"It was an implicit acknowledgement of the ways in which the political discourse can stray from the factual path."

Don't you really mean that the corporate media will continue to perform their role as 'echo chamber' and 'amplifier' for rethug lies?

As an Obama supporter, I hate to point this out, but the tax paragraph Steve cites is a little less than straightforward.

The President uses $250,000 in one sentence, then uses 95% in the next. The average listener is going to see them as the same when actually the cut off point on a tax CUT is about $170,000 of joint income, I believe.

It was a very defensive speech. He seemed to wither under the threat of criticism. Perhaps too sensitive to the possibility of an honest debate.

/snark

howie - I'm missing your argument. Without trying to verify your numbers, is it possible that $250K represents the top 2% and 170K represents 95% with 3% falling in between? That perhaps 3% get neither a tax cut nor an increase? I'm not challenging you. I'm just not sure where the conflict is.

I worked hard and bought only as much bubble chamber as I could afford to live in. Why am I being punished for others who were less disciplined?

Yeah, Obama is good with that. I know he can write plenty on his own, but is there a particular speech writer/advisor who sharpens up the arguments?

Dear America,

That sizzling sound you're hearing from your radio this morning?

The noise that sounds like a slab of bacon in a hot skillet?

Rumor has it that some life-long Republicans just fried Rush Limbaugh in effigy....

dead weight mike - I hear ya' darlin'. As your neighborhood becomes more and more like a ghetto, you're gonna need all the bubble you can get. Thankfully, people like you and me don't mind paying off our three hundred dollar homes, since those boarded up houses that surround us give us plenty of privacy.

Let's see over the next week how many repunks go on the talking bobble head shows as opposed to how many democrats. I am not hopeful that we'll see anything different than we're accustomed to.

However, the silver lining is that despite the fact repunks outnumber democrats 2 to 1, Obama's approval rating has nopt dropped, AT ALL, expect with republican voters (like they really matter). That tells me that American's are finally able to discern the BS, and these 'news' shows are losing influence. God I hope so.

On the repunk response? Can you say more of the same? Tax cuts? It's as if Piyush did not even read or watch Obama's speech. There was a tremendous disconnect there. Um, Piyush, I hate to burst your bubble there, but Obama already made all the points you discussed in the speech RIGHT BEFORE YOU CAME ON. Please.

One other observation. Jindal and the rest (I'm thinking Steele) have as of late turned to a 'we broke your trust mantra'. They are the resoundingly rebuking the Bu$h years (so soon? lol), but fail to acknowledge the fact they (rubber stamp congress) SENT Bu$h these miserable failures of legislation, not the other way around.

deadweightmike,

How are you being punished?

My 401K is being punished as a result of 8 years of George W. Bush.

With every passing moment, and every defining statement coming from the Obama Administration, (whether the masterful speech last night, or the professorial moment in the WH press room with leaders of all stripes), the media personalities who have ranted unchecked for so long are becoming so irrelevant to our nation's future. What joy! -Kevo

Yeah, Obama is good with that. I know he can write plenty on his own, but is there a particular speech writer/advisor who sharpens up the arguments? --Neil B.

Do you ever read, watch or listen to the news? Have you ever heard of Google?

Just flesh wounds...

King Arthur versus the Black Knight

At the end...
Jindal threatening to bite Barack's legs off.

citizen_pain - that's not what I heard from Jindal's speech. The thrust was "it's those other republicans that broke your trust". I've never heard a single republican yet do a collective mea culpa and take the blame for the last 8 years. Jindal moved from the "the last 8 years were great" stance, but he's still doing the "they were republicans, and we're republicans, but it's their fault (and the democrats) not ours" dance.

Does anyone remember a president signing so many autographs after a speech like that? I expect it during campaigns and whatnot, but not used to seeing it with congressmen. And the pages/interns were even going nuts, I don't remember that before either.
My only criticism--I think Pelosi went overboard with the standing ovations, although I understand her happiness after the past eight years.

RE: the mortgage bailout

Most people in the country live in areas where housing values have only dropped a few percent. I am guessing Deadweight Mike lives in one of these areas.

There are other parts of the country - FL AZ, southern CA where housing values have dropped >30% and will probably drop another 10-20%. This is not the fault of the people who bought there. If Mike's house was suddenly worth 30-50% less than it was 2 yrs ago he'd be asking for a bailout too.

The foreclosures cause property values to continue to fall and also make the banks holding those mortgages/properties that much more insolvent and bank insolvency is at the core of the economic problem.

The benefits of the mortgage bailout extend well beyond the people who get the help.

Danp,

Your read on that paragraph is exactly what it says. There are, apparently, about 3% whose tax bills remain the same.

I'm just saying that the positioning of the information was such as to blur that a little.

I've been listening to friends, neighbors, talk show hosts and even my wife get the $250,000 and top 5% confused.

howie - thanks.

enough ...already:
OK, yes we can and I should have, find Jon Favreau, chief speechwriter for Barack Obama (at least during the campaign) who leads or led a team of two other young speechwriters: 26-year-old Adam Frankel, who worked with John F. Kennedy’s adviser and speechwriter Theodore C. Sorensen on his memoirs, and Ben Rhodes, who, at 30, calls himself the “elder statesman� of the group and who helped write the Iraq Study Group report as an assistant to Lee H. Hamilton.

Fine. I thought maybe someone in particular had the knack for preemptive arguments or whatever. It isn't obvious from just a list of writers (and other people put in content input, the writer's job focuses mainly on finessing the wording, true?) Calm down.

>"Obama was speaking right past the lawmakers in the room, and effectively telling the public"

Exactly what Obama needs to do... there will be 'real change' only when the american people are finally roused from their stupor.

I think certain elements of the political control apparatus are shaking in their boots.

Obama spoke right past the pundits and straight to the American people, as you said. He managed to accomplish this without telling anyone that he might not answer the questions as asked, because he was just goin' to speak right to real America. Take that Sarah Palin.

We might hear that government is bad and should just get out of the way

And we did, when Jindal spoke.

When Jindal was young, he loved the character Bobby Brady of "The Brady Bunch". So, much so, he had his name changed to Bobby. A Wiki article says BB was a whimsical dreamer. Once, dreamed of becoming a race car driver and when his dream was fulfilled, immediately, crashed. Appears to be the legacy of Guv Jindal.

Excellent and perceptive post. Another pre-emptive formulation that Obama used last night (and has used at other times) is referring to financial re-regulation as creating fair "rules of the road." This is a great metaphor because it reminds people of the fact that sensible regulations enhance safety for everyone. Who can argue with having STOP signs at dangerous intersections? The metaphor makes it harder for libertarians and Wall Street types to complain that regulations "destroy freedom," stifle markets, etc.

We might hear that Obama is selling the old folk down the river--which he is--with his wonderful savings accounts in lieu of social security. Savings account interest rates haven't varied in fifty years. What an improvement over Bush's investment of the funds in the stock market! More of same!

I think people are finally starting to appreciate just how skillful Obama and his team are in making what's left of the Republicans look like the buffoons they really are.

They just aren't able to grasp that their day is done and the more they try to re-create the past with their endless drivel the more quickly they'll disappear from the scene like the dinosaurs that preceeded them into extinction.