State of the Union - Follow up

I got most of it right.

There was talk about sacrifice and compromise, though not always in those words. Big time talk about the tax code and corporate taxes, whoopee. Investing in the country, but that was probably always a gimme since it’s such a popular topic. Same for the strong future.

I was flabbergasted that the long-term concept I expected turned out to be a 5-year freeze on spending levels. What a monumentally bad idea. Someone explain to me how we invest without spending.

I’d say the not raising taxes was not explicit, so I’ll call that a push.

The talk on health care was as I expected, so, I got it right but I’m not impressed. The same for talking about the amazing American worker – he mentioned it, but with no specifics or real enthusiasm.

I’d say it was mostly a move to what people in DC like to call the center.

Not enough about protecting Social Security from the predators, but no talk of changes yet. I didn’t really hear much specific about the economy – did I miss it?


So, I claim a high level of accuracy, if not being very thorough in my predictions. It was a standard State of the Union address – vague, bland and apparently designed to leave little room for criticism. Pretty much what I expected (did I say that already?).

I can’t wait until next year when we can all be called on to look to the future and make our country stronger without any mention of how nothing got done based on this speech.

I didn’t pay attention to the so-called rebuttals.

Oh, there was one surprise. I didn't know that Biden was that much taller than Boehner. That's about it.

State of the Union Predictions

At the moment I would expect to see the following things mentioned in some form in the SOTU tomorrow:

Shared sacrifice
Everyone has to be involved
Compromise
Bipartisanship
Changes to Social Security
Raise the retirement age
No benefit cuts
Tax code reform, emphasis on corporate and cuts
Invest in the country
Look to a strong future
The economy is strong but not yet recovered
Implicit move to the so-called center
A plan for something that won’t be completed until after 2012
And some form of ‘everything on the table’ where the ‘everything’ excludes raising the high end marginal tax rate
List accomplishments
Something about health care reform
Lip-service to workers

Pabulum, promises and no real plan to fix things.

Mostly I expect it to be vague, with maybe one specific big item to use as a focus – which would also work as a distraction from the major problems that aren’t being addressed.

Which is to say

That last post was supposed to explain why you'll find personal health info here in such abundance.

For anyone new here

I started this blog as a way to update my friends on my health status. I didn’t want to keep sending long emails that some people might not want to read, so I post here instead. If anyone is interested they can get the latest news, or they can ignore it – it’s all up to them.

I also post so others who may have similar experiences who are searching the Internet will know that they are not alone. When I first came across stories of other people who had had Legionnaires’ Disease, it was an amazing relief to know that I was not the only one with the problems I had. You can feel very isolated when you have a critical illness and there is support in just knowing that it isn’t just you. I want to offer my experience to help others in any way that I can.

I also blog about any random thing that interests me, and lately, I’ve been ranting about political policy issues.

All of the above will continue determined by my mood and whenever I am able.

And thanks for stopping by and reading.

I’m slow, but I do get around to things

First up, in response to an anonymous comment: I read a variety of things, when conditions permit.

Reading is difficult. It is tiring, requires concentration that I do not often have, and I have a strange sort of dyslexic thing going on where words on the page get moved around. It’s not just a problem with the letters in individual words, I will sometimes – all too often really – pick up words in a sentence from a different line or move the words in a sentence around. That can seriously change the meaning of the text.

But over the past few years when I can read, I read all sorts of things: mysteries, thrillers, spy novels (well, I read some old John LeCarre), fantasy and science fiction.

I’ve been trying to get into some science and history but the lack of concentration really hurts with that sort of reading since comprehension is so important. I can read fiction and not care as much about retention, but what’s the point in reading non-fiction if you can’t remember anything?

I haven’t read that much, two or three in each genre, but it’s been all over the place. I guess I’m just trying to find what works.

Therapy

I am self-medicating. I have spent some birthday money (yes, even someone my age gets money for his birthday). I bought some books.

Where did all this come from?

Yes, I am posting like damn fool lately. No, I don’t know why.

Maybe it’s the urgency of the situation the country is in. Maybe it’s a reaction to stress that builds this time of year. Maybe it’s because I’m changing some of my medication.

I really don’t know why I am doing this. I always say that I am going to blog more but this is ridiculous. It’s not like I have some quota to fill before the end of the year or anything.

Hopefully I can keep up the content value and entertainment levels, but there are no guarantees on that.