LIVEBLOG: State of the Union speech with Brandon Q. White

[Ed. note: Brandon wasn't able to make it in to the group chat this evening; here are his perspectives and observations of this evening's speech.  Compare them to those of the group chat post; did we have similar thoughts, in spite of our physical distance and our other personal attributes?  What did Brandon note that we did not?]

9:18 — Health care more affordable for all Americans. See SCHIP.

9:19 — Expanding consumer choice for health care not government control. Bush again pushes for health savings accounts. More privatization.

9:20 — Education – Bush touts NCLB and all-time high scores for blacks and Hispanics on standardized tests. NCLB unfunded mandate.

9:21 — $300 Pell grants for kids to help poor kids be liberated from under-performing schools.

9:22 — Economic growth depends on our ability to sell over the world. Free trade is king, more trade agreements.

9:24 — Colombian trade deal is key and we must defeat proponents of false populism. (What is true populism?)

9:24 — Trade can be bad and government has responsibility to help by reauthorizing trade adjustment assistance to find new jobs. (Like at Wal-mart…)

9:26 — Reduce dependence on foreign oil and we must reduce consumption. We need coal power that captures carbon emissions. We need an international agreement to reverse greenhouse gases. This agreement is effective only if India and China are tied to the same standards as us. I will never support Kyoto.

9:28 — More funding for physical science research.

9:29 — In November, using skin cells like embryonic stem cells shows that I was right…You can have your cake and eat it too. We must ensure all life has dignity.

9:29 — In matters of justice, the constitution is king and Congress better confirm my judges

9:31 — Record number of volunteers in America. More volunteers mean less government.

9:32 — In April, we will never forget Katrina.

9:32 — We need to address entitlement spending. My reform is privatization and Congress is bringing nothing new to the table.

9:33 — Immigration – we need strong borders and we stopped catch and release. More doubling of federal INS agents. We need to make it easier for people to work here. What can brown do for us?

9:35 — People everywhere love freedom, even if they don’t know it. They hate us because we are free. We are spreading hope everywhere. Afghanistan is a young democracy on the rise and people have hope. We are adding 3,000 marines to Afghanistan because things if Afghanistan are soooooo great.

9:39 — In Iraq, terrorists hate freedom. Last year, we changed course and launched…..the surge. Something changed after the surge….there were more troops. There are improvements in daily life in Iraq, I just won’t describe what they are because the terrorists will do everything they can to sabotage our efforts. There is a grassroots Iraqi surge against the terrorists. There are 100,000 Iraqi soldiers since last year but the troops have to stay. Violence is down from last year all due to the surge. Al Qaeda is searching for safe haven in Iraq so they found home in Pakistan.

Al-qaeda is on the run in Iraq….like the Energizer Bunny. They keep going and going and going and going.

Last year, troop levels were on the rise but now we have a policy of return home on success. We are reducing troops but not really.

To the soldiers, we make you a pledge you will have all you need to protect our nation. Don’t dare think about touching military funding. If you don’t fund the war, you don’t support the troops, plain and simple.

9:47 — 20,000 American troops are coming home this year. I really hate to do this but it sounds good. Petraeus said we can’t really do a quick draw down and I won’t allow it.

9:48 Iraq is really making political progress. Reconciliation is taking place and Iraqis are taking control of their future. The mission in Iraq is difficult. (What is the mission in Iraq?)

9:50 — A failed Iraq would strengthen Iran. (As if high oil prices don’t strengthen Iran already). We will fight until the (undefined) enemy is defeated. We have to do the dirty work now before it gets really worse

9:51 — Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas is the only person we can deal with. Israeli really wants a two-state solution. Palestinian state will happen by the end of this year.

9:52 — Tehran, Iran: Iranian leaders hate freedom. Tehran is enriching uranium, which could lead to nuclear weapons. We love the Iranian people, but not the leaders. America will defend our interests in the Gulf, by any means necessary.

9:54 — There have been no attacks since 9/11, thanks to my bold actions.

9:55 — We must allow Big Brother to monitor communications. Lay off the telecom industry for helping with surveillance. We need conditions that create anger towards America….(like our foreign policy) so as a result, we oppose genocide in Sudan, Burma, Belarus, and Cuba. Fully fund the Millennium Challenge Account.

9:59 — Please approve $30 billion for AIDS relief around the world.

10:00 — More hiring preferences for families of veterans. (You mean like affirmative action?)

10:02 — We have to trust the people.

God Bless America.