Bush's State of the Union!

[EmperorKupcake]

Well! After spending a good hour of my life expecting Bush to spout utter BS, I realized that Bush isn't so bad afterall. During the State of the Union, he justified many of his mistakes, as well as giving optimistic plans, as well as hope for a bright future for the American people.

He discussed his plan to send 20,000 more troops into Iraq. I, personally, disagree with Bush here. However, its important to understand that while Bush made an enormous mistake mindlessly charging into Iraq, we've put ourselves in a hole. If we were to leave Iraq, then it would show that the Terrorists and their terror tactics are winning against us, and then we would have Iraq being considered the next Vietnam. However, if we send in more troops, we would safely secure a Middle Eastern Democratic country, conveniently right next to Iran. This would help create a well needed beacon in the Middle East for freedom and democracy.
However, the Democrats would retort that our troops are getting killed for no real reason. It seems that Bush believes in the greater good for the world on this one.

He also discussed conservation of oil. Last year (I think) he tried to break us away from our "addiction to oil." Now, he is proposing a plan to cut gasoline usage in America by 20% by 2009 (I think). This is huge, of course. He said that our dependancy on oil leaves our Hamiltonian Economy vulnerable to enemies of freedom. He therefore stated that we need to start further investing on alternate fuel sources, such as ethanol, as well as safe nuclear power.
He also mentioned that we need to cut down on CO2 emissions to prevent Global Warming. This was a brief and succinct statement, but it recieved roaring applause from the chamber. This is a huge step foreward to our fight against Global Warming, considering that the Federal Gov't has been doing very little recently.

Now, as some of you may or may not know, I've been quite Anti-Bush. However, after watching the State of the Union, I realized that the media focuses on Bush's mistakes, because thats what the people want to hear. But now that I've heard both sides of the story, I've found what I believe to be a comfortable median. I mean, Bush no doubtedly made a huge mistake going into Iraq. However, he's making the best of a stupid decision. Iraq destroyed our economy, nationalism in the US, approval ratings of Bush (along with Bush's Legacy), as well as hurting our military. But, the war not ended, and there is a small chance that more good than bad will come out of it.

I will probably post more later when I read some follow ups.

All I can say for now is, hopefully, his last 2 years will be his best.

 

[OUZBnd]

The media focuses on his mistakes, yes. But what else is their to focus on? BTW, just because he admitted he made a mistake does not make every thing okay. I'm dissapointed that you would change your opinion of him so easily after him telling you what you want to hear.

 

[Jersey]

im not even... ugh.. i cant

 

[GuesSAngel]

agreed. I think bush is still a moron. And him talking of "plans" is something that he might not even go through with.

 

[Tim]

This is the classic end-around. When the winning team comes into town, he works his way to the front to make it seem that he led them to victory.

This is his 7th State of the Union speeches. In every single one he has talked about reducing our dependance on forien oil and working towards renewable energy. What makes you think that this time is different?

 

[EmperorKupcake]

The media focuses on his mistakes, yes. But what else is their to focus on? BTW, just because he admitted he made a mistake does not make every thing okay. I'm dissapointed that you would change your opinion of him so easily after him telling you what you want to hear.

Well, of course thats not going to make things better. But its making the best of a bad situation. None of us have realized how he has guided the economy to boost back up after the big drop from the war. Probably because the media is filling up the papers with what the people want to hear, how stupid Bush is. I mean, its fair to say that most media is going to be biased. So, you have to hear explanations from both sides. Now that I've heard Bush's explanation, as well as the media's explanation, its fair to say that yes, Bush made a huge mistake. But, we're recovering from it and making the best of a bad situation.

This is his 7th State of the Union speeches. In every single one he has talked about reducing our dependance on forien oil and working towards renewable energy. What makes you think that this time is different?

Well, Bush is starting to get a lot more specific with his plans, so he has definently started imposing policies concerning oil and alternate energy. And besides, I don't think he has really talked a lot about oil until last year. Since then, we've been doing a lot, as America, to cut down on it. If you take a look at statistics, you'd notice that support for gas guzzlers is going way down. There are many, many things that indicate that we're preparing for an alternate energy switch, and the policies that Bush is starting to enact will definently help.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm still not too crazy about Bush. I just no longer want him to die.

 

[White2000GT]

Umm.. support for gas guzzlers is going down because oil prices have been so high. I mean, how many people can really afford to spend $80 every week or two for gas? Think about it, a man who gained his wealth from the oil industry is trying to cut down on America's dependence on oil? Shenanigans!
And that "we need to cut down our CO2 emmissions" crap... Al Gore has been preaching that for years. You remember who Gore is right? He's the man that was supposed to have been our President 6 years ago.
While I will agree with the fact that not everything Bush has done has been bad, you can't deny the amount of damage he's already done that can not be undone.
A Democratic government in Iraq you say? Yeah, it's a great idea, But guess what? They will still hate us! They will still blame all their problems on us. They will still chant "Death to America!" It doesn't matter what kind of government is set in place there.
I'm in agreeance with Tim on his end-around statement. He's doing everything he can in his last two years to try and make up for the shit job he did in his first 6.

 

[alleycat]

Must be a pre-requisite to be a democrat to be on this forum eh?

 

[OUZBnd]

Cutting on oil? Yeah, right. Do you realize our govt. has had the technology to introduce hydrogen fuel cell energy for over 10 years? What have they done with that information? Nothing. You know why? Because the govt is backed by oil company's, and they dont want to bite the hand that feeds them. Understandable, perhaps. But it certainly does not support his plan to "cut oil usage"

 

[White2000GT]

^^^ Exactly.

 

[Sneakiecat]

Cutting on oil? Yeah, right. Do you realize our govt. has had the technology to introduce hydrogen fuel cell energy for over 10 years? What have they done with that information? Nothing. You know why? Because the govt is backed by oil company's, and they dont want to bite the hand that feeds them. Understandable, perhaps. But it certainly does not support his plan to "cut oil usage"

They may have had the technology to introduce it but that doesn't mean that the cost of it made it practical.

 

[EmperorKupcake]

Umm.. support for gas guzzlers is going down because oil prices have been so high. I mean, how many people can really afford to spend $80 every week or two for gas? Think about it, a man who gained his wealth from the oil industry is trying to cut down on America's dependence on oil? Shenanigans!
And that "we need to cut down our CO2 emmissions" crap... Al Gore has been preaching that for years. You remember who Gore is right? He's the man that was supposed to have been our President 6 years ago.
While I will agree with the fact that not everything Bush has done has been bad, you can't deny the amount of damage he's already done that can not be undone.
A Democratic government in Iraq you say? Yeah, it's a great idea, But guess what? They will still hate us! They will still blame all their problems on us. They will still chant "Death to America!" It doesn't matter what kind of government is set in place there.
I'm in agreeance with Tim on his end-around statement. He's doing everything he can in his last two years to try and make up for the shit job he did in his first 6.

Well, lets put it this way. Consumers buying SUV's is in a drastic decline, but when you have several hundred million Americans pumping away at the stations, your still going to have rediculous price increases. Plus, there are still many, many SUV's on the road. Just because people are buying SUV's less doesn't mean that the current SUV owners aren't going to take their toll on gas prices.
Besides, GW is smart enough to realize that he needs to pull off some tricks to get redeem his image and legacy.
About CO2, I realize that the Dems were ragging on about them since the beginning of the theory. But its progress, and should be noted.
And yes, he's establishing a Democratic government in Iraq. But what I don't understand is why people say that they hate us when millions voted in their previous election. The only people who hate us are the extremists. Of course lots of people hate us, those people are the loonies setting up booby traps and making our troops die in explosions.
Besides, its either admit defeat now, or give ourselves a fighting chance and maybe get something out of it. I'm not saying that the war in Iraq was a good idea, but we have no choice but to keep our men in there.

Cutting on oil? Yeah, right. Do you realize our govt. has had the technology to introduce hydrogen fuel cell energy for over 10 years? What have they done with that information? Nothing. You know why? Because the govt is backed by oil company's, and they dont want to bite the hand that feeds them. Understandable, perhaps. But it certainly does not support his plan to "cut oil usage"

Well, considering that Bush said that he would start working on a plan next week to cut gas usage by 20%, I would think he's pretty serious about it. I know he's a politician, but come on. Besides, its starting to get to the point where oil isn't exactly the best thing for our economy when there could be thousands of Ameircan farmers making potential fuel, instead of importing it from our enemies. If we can mass produce ethanol for usage among the American people, our economy would skyrocket. Bush knows that, congress knows that.

 

[OUZBnd]

They may have had the technology to introduce it but that doesn't mean that the cost of it made it practical.

Indeed. But anyone who knows anything about technology knows that it takes time and money to make it work. Look at all the billions of $$ we are spending to go to mars., what if we invested a mere percentage of that to evolve the technology of fuel cells that is already there?

 

[OUZBnd]

Well, considering that Bush said that he would start working on a plan next week to cut gas usage by 20%, I would think he's pretty serious about it. I know he's a politician, but come on. Besides, its starting to get to the point where oil isn't exactly the best thing for our economy when there could be thousands of Ameircan farmers making potential fuel, instead of importing it from our enemies. If we can mass produce ethanol for usage among the American people, our economy would skyrocket. Bush knows that, congress knows that.

You think ethonol is going to save our economy? Thats a joke. You know why? Because Brazillian farmers will be able to produce it cheaper, and year round. Not to mention the price of produce/grain/etc will sky rocket because of demand. So now we've just switched our dependence on oil to a depence of brazil to produce cheap ethonol. I'm not saying what the correct solution is, but you must look at the big picture before making assumtions.

 

[Sneakiecat]

I agree that it won't start to cost less until money is invested into. Maybe I misunderstood you, but it sounded like you mean that the government his holding onto this super cheap technology that's been super cheap for awhile and not that the teachnology's there and no one's done anything with it.

Didn't you know were going to colonize Mars so we have a place to live in a hundred years?

 

[EmperorKupcake]

You think ethonol is going to save our economy? Thats a joke. You know why? Because Brazillian farmers will be able to produce it cheaper, and year round. Not to mention the price of produce/grain/etc will sky rocket because of demand. So now we've just switched our dependence on oil to a depence of brazil to produce cheap ethonol. I'm not saying what the correct solution is, but you must look at the big picture before making assumtions.

Well, you should understand that the US can, and has, slapped a tarriff on Brazilian Ethanol. So, companies would be pretty much forced to buy American Ethanol just because of how rediculously priced Brazilian Ethanol would be.

 

[Homer]

and meanwhile we have 10 mil illegal alians and more coming every day that will put even more cars on the road cars/trucks that should have been junked , and where do all these people live in the future who will heat their homes more resourses taken away from our legal familys, will ther be no more woods for our kids to see/play i'm sorry but i am truly afraid of what the future holds for us , all i see /hear are lies any more, they say what they think you want to hear and thats it , it's forgotten.

 

[OUZBnd]

Well, you should understand that the US can, and has, slapped a tarriff on Brazilian Ethanol. So, companies would be pretty much forced to buy American Ethanol just because of how rediculously priced Brazilian Ethanol would be.

Righhtttt.... the same way we force companies like walmart to sell American made products rather than those made in thialand by children. Wishfull thinking, huh?

 

[OUZBnd]

Not to mention, for American made corn ethanol you barely get more energy out than what it takes to produce it. For every 1 unit of energy to produce it, you only get 1.3 units of energy out. With brazillian sugar cane ethanol for every 1 unit in, you get 8 out. Now tell me how we can compete with that?

 

[EmperorKupcake]

Righhtttt.... the same way we force companies like walmart to sell American made products rather than those made in thialand by children. Wishfull thinking, huh?

Well, you have to understand the different types of taxes. I'm no economic professor, but... There are a couple different types of foreign taxes. There are those that are meant to prevent people from buying the product at all, to protect the local American companies. Then there are the taxes that the government imposes on imported goods to make huge profits. Now, these are not only imported goods, but some common American products. Take cigarrettes, for example. The US government taxes the hell out of them, because people are addicted and are willing to pay such a high price, and the gov't is making rediculous money off it. Now, Asian good being imported are pretty similar. We are very dependant on imports, from Asia particularly. So, we can't tax everything from Asia to hell, but we can grab some of the profits. Taxing Asian goods in this way is actually doing better for our economy than promising jobs for Americans is (for the most part).