State of the Union, 31 January 2006: US population is 300 million and national debt is 8 trillion dollars, or $26,667 per man, woman, child, or baby.* That is more than $100,000 per typical family but then there is the family’s mortgage and credit card debts to add in. With the cost of interest rising, and also real taxes as inflation moves payers into higher brackets, despite occasional tax reductions (mainly for the wealthy); it is little wonder that the average American has a “negative savings” rate - is going deeper into debt every year. Many have been keeping their heads above water only by refinancing their homes, at lower rates, but the average 30 year mortgage rate in US is now at 6.1% and moving up as the Adjustable Rate Mortgage, ARM, that looked cheaper a few years ago, are now becoming more expensive than the conventional fixed rates the borrower could have had when they signed up for the ARM. As if all the above were not bad enough, people in the 50-65 years age bracket are in their peak earning years, paying the highest taxes ever, but they are the so-called “baby boomers,” BBs. The BBs will (some have already) soon cease paying taxes and they expect to collect Social Security, which is inflation adjusted annually, from the government. Few of the BBs now are the “couch potatoes“, drinking beer and smoking in front of TV, their parents were, when they retired. (It is their parent’s age at death that is used to construct estimates of how long the BBs will live and collect their SS payments.) Most of the BBs are swallowing anti-oxidants, vitamins + mineral supplements pills, etc. and at least taking long walks, if not jogging etc. - They will out live their parents by at least 5 years on average. (In 2000 US life expectancy was 76.9years, five years later it is 77.5 or increasing at least at 0.1yr/yr rate. If a BB retired in 2002 (latest data available) at age 60 that BB could then expect to live 22.0 years more but during his life it increases to become a death at age 84.2) Where is the money to pay these long-living BBs going to come from? Where is the money to pay the interest on the national debt going to come from? (The principle will never be paid, only become larger, causing greater interest payments to be due every year.) Despite the above, the US will never go bankrupt. It is a sovereign nation, with printing presses. All debts will be paid, but the payments will have little purchasing power. As these facts (essentially no speculation above) are more widely appreciated, foreigners will demand ever higher interest rates to finance the US’s ever growing debt. Soon it may take more than 8 dollars to buy a Yuan, (instead of 8 Yuan to buy a dollar). Perhaps China will not even accept dollars, but trade it products for oil and other raw materials it actually needs, instead of US's green paper and IOUs. Also as wages in Chinese factories are rapidly rising (in contrast to US where the average real wage has gone down for last four years), China can not much longer sell "shirts and shoes" etc. to the world in completion with other low labor cost nations, mainly in Asia, but some of the former Soviet Union states are already under cutting Chinese prices on labor intensive, low-value-added products. That is why China is already the worlds largest maker of cell phones, computers, digital cameras, etc. and soon will be exporting many cars etc. to the rest of the world. China knows it must, and is, importing low-value-added components from most of Asia, that it assembles into high-value-added exports, and this trend must continue as the urban wages continue to increase in China. Some countries like Brazil will, and are becoming, suppliers of food stuffs and raw materials to China as the farmers of China are coming to the cities at almost a 2 million per month rate. Most young Americans reading this will live to see the day that the US can not even compete with Brazil to supply low-value-added goods to China. What is it that the US makes, even today, that can not be bought cheaper elsewhere? That is the State of the Union message, if truthfully told. (Because of the limited TV time available, and certain legal proceedings, I could not mention the wonderful progress we are making in Iraq and Afghanistan or the increased security measures my administration has recently taken.) Thank you. Good night, and God Bless America. _______________________________________ * No wonder they cry when born. (Every State of the Union message should try to have a little humor in it, especially ones that tell the truth.) Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I just had a vision of GW giving this speech word for word tonight on TV in front of millions. Hilarious.
You mean young Americans today can still read? I thought that only the children of the elite were still taught to read?
once the baby boomers cease paying taxes and collect social security, that's when economic issues in america, and globally, will be interesting.
As an American, in order to avoid suicide I have to keep telling myself, "Just 3 years left!" His speech will just be more "rosey talk" about the Iraq war, and various other douchebagery. Oh, and he might tell us that if you are against the NSA spying, you are a terrorist. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
It's annoying. I don't even know why I watch it, it's not even enlightening in the slightest bit. More "rosey" Iraq war talk, saying it's brought peace when we can see everyday that is not true. More condemnation of Hamas saying they must recognize Israel, but at the sametime Israel is not required to recognize Hamas. I really hate this president.
Yeah, I'm almost completely brain-dead at this point from all of the radiation coming from my TV in the form of hot air, but I was able to catch that section of his speech. He says the right things, I live it when any politician but especially the President talks about the environment and cutting off dependence on oil, and yet his cronies have strong ties to the oil companies making billions, and he has refused to sign into the Kyoto treaty. He says he wants to raise the United States competitiveness in Math and Science and to lead the world in new discoveries, and yet he refuses to fully fund the No Child Left Behind Act, has forced teachers to teach their students to pass tests limiting their curriculum, and opposes stem-cell research. In the State Of The Union speech during the lead up to the Iraq war, he promised billions of dollars to help Africa fight AIDS. Where is that money? He says one thing but does the opposite. He compares the Iraq War to the civil rights protesting led by MLK and WWII. He paints "rosey" pictures of every single thing. The speech is now over, and now I can recover. But first I have to deal with Tim Russert giving his commentary, he should stick to Meet The Press.
Well we just heard it directly from the horse's mouth. Please read first post this thread for more accurate version. (and a few laughs if you enjoy gallows humor.)
We're boldly going where no freedom has gone before, thanks to our visionary neocons who kicked this crusade off under other pretenses. Ain't no time to wonderr why, we can't stop now, headed out there across an insanely grateful universe that is in manifest need of our steadfast guiding hand. No mention of Mars this time, though. Oh, but now I get it: This is the War Planet from now on. No wonder teeming billions conclude similarly, if not in complete unison with Our Fearless Leader: God blast America.
I fear that Britain has fallen into the dustbin. They are becoming as stupid as Americans thanks to Rupert Murdoch and the Zionist control of your TV. They are doing to Britian what they just got finished doing to America over the past 10 years. Turning the people into yelling, arm thumping apes. My implication was that what makes you believe that ANY Americans are ABLE to read what you write?
In an ironic but disturbing moment, just before Bush went on about freedom, Cindy Sheehan was arrested while sitting in the audience for wearing a t-shirt printed with the number of American troops killed in Iraq.
does anyone have a transcript? they dont air the state of the union address here in europe. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
May not be an exact copy Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! but did you see the first post this thread?. The true State of Union is given there. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Ah imagine that, the illiterate idiots all showed up to show how ignorant they were... Why wasn't Clinton charged with purgury after declaring that our troops were only going to be in Yugoslavia for 2 years? Sometimes I wonder if the one dipshit even knows that her son re-enlisted during the war...
He re-enlisted in August 2003, at the age of 24. Casey was killed in action on April 4, 2004, just five days after his arrival in Sadr City, Iraq, during the Iraq occupation. [Wikipedia] So, you seem to be insinuating he re-inlisted in order to fight in Iraq, but he wasn't assigned there until 8 months after his re-inlistment. And there isn't just one war going on, but two, one in Afghanistan, and another in Iraq.
There were no US combat casualties in that war, so our troops were not dying over there and that's a big difference between Yugoslavia and Iraq. "I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today would last five days, or five weeks, or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last any longer than that." Donald Rumsfeld, Thursday, November 14, 2002 http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2002/t11152002_t1114rum.html
to reenlist surely ment that he was going to be going to at least one of the two... also funny how you seem to think that war for any purpose in any part of the world is justified as long as few to no american casualties take place, not like liberals ever have had principles
