Watching Paul Ryan's response to the State of the Union response was kinda weird and seemed to be contradicted himself. Some items I would like to point out Government help innovation, Free Enterprise, and Limited Government helps people. We will take time to look at these statements.
Lets start with Ryan's argument that government does not help innovation. Without government help or need to fund the space program we would not have made the leaps and bounds to be behind the Soviets in 1957 to beat them to the moon in 1969. Without Government funding the innovations for this to happen, we would not have beaten the Soviets to the Moon. That is just one example to prove Ryan's statement wrong. Another one, the U.S. Government created the Internet. It was our need for a communication system if phone lines were down during a nuclear attack that birthed this great innovation. The second point I would like is Ryan's statement of Free Enterprise is better than Wall Street and the Government intervention. The problem with this Wall Street is our Free Enterprise system. Wall Street is our example of Capitalism working, if your for Free Enterprise you are for the reckless handling of our economy two years ago. If Rep. Ryan was against Wall Street, he should have argued that Wall Street reform benefited Americans, but he did not and rallied for Limited Government. Going to his final argument that Limited Government did not help the American people. Granted even the President made this point in his speech, but Rep. Ryan did not accept the idea of some expansion of government was necessary in protecting the American people. If we had the Limited Government we would not have Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Labor Laws, and Food Safety Laws. The near crash of the Financial system shows a need that government in regulation, and the programs mentioned in the last sentence show that Government involvement is supported by most people. Rep. Ryan wants a small Limited Government, which will contradict his ideas toward stopping special interests like Wall Street.
The problem with the policies that the Republican House will promote is that they are based on shaky truths. Yes, sometimes government bureaucracies hinders innovation, but if an overall tally was done it would probably favor that the U.S. Government helps innovation more than hurts it. Free Enterprise does help people prosper from humble beginnings, but it also helps Corporations have a tighter hold on the market and makes competition more difficult. Limited Government is a nice idea to have a government that can flexible and nimble, but are we ready to remove safety nets and cut our ties to a safe Social Security?
Their is a pro and a con to all three items. We look forward discussion all these items on the blog. It was a joy for me to watch the State of the Union Address and the Rebuttal by Rep. Ryan. I hope we move to a more meaningful conversation and improve this country for the better.
Showing posts with label State of the Union. Show all posts
Showing posts with label State of the Union. Show all posts
25 January 2011
Happy State of the Union Address Day!
Updated: Its on right now!
Today, the State of the Union Address will be made in Washington D.C. It is as exciting as a high school prom for some Senators. There are many outlets to see the State of the Union, but so far whitehouse.gov seems the most interesting site to watch the State of the Union. I hope to have more interesting information as it gets closer to the speech and some after speech commentary and some opinions of the rebuttals by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and by Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota. It is going to be a great day.
Today, the State of the Union Address will be made in Washington D.C. It is as exciting as a high school prom for some Senators. There are many outlets to see the State of the Union, but so far whitehouse.gov seems the most interesting site to watch the State of the Union. I hope to have more interesting information as it gets closer to the speech and some after speech commentary and some opinions of the rebuttals by Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and by Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota. It is going to be a great day.
24 January 2011
Investment is a Code Word for Insane Spending?
An outline of President Obama's State of the Union Address was presented via an online video today. In that outline today he mentioned investment in Education, Green Technology, and Infrastructure. These are important items. Analysts argue that President Obama's State of the Union Address is going to be a call to arms for investment in these three areas. These are good goals. Investing in these areas will help boloster job growth in this country.
For example, Education will create jobs and train future generations for the work needed to be done in the future. Green Technology will provide jobs that cannot be outsourced to China or India. Jobs for Americans in America providing alternatives to foreign oil and dirty energy. By moving to a Green Technology, we stop damaging the Earth. These innovations in Green Technology cannot happen without a great educational system to teach future generations and challenge them to become better. The last item is Infrastructure. We have not made a revolutionary change on our Infrastructure since the Interstate Highway System during the Eisenhower Administration back in the late 1950s. An update is needed for America to stay competitive in the 21st Century we need to update our roads, bridges, and rail to support the economy of the future. All three of these items go hand and hand. Without an educated workforce creating and installing the green technologies, and the infrastructure to move this technology where it is needed America will not prosper.
Even though it seems like Investing in these three items would be a smart long term investment key Republicans are starting their assault on this plan from both houses. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Fox News Sunday,"anytime they want to spend they call it ‘investment,’ so I think you’ll hear the president talk about investing a lot on Tuesday night. We’ve got a huge spending problem here.” This sentament was also spoken by House Majority Whip Eric Cantor on Meet the Press,"when we hear invest from anyone in Washington, to me that means more spending.” These ideas are coming before the State of the Union is even presented. What Republicans are trying to do with these comments is not allow the idea of investment in programs settle into minds of U.S. citizens, but to make it all about government waste. Republicans came back into power in the House under the idea that they would cut the decifict and create jobs.
The problem with that agenda is to coin an old phrase," you have to spend money to make money." Without investing in America, America cannot rebound. The Great Depression was solved not by the budget cuts of 1937, but by the mass industrialization of the country by World War II. We did not beat the Soviets to the Moon by sitting idle and saving money, but by spending on our rocket programs and providing science scholarships to students to help produce a booming technology economy. America does not slove its problems by cutting and reducing, but by investing and reaping the rewards. Another example of investment is the GI Bill given to soldiers after World War II. Seven billion dollars was given to GIs in educational loans and the return was 48 billion dollars. Almost a return of seven dollars for every dollar spent. That is a great return.
We now have an opportunity now to do what we did back then. We have the need and we need to act upon it. For the United States to stay a major player in the world we need to retool for the 21st century we need investment in Education, Green Technology, and Infrastructure.
For example, Education will create jobs and train future generations for the work needed to be done in the future. Green Technology will provide jobs that cannot be outsourced to China or India. Jobs for Americans in America providing alternatives to foreign oil and dirty energy. By moving to a Green Technology, we stop damaging the Earth. These innovations in Green Technology cannot happen without a great educational system to teach future generations and challenge them to become better. The last item is Infrastructure. We have not made a revolutionary change on our Infrastructure since the Interstate Highway System during the Eisenhower Administration back in the late 1950s. An update is needed for America to stay competitive in the 21st Century we need to update our roads, bridges, and rail to support the economy of the future. All three of these items go hand and hand. Without an educated workforce creating and installing the green technologies, and the infrastructure to move this technology where it is needed America will not prosper.
Even though it seems like Investing in these three items would be a smart long term investment key Republicans are starting their assault on this plan from both houses. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Fox News Sunday,"anytime they want to spend they call it ‘investment,’ so I think you’ll hear the president talk about investing a lot on Tuesday night. We’ve got a huge spending problem here.” This sentament was also spoken by House Majority Whip Eric Cantor on Meet the Press,"when we hear invest from anyone in Washington, to me that means more spending.” These ideas are coming before the State of the Union is even presented. What Republicans are trying to do with these comments is not allow the idea of investment in programs settle into minds of U.S. citizens, but to make it all about government waste. Republicans came back into power in the House under the idea that they would cut the decifict and create jobs.
The problem with that agenda is to coin an old phrase," you have to spend money to make money." Without investing in America, America cannot rebound. The Great Depression was solved not by the budget cuts of 1937, but by the mass industrialization of the country by World War II. We did not beat the Soviets to the Moon by sitting idle and saving money, but by spending on our rocket programs and providing science scholarships to students to help produce a booming technology economy. America does not slove its problems by cutting and reducing, but by investing and reaping the rewards. Another example of investment is the GI Bill given to soldiers after World War II. Seven billion dollars was given to GIs in educational loans and the return was 48 billion dollars. Almost a return of seven dollars for every dollar spent. That is a great return.
We now have an opportunity now to do what we did back then. We have the need and we need to act upon it. For the United States to stay a major player in the world we need to retool for the 21st century we need investment in Education, Green Technology, and Infrastructure.
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