State of Disunion Address 2010 Part 1
Thursday, January 28th, 2010Publisher Michael Rough
O: One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by a severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt. Experts from across the political spectrum warned that if we did not act, we might face a second depression.
M: A year has passed and we are now even more heavily in debt, facing massive unemployment, experiencing massive foreclosures, with only the banks standing and making a profit after getting a massive infusion of cash from we the people.
O: So we acted, immediately and aggressively. And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed.
M: This sounds strangely like “Mission Accomplished” to me.
O:But the devastation remains: One in 10 Americans still can’t find work. Many businesses have shuttered. Home values have declined. Small towns and rural communities have been hit especially hard. And for those who’d already known poverty, life has become that much harder.
M: Life will become much harder still as China will curtail credit in their country keeping one of our only “healthy” trading partners from aiding in our already poor international export of goods and services.
O: This recession has also compounded the burdens that America’s families have been dealing with for decades, the burden of working harder and longer for less, of being unable to save enough to retire or help kids with college.
M: The predicted oncoming hyperinflation due massive creation of non backed monetary instruments will further cause issues and make every hour we work worth less.
O: So I know the anxieties that are out there right now. They’re not new. These struggles are the reason I ran for president. These struggles are what I’ve witnessed for years in places like Elkhart, Indiana, Galesburg, Illinois.
M: When you were running for President you were pushing for greater loans for Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac, further pushing those in poverty into situations that would speed up the financial ruin of the middle and lower classes to extend themselves into home purchases that they could not afford.
O: I hear about them in the letters that I read each night. The toughest to read are those written by children, asking why they have to move from their home, asking when their mom or dad will be able to go back to work.
M: Honestly, if more time was spent doing something that would actually help the economy, and not just banking, the letters would stop coming. Children write letters to Santa Claus, somehow they usually get something out of the deal. What are the children getting by writing the President?
O: For these Americans and so many others, change has not come fast enough. Some are frustrated; some are angry. They don’t understand why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded, but hard work on Main Street isn’t, or why Washington has been unable or unwilling to solve any of our problems.
M: Main Street America is rightfully angered by the treatment of the ultra rich and influential. How can we justify bonuses for the same people who swindled the people, take their land, and do it with financial policies that have zero penalties for the corrupt and ultra greedy, when their sheer avarice topples the pyramid of cards they themselves built?
O: They’re tired of the partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness. They know we can’t afford it, not now.
M: Yet we are faced with a President who’s social agenda is mis aligned with that of the working class people. A populist president who promises social change is a dictator in disguise, duping the poor by promising something for nothing, eroding the gross national product until all are poor and have no choice but to obey in order to eat.
O: So we face big and difficult challenges. And what the American people hope — what they deserve — is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to work through our differences, to overcome the numbing weight of our politics, for while the people who sent us here have different backgrounds, different stories, different beliefs, the anxieties they face are the same, the aspirations they hold are shared: a job that pays the bills, a chance to get ahead, most of all, the ability to give their children a better life.
M: Our children and grand children will shoulder the national debt for the rest of their lives through massive inflation, small discretionary spending, lower education quality, all to bail out the greedy financial institutions who are as we speak rubbing their hands together looking for the next way to screw the public.
O: You know what else they share? They share a stubborn resilience in the face of adversity. After one of the most difficult years in our history, they remain busy building cars and teaching kids, starting businesses and going back to school. They’re coaching Little League and helping their neighbors.
M: It’s interesting to note that auto workers, and teachers are unionized. The people starting businesses or going back to school are those who are desperate to do anything they can to improve their chances of improving their situation. 80% of new businesses will fail because of lack of funding. 40% of all college graduates won’t find a job. What else are you going to do with your massive amount of time available because you don’t have a job, and avoid depression and self worth issues but to help out your neighbors and coach little league?
O: One woman wrote to me and said, “We are strained but hopeful, struggling but encouraged.”
M: Just one woman. Note that the depressed, despondent, and discouraged are not mentioned.
O: It’s because of this spirit — this great decency and great strength — that I have never been more hopeful about America’s future than I am tonight.
M: Really? More hopeful? You were never more hopeful before running for president? Even as a 6 year old? We need results, not window dressing, miniskirts, and pompoms.
O: Despite — despite our hardships, our union is strong. We do not give up. We do not quit. We do not allow fear or division to break our spirit. In this new decade, it’s time the American people get a government that matches their decency, that embodies their strength.
M: Double negative means “Because of our hardships”. Finally he says something that makes sense. We deserve a government that embodies our strength, and you are not it.
O: And tonight — tonight, I’d like to talk about how together we can deliver on that promise.
M: By throwing out the current government and improving it by placing 8 year olds in charge.
O: It begins with our economy.
M: Which has no where to go but up from here. I just tossed a nickel into a tin cup! I just doubled it!
Stay Tuned For Part 2