Four Outrages Techies Need To Know About the State of the Union 489
Mr.Intel writes "Last night's State of the Union Address contained ten things (and four outrages) technical professionals need to know about the President's plans, and how his policies might affect you, your employer, and your family well into the future."
Link to article (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Link to article (Score:5, Informative)
The link is on "ten things" and is to the link you found, but the link color is apparently the same as the text color so there really isn't an indication...
Re:Link to article (Score:5, Informative)
but the link color is apparently the same as the text color
That's a "feature" of The New Slashdot. [slashdot.org]
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Informative)
Four meaningless rants to draw attention (Score:5, Informative)
Now exactly why much of that matters to most "techies" is beyond me. Really most of it doesn't mattter to most techies.
However it does draw eyes to the website. And I noticed there was a Michele Bachmann ad here on slashdot last night, and this seems to go well with her sales pitch as well. Since president lawnchair has already caved to everything that the GOP has asked for to date, they need to find something to get excited about for the future.
Re:A modest proposal (Score:4, Informative)
Secondly, SS is just fine. It's running a surplus and can pay full benefits for the next 27 years.
Actually not. SS is now entering the phase where more is being drawn than being contributed (somewhat ahead of schedule - http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TRSUM/index.html [ssa.gov]). Further, there is no surplus - there hasn't been for many years. Federal law prohibits it ( http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/51264.pdf [state.gov]). Any surplus must by law be rolled into the general fund (referred to in the document as "borrowing from the Social Security trust fund"). Given that the federal government is currently in debt to the tune of approximately $14Trillion, there is no actual SS money accumulated anywhere.
The situation is dire. Not only is the debt not being reduced, but the deficit is accelerating. Extra taxes aren't going to cover it (they'll probably make the situation worse). Medicare/Medicaid are in even worse shape - and the prior administration made that worse still by signing into law the Medicare Drug Prescription Act.
Bleak indeed.
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Informative)
I'm not sure if you're from Minnesota or not, but those of us who are have a long history with her saying stupid shit. For example, she advocated criminal action by refusing to fill out census forms and refusing to answer census takers questions. This was even more stupid (for her), since her very job depended on census results as Minnesota was close to losing a congressional district, and hers was the likely one on the chopping block. Nevermind that that taking a census is a constitutionally mandated activity... so much for her beliefs in the founding fathers intentions.
Oh, and her recent claim that the founding fathers were against slavery, and "worked tirelessly" to get rid of it were another one. Hell, she even claimed John Quincy Adams was a founding father, which would be kind of difficult since he was 9 years old when the constitution was signed, although it's possible he may have used his father as a puppet to do his bidding....
All politicians occasionally make off the cuff remarks that wrong, but this wasn't one of those times.. it was part of her rehearsed speech. She *INTENDED* to say these things that were not only flat out wrong, but so ignorant of the very thing she's claiming to represent... history and the constitution.
You don't have to be liberal to think she's a kook. I'm not. At all. You do, however, have to be fucked in the head to admire her, other than her uncanny ability to get re-elected.
Re:Blah blah blah (Score:5, Informative)
Just to shed some facts on the rhetoric: PolitiFact tracks all of the promises Obama made during the campaign and categorizes them. At present, the results are:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/ [politifact.com]
Promise Kept: 134
Compromise: 34
Promise Broken: 34
Stalled: 71
In The Works: 220
Not Yet Rated: 2
"Promise Kept" means he promised it, and has already delivered it largely in-tact (example: Lily Ledbetter Fairl Pay Act). "Compromise" means that he promised it, and managed to get it through congress, but had to compromise or water it down to get it passed (example: a lot of the stuff related to Healthcare). "Promise Broken" means that he promised it, but didn't even try or gave up (example: having a public review period for all bills before signing them). "Stalled" means he's still supporting it, but hasn't been making much progress (difficulties in implementation, congressional obstruction, etc) (example: closing Guantanamo). "In The Works" means that he's pushing it, but it hasn't yet made it to through congress (example: eliminating oil and gas tax loopholes).
Consider that net result as positively or negatively about him as you prefer.