Republican Response to the 2010 State of the Union

The following is the Republican response to the 2010 State of the Union address by Barack Obama, delivered by Bob McDonnell, Governor of Virginia:


Good evening. I'm Bob McDonnell. Eleven days ago I was honored to be sworn in as the 71st governor of Virginia.

I'm standing in the historic House Chamber of Virginia's Capitol, a building designed by Virginia's second governor, Thomas Jefferson.

It’s not easy to follow the President of the United States. And my twin 18-year old boys have added to the pressure, by giving me exactly ten minutes to finish before they leave to go watch SportsCenter.

I'm joined by fellow Virginians to share a Republican perspective on how to best address the challenges facing our nation today.

We were encouraged to hear President Obama speak this evening about the need to create jobs.

All Americans should have the opportunity to find and keep meaningful work, and the dignity that comes with it.

Many of us here, and many of you watching, have family or friends who have lost their jobs.

1 in 10 American workers is unemployed. That is unacceptable.

Here in Virginia we have faced our highest unemployment rate in more than 25 years, and bringing new jobs and more opportunities to our citizens is the top priority of my administration.

Good government policy should spur economic growth, and strengthen the private sector’s ability to create new jobs.

We must enact policies that promote entrepreneurship and innovation, so America can better compete with the world.

What government should not do is pile on more taxation, regulation, and litigation that kill jobs and hurt the middle class.

It was Thomas Jefferson who called for "A wise and frugal Government which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry ….and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned…" He was right.

Today, the federal government is simply trying to do too much.

Last year, we were told that massive new federal spending would create more jobs 'immediately' and hold unemployment below 8%.

In the past year, over three million Americans have lost their jobs, yet the Democratic Congress continues deficit spending, adding to the bureaucracy, and increasing the national debt on our children and grandchildren.

The amount of this debt is on pace to double in five years, and triple in ten. The federal debt is already over $100,000 per household.

This is simply unsustainable. The President's partial freeze on discretionary spending is a laudable step, but a small one.

The circumstances of our time demand that we reconsider and restore the proper, limited role of government at every level.

Without reform, the excessive growth of government threatens our very liberty and prosperity.

In recent months, the American people have made clear that they want government leaders to listen and act on the issues most important to them.

We want results, not rhetoric. We want cooperation, not partisanship.

There is much common ground.

All Americans agree, we need a health care system that is affordable, accessible, and high quality.

But most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government.

Republicans in Congress have offered legislation to reform healthcare, without shifting Medicaid costs to the states, without cutting Medicare, and without raising your taxes.

We will do that by implementing common sense reforms, like letting families and businesses buy health insurance policies across state lines, and ending frivolous lawsuits against doctors and hospitals that drive up the cost of your healthcare.

And our solutions aren't thousand-page bills that no one has fully read, after being crafted behind closed doors with special interests.

In fact, many of our proposals are available online at solutions.gop.gov, and we welcome your ideas on Facebook and Twitter.

All Americans agree, this nation must become more energy independent and secure.

We are blessed here in America with vast natural resources, and we must use them all.

Advances in technology can unleash more natural gas, nuclear, wind, coal, and alternative energy to lower your utility bills.

Here in Virginia, we have the opportunity to be the first state on the East Coast to explore for and produce oil and natural gas offshore.

But this Administration’s policies are delaying offshore production, hindering nuclear energy expansion, and seeking to impose job-killing cap and trade energy taxes.

Now is the time to adopt innovative energy policies that create jobs and lower energy prices.

All Americans agree, that a young person needs a world-class education to compete in the global economy. As a kid my dad told me, "Son, to get a good job, you need a good education." That’s even more true today.

The President and I agree on expanding the number of high-quality charter schools, and rewarding teachers for excellent performance. More school choices for parents and students mean more accountability and greater achievement.

A child's educational opportunity should be determined by her intellect and work ethic, not by her zip code.

All Americans agree, we must maintain a strong national defense. The courage and success of our Armed Forces is allowing us to draw down troop levels in Iraq as that government is increasingly able to step up. My oldest daughter, Jeanine, was an Army platoon leader in Iraq, so I'm personally grateful for the service and the sacrifice of all of our men and women in uniform, and a grateful nation thanks them.

We applaud President Obama's decision to deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. We agree that victory there is a national security imperative. But we have serious concerns over recent steps the Administration has taken regarding suspected terrorists.

Americans were shocked on Christmas Day to learn of the attempted bombing of a flight to Detroit. This foreign terror suspect was given the same legal rights as a U.S. citizen, and immediately stopped providing critical intelligence.

As Senator-elect Scott Brown says, we should be spending taxpayer dollars to defeat terrorists, not to protect them.

Here at home government must help foster a society in which all our people can use their God-given talents in liberty to pursue the American Dream. Republicans know that government cannot guarantee individual outcomes, but we strongly believe that it must guarantee equality of opportunity for all.

That opportunity exists best in a democracy which promotes free enterprise, economic growth, strong families, and individual achievement.

Many Americans are concerned about this Administration's efforts to exert greater control over car companies, banks, energy and health care.

Over-regulating employers won’t create more employment; overtaxing investors won’t foster more investment.

Top-down one-size fits all decision making should not replace the personal choices of free people in a free market, nor undermine the proper role of state and local governments in our system of federalism. As our Founders clearly stated, and we Governors understand, government closest to the people governs best.

And no government program can replace the actions of caring Americans freely choosing to help one another. The Scriptures say "To whom much is given, much will be required." As the most generous and prosperous nation on Earth, it is heartwarming to see Americans giving much time and money to the people of Haiti. Thank you for your ongoing compassion.

Some people are afraid that America is no longer the great land of promise that she has always been. They should not be.

America will always blaze the trail of opportunity and prosperity.

America must always be a land where liberty and property are valued and respected, and innocent human life is protected.

Government should have this clear goal: Where opportunity is absent, we must create it. Where opportunity is limited, we must expand it. Where opportunity is unequal, we must make it open to everyone.

Our Founders pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to create this nation.

Now, we should pledge as Democrats, Republicans and Independents--Americans all---to work together to leave this nation a better place than we found it.

God Bless you, and God Bless our great nation.

Obamacare :-(

Well, I guess when one takes out more money in the first month of his presidency than if you spent a million dollars a day since the BIRTH OF CHRIST (819 BILLION DOLLARS), what's 1.2 trillion more? Thanks, Obama. My unborn great great great great grandchildren will be forever in your debt. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/07/health.care/index.html

Reason # 2118329 Why I Love Teaching...

In class today, we were discussing ethnic groups and how one can want to get rid of another, specifically the Hutus and Tutsis, and the Germans wanting to get rid of the Jews during the Holocaust. I was explaining how the Germans had gone into a downward economic spiral before Hitler came to power, and he was a great speaker who inspired the people with great speehes that didn't really have substance. One student goes "Like Obama?" I asked him why he said that. He said "This 'Yes we can' thing? Yes we can what? He doesn't have anything real to say!" I ♥ them!! :-) I didn't prompt them at all and I thanked him for his input, and, even though I wanted to give him a high five, I held back and continued on.

Thanks for the reminder that I had this, Jess!

Wow, brain fart to the extreme!

I totally forgot about this blog until I read a nudge from Jess, urging me to update or be taken off her blog roll. Haha whoops.

School is going great. I love the people I work with. They are so supportive and friendly. The kids are really fun and keep me on my toes! One of the kids wrote this today, in a response for "Some Rules for Life:" "Don't believe in lies or superstitions like that exposing yourself to loads of radiation will give you superpowers. It won't. It will just leave you dead." I laughed.

In other, sadder news: Colin and I are no longer together. I am at a place in my life where I want to start the process of settling down: I have a house, a great job, and my life in front of me. We were together 3 weeks shy of two years, and he had no real idea of what he wanted. I told him that he needed to get all of his stuff in order and make an end goal with his family (what they'll do about the house, where his mom will end up, etc) before I'd consider a relationship with him again. I had been begging him to do exactly that for the past 7 months. I guess this was the kick in the ass he needed, because he's applied to relief programs and for refinancing. I'll keep my fingers crossed for him. Even if we're not meant to be together, it's imperative he get his stuff in order for HIMSELF. We still talk a lot and we're friends. I am hoping for the best.

Mom comes down in a couple of weeks while Dad's at the National Fire Academy. She'll be working on the house and painting (exactly what she wanted to do! No joke!) and I wasn't about to turn that offer down!

Everything else is going well in life. I'm working on getting things back on track in my personal life. Hope all is well with you!

I'll write more (I PROMISE, Jess ;-) ) soon.

Closing of a chapter

Yesterday, I finished my first year of teaching.

It was a milestone that at times seemed beyond reach, and at other times was coming too fast. I enjoyed my year on the whole. Sure, there were things I would have done differently and I made a few rookie mistakes, but that comes with the territory.

I'm looking forward to writing a new chapter in my career as a teacher next year. I'll be teaching on an honors/gifted team and my subjects will be language arts, reading, and geography. Could a curriculum be more tailor-made for me? I'm also looking forward to reducing my daily commute by 60 miles! (aka 300 a week, 1200 a month, or 12,000 for the entire 199-day working school year. HOLY CRAP...12,000 mile reduction!! Life is good!)

To celebrate my first day of summer, I slept in till 1o, worked on a superdupersecret craft project (I'll reveal details soon), and took it easy. I'm going to the beach in a little while to take some pictures that will hopefully make for some decoration at the townhouse. Since we're going with a beach theme, I'm going to head out to St. Pete Beach and see what I can find.

I'm looking forward to riding down there with my windows down, listening to some relaxing music, and just savoring life. This summer is going to be a quick one, full of awesome trips to Texas and Alaska, so I better get to taking advantage of it now.

School

I am soooo done with this year. The kids are going crazy, and they're suspending the worst kids so they're out for the rest of the year.


....what's that I hear in the distance?


Oh yeah, my new school calling my name.

Hmmm.....

Today, President Obama nominated a new Supreme Court justice. He picked a woman, Sonia Sotomayor from New York, as a replacement for Justice David Souter. I was at first very excited, because, even though I tend to be unapologetically conservative in my views, I really get excited when I see women advance in high ranks of power, especially when the promotions are deserved and not the result (direct or not) of affirmative action.

As I was browsing the blogs and the talking heads' commentary today, a story about a Sotomayor ruling caught my eye. If you have had any extended conversation with me, among many things, you'll know my dad is a professional firefighter. I will fiercely defend firefighters and police officers, among other civil servants, as that is how I was brought up. You'll also know that I was born and raised in Connecticut. To my surprise, I found an article referencing Sotomayor, firefighting, and Connecticut at once! However, my excitement turned to frustration as I read on, and Sotomayor's shine severely tarnished in my eyes.

A while back, the New Haven, Connecticut Fire Department administered an exam for promoting firefighters to the ranks of lieutenant and captain. Of those who took the exam, no blacks and only two Hispanics passed. The city of New Haven threw out the exam because it was "obviously" unfair. Insert eye roll here.

Firefighter Frank Ricci brought a lawsuit against the city of New Haven citing discrimination. It was thrown out, and Sotomayor was part of a three judge panel that upheld the decision. The following is a more concise version of what happened, by Katie Connolly on a Newsweek blog.

"The New Haven firefighter case is one of the most controversial rulings in Sotomayor's record, and one that will no doubt be a prime source of criticism from conservatives. The case, Ricci vs. DeStefano, was brought by Frank Ricci and a group of his firefighting colleagues (all non-black including one Hispanic man). The men were denied promotion after an examination to determine their eligibility to move up yielded no successful black candidates. As a result, the New Haven authority decided to discard the exam results and grant no promotions. Ricci and his colleagues argued they'd been discriminated against, but their case was dismissed. Sotomayor was part of a three judge panel on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals who upheld the dismissal. The case is currently pending before the Supreme Court. It raised considerable ire, sparking affirmative action debates."

Frankly, I was outraged at this ruling, and I remember reading online news about it when it happened, as I still follow Connecticut news from time to time. I am a firm believer in the idea that the best person for the job should get the job. There should be NO consideration of race, gender, eye color, or sexual preference, (or favorite song, for that matter).

If your house was burning down, would you want the best of the best firefighters out there, who obviously are well-educated and versed in firefighting to come help, or just the most diverse group?

Do you want the best police officer coming to your defense when you're in danger, or is diversity the most important thing in a police department?

Does skin color (or gender for that matter) really matter in these situations!?

Would a lawsuit have even been considered if only 2 left handed people passed the exam? How about if only a few blue eyed people passed? Would you care at all? Would it be an issue?

No, no, no, and no.

The people who knew their stuff passed the exam. Should they be penalized for studying their asses off and passing their exam? How would you feel in their shoes? What example does that set for their kids? "Well, kids, you can study, do your best, pass the test, and yet you still won't get what you deserve, because of your skin color/gender/insert-anything-else-here."

What worries me about Sotomayor is that she sided against firefighters and potentially took the safety of the people of New Haven and threw it out the window by saying the most qualified candidates for lieutenant and captain ranks in the New Haven Fire Department weren't deserving.

It scares me what she may decide for the law our country.