State of Union etc.

Although I have yet to find even one person who watched all or even most of President Biden’s recent (two months late) State of the Union address, I did take the time to read the transcript and various analyses.

The speech will be known for four salient characteristics.

1.    Extensive bashing of his 2024 Presidential opponent in a setting where rarely if ever does the President mention an opponent.

2.    A disturbing absence of concrete policy initiatives, which Biden plans to implement in this last year of his term.

3.    Too many to count examples of duplicitous achievement claims.  So much so that many listeners wondered what country he was talking about.

4.    Dems were ecstatic that he didn’t fall asleep, showed some energy and didn’t need help getting off the stage.

Here is a summary analysis.

*His speech included misleading claims on inflation, crime, clean energy investments, wages and other subjects.

In his final State of the Union address prior to the November general election, President Joe Biden focused on Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, the economy, reproductive rights, prescription drug costs and border security. Biden also criticized many of the policies of “my predecessor” — without naming former President Donald Trump. But he sometimes stretched the facts or left out important context.

• Biden boasted that under his leadership “wages keep going up.” But over the entirety of Biden’s presidency, wages are down when adjusted for inflation.

• Biden claimed that the more recent U.S. inflation rate of about 3% is the “lowest in the world!” But several nations reported lower rates than the U.S. in December.

• He again claimed to have “cut the federal deficit by over $1 trillion” — although declining deficits have mostly been the result of expiring emergency pandemic spending.

• Biden said he had created a “record” 15 million new jobs. His 14.8 million new jobs is a record for any president in the first three years, but it’s not the highest job growth rate that any president has achieved in that period of time.  Most importantly, results do not reflect the abnormal loss in jobs due to COVID.

• He suggested that “many” of the new jobs in U.S. semiconductor factories will be “paying $100,000 a year and don’t require a college degree.” But an industry trade group previously reported that only workers with bachelor’s or graduate degrees make that much.

• Biden said that, “My policies have attracted $650 billion in private sector investment in clean energy [and] advanced manufacturing.” Those are announcements about intentions to invest, not actual investments.

• Biden highlighted recent decreases in murder and violent crime rates, but neglected to mention that they are still coming down from their pandemic peak.

• Biden omitted context of a Trump comment following an Iowa school shooting.

• The president said billionaires pay an average federal tax rate of only 8.2%, but that’s a White House calculation that includes earnings on unsold stock as income.  There is no tax on stock until a capital gain is realized at time of sale.

• Biden said that because of the Affordable Care Act, over 100 million people can no longer be denied health insurance due to preexisting conditions. But pre-ACA, employer plans covered many of those people and couldn’t deny policies.

• Biden said he was “cutting our carbon emissions in half by 2030.” That’s the U.S. goal, relative to 2005 emissions, but studies suggest current policies will not reduce emissions by that much.

• Biden implied strongly that, thanks to his “predecessor” women’s rights to abortion have been denied.  NOT TRUE.  They are decided at the State level.

• 
  

Having accomplished all these wonderful things and with Mainstream including Social media in his pocket, I’m amazed his ratings are still lower than Jimmy Carter.

One pundit called the speech “a Kingdom of lies”.

*Source:

Factchecking Biden’s State of the Union

His speech included misleading claims on inflation, crime, clean energy investments, wages and other subjects.

By Robert Farley, D'Angelo Gore, Saranac Hale Spencer, Catalina Jaramillo, Kate Yandell, Jessica McDonald, Alan Jaffe, Eugene Kiely and Lori Robertson (3/8/24)

You too could live in a Sanctuary City

“New Yorkers losing battle against crime after Gov. Hochul dispatches National Guard …to NYC subway system.”

NYC Mayor Eric Adams and NY Gov. Kathy Hochul have stepped up enforcement efforts.” (Headline Fox News Website 3-14-24)

Another example of Meritocracy out the window

Rachael Rollins, the disgraced former U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts nominated by President Biden, has had her law license suspended less than a year after resigning from her position amid a lengthy DOJ investigation, court documents show.

According to Massachusetts Appellate Court records, Rollins — who was paraded as a rising "national leader" after Biden nominated her for U.S. attorney — had her license to practice law in the state suspended effective Feb. 20 due to the nonpayment of registration fees. 

Prior to the DOJ investigation that centered on her alleged unethical misconduct relating to political activities in favor of the Democrat Party, Rollins — the then-Suffolk County district attorney — was praised by liberal media outlets and Democrats in Congress over her approach to crime in the Boston area.

Headline - Colorado could become the first state to build separate prison units for transgender felons

Headline - AOC district neighborhood labeled 'Third World' as migrants clog streets and prostitutes overrun every block

The area in Squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district is being described as looking more like a Third World country as opposed to a thriving American neighborhood, as desperate migrants block up sidewalks selling food and shilling clothing items while prostitutes openly solicit sex from passersby — reportedly including teens. 

The neighborhoods of Corona, Jackson Heights and Elmhurst — a once-vibrant community in northwestern Queens — has now essentially deteriorated into a large flea market with trash overflowing on street corners, leading to unsavory and unhygienic conditions, as video obtained by Fox News Digital shows.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood’s main strip along Roosevelt Avenue has become so renowned for its prostitution that locals have nicknamed the area "the market of sweethearts," and viral online videos advise prospective johns on how to make use of sex workers' services there.

(You really ought to visit FN and see the videos.  Our Progressive leadership at work.  Now you know why I have trouble labeling what these idiots do as “progressive”.)

Hah – didn’t take long!!!!

US colleges bring back standardized testing after finding test-optional policies hurt minority students – ALL OVER the COUNTRY.  Idiots.

Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, UTexas and on it goes.

And here’s the results…

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows how the U.S. compares to other countries in educating students on math, reading, and science.

PISA tests 15-year-old students in math, reading, and science to assess whether a student can apply those skills outside the classroom.

The results found that U.S. students were behind in math compared to their counterparts in other countries, according to PISA. The results also showed a decline in reading.

The U.S. math results were the "lowest" they have ever been!

"We're falling further behind China and maybe even falling further behind Iran in some ways, which would be a disaster. But that's one of the problems," Bill Bennett said.

All results of Meritocracy being thrown out the window!  ONCE STANDARDS ARE TOSSED, THERE ARE NO SCORECARDS, NO ACCOUNTABILITY, NO CONSEQUENCES, NO MOTIVATION.  Shameful.  And the first lady is a teacher.