State of the Union
First reactions to Bush: Bush made a good show of reaching out to the Democrats. Whether he's serious or it's just for show is still to be seen....
I think a big shocker was his talk about global warming - for ages he said there was no evidence that global warming existed, and then later that there was anything we could do about it, and now he's talking like he takes it seriously! But global warning is apparently going to be a big part of the Dems' agenda (thank God) and they're going to really push it, so I think he's being forced into a position where he has to acknowledge it as well.
Also of interest was his health care plan. It'd make our tax system even more complicated than it is already, cut revenue, and still leave a lot of needy and chronically ill people in the lurch (e.g. he mentioned that a family of four would get a cut of ~$4000 a year to pay for insurance, which would allow them to get insurance privately. CareFirst BlueShield costs that much for one person, and that's in plan. And if you have any health problems, the cost of getting insurance on your own skyrockets. Who's he kidding?) . But it was obviously trying to be a way to please the liberals by socializing health care without, you know, actually socializing health care. It'll probably be just as expensive for the government and be less efficient and effective, but hey - it's not icky socialism.
I understand his reasoning with Iraq, but I just don't see it working. The Pentagon doesn't either. It really bothers me that he's willing to charge ahead against the advice of his own military experts. But I guess they're part of the "reality-based community", so what do they know, eh? >_>
First reaction to Webb: Great speech, and I agreed with everything he said, but his delivery was a bit dry. Not sure why they picked him, either.
I think a big shocker was his talk about global warming - for ages he said there was no evidence that global warming existed, and then later that there was anything we could do about it, and now he's talking like he takes it seriously! But global warning is apparently going to be a big part of the Dems' agenda (thank God) and they're going to really push it, so I think he's being forced into a position where he has to acknowledge it as well.
Also of interest was his health care plan. It'd make our tax system even more complicated than it is already, cut revenue, and still leave a lot of needy and chronically ill people in the lurch (e.g. he mentioned that a family of four would get a cut of ~$4000 a year to pay for insurance, which would allow them to get insurance privately. CareFirst BlueShield costs that much for one person, and that's in plan. And if you have any health problems, the cost of getting insurance on your own skyrockets. Who's he kidding?) . But it was obviously trying to be a way to please the liberals by socializing health care without, you know, actually socializing health care. It'll probably be just as expensive for the government and be less efficient and effective, but hey - it's not icky socialism.
I understand his reasoning with Iraq, but I just don't see it working. The Pentagon doesn't either. It really bothers me that he's willing to charge ahead against the advice of his own military experts. But I guess they're part of the "reality-based community", so what do they know, eh? >_>
First reaction to Webb: Great speech, and I agreed with everything he said, but his delivery was a bit dry. Not sure why they picked him, either.