Obama's acceptance speech

[erfalf]

You really think that saying that millionaires shouldn't get a tax cut paid for largely by a tax increase on the middle class, as any Romney plan that fulfills the criteria Romney himself has laid out would do, is "demonizing the wealthy?" It's not as if there's not a serious proposal from his opponent that would do exactly that.

It's the way he pits one against the other. As if a tax cut for wealthy (who are also Americans by the way) would somehow harm middle-income earners.

[nathanm]

It's the way he pits one against the other. As if a tax cut for wealthy (who are also Americans by the way) would somehow harm middle-income earners.

Once again, Romney's proposal would have to increase taxes on the middle class for the numbers he has stated to work. He is free to change the parameters of his proposal at any time to make it so that tax cuts for the wealthy would indeed not harm middle-income earners. Someone has to pay the bill; government isn't free, as Gaspar so likes to remind us.

[erfalf]

Once again, Romney's proposal would have to increase taxes on the middle class for the numbers he has stated to work. He is free to change the parameters of his proposal at any time to make it so that tax cuts for the wealthy would indeed not harm middle-income earners. Someone has to pay the bill; government isn't free, as Gaspar so likes to remind us.

All I'm saying is, why does he have to pit one against the other. We don't need boogie men.

[nathanm]

All I'm saying is, why does he have to pit one against the other. We don't need boogie men.

He isn't. Arithmetic (and Romney's plan) is.

[erfalf]

He isn't. Arithmetic (and Romney's plan) is.

Opinion.

[AquaMan]

You're on your game this morning Nathan. It especially helps when you don't take the bait the pirate offers up. Advantage Obama.

This race is not going to be as close as I once thought. R&R's lack of foreign policy experience and insight is hanging out like the bull sack hanging off a 4wd truck. Their failure to acknowledge veterans and current military engagements is telling. They don't have the staff or the ability to be identified with the average American and when it comes to leadership, no matter how hard the right tries, they cannot erase his bonafides and they can't make this a wealth war. Add in the quietly emerging positive economy and it becomes obvious.

Good pep rally and I expect it to produce. R&R's only hope is a fantastic debate showing.

[erfalf]

You're on your game this morning Nathan. It especially helps when you don't take the bait the pirate offers up. Advantage Obama.

This race is not going to be as close as I once thought. R&R's lack of foreign policy experience and insight is hanging out like the bull sack hanging off a 4wd truck. Their failure to acknowledge veterans and current military engagements is telling. They don't have the staff or the ability to be identified with the average American and when it comes to leadership, no matter how hard the right tries, they cannot erase his bonafides and they can't make this a wealth war. Add in the quietly emerging positive economy and it becomes obvious.

Good pep rally and I expect it to produce. R&R's only hope is a fantastic debate showing.

Romney's foreign policy experience is on par with Obama's prior to his election. Does it really make a difference?

[Hoss]

Romney's foreign policy experience is on par with Obama's prior to his election. Does it really make a difference?

Yep, especially when he's calling Russia our greatest enemy.

Hello, Al Qaeda?

EDIT to add...I guess foreign policy experience ONLY matters when it's the Democrat in question.  Right?   

[AquaMan]

Romney's foreign policy experience is on par with Obama's prior to his election. Does it really make a difference?

If you can't see the difference you need to remove the blinders. The nature and quality of the experience matters. The ability to converse, compromise and understand different cultures, matters. It matters to Romney, since he spent a fair amount of time trying to build cred in the area.

Only die hard Republicans from the 90's thought that we need not deal with the rest of the world. Most didn't even have passports. That time is over.
For most of us, anyway.

[nathanm]

Opinion.

Arithmetic is not opinion. Romney is the one that stated the parameters.

[erfalf]

Arithmetic is not opinion. Romney is the one that stated the parameters.

When Romney goes out and says things like Obama does, maybe you'll have a leg to stand on. Pitting one against the other. Offering policy that favors one over the other is not class warfare, it's just policy. Saying the rich don't deserve this or that, and you do is class warfare.

[AquaMan]

When Romney goes out and says things like Obama does, maybe you'll have a leg to stand on. Pitting one against the other. Offering policy that favors one over the other is not class warfare, it's just policy. Saying the rich don't deserve this or that, and you do is class warfare.

wow. Such logic is dangerous. Policy used as a tool for class warfare is not as bad as uttering what is perceived as class warfare?

[Conan71]

Thanks to RM for posting the transcript. 

Here's the parts I liked or agreed with.  Whether or not I believe he's really got plan or will follow through is quite another issue.  His at times self-deprecating humor is very good.

Trivial things become big distractions. Serious issues become sound bites. The truth gets buried under an avalanche of money and advertising. And if you're sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me, so am I. (Laughter, cheers, applause.)

That really distills the sick condition of our partisan politics.  Of course, I consider the Romney tax returns to be an example of a trivial distraction from the real issues.

And I ran for president because I saw that basic bargain slipping away. I began my career helping people in the shadow of a shuttered steel mill at a time when too many good jobs were starting to move overseas. And by 2008 we had seen nearly a decade in which families struggled with costs that kept rising but paychecks that didn't, folks racking up more and more debt just to make the mortgage or pay tuition, put gas in the car or food on the table. And when the house of cards collapsed in the Great Recession, millions of innocent Americans lost their jobs, their homes, their life savings, a tragedy from which we're still fighting to recover.

Of course the real irony here is the middle class is worse off since the recovery started.  Sorry I meant to keep this all positive but that paragraph keeps jumping out at me.  Back to positives:

or we can start rewarding companies that open new plants and train new workers and create new jobs here in the United States of America. (Cheers, applause.) We can help big factories and small businesses double their exports. And if we choose this path, we can create a million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years. You can make that happen. (Cheers, applause.) You can choose that future.

I'm a huge proponent of the idea that we should reward companies for creating jobs in the US and create disincentives to ship them overseas.  I'd like to know specifically what he would consider to be a reward or incentive for companies that would not be considered corporate welfare, since that is a powerful meme the dems like to use.  I don't have a problem with it when it directly creates jobs.  Is that a payroll tax break, or is that giving free land to a company or no interest loans?  Do you lower the corporate tax rate?  What exactly does he have in mind?

In the last year alone, we cut oil imports by 1 million barrels a day, more than any administration in recent history. (Cheers, applause.) And today the United States of America is less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in the last two decades. (Cheers, applause.)

So now you have a choice between a strategy that reverses this progress or one that builds on it.

We've opened millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration in the last three years, and we'll open more. But unlike my opponent, I will not let oil companies write this country's energy plan or endanger our coastlines or collect another $4 billion in corporate welfare from our taxpayers. (Cheers, applause.) We're offering a better path.

Damn, there's the corporate welfare meme not but a few paragraphs later.  I'm ecstatic we are curtailing our need for imported oil.  I was previously unaware we had decreased imports by 1 million bbl/day.  Also curious with all the new domestic production though why oil and gas prices are has high as they are right now.

For the first time in a generation, nearly every state has answered our call to raise their standards for teaching and learning. (Cheers, applause.) Some of the worst schools in the country have made real gains in math and reading. Millions of students are paying less for college today because we finally took on a system that wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on banks and lenders...No family should have to set aside a college acceptance letter because they don't have the money. (Cheers, applause.) No company should have to look for workers overseas because they couldn't find any with the right skills here at home. (Cheers, applause.) That's not our future. That is not our future. (Cheers, applause.)

I don't think anyone can complain about better education, however I've not seen a metric which purports to show a cut in college tuition costs.  I know they have not dropped for my kids, they still go up each year.  I believe giving everyone an affordable and good opportunity at higher education benefits us all.

A government has a role in this. But teachers must inspire. Principals must lead. Parents must instill a thirst for learning. And students, you've got to do the work. (Cheers, applause.) And together, I promise you we can outeducate and outcompete any nation on earth. (Cheers, applause.)

I like that he stresses the individual role everyone can play in this.  Going one step further though, a child won't prioritize their education if their family doesn't see it as a priority.  I know not Obama's fault, but I don't think society can stress enough how much the family must support the student.

Help us work with colleges and universities to cut in half the growth of tuition costs over the next 10 years.

How do we do that?  If you hire more instructors and build more facilities to educate students, how do you lower the costs?  There's a good example of unicorns and chocolate bars for everyone.  I'd simply like to know the proposed mechanism by which this would happen.

But for all the progress that we've made, challenges remain. Terrorist plots must be disrupted. Europe's crisis must be contained. Our commitment to Israel's security must not waver, and neither must our pursuit of peace. (Cheers, applause.) The Iranian government must face a world that stays united against its nuclear ambitions. The historic change sweeping across the Arab world must be defined not by the iron fist of a dictator or the hate of extremists, but by the hopes and aspirations of ordinary people who are reaching for the same rights that we celebrate here today.

I'll give him an B to an B+ on foreign policy.  I also note though that he takes credit for ending the Iraq war when it wound down essentially on the timeline President Bush had set for it.  Personally, I think Hillary has been a very good Secretary of State and believe she's got far more to do with our current foreign policy than the president or VP.

And last summer I worked with Republicans in Congress to cut a billion dollars in spending, because those of us who believe government can be a force for good should work harder than anyone to reform it so that it's leaner and more efficient and more responsive to the American people

I really don't consider cutting $1 billion a major accomplishment but I admire his willingness to throw a bone to those of us who would like to see a leaner government.  However there's contradictions elsewhere in his speech about cutting spending which look more like shifting the spending points like cutting the military while building more infrastructure.  I have no problem cutting our military exploits overseas and getting our own house in order, except that politicians have a real knack for making sure those spending projects go to the best donors not the best purposes.

Now, I'm still eager to reach an agreement based on the principles of my bipartisan debt commission. No party has a monopoly on wisdom. No democracy works without compromise. I want to get this done, and we can get it done.

Great I'm waiting with baited breath.  How much though is "based on the principals" and how much is following direct recommendations?  One area I still see he's failed to grasp as a leader is he's got a knack for inserting totally unacceptable conditions to his opposition when it comes to compromising with the GOP.  Great leadership understands you have to be willing to accept criticism from within your own party for doing what works best for the citizens (Boehner could use a lesson in that as well).

But when Governor Romney and his friends in Congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficits by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy, well — (boos) — what'd Bill Clinton call it? You do the arithmetic. (Laughter, cheers, applause.) You do the math.

Okay, that one is a real whopper... I hate to depart from positives but I can't let him get away with that one.

We insist on personal responsibility, and we celebrate individual initiative. We're not entitled to success. We have to earn it. We honor the strivers, the dreamers, the risk- takers, the entrepreneurs who have always been the driving force behind our free enterprise system, the greatest engine of growth and prosperity that the world's ever known....

...We know that churches and charities can often make more of a difference than a poverty program alone. We don't want handouts for people who refuse to help themselves, and we certainly don't want bailouts for banks that break the rules

Sounds almost like a libertarian here.   

The rest is pretty much a chicken in every pot hyperbole.  I truly believe President Obama has a vision of how he would like America to be.  I can't think of anyone who would truly wish for failure.  I simply don't see that he really has a workable pathway to get us in the direction he says he wants to.  I suspect the debates, town halls, and stump speeches will tell us more about a specific road map in the next 60 days.  That's all he's got to make his case for why he deserves another four years.

[erfalf]

If you can't see the difference you need to remove the blinders. The nature and quality of the experience matters. The ability to converse, compromise and understand different cultures, matters. It matters to Romney, since he spent a fair amount of time trying to build cred in the area.

Only die hard Republicans from the 90's thought that we need not deal with the rest of the world. Most didn't even have passports. That time is over.
For most of us, anyway.

What vast amounts of foreign policy experience did Obama have in 2008, besides living overseas? I would guess that Romney probably has been in the game longer than Obama (prior to his election) considering his families political background. He has worked with companies overseas, while Obama was busy getting high (by his own admission). and penning his autobiography (at 30 years old mind you). Please enlighten me how Obama's prior experience is more impressive than Romney's?

[erfalf]

wow. Such logic is dangerous. Policy used as a tool for class warfare is not as bad as uttering what is perceived as class warfare?

Policy is not inherently class warfare. If you can write legislation that effects every single American equally, then I might let you get away with what you just said.