Do Rising Tides Float All Boats? A #SOTU Review.

So I reached 15,000 tweets. Time for some political talk.

Last night, President Obama addressed the nation regarding the State of The Union. I've only started paying attention to these when I reached voting age, even though my pops made me watch them religiously when I was a child. He was a tyrant, usually something awesome would be on at the same time, and I'd be missing it, then I'd be left out of the conversations the next day at school.

Sadface.

I never watch the State of The Union when everyone else does. I'm visual, I need to see the words, so I wait on the transcript to come out and then read it while I listen. Yes, I'm weird, but we are supposed to appreciate all differences in Obama's America, my friends.

But, before I begin, shoutout to Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Homegirl got shot in the head by a domestic terrorist in 2011, and is well on the way to recovering. She's recently decided to step down from her position as a Congressional representative in order to focus on her recovery. Godspeed to her.

President Obama looks like he wanted to bring some heat in this address, and looking at the ire he's rankled among his opposition, he brought it.

"I intend to fight obstruction with action," the President said, "and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place."

Swag. President Obama laid down a solid address, built upon a foundation of patriotism and keeping the momentum that was ramping up at the end of 2011. What really drew the most vitriol from his dissenters (mostly republican) is the mere mention of the dreaded Buffett Rule, a tax plan that would raise the minimum tax rate on earned income for the top 1% of earners in America. He drew on tried and true populist and patriotic rhetoric to call for a return to core American values, with an emphasis on American workers, manufacturing, keeping American industry in America, and homegrown, clean energy.

Balanced Budget Amendment say whaaaat?

I remember coming across the above video during my undergraduate studies. It changed the way I thought about personal finance, and cause me to seriously rethink my entire approach to money. This was in direct contrast to how my mother ran our household, which was by shuffling money and bill due dates until they could all be paid. Bills were sometimes deliquent, and other times they were paid in full, but the type of financial management system that my mother employed could be called a deficit spending model. When I developed an interest in public policy and government, I wondered often why the federal govenment couldn't just pay off our debt and put the country on a "lean times" economic plan until we were able to afford all of our pressing national expenditures. Now I know why we can't.

Should there be a Presidential Black Agenda?

Brehs, times are hard.

If you're anything like me, you've probably been unemployed for at least a little bit during the past few years. President Obama takes a lot of heat regarding the economy, some of it fair (his extension of the Bush Tax Cuts) and some of it unfair (inheriting one of the worst economies in U.S. history).