Obama to issue a call to 'return to American values'

Obama to issue a call to 'return to American values'

Jackie Calmes
New York Times
January 21, 2012

WASHINGTON - President Obama will use his election-year State of the Union address on Tuesday to define the role for government in helping to promote a prosperous and equitable society as an American tradition, hoping to draw a stark contrast between the parties in a time of deep economic uncertainty.

In a video preview emailed to more than 10 million supporters Saturday, Obama promised a "blueprint for an economy that's built to last," with the government assisting the private sector and individuals to ensure "an America where everybody gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules."

Obama has honed that message for months as he has attacked Republicans, contrasting it with what he has described as Republicans' "go it alone" free-market views.

'Consequential election'

He told supporters just last week that his push for a government hand and "rules of the road" had a precedent dating to the construction of canals and creation of land-grant colleges and including the GI Bill, interstate highways and the computer chip, while Republicans have moved so far to the right that 2012 will be a "hugely consequential election." His advisers say they hope to make Republicans seem as out of step with public opinion as they were when Barry Goldwater was soundly defeated in 1964.

Notably, Obama will again propose changes to the tax code so the wealthy pay more, despite Republicans' consistent opposition. With most Americans registering disapproval of his economic record after three years, it is all the more imperative for Obama to define the election not as a referendum on him but as a choice between his vision and the vision of his eventual Republican rival. Republican presidential candidates have argued that government should get out of the way to revive the economy.

Advisers say Obama will expand again on the administration's effort to resolve the housing crisis with both carrots and sticks to lenders dealing with homeowners behind on their mortgage payments -- after yet another debate between his advisers. His political team argues that most Americans oppose bold government action to stem home foreclosures, seeing it as rewarding those who had bought houses they could not afford. But his economic team holds that until the housing market recovers, the broader economy cannot -- and that all Americans suffer.

On Tuesday, Obama will flesh out his populist message with new proposals to spur manufacturing, including tax breaks for companies that "insource" jobs back to the United States; to double-down on clean-energy incentives; and to improve education and job training initiatives, especially for the millions of long-term unemployed, the officials familiar with the speech said.

Call for income tax changes

In the video preview, Obama said he would call for "a return to American values of fairness for all and responsibility from all." "We can go in two directions," he said. "One is towards less opportunity and less fairness. Or we can fight for where I think we need to go: building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few."

To that end, people familiar with his draft speech say, Obama will call for changing the corporate and individual income-tax codes so the wealthy pay more, both to finance government investments and to alleviate the rise in income inequality in recent years. Obama will revive his call, made in September, to rewrite the individual code in a way that follows what he termed the "Buffett Rule" -- making sure that, as the billionaire Warren Buffett has said, no secretaries or other employees pay a higher effective tax rate than their better-paid bosses.

His proposal takes on heightened political importance after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he paid a rate of about 15 percent because the majority of his income comes from investments. That is a lower rate than many taxpayers who make much less income pay, reflecting a tax break opened in the past decade by the Bush administration and a Republican-led Congress.

Obama will also propose political changes, perhaps in campaign finance. Those would tap the sentiment of many Americans, expressed among both Tea Party and Occupy protesters, that the system is rigged in favor of a privileged few. Obama also will revive politically popular proposals from the $447 billion job-creation package that he announced after Labor Day, but that Republicans blocked.

He will again call for subsidies to struggling states to keep teachers and first-responders in their jobs, for money for roads, and for extending for the remainder of the year both the temporary payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and federal payments to the long-term unemployed.

"an America where everybody gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules."

Nothing new here. "Everyone pays their fair share"? Less than half of us pay all of the taxes. Are you going after anyone other than the 1%? There's nothing in here to create permanent, private industry jobs.

Yep, we need to discourage the risk takers from investing by increasing the tax rates on income that comes from this fundamental building block of the American economy. Some folks fail to see that the flip side of great gains is the potential for great loss. Accept the fact that some folks are better at it than others.

He's really going for that class warfare crap huh? Hope it backfires.

"Return to American values"???

This coming from Obama is like a pimp preaching the Gospel; you know it's BS...

The America I want to see involves...

Forget PC. Let people say what they want to no matter whether we agree with it or not.
Drop Homeland Security and give the job back to the FBI.
Let's see some term limits on Senators and House members.
Reinvigorate the nation's space program before we fall so desperately far behind that we'll be buying our rockets from China too.
Create tax incentives to recreate america's industrial sector.
Outlaw 'closed shop' laws in the biggest union states, replacing them with a right to work for all.
Turn over education to the states. Let them choose how to approach it.
Turn over the subject of abortion to the states. Let them choose how to approach it.
For the effort of campaigning, make each candidate wholly self responsible without help from any federal funding.
Return to paper balloting for all federal elections.
Create a mandatory 24 month term of military service for all males 18-24.
Create a mandatory 18 month term of military service for all females 18-24.

Phew... that's a start.

Not a bad list. I like it.

TexasBlue wrote:Not a bad list. I like it.

Why, thank you. I was hoping just a little for a chance to expand on a few of them... which I may still do.

The mandatory service thing would be a real bitch to make reality... but I think the final product would be to create future generations of young Americans who would understand their place and know how to respect our right to own weapons/firearms. It would also instill a sense of self confidence, learning how to finish whatever you begin and never, ever quit anything.

*sigh*

Geez... a few weeks and football season will be gone. I really look forward to it every year and it always ends too soon.

Arx Ferrum wrote:

TexasBlue wrote:Not a bad list. I like it.

Why, thank you. I was hoping just a little for a chance to expand on a few of them... which I may still do.

The mandatory service thing would be a real bitch to make reality... but I think the final product would be to create future generations of young Americans who would understand their place and know how to respect our right to own weapons/firearms. It would also instill a sense of self confidence, learning how to finish whatever you begin and never, ever quit anything.

*sigh*

Geez... a few weeks and football season will be gone. I really look forward to it every year and it always ends too soon.

Democrats will like the idea. The last few years, they've been clamoring for a draft, so as to be "fair" in who joins.

I have no problem with compulsory service. My way would be to have what you said but also let the prospective vet pick his/her service branch and job (MOS).

One argument I often find myself in is... social/cultural experience vs. what liberals refer to as a militarist mindset. They seem to have this idea that learning respect for your superiors... and devoting oneself to something with foundation and depth is somehow inferior to running around with rap music in your ears and branding yourself with cultural markers... or tattoos.

OMG, I had a real burner at MSNBC with someone over this very thing. My opposite was defending allowing a 10 year old to be tattooed as if it were some great life experience when... at least in my view, that stamp could come back to haunt them later in life not only personally, but also professionally.

Hey... I gots scars from tattoos I had removed from when I was younger. I won't judge anyone but society is not like that. Right or wrong has little bearing when you carry that mark in front of a perspective employer... etc.