Since this is something that the President (as U.S. Senator from Illinois) and his colleagues were previously asking Mr. (Then-President) Bush, I think that it's time that we start with the President and making sure he's held accountable over the next 4 years. Let's start with the Inaugural address.
The entire address can be found at (
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/inaugural-address/). The video that is on this page is linked from Youtube, so I'm sure that you can go and watch / listen to it there. Anyway, I'm reading through it and thinking back to what I was listening to when it happened and a few points came up.
Quoted Text
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.
Wrong, Mr. President.
Per Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Us_presidents, "There have been forty-three people sworn into office, and forty-four presidencies, due to the fact that Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms and is counted chronologically as both the twenty-second and the twenty-fourth president."
Quoted Text
Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered...
Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.
These things that are happening, a weakened economy, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some? No, it's called the free market. "Our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age?" No, Mr. President, this is HOW our nation will prepare for the new age.
"Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered." - free market principals. It's the cost of running businesses.
"Sapping confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable?" This is ONLY due to too uch government intervention, something you plan on using to fix it.
"The next generation must lower it's sights." So, Mr. President, how is it that you, as the next generation of Presidents, or is that the next next generation, your daughters, are supposed to have their sights lowered? Or does it not apply to you?
Quoted Text
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to ... false promises.
One has to wonder if this includes promises you will and have have been making.
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This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week, or last month, or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished.
We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth...until our military is decimated and we are overtaxed thanks to new policies. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began, but there are less that are willing to work for that pay and more that will sit home, thinking that they have the right to the giveaways. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week, or last month, or last year, but we are less willing to bring them forth, as there will not be as much of a benefit to reap in the end. Our capacity DOES remain diminished as people refuse to work for what they used to have to work for. They now expect to work less for more, or none for some.
Quoted Text
The state of our economy calls for action, bold and swift. And we will act, not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We'll restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.
we will act, not only to create new jobs - government jobs that only take a paycheck, and create nothing except government debt. Are we creating roads and bridges just for the jobs, or for the things that these roads and bridges will be used for in the end? Is it a job for someone to stand holding a sign, directing traffic, or do you want the road to bring free commerce to and fro? What exactly IS science's "rightful place?" Evolution over creationism? We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories - because it's done so well, so far. Transform our schools, colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age? Seems that was done when the Department of Education (a Governmental office with no Constitutional right to exist) was created. Meet the demand of a new age...get rid of them.
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Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
Our system CAN tolerate big plans, it just can't tolerate big GOVERNMENTAL plans. Short memories? I remember what this country has done, what FREE MEN and WOMEN have achieved. The problem is that we are losing these freedoms and are being held down. It's time to remove the hold and allow the people to live free again.
Quoted Text
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Yes, we ask the question, no, we don't ask the question, we give you the answer. YES, GOVERNMENT IS TOO BIG. IT DOESN'T WORK. It shouldn't be helping people find jobs...at ANY wage. or care they can afford. This, if people had their own freedoms, would come from their neighbors! There should be no program there is a YES answer for, except where it is stated that our forefathers said yes in the old, outdated document, the Constitution of the United States of America. I sure hope people will be held accountable for government money that they spend. They are supposed to be held accountable...in elections.
Quoted Text
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched. But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control.
It's the watchful eye which is the one that decides to stick it's hands where it doesn't belong that creates the mess. Too many cooks throwing things in the pot. The market spun out of control without too much watching...all the way up to 14,000...then, we had an election and people realized the government would be sticking its hands back in...and we dropped rapidly.
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