manufacturing consumer products for global consumption, they are increasing our Gross Domestic Product. Exports help reduce our national debt. Government will embark on policies that maximize incentive for domestic producers.

3. Wage earners pay taxes as do profitable corporations. Taxes are essential for 1) paying down the debt, 2) paying for our social services and health care obligations to all citizens, and 3) paying for national security. As prosperity returns, tax payers can expect to contribute to our obligations.

4. Government performance is not optimized. Government performance can be improved by a number of things: 1) improved laws and regulations that produce more efficient and effective government and that is Congress’ job with Executive input, 2) executive management approach ensuring proper systems engineering, process design, and equipping government with the best people and technology, 3) eliminating waste, fraud, abuse and non performing and duplicative programs. Our goal is to reduce the size of government by 25% while increasing efficiency and effectiveness by the same amount.

5. America’s foreign policy is right in principle but is beyond our capacity to implement as we are engaged in unnecessary wars and our return on cost is nonexistent or too low. A thorough review of foreign policy is needed to reduce and target our global footprint.

6. America’s national security and defense interests are out of balance. We need to have strategic control over immigration policy and to ensure that our homeland security department has the capacity to enforce our laws and regulations. We have a backlog of immigration problems that must be addressed expeditiously to reduce costs and to restore control. There can be no compromise in law enforcement. There can be compassion in how order is restored through the process and with Congress and the Executive collaborating to clean up the backlog.

7. America’s military needs time to retool and recalibrate. America’s forces will be brought home or repositioned such that it will not be engaged where the return on cost is unjustified. America will be out of Iraq and out of Afghanistan except where forces are needed to pursue and combat terrorists.

8. America will continue to work with global partners to address new sources of energy development and collaborative economic development based on green production of green products for green consumers powered by green renewable energy. America’s legacy of communities requires massive renewal to a new paradigm of clean and efficient living.

9. Therefore, the vision for America is renewal that includes renewing manufacturing America and making the nation increasingly self sufficient. The old model of ever expanding economy based on population expansion is over because resources are constrained to the limit. A new economic model will be forthcoming and it will be exciting and challenging for a new generation to develop it for our future’s sake.

10. Education, science, math, and the arts combine to provide a diverse foundation for future development. Funding education and encouraging global superiority in academic performance is an essential purpose.

On that, we have time to adjourn to the fireplace and enjoy hot chocolate served by Michelle and the girls.

Would I not like to write that speech?

YankeeJim

“Interest groups vie for a moment of Obama's time in State of the Union address

By Peter Wallsten and Anne E. Kornblut

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, January 23, 2011; 12:22 AM

It has been a frenetic few weeks for the country's leading oil industry group: Lobbyists for the American Petroleum Institute have repeatedly phoned the White House, cajoled agency higher-ups, even bought big newspaper ads touting the virtues of oil and natural gas.

The goal of all this activity isn't to win support for a crucial piece of legislation in Congress, but something much narrower - convincing President Obama to say something, anything, complimentary about Big Oil in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Each January, industries and interest groups of all kinds badger the White House with requests for a mention in the speech, which sets the political agenda in Washington for the year. Even a brief call-out from the president can be an important advantage in the contest for increasingly scarce federal dollars.

With so much competition, sometimes the effort to get a line in the speech falls short, said Jack Gerard, API's president and CEO. But "sometimes you are pleasantly surprised. So we continue to push, push, push, push."

This year, with the president far more constricted in what he can realistically promise, pleasant surprises may be especially hard to come by.

Obama will deliver his speech before a Congress with fewer Democratic faces, and one in which both parties fear the repercussions of the nation's sluggish economy, high unemployment rate and rising debt. The address won't feature the long list of costly giveaways familiar in good times. Instead, the speech - like last year's - will center largely on Obama's economic plans.

"My principal focus . . . is going to be making sure that we are competitive, that we are growing, and we are creating jobs," Obama said in a preview video of the speech sent to supporters Saturday. He declared the deficit another priority, calling on Washington to "reform government so that it's leaner and smarter for the 21st century."

He did not explain in the video how he would meet those goals. People briefed on the speech said Obama will look to invest in transportation and the nation's aging infrastructure as one way to create jobs and spur the economy.

Obama's announcement Friday that General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt will head a new panel of outside economic advisers gives Obama the chance to talk Tuesday about his efforts to work with corporate leaders as he looks for ways to curtail unemployment.

The president will also defend his health care overhaul, now under attack by Republicans in Congress, and will restate his commitment to regulating Wall Street.

And though the speech is unlikely to be heavy on foreign policy - in the past Obama has saved that for his annual address to the United Nations - he will take time to outline his most important goals abroad.

In recent months, Obama has often spoken of his foreign policy in terms of how it affects the U.S economy. After successfully negotiating a free-trade agreement with South Korea last year, he is likely to call on Congress to ratify it quickly. Labor unions have generally opposed the treaty, fearing it will result in U.S. jobs being moved overseas. But Obama has argued that tapping into rising middle-class markets abroad is essential to increasing U.S. trade and creating jobs at home.””