A lot of political analysts are now waiting for the topics to be discussed by Obama in his State of the Union Address 2010. These analysts say that Obama will definitely tackle about job generation o address the increasing unemployment rate among Americans. A lot of Americans wants to hear how Obama will address this in his 2010 State of the Union Address speech.
Some say that Obama’s Bank Fee plan seeking banks who received a huge bailout from the US government during the peak of recession needs to pay back the government around $90 Billion in banking fees and taxes. This move is aimed to prevent the recent recession from happening again.
Another possible agenda for the 2010 State of the Union Address is Healthcare reform bill. This plan by Obama was put into danger of not being approved by the Senate when Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senatorial Race against Martha Oakley.
One last agenda that can be possiby included in the State of the Union Address 2010 Speech by President Obama is about his recently proposed Spending Freeze in which the government will cut costs to trim down its growing budget deficit. This is slated to be presented on the upcoming Fiscal year 2011 budget discussions on February 1, 2010.
You can watch the State of the Union Address speech by Obama in all major TV networks as they will surely have a live coverage of it. Alternatively, you can also catch the live coverage of the 2010 State of the Union Address live online via video stream by visiting WhiteHouse.Gov
- Guest072311
- 01-27-2010, 09:13 PM
- Longermonger
- 01-27-2010, 09:30 PM
The part that jumped out at me was when he talked about line-by-line vetos after talking about the Big Freeze. How will Republicans get ANYTHING AT ALL over the next 3 years? They'll still be a minority after the 2010 elections and if they Waterloo HCR...they'll pay for over a thousand days. 
Hey did you check out the looks on the faces of the military brass when he mentioned gays in the military? lol Good stuff.
The SCOTUS looked a little miffed when he brought up their recent (shitty) ruling that'll allow big companies (including FOREIGN companies) to run unlimited amounts of political ads.
Hey did you check out the looks on the faces of the military brass when he mentioned gays in the military? lol Good stuff.
The SCOTUS looked a little miffed when he brought up their recent (shitty) ruling that'll allow big companies (including FOREIGN companies) to run unlimited amounts of political ads.
- Guest072311
- 01-27-2010, 09:52 PM
The White House Blog http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog
Putting Washington at the Service of the Middle Class
Posted by **** *******on January 27, 2010 at 10:23 PM EST
In his State of the Union Address tonight, the President laid out an agenda attempting to attack one problem from every conceivable angle: the terrible squeeze felt by America’s middle class. Fundamentally, that means prying government away from special interests and dedicating it to measures that put Americans to work and lay the foundation for a stronger economy for our country – lowering health care and tuition costs, spurring creation of the next generation of clean energy jobs. It also means putting a cop on the beat on Wall Street, so major banks can no longer take advantage of families and taxpayers.
To do all that, though, we need to change the way Washington works. Already the President has taken unprecedented steps in this direction, from releasing the names of all visitors to the White House for the first time ever to clamping down on the revolving door between government and lobbying. But as much progress was made on this front in this first year, it was still only the first year, and the President will keep pushing forward, whether that’s shining sunlight on any contact between lobbyists and the White House, or pushing Congress to disclose all earmark requests in one place for Americans to see.
This was the vision that shaped the President's address, but this is not just a matter of rhetoric. The President made clear that there is tremendously busy agenda ahead for his second year – the policies and proposals below are just examples of the plans the President laid out in his address to put government to work for the middle class.
Here are a few initiatives you might have missed in the course of the speech:
•The President called on the Senate to pass a financial reform package. “A strong, healthy financial market makes it possible for businesses to access credit and create new jobs. It channels the savings of families into investments that raise incomes. And that can only happen if we guard against the same recklessness that nearly brought down our entire economy.” Essential reforms include measures to protect consumers and investors from financial abuse; close loopholes, raise standards, and create accountability for supervision of major financial firms; restrict the size and scope of financial institutions to reign in excesses and protect taxpayers and address the ‘too big to fail’ problem; and establish comprehensive supervision of financial markets.
•A vision for a clean energy economy. “…to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, and more incentives.” We will build on the historic $80 billion investment made through the Recovery Act. The President’s vision includes investments in important technologies to diversity our energy sources and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, including: the renewal of our nation’s nuclear energy industry after a 30-year hiatus, cutting edge biofuel and clean coal technologies, and additional offshore oil and gas drilling. To fully transition to a clean energy economy and create millions of new American jobs, we must pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation to promote energy independence and address climate change.
•The President will continue his push to invest in the skills and education of our people. “This year, we have broken through the stalemate between left and right by launching a national competition to improve our schools. The idea here is simple: instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. In this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than their potential.” The Obama Administration supports a new vision for increasing student achievement, delivering opportunity, and supporting excellence in America’s public schools. The President’s 2011 budget supports a new framework for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that will foster innovation, reward excellence, and promote reform in our schools, as well as invests an additional $1.35 billion to continue the historic Race to the Top program to open it up to districts in order to spur innovation and additional progress. At the same time, the Administration is moving to consolidate ineffective policies and practices. The President’s Budget eliminates six programs and consolidates 38 others into 11 new programs that emphasize using competition to allocate funds, giving communities more choices around activities, and using rigorous evidence to fund what works.
•The President is committed to making college affordable for all Americans. “(I)n this economy, a high school diploma no longer guarantees a good job.” To increase college access and completion, the Administration will make student loans more affordable by limiting a borrower’s payments to 10 percent of his/her income and forgives remaining debt after 20 years – 10 years for public service works. We will also make permanent the American Opportunity Tax Credit. The President urges the Senate to pass the American Graduation Initiative, which invests more than $10 billion over the next decade in reforming our nation’s community colleges, promoting college completion, and moving toward the President’s goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. The President is also asking colleges and universities to do their share to make college affordable for all Americans cutting their own costs.
•The President is making investments to ensure that the middle class benefits from this economic recovery. “(T)he price of college tuition is just one of the burdens facing middle-class families. That’s why last year I asked Vice President Biden to chair a task force on Middle Class Families.” The President has outlined immediate steps to reduce the strain on family budgets and help middle class families manage their child and elder care responsibilities, save for retirement and pay for college. He will double the child tax credit this year, make it easier to save for retirement with automatic IRAs for workers without access to existing retirement plans, provide larger tax credits to match retirement savings for millions of additional workers, and provide new safeguards to protect retirement savings.
•Changing the way we do business. “To close that credibility gap, we must take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to end the outsized influence of lobbyists; to do our work more openly; and to give our people the government they deserve.” The President has called for additional new lobbyist reforms, including enhanced disclosure of lobbyist contacts, strict campaign contribution limits by lobbyists, and a single earmark database, so American taxpayers find out what earmarks are being requested, and where their money is going.
•Countering Citizens United. “I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities.” Last week’s Supreme Court Citizen’s United decision opens the floodgates to special interests and foreign countries and companies bankrolling national campaigns. The President called for bipartisan support for legislation that will remedy the Supreme Court’s unprecedented and troubling decision.
•The President stands by military families. “Tonight, all of our men and women in uniform … must know that they have our respect, our gratitude, and our full support.” The President’s 2011 budget announces significant new investments, totaling more than $8 billion, and protections for our nation’s military families, including increased military pay and housing allowances, increased funding for family support programs, expanded availability of affordable, high-quality child care, the renovation or replacement of schools, and expanded and improved care for wounded, ill and injured service members.
•The President is establishing a National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force. “We are going to crack down on violations of equal pay laws – so that women get equal pay for an equal day’s work.” To make sure we uphold our nation’s core commitment to equality of opportunity, the Obama Administration is implementing an Equal Pay initiative to improve compliance, public education, and enforcement of equal pay laws. The Task Force will ensure that the agencies with responsibility for equal pay enforcement are coordinating efforts and limiting potential gaps in enforcement. The Administration also continues to support the Paycheck Fairness Act, and is increasing funding for the agencies enforcing equal pay laws and other key civil rights statutes.
•Immigration reform. “And we should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system – to secure our borders , enforce our laws so that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.” The President is pleased Congress is taking steps forward on immigration reform that includes effective border security measures with a path for legalization for those who are willing to pay taxes and abide by the law. He is committed to confronting this problem in practical, effective ways, using the current tools at our disposal while we work with Congress to enact comprehensive reform.
Putting Washington at the Service of the Middle Class
Posted by **** *******on January 27, 2010 at 10:23 PM EST
In his State of the Union Address tonight, the President laid out an agenda attempting to attack one problem from every conceivable angle: the terrible squeeze felt by America’s middle class. Fundamentally, that means prying government away from special interests and dedicating it to measures that put Americans to work and lay the foundation for a stronger economy for our country – lowering health care and tuition costs, spurring creation of the next generation of clean energy jobs. It also means putting a cop on the beat on Wall Street, so major banks can no longer take advantage of families and taxpayers.
To do all that, though, we need to change the way Washington works. Already the President has taken unprecedented steps in this direction, from releasing the names of all visitors to the White House for the first time ever to clamping down on the revolving door between government and lobbying. But as much progress was made on this front in this first year, it was still only the first year, and the President will keep pushing forward, whether that’s shining sunlight on any contact between lobbyists and the White House, or pushing Congress to disclose all earmark requests in one place for Americans to see.
This was the vision that shaped the President's address, but this is not just a matter of rhetoric. The President made clear that there is tremendously busy agenda ahead for his second year – the policies and proposals below are just examples of the plans the President laid out in his address to put government to work for the middle class.
Here are a few initiatives you might have missed in the course of the speech:
•The President called on the Senate to pass a financial reform package. “A strong, healthy financial market makes it possible for businesses to access credit and create new jobs. It channels the savings of families into investments that raise incomes. And that can only happen if we guard against the same recklessness that nearly brought down our entire economy.” Essential reforms include measures to protect consumers and investors from financial abuse; close loopholes, raise standards, and create accountability for supervision of major financial firms; restrict the size and scope of financial institutions to reign in excesses and protect taxpayers and address the ‘too big to fail’ problem; and establish comprehensive supervision of financial markets.
•A vision for a clean energy economy. “…to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, and more incentives.” We will build on the historic $80 billion investment made through the Recovery Act. The President’s vision includes investments in important technologies to diversity our energy sources and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, including: the renewal of our nation’s nuclear energy industry after a 30-year hiatus, cutting edge biofuel and clean coal technologies, and additional offshore oil and gas drilling. To fully transition to a clean energy economy and create millions of new American jobs, we must pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation to promote energy independence and address climate change.
•The President will continue his push to invest in the skills and education of our people. “This year, we have broken through the stalemate between left and right by launching a national competition to improve our schools. The idea here is simple: instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. In this country, the success of our children cannot depend more on where they live than their potential.” The Obama Administration supports a new vision for increasing student achievement, delivering opportunity, and supporting excellence in America’s public schools. The President’s 2011 budget supports a new framework for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that will foster innovation, reward excellence, and promote reform in our schools, as well as invests an additional $1.35 billion to continue the historic Race to the Top program to open it up to districts in order to spur innovation and additional progress. At the same time, the Administration is moving to consolidate ineffective policies and practices. The President’s Budget eliminates six programs and consolidates 38 others into 11 new programs that emphasize using competition to allocate funds, giving communities more choices around activities, and using rigorous evidence to fund what works.
•The President is committed to making college affordable for all Americans. “(I)n this economy, a high school diploma no longer guarantees a good job.” To increase college access and completion, the Administration will make student loans more affordable by limiting a borrower’s payments to 10 percent of his/her income and forgives remaining debt after 20 years – 10 years for public service works. We will also make permanent the American Opportunity Tax Credit. The President urges the Senate to pass the American Graduation Initiative, which invests more than $10 billion over the next decade in reforming our nation’s community colleges, promoting college completion, and moving toward the President’s goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. The President is also asking colleges and universities to do their share to make college affordable for all Americans cutting their own costs.
•The President is making investments to ensure that the middle class benefits from this economic recovery. “(T)he price of college tuition is just one of the burdens facing middle-class families. That’s why last year I asked Vice President Biden to chair a task force on Middle Class Families.” The President has outlined immediate steps to reduce the strain on family budgets and help middle class families manage their child and elder care responsibilities, save for retirement and pay for college. He will double the child tax credit this year, make it easier to save for retirement with automatic IRAs for workers without access to existing retirement plans, provide larger tax credits to match retirement savings for millions of additional workers, and provide new safeguards to protect retirement savings.
•Changing the way we do business. “To close that credibility gap, we must take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to end the outsized influence of lobbyists; to do our work more openly; and to give our people the government they deserve.” The President has called for additional new lobbyist reforms, including enhanced disclosure of lobbyist contacts, strict campaign contribution limits by lobbyists, and a single earmark database, so American taxpayers find out what earmarks are being requested, and where their money is going.
•Countering Citizens United. “I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities.” Last week’s Supreme Court Citizen’s United decision opens the floodgates to special interests and foreign countries and companies bankrolling national campaigns. The President called for bipartisan support for legislation that will remedy the Supreme Court’s unprecedented and troubling decision.
•The President stands by military families. “Tonight, all of our men and women in uniform … must know that they have our respect, our gratitude, and our full support.” The President’s 2011 budget announces significant new investments, totaling more than $8 billion, and protections for our nation’s military families, including increased military pay and housing allowances, increased funding for family support programs, expanded availability of affordable, high-quality child care, the renovation or replacement of schools, and expanded and improved care for wounded, ill and injured service members.
•The President is establishing a National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force. “We are going to crack down on violations of equal pay laws – so that women get equal pay for an equal day’s work.” To make sure we uphold our nation’s core commitment to equality of opportunity, the Obama Administration is implementing an Equal Pay initiative to improve compliance, public education, and enforcement of equal pay laws. The Task Force will ensure that the agencies with responsibility for equal pay enforcement are coordinating efforts and limiting potential gaps in enforcement. The Administration also continues to support the Paycheck Fairness Act, and is increasing funding for the agencies enforcing equal pay laws and other key civil rights statutes.
•Immigration reform. “And we should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system – to secure our borders , enforce our laws so that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation.” The President is pleased Congress is taking steps forward on immigration reform that includes effective border security measures with a path for legalization for those who are willing to pay taxes and abide by the law. He is committed to confronting this problem in practical, effective ways, using the current tools at our disposal while we work with Congress to enact comprehensive reform.
- Longermonger
- 01-27-2010, 09:54 PM
tl;dr
- Guest090920
- 01-27-2010, 10:24 PM
The part that jumped out at me was when he talked about line-by-line vetos after talking about the Big Freeze. How will Republicans get ANYTHING AT ALL over the next 3 years? They'll still be a minority after the 2010 elections and if they Waterloo HCR...they'll pay for over a thousand days.I had to read everything you wrote outloud just to hear just how nonsensical that sounded. However, I must remember Dilbert's quote below. I'm done.
Hey did you check out the looks on the faces of the military brass when he mentioned gays in the military? lol Good stuff.
The SCOTUS looked a little miffed when he brought up their recent (shitty) ruling that'll allow big companies (including FOREIGN companies) to run unlimited amounts of political ads. Originally Posted by Longermonger
- BigMikeinKC
- 01-28-2010, 11:29 AM
Play nice.
- Guest072311
- 01-28-2010, 11:31 AM
Not my opinion, but one I get emails from: Servant Soldiers
http://www.servantsoldiers.com
http://www.servantsoldiers.com
A Moment to Consider - January 25, 2010 Political Edition
--------------------------------------------------------
A New Paul Revere
--------------------------------------------------------
During the War for Independence from the British rule,Massachusetts led the colonies. Last Tuesday night, with the victory of Republican Scott Brown, the revolutionary fires of Boston once again were reignited. The message is as clear as Paul Revere's - but will the forces of socialistic big government hear the message? The Democratic Party turned Ted Kennedy's funeral of into arally for big government and government-run health care. Their rallying cry became "Do it for Teddy." The U.S. Senate seat Kennedy controlled for nearly half a century has been turned over by the voters to Republican Scott Brown, who pledged to fight much of the Kennedy agenda. Voters have messed things up again. Robert Gibbs described President Obama as "surprised and frustrated" and "not pleased." What happened in the months after the British March to the Lexington Bridge is history. What happens during the historic weeks ahead is still unfolding. There are four crucial groups who will make decisions in the days ahead, deciding the outcome of this battle for the future of America. The first group we call the liberal royalists. These are the hard-left politicians who have sworn allegiance on the altar of big government. This team is headed by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. For the past year, while reveling in their power, they rammed the notice down ourthroats that big government is the solution to every problem. This group is in total control of two branches of the government. Their goal is an aggressive agenda to remake the U.S. in the image of a European socialist democracy. Thus they have spent $787 billion on stimulus programs and bailouts for big businesses run by their allies in large labor unions and internationalist banks. General Motors and Chrysler were nationalized. Citibank, Bank of America and AIG are all mammoth financial firms bailed out and now largely controlled by the government. In addition they are attempting to take over the health-care system via nationalization of health-care regulation and insurance. They want to exploit environmental regulations and taxes under the guise of fighting global warming. This will slap iron government-made shackles on the utility, oil and energy sectors of the economy. Here is the decision these liberal royalists must make. They can listen to the voters and trim the sails of their agenda, thus moving to the center. Since gaining hegemonic power a year ago, they have made no moves toward compromise; they have ruled as a one-party dictatorship. The second option for the liberal royalists is to circle the wagons and damn the torpedoes. They can try to manipulate the U.S. Senate rules to pass health care with less than 60 votes and try to use the EPA to write rules essentially bypassing the legislative branch, instituting cap-and-trade by edict. The second group with a big decision to make is the so-called Blue Dog Democrats. Until this point, they have followed President Obama and the liberal royalists like dutiful pups.They supported Obamacare. They voted in mass for cap-and-trade in the House of Representatives. The huge government bailouts of big banks and the stimulus plans were only made possible with their votes. In the elections of 2010, this group is extremely vulnerable. They are Democrats representing mostly Republican states. If they want to have a prayer for re-election, they must abandon Obama's agenda or face losing their jobs and perks. The Republican establishment is the third group with big decisions. They are still not loved by the American people, and distrust of Republicans runs deep. This is the group that got us in this mess by supporting big government solutions to problems while running for office as small- government Reagan Republicans. Scott Brown as a left- leaning, pro-abortion Republican is one of their own. Scott Brown won because of the activism on the ground of the tea-party movement and the conservative insurgency rallying against Obama. The establishment Republicans now can see a path to victory. It is a road that brings them in unison with the tea parties and the small-government, anti-tax movements. It requires them to fight harder in Washington against the Obama agenda using the filibuster and every procedural tool at their disposal. Todate, they have provided ineffective resistance to the president's agenda. The final group with decisions to make is the tea-party activists. Will tea-party activists be accepted by the Republican Party as candidates, or will they become just a tool of the establishment similar to pro-life and social conservatives? To stay an independent and viable entity, they may in the future face battles with the Republican establishment in primaries and even in the battlefield of Congress. They must not shrink from this challenge. Remember, Paul Revere started the ball rolling toward America's independence. Now, in our battle to save America, we must "pack on snow" and add momentum to the ball started by Scott Brown's victory.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A MOMENT TO CONSIDERis a ministry of: *********
Servant Soldiers Ministries
- lacrew_2000
- 01-28-2010, 12:15 PM
I didn't watch it. I saw the clip of him calling out the supreme court, and the democrats all around the SCOTUS standing up and applauding right in front of them. I think this is unprecedented, and not very high class.
He gave some carrots to the republicans (import/export rules and a few others), which may be used as bargaining chips on healthcare...but lets not forget, the republicans did not stall healthcare...the democrats did. They had all the votes they needed. They didn't need one single republican vote, yet they didn't get it done.
Gays in the military? I was in the military. Quite frankly, this would be a distraction that the military does not need. People point to early resistance to integrating the military, or allowing women to join as equivalent situations. They aren't. The military had to let in minorities and women out of necessity - they need the manpower. Letting in gays has nothing to do with this. The extremely small numbers of gays who would join the military will have no effect on manpower....its only effect will be a distraction.
Let me spell it out for people. We still don't allow women in Armor or Infantry. Why? We showered in front of each other, went to the bathroom in front of each other, checked each other's bodies for tics, etc...get it.
He gave some carrots to the republicans (import/export rules and a few others), which may be used as bargaining chips on healthcare...but lets not forget, the republicans did not stall healthcare...the democrats did. They had all the votes they needed. They didn't need one single republican vote, yet they didn't get it done.
Gays in the military? I was in the military. Quite frankly, this would be a distraction that the military does not need. People point to early resistance to integrating the military, or allowing women to join as equivalent situations. They aren't. The military had to let in minorities and women out of necessity - they need the manpower. Letting in gays has nothing to do with this. The extremely small numbers of gays who would join the military will have no effect on manpower....its only effect will be a distraction.
Let me spell it out for people. We still don't allow women in Armor or Infantry. Why? We showered in front of each other, went to the bathroom in front of each other, checked each other's bodies for tics, etc...get it.
- Enchanterlingum
- 01-28-2010, 04:22 PM
I felt my time was better spent watching reruns of Dexter.
- Longermonger
- 01-28-2010, 04:42 PM
Errr...they didn't have all the votes they needed. For a short period of time they had a supermajority IF IF IF you count both Independents as Democrats. Joe Lieberman used to be a Democrat and caucuses with them, but campaigned against Obama and had political scores to settle. Heck, Joe almost got picked instead of Sarah Palin to run as the VP. Joe also shot down HIS OWN IDEA about extending Medicare down to 55 and older.
Now, if only a simple majority was needed instead of a supermajority...a better bill would have already been signed last summer. Basically, the supermajority rule cripples the Senate and makes it stronger. Instead of the power being in the hands of the people or the people's House, it get's focused on one man. We'll call him Joe.
"While favoring the filibuster and threatening to use it in 2009 to eliminate a public health option as part of the healthcare proposal, Lieberman once strongly opposed it. In 1995, he joined with Senator Tom Harkin to co-sponsor an amendment to kill the filibuster. “The filibuster hurts the credibility of the entire Senate and impedes progress,” Lieberman told the Hartford Courant (Jan 6 1995)"
Now, if only a simple majority was needed instead of a supermajority...a better bill would have already been signed last summer. Basically, the supermajority rule cripples the Senate and makes it stronger. Instead of the power being in the hands of the people or the people's House, it get's focused on one man. We'll call him Joe.
"While favoring the filibuster and threatening to use it in 2009 to eliminate a public health option as part of the healthcare proposal, Lieberman once strongly opposed it. In 1995, he joined with Senator Tom Harkin to co-sponsor an amendment to kill the filibuster. “The filibuster hurts the credibility of the entire Senate and impedes progress,” Lieberman told the Hartford Courant (Jan 6 1995)"
- dirty dog
- 01-28-2010, 07:56 PM
I missed it, I felt the need to check out the state of casino.
- kcbigpapa
- 01-28-2010, 11:52 PM
I felt my time was better spent watching reruns of Dexter. Originally Posted by EnchanterlingumThat's not fair to say. Dexter is a great show and really shouldn't be shown opposite of the State of the Union. That decision is almost too tough for anyone to make. As a moderate Democrat (yes I dislike Nancy Pelosi), I was less than impressed with this speech. Next time I am watching Dexter too, or even better yet, I'm going to have one of our fine providers over during that time.
- john_galt
- 01-29-2010, 01:13 AM
Even the NYT agrees; Obama got it wrong on the court ruling on campaign finance. The section of the law concerning foreign money was not even touched. It is still illegal for foreign money to come into our election process except for the Clinton machine and their Chinese money.
The military is not a social program. It is designed to kill people and break things but it can also rescue people when called upon. The military has aging equipment, extended tours, a rising suicide rate, and tired personnel. What does the president think the military needs??? That's right militant gays flouting themselves because it is their "right" to serve. I served in the Navy and there were gay guys working for me. You know I didn't care because they worked hard and didn't force their lifestyle on anyone in the shop.
The military is not a social program. It is designed to kill people and break things but it can also rescue people when called upon. The military has aging equipment, extended tours, a rising suicide rate, and tired personnel. What does the president think the military needs??? That's right militant gays flouting themselves because it is their "right" to serve. I served in the Navy and there were gay guys working for me. You know I didn't care because they worked hard and didn't force their lifestyle on anyone in the shop.