Will you be watching Trump's first SOTU?

[Foolmewunz]

Always go to Ruptly for raw video of important events. It's (like the USA) run by Putin.

I watched the speech itself on Al Jazeera. Do I get any edginess points?

I turned back to Fox after the speech because they were going to be so much fun, but Al Jazeera would split the screen when he talked about something like Foreign Policy, and list his misdeeds and lack of accomplishments in a scroll-down.

 

[Shalamar]

The ship has already sailed. Now we move with the wind. Will you join me in charting a new course? Do you not like being thought of, and referred to, as a progressive?

That is not what you have done.

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

Some Democrats brought Dreamers to the State of the Union.
One Republican brought a Holocaust denier

 

[Grizzly Bear]

The problem is, he's done pretty much nothing right. Not. One. Thing.

Actually yes he has. The tax reform bill reduced the corporate tax rate significantly making the US much more competitive in the global markets. That alone is driving big name companies to actually repatriate money that otherwise would have never been invested for domestic growth. While significant legislation may well have been limited in his first year for a number of reasons this aspect of the tax bill is a huge step in the right direction. I am benefitting from the tax cuts directly already with higher pay... And while not all credit should be given to Trump for the improvements in the economy (its far more.complicated than whether obama or trump are directly responsible) his policy proposals on that end have spurred the markets and unemployment to remain in relatively steady growth... in contrast to the hyperbolic predictions that he was going to trainwreck the economy by virtue of just being elected... So i give him credit for that much.

Lending more authority to commanders in the fight against ISIS has in this case worked out and improved upon the progress that was made in Obama's latter half of his 2nd term as well.

His personality and divisiveness for bipartisan policy goals meeds a crap ton of work for sure... i have a hard time dealing with that part of him... but you cannot objectively say he has done absolutely nothing right. Just as I would be off yrack trying to defend his take aways

 

[phiwum]

The ship has already sailed. Now we move with the wind. Will you join me in charting a new course? Do you not like being thought of, and referred to, as a progressive?

Sorry, moving with the wind is your notion of progressive?

 

[Mumbles]

In these days of Dreamers, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo, the best rebuttal to Donald Trump is a super rich white dude from a century-old political dynasty that has a looong history of producing philandering playboys?

Nah, it's totally the freckles.

I don't know about the other two, but I do know that BLM is explicitly nonpartisan, to the point of the national group outright refusing to endorse political candidates. It may seem otherwise, but this is mostly because many republicans, including Dolt 45, have repeatedly endorsed state violence against black people, among other nonwhite groups.

...actually, #metoo isn't an organized group at all as far as I can tell (I could easily be wrong here), while as noted before, quite a few dems brought Dreamers with them to the SOTU in an attempt to contrast their inclusive vision of the US, with Dolt 45's white supremacist vision.

It's the fault of those damned filthy porgs. If only we didn't have people spouting epithets, then we might be able to have a discussion!

I can do without seeing Darth Vader cursing out a cute, though somewhat obnoxious, species of bird.

 

[Upchurch]

The tax reform bill reduced the corporate tax rate significantly making the US much more competitive in the global markets. That alone is driving big name companies to actually repatriate money that otherwise would have never been invested for domestic growth.

Source?

I am benefitting from the tax cuts directly already with higher pay...

...in the short-term. The long term costs will compound already existing federal budget problems.

Lending more authority to commanders in the fight against ISIS has in this case worked out and improved upon the progress that was made in Obama's latter half of his 2nd term as well.

Source? I've seen numerous claims that "ISIS has shrunk" with Trump in office, but found no evidence to support that.

 

[BrooklynBaby]

I haven't found decent video of the entire speech, but from the clips I've seen, it looks like Trump delivered the whole speech while facing the Republican side of the room.

Not very inclusive.

The Democrats were all sitting there (refusing to stand at all) looking like dumb sourpusses in the middle of a temper tantrum. Good optics for the mid-terms.

 

[alfaniner]

Today's speech performance is much better than the SOTU. But it's still loaded with covfefe.

And I found it odd that they concluded it with the song "You Can't Always Get What You Want".

 

[Mumbles]

The Democrats were all sitting there (refusing to stand at all) looking like dumb sourpusses in the middle of a temper tantrum. Good optics for the mid-terms.

It won't be long until we get someone shouting that the president is a liar in the middle of the SOtU...Oh, wait, this happened already.

Personally, I'm quite fine with my congressmen not applauding obvious nonsense.

 

[theprestige]

That is not what you have done.

I tried it for several years, early on. After a while I got tired of all the selective abuse from other members, and have pretty much given up.

But my name-calling (such as it is), is far more mild than the kind of thing a lot of members indulge in on a regular basis. I wonder how many other problematic contributions you passed over, before coincidentally targeting my post with your weaponized sarcasm.

 

[theprestige]

Sorry, moving with the wind is your notion of progressive?

It's my notion of how a lot of progs actually behave, yes.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Some Democrats brought Dreamers to the State of the Union.
One Republican brought a Holocaust denier

Last night on The Opposition with Jordan Klepper was an hilarious piece, "who were you wearing, no really who were you wearing?" Instead of designers they described who the legislators brought to the event.

The clip (starts after a short commercial and ~2 minutes of Jason)

 

[Andy_Ross]

Source?


...in the short-term. The long term costs will compound already existing federal budget problems.



Source? I've seen numerous claims that "ISIS has shrunk" with Trump in office, but found no evidence to support that.

Also it ignores the efforts of Russian air strikes and support of Syria plus the Iraq and Kurd forces that did most of the heavy lifting and fighting. that

 

[Andy_Ross]

"Thank you for all of the nice compliments and reviews on the State of the Union speech. 45.6 million people watched, the highest number in history. @FoxNews beat every other Network, for the first time ever, with 11.7 million people tuning in. Delivered from the heart!"

A verifiable lie! he didn't get the highest number in history. Obama had over 8 million more for his first SOTU.

 

[Shalamar]

I tried it for several years, early on. After a while I got tired of all the selective abuse from other members, and have pretty much given up.

But my name-calling (such as it is), is far more mild than the kind of thing a lot of members indulge in on a regular basis. I wonder how many other problematic contributions you passed over, before coincidentally targeting my post with your weaponized sarcasm.

How many problematic contributions have you passed over, as they were coming from 'your side'? You were recently complaining on FMF regarding this abuse, and yet, here you are contributing to it.

 

[phiwum]

It's my notion of how a lot of progs actually behave, yes.

Surely different winds than Trump is producing.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Actually yes he has. The tax reform bill reduced the corporate tax rate significantly making the US much more competitive in the global markets. That alone is driving big name companies to actually repatriate money that otherwise would have never been invested for domestic growth. While significant legislation may well have been limited in his first year for a number of reasons this aspect of the tax bill is a huge step in the right direction. I am benefitting from the tax cuts directly already with higher pay... And while not all credit should be given to Trump for the improvements in the economy (its far more.complicated than whether obama or trump are directly responsible) his policy proposals on that end have spurred the markets and unemployment to remain in relatively steady growth... in contrast to the hyperbolic predictions that he was going to trainwreck the economy by virtue of just being elected... So i give him credit for that much.

Lending more authority to commanders in the fight against ISIS has in this case worked out and improved upon the progress that was made in Obama's latter half of his 2nd term as well.

His personality and divisiveness for bipartisan policy goals meeds a crap ton of work for sure... i have a hard time dealing with that part of him... but you cannot objectively say he has done absolutely nothing right. Just as I would be off yrack trying to defend his take aways

TRUMP STATE OF THE UNION TAX CLAIMS FACT CHECK

There's a lot of focus in the news on the purposefully misstated, 'biggest tax cut in history' claim. Perhaps that shiny object was purposeful. Maybe it was the people who wrote the bill's way of making likes-big-things Trumpy happy. It's not relevant if you think about it.

Trump initially promised a “massive” 35-percent tax cut for America’s middle class, but the final bill lowered taxes for middle-income earners by about 10 percent and only for eight years, as they are set to expire in 2025....
Middle-income Americans will benefit by around $1,000 initially, according to the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. But by 2027, the majority of middle-class households would get no tax cut, and some would actually pay more.
That's because all individual tax cuts are set to expire after 2025, meaning that the majority of Americans making less than $200,000 will see little change in their tax bill or a tax increase in 2027.

Clever, now low information voters will think they got something long enough for the GOP to get past November.

Instead, high-income Americans will receive the bulk of the cuts. The bill cuts the top income tax rate and the alternative minimum tax, which ensures that the ultra-wealthy pay at least a little to the Internal Revenue Service each year. The rate cuts for pass-through businesses, the corporate rate cut and the estate tax exemption also aid the richest Americans.

The largest cuts as a share of income will go to taxpayers in the 95th to 99th percentiles of income distribution.

I.e. Trump and his friends.

White House economic advisor Gary Cohn has said that Trump arrived at the 3 million workers by looking at “some type of tax bonus or wage increase or pension increase,” and that more than 350 companies have made “announcements in direct reflection of what we’ve done with taxes.”

While this appears to be true, that’s only about two percent of the 154 million American workers. According to the Labor Department, about 38 percent of workers were expecting some form of bonus in 2017 with or without tax legislation.

I also point out to people unaware of it but bonuses are the new trick of not actually giving people raises. It also serves to make people think they got a bigger raise than they actually did. There are 2050 hours in a normal work year. Most people getting bonuses are getting less than $1,000 but using that figure, it amounts to a 50 cent/hour raise. And not only that, it's 50 cents/hr more only for a year.

As for ending ISIS and companies coming back, it's much of the same, taking credit for what was already happening for the last 8 years under Obama, including padding his numbers by adding in things between Nov 2016 and the few months after he was sworn in that had nothing to do with anything Trump did.

 

[Segnosaur]

Actually yes he has. The tax reform bill reduced the corporate tax rate significantly making the US much more competitive in the global markets.

You man the tax reform bill that is expected to add Billions of dollars to the U.S. debt (according to various non-partisan economic groups such as the CBO)? You know by increasing the debt, you end up with less money to spend on things like critical infrastructure, right?

The tax reform bill which expect to leave people in the middle class a higher tax bill within a decade?

Yeah, sounds good. Sign me up for some of that.

That alone is driving big name companies to actually repatriate money that otherwise would have never been invested for domestic growth.

Keep in mind that much of that "tax windfall" will not be used to expand production, but to engage in things like stock buy-backs, which may be great for shareholders, but don't really benefit many in the lower/middle class.

While significant legislation may well have been limited in his first year for a number of reasons this aspect of the tax bill is a huge step in the right direction.

Especially if you're wealthy. If you're middle class or poor, you end up suffering in the end, as the tax cuts expire and the government has to cut services to pay for the massive debt that the tax cuts will contribute to.

I am benefitting from the tax cuts directly already with higher pay.

You are currently benefiting. But as I pointed out, tax rates for many people are set to rise in a decade. So enjoy your higher pay. Make sure you save the extra cash. Because you'll need the extra money to pay the higher tax rates later.

And while not all credit should be given to Trump for the improvements in the economy (its far more.complicated than whether obama or trump are directly responsible) his policy proposals on that end have spurred the markets...

What happens in the stock markets is not necessarily an indicator of how the economy is going as a whole. Stock values are partly based on short-term investment prospects rather than long term economic trends. So a horrible economic decision that boosts profits now but causes a crash in a couple of years will still result in a boost in stock prices.

...and unemployment to remain in relatively steady growth.

Actually, employment grew more slowly last year under Trump than it did under Obama's last year in office. In the first 10 months of Trump's administration, 1.7 million jobs were created. In the same time period of previous year under Obama, 1.9 million jobs were created.

Should we really be applauding the skills of someone who brags about his great job creating skills but can't even match the performance of his predecessor?

https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/09/opinions/trump-obama-economy-boykin-opinion/index.html

.. in contrast to the hyperbolic predictions that he was going to trainwreck the economy by virtue of just being elected... So i give him credit for that much.

I believe Trump will wreck the economy. I think his economic deregulations will put the U.S. in the same position it was in in 2008. I think his protectionism will result in trade wars that will harm both exports and the retail market.

However, I am not going to assume the effects of those will be felt immediately. It will take months/years for trade to crater. It will take months/years before whatever bubbles caused by deregulation end up bursting. Its a long term problem, but I recognize that in the short term whatever problems exist may be masked. (After all, everyone thought the party would continue in 2007, with cheap mortgages and derivatives.)

Lending more authority to commanders in the fight against ISIS has in this case worked out and improved upon the progress that was made in Obama's latter half of his 2nd term as well.

And your evidence of that is what?

From: https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/18/opinions/trump-isis-defeat-opinion-bergen/index.html
In August 2016, Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland...said the US-led coalition had killed an estimated 45,000 ISIS fighters.About a year later... Gen. Raymond "Tony" Thomas, said that an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 ISIS fighters had been killed since the US-led campaign against the terror group began in August 2014. Ergo, according to these senior US military officials, the bulk of ISIS fighters were killed during the pre-Trump period.

Granted, Trump hadn't spent a whole year in office by then, but he had spent enough time that any military decisions would have had an impact. And it looks like no, they didn't make a significant difference.

His personality and divisiveness for bipartisan policy goals meeds a crap ton of work for sure... i have a hard time dealing with that part of him... but you cannot objectively say he has done absolutely nothing right.

Yes, yes I can say that. Objectively, subjectively, in rhyme, yodaling, any way you choose. Unless you are a racist/bigot, and/or are wealthy, there has been nothing Trump has done that will provide you with any long term benefit.

Well, ok, he does do something right... as a mammal he's able to convert oxygen and glucose to carbon dioxide. I'm sure he does that as well as anyone.

 

[mgidm86]

Fortunately Kennedy gave a great speech.

Looks like all the right wing has to complain about amounts to immature name calling.

Great speech?! That was the weirdest most idiotic speech I've ever seen, especially for a response to the SOTU. I honestly cannot think of a worse performance, including perhaps all of Trumps speeches.

It wasn't even a response to the SOTU at all. Most of the responses I've seen to the speech are along the lines of "wtf was that?"

If that constitutes a great speech then prepare for many more years of Trump/Republicans because the left hasn't got a clue.