Home, Sweet Home

I'm all in favor of having a funny President. In his State of the Union Address the other night Obama talked some shit, both about his cohorts and also his opponents. I can get behind that. I was happy to hear his interest in education, as I share the belief that a education is the greatest asset we have on the war on poverty. However, his call for fiscal responsibility to colleges and universities was also long overdue, as the debt that can burden some college graduates could practically put you on the road to poverty in and of itself. The idea of freeing up bank funds for investment in small business also rang true in my ears.

But I think that the Republican response has some validity as well. Forgiving student debt after "X" number of years? Come on; theoretically, if you have a college education and can stay employed for 10 to 20 years, your income should be sufficient to continue paying the balance of your student loan. Also, the claim that we have recovered 40% of the money lent to banks and other failing institutions as part of the bailout package seems wishful at best, and dubious to outright, intentional overstatement (read: "lie") at worst.

There is no doubt about it, Obama has some swagger. Even though he has not been able to maintain his approval numbers, he makes no apologies for his choices, for his actions. It remains to be seen how successful the bailout was. Obama said that he acted swiftly to try to contain the damage done. I think we can all remember some other times when the government acted swiftly, with confidence and without apology, and the results are mixed at best. At this point, we don't really seem to be backsliding anymore, but we continue to remain stagnant, with zero job growth.

Hopefully, someone will come up with some sort of plan that creates at least one or two new jobs; I don't think that is asking for too much. It's not enough to simply stop bleeding jobs; we need a transfusion. Without new employment opportunities, consumer spending will remain limited, the housing market will not regain its stability and strength, and we will not see the level of investment needed for economic growth. How much longer can we wait?

Both Republicans and Democrats alike need to put their egos aside (and that includes the President), and come up with a course of action that is genuinely in the interest of the American people. Republicans have got to allow Democrats some leeway in passing programs that help provide insurance and a living wage for working people. If it is not government's job to assure such things, what is the duty of congressmen and senators? And Democrats need to grow up and admit that the survival of our economy depends on successful companies, including some global super giants however much it sucks to admit that. Let's face it, huge companies may treat their employees like shit, but they do employ a whole butt load of people. The key is allowing companies freedom to be successful and profitable, but placing restrictions and expectations upon them for corporate responsibility. How hard is that to see?