2012 COTU (SOTU) Speech to a Joint Session of Congress official commentary

[Politico]

Hopefully it is his last one with Romney taking over next year. I like the man. I supported him four years ago. I still respect him since he is the president right now. However, his record is not worthy of re-election.

[Politico]

Could the president be more full of it? He is completely isolated from what is really happening in the economy. This is what happens when you put a smooth-talking community organizer in the White House.

[Politico]

I still respect him since he is the president right now.

Could the president be more full of it?

He's in full campaign mode (Michigan? Check. Wisconsin? Check. North Carolina? Check. Which swing state is next?), not giving a real State of the Union Address.

[Politico]

I can't tell whose going to fall asleep first; Boehner(sp?) or Biden.

I swear I saw Biden yawn a few minutes ago!

[Politico]

Does Obama realize you cannot dictate to the states what the age for dropping out is? And if somebody wants to drop out and does not have worthwhile parents to talk them out of it, let them! They're a lost cause. They're just going to be a distraction for kids who actually want to be there. Keeping a bunch of lost causes in school till they're 18 is wasting resources that would be better used on kids who actually want to learn. If they don't have it together by the time they're 16, after ten years of schooling, good riddance.

[Politico]

Earth to Obama: $1 trillion deficits are unsustainable. It's why you are not going to get any new spending proposals passed. You have a constraint. Deal with it. Everybody else does.

[Politico]

This is why Obama is better in speaking platitudes than Romney, Politico.

Obama is the best speaker since Kennedy, probably, so there's no argument here. But being a good speaker does not make you a good executive, or make your Administration worthy of re-election.

[Politico]

This is why Obama is better in speaking platitudes than Romney, Politico.

Obama is the best speaker since Kennedy, probably, so there's no argument here. But being a good speaker does not make you a good executive, or make your Administration worthy of re-election.

But most importantly it gets you re-elected against clowns like Gingrich or flip-flop make a gaffe every 5 minutes Romney. I suggest you go dormant until 2016, your Romney clowning is getting annoying. We all know no important change will happen until then anyway(unemployment will hover between 7-10%, and no policy changes).

I care about America, and I do not want what you describe to happen. George W. Bush did not deserve re-election, and neither does Barack Obama. The nation cannot go on like this. I honestly believe that Romney will take care of business in Washington, DC.

[Politico]

I had to turn it off. He's completely full of it, and I am starting to believe some folks are right when they say that he's a closet socialist.

[Politico]

This is why Obama is better in speaking platitudes than Romney, Politico.

Obama is the best speaker since Kennedy, probably, so there's no argument here. But being a good speaker does not make you a good executive, or make your Administration worthy of re-election.

But most importantly it gets you re-elected against clowns like Gingrich or flip-flop make a gaffe every 5 minutes Romney. I suggest you go dormant until 2016, your Romney clowning is getting annoying. We all know no important change will happen until then anyway(unemployment will hover between 7-10%, and no policy changes).

I care about America, and I do not want what you describe to happen. George W. Bush did not deserve re-election, and neither does Barack Obama. The nation cannot go on like this. I honestly believe that Romney will take care of business in Washington, DC.

Nothing will change until 2016. Do I need to repeat that for you?

We cannot go on like this. Do I need to repeat that for you?

[Politico]

I had to turn it off. He's completely full of it, and I am starting to believe some folks are right when they say that he's a closet socialist.

You've officially lost it.

Obama clearly thinks the government is the solution to every problem when, in actuality, the government usually makes problems worse, or prevents problems from running their course. In fact, the government is sometimes even the primary source of some problems that they appear to have no association with (e.g., the Community Reinvestment Act and its role in laying the foundation for the sub-prime mortgage crisis). Sometimes good intentions can lead to unintended consequences. Sometimes a prescription will make you more sick than the illness.

[Politico]

This is why Obama is better in speaking platitudes than Romney, Politico.

Obama is the best speaker since Kennedy, probably, so there's no argument here. But being a good speaker does not make you a good executive, or make your Administration worthy of re-election.

But most importantly it gets you re-elected against clowns like Gingrich or flip-flop make a gaffe every 5 minutes Romney. I suggest you go dormant until 2016, your Romney clowning is getting annoying. We all know no important change will happen until then anyway(unemployment will hover between 7-10%, and no policy changes).

I care about America, and I do not want what you describe to happen. George W. Bush did not deserve re-election, and neither does Barack Obama. The nation cannot go on like this. I honestly believe that Romney will take care of business in Washington, DC.

Nothing will change until 2016. Do I need to repeat that for you?

We cannot go on like this. Do I need to repeat that for you?

And the fact you think Romney will fix this shows how lit myopic you are.

I know we cannot go on like this. Furthermore, I know with 100% certainty that sticking with Obama is not going to change anything. Therefore, I will take my chances with Romney because at least I do not know with 100% certainty what will happen. Some chance of improvement is better than no chance of improvement.

[Politico]

I had to turn it off. He's completely full of it, and I am starting to believe some folks are right when they say that he's a closet socialist.

You've officially lost it.

Obama clearly thinks the government is the solution to every problem when, in actuality, the government usually makes problems worse, or prevents problems from running their course. In fact, the government is sometimes even the primary source of some problems that they appear to have no association with (e.g., the Community Reinvestment Act and its role in laying the foundation for the sub-prime mortgage crisis). Sometimes good intentions can lead to unintended consequences. Sometimes a prescription will make you more sick than the illness.

If that's the conclusion you've reached, then you're critically misjudging reality.

What good did forcing banks to make loans to people who could not afford the loans do? It certainly did not help the people who took out those loans they could never possibly payback. Yet the Community Reinvestment Act basically forced banks to make these type of loans or face a discriminatory lawsuit. What did banks do? They acted rationally: Make out the loans, and then securitize the loans, so that they could shed themselves of the risk forced upon them. It led to be a nasty bubble in sub-prime mortgages. The Community Reinvestment Act is a great example of "good intentions, but unintended consequences."

What good did "cash for clunkers" do for automobile sales three years ago?

What good did the $7000 first-time home buyer credit do to the housing market three years ago? The housing market has still not cleared in most places.

What good did the $500 million loan to Solyndra do?

The list goes on and on and on. All of these liberals think they can spend other people's money better than they can. In reality, the government should only be dealing with national defense, law/order, and BASIC infrastructure. The last part, BASIC infrastructure, should be transferred to the state/local level as frequently as possible. Washington, DC has made it abundantly clear that they should not be trusted with more than those three tenets. Much of what they take in and spend should be transferred back to the states.

[Politico]

After tonight, I''ll put Mitt Romney's odds of getting even 220 EVs at 0%.  All of this GOP fight made me really forget about how Obama really was.

We've basically been watching four minor league players competing for a callup to pitch a spot start against the Yankees.

Most of America is not going to be fooled by his smooth-talking ways again. He promised the stars, and failed to deliver even the moon. They have not forgotten. And his blatant sucking up to Big Labor is not going to do much after he gave them the finger on the Keystone XL pipeline. That was a huge mistake, IMHO.

[Politico]

After tonight, I''ll put Mitt Romney's odds of getting even 220 EVs at 0%.

Most of America is not going to be fooled by his smooth-talking ways again.

I agree.  Romney's screwed.

It is becoming more and more obivous to people, expect Politico and NHI that Barack Obama is on whole different level then Mitt Romney.

It is like choosing between Tom Brady and Alex Smith.........

Obama is running on his record as president, not on whether or not he is the better speaker, which is obviously Obama's forte. That's what you don't get: People know Obama can speak. They do not like the results of the past three years. That's ultimately why they are going to dump Obama in favor of Romney. And if things are not better four years from now still, they'll dump Romney too. This is how progress is made.

When it comes to public speaking and politicking, Barack Obama is Tom Brady. But when it comes to executive records, Obama is Philip Rivers to Romney's Eli Manning.

[Politico]

Daniels makes Romney look like Reagan. This is better than melatonin!

[Politico]

You need to play President forever, on easy, and play as Romney. Hopefully it'll help you purge this and you can re-join us in the real world

President Forever? President Elect 1988 is where it's at.

[Politico]

You need to play President forever, on easy, and play as Romney. Hopefully it'll help you purge this and you can re-join us in the real world

President Forever? President Elect 1988 is where it's at.

That explains everything.

Back in the day, I got Ted Kennedy elected over Ronald Reagan in 1980 via a tiebreaker in the House after a 269-269 EC. That takes mad skills in that game. It is impossible to beat Ronald Reagan in 1984, though. You can play flawlessly with anybody against him, even JFK in ahistorical mode, but you won't even come close.