I was going to do a SOTU thread, but I don't want to stomp all over this keen observation.
I got some human computer interaction for those of you watching the State of the Union tonight. The Respondomatic 5000. Its an app I just wrote this weekend, so be kind.
Talking head on ABC: "He has to say 'the state of our union is strong.'" Does he, now?
Also, the OP is totally right. On an iPad, there wouldn't even be room for a comment box as big as mine is right now.
NPR: "The first lady's, uh, box, has become an institution" blah blah, above the something or other.
I might not be in the right mood for this.
Who are the super-positive people using the Respondomatic?
I heard that, essear. I was trying to find it on PBS, but they're not showing it.
Um, the stimulus package doesn't count for "acting aggressively." It was kind of wimpy.
A drinking game that I make up as I go along is probably a bad idea.
Fuck this conciliation shit. Fight, damn it!
I like that "our union is strong" wasn't an applause line. Like, "yeah, yeah, I said it."
Why am I watching this with no alcohol?
We made what more accountable huh?
You know, fuck it. I'm going out for beer.
I liked watching Pelosi suck her teeth when Obama said that he hated bailing out the banks.
I'd doing your cool program, essear. But not when I'm typing.
I like it when Biden grins like a fool.
I'd doing your cool program, essear.
Not mine. Spike's.
Are the Republicans sullenly sitting for "we cut taxes"?
Boehner looks even more orange than usual! The man is scary.
Wow
We cut taxes
we cut taxes
we cut taxes
We haven't raised income taxes a single dime
Not a single dime.
Was it SB who thought I was crazy with the VAT?
Okay, with apologies to Spike's sister, I've got my beer.
I do like the yellow suits in the audience.
32: Some date it beginning as far back as late 2007, and certainly from March '08.
'Tax cuts for all small businesses, and all large businesses, in order to invest etc. etc.'
Someone's going to have to wind up parsing all this in terms of policy proposals.
I think mostly it firmly roots it in Bush's term.
I liked the House v Senate cheer off. Actually, I'd like the House to run over and beat up the Senate. That would be a nice end to the speech.
Were people just actually chanting "USA"? Did I hear that right?
Hey how many people are on this respondomatic thing?
Crap, the only beer in the house is National Bohemian. What was I thinking when I bought that?
Trust Unfogged to be pleased about research funding.
Cool app, Spike. Can you write one with which I can click on individual Republican legislators and make them disappear?
No, they were chanting "We're number one" and I am ashamed for them.
Pelosi's doing something weird with her mouth. I guess she always does that, but it's looming over Barack's head in a creepy way.
42 - You thought you lived in Canada, home of actual pleasant living? Or possibly Narnia. (Aslan's or Belle's, who can say?)
Exactly, Stormcrow. The offshore drilling is ridiculous.
No, they were chanting "We're number one" and I am ashamed for them.
Maybe they meant "We're going number one."
"What a fucking asshole", if not clear, directed to the comments on clean coal, biofuels, and other wrongheaded bullshit.
Of course, the Republicans bellowing about how they don't believe in science are even bigger assholes.
"We're honing in on number one."
44: That feature will be in version 2.0.
49 GETS IT EXACTLY RIGHT
I am too tired to drink now, and I need to sleep well tonight.
Who is this talk on enforcing trade contracts speaking to?
If Biden tightens that tie anymore his head's going to pop like a zit.
32: Some date it beginning as far back as late 2007, and certainly from March '08.
The NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) Business Cycle Dating Committee says a downturn started in December 2007. That makes this the start of year three. The FRBSL is saying they're marking the downturn as over as of 7/2009, but NBER apparently isn't buying. They do not think the stimulus was large enough to kickstart an organic recovery so they're waiting to see. This is off message as far as the Kramers of the world are concerned. Me no care.
max
['The big collapse started 9/15/08 though.']
It looks like the unfoggetariat was evenly divided on Race to the Top
I guess I was questioning the fact that we've had a recession for two years.
Getting rid of the private student loan industry subsidy is a good idea.
I do think it's helpful to just listen to the speech rather than watching it. No distraction by Nancy Pelosi's facial expression.
What's weirdest to me about this so far is that when I listened to Bush's SOTUs, I knew pretty much every policy proposal he referred to. I don't, here. Is that just me? Maybe.
People seem to like cutting college costs.
"It's time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs" -- am I just ignorant, or isn't most of the reason colleges and universities are expensive because government funding has dropped sharply?
63 - Yes. It's free money for the banks that the Republicans, guardians of taxpayer dollars, are fighting to keep around. Fancy that.
Poor men, who only get to wear dark blue or dark grey suits.
No health care reform. Just health insurance reform now.
66 - It's complicated! Public universities are getting shafted right now, but college tuition inflation has been skyrocketing in good times and bad, at both public and private institutions, for decades.
On HCR: "our approach". "our approach" Whose?
Yes, take some blame for not explaining.
66: Funding cuts, sure, but also administrative bloat, overbuilding, building too many amenities to keep up with the Joneses, much higher energy costs, etc. It's pretty complicated, actually.
Why did he include the deficit in that list? Is he talking about Medicare?
max! And to think I wasn't going to read this thread.
(And Spike...somehow I missed that you were tech-capable. Probably it would be wrong for me to click up or down on thing without listening to the speech, right? [...] Oh, I see, the gadget automatically starts playing the speech. Never mind.)
"the plan we've proposed"
Whose plan? This is rather annoying.
Maybe he could issue a deadline for letting him know exciting new approaches for health care reform.
And I'm pwned. Also, has Obama held up a picture of Greg Oden's cock yet? If not, you're in for a treat!
"As temperatures cool" ... oops.
But families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions. The federal government should do the same.
Dumbass.
There are a lot of laugh lines in this speech. His delivery is good for that. It's strange in light of things.
82: Not stupidity. Pandering. He knows its a bad analogy, and he knows most people find it compelling.
"Bipartisan" and "fiscal" in the same sentence. Double drink!
next year, when the economy is stronger
and the ponies come.
Didn't Judd Gregg say he wanted a commission that explicitly forbade considering tax increases? Didn't John McCain vote against the bill he fucking cosponsored because it didn't forbid considering tax increases. Stop pandering, Barry.
Oregon, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you and your fucking hipster coffee.
Boy, am I looking forward to next year!
Did people just laugh out loud at him.
What a fucking failure.
Where's ari to tell me that this ammonia-scented liquid from the sky is rain or, possibly, perfume?
What reaction was that to barring lobbyists from certain positions?
Heh. The Supremes look totally embarrassed.
I like how the Supreme Court justices were just sitting there solemnly while Obama was slamming them.
TPM text says "right these wrongs"; Obama said "correct some of these problems". Why weaken your point, dude?
Did people just laugh out loud at him.
I believe so. This is just incredibly weird.
I'm getting the idea that Obama just really would rather not talk about all this.
95: Given their performances lately, they should be.
Boy, he starts out strong and then it's vague waffle-y nothings. Paragraph by paragraph.
OK, I enjoyed that visual. Sit down, SCOTUS, while everyone applauds at a critique of your crappy decision.
Oregon, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you and your fucking hipster coffee.
We're doing what we can, but look, we've got serious problems right here. Like, we spent a bunch of money on Greg Oden and all we got was some lousy cock photos.
next year, when the economy is stronger
and the ponies come.
This.
95: They fucking should be; I finally read the decision--dreadful*.
*I actually don't think the specific impact will be that bad, but it is a miserablel partisan hack job, deeply damaging to the institution.
I think JRoth and Parsimon are watching a different speech than I am.
He's trying out a choppy, informal deliver that's halfway to Ira Glass but way out of place in the most formal speech of the year.
106: Yes. The "laugh at him" was about his dig at the Repubs on how budgeting is done.
To Democrats, I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve some problems, not run for the hills.
He's said a lot of irritating things, but this one gets a "hell yes".
OK, this is good stuff, about the filibuster.
I would vote for President Ira Glass.
Glass/Malatia in 2012!
103: Pfft, Portland. I'm talking about Eugene, man.
He's going to start monthly parent-teacher conferences with the Republicans?
Go back to chewing out the Republicans for blocking everything. I like that better than security nonsense.
He's getting through a bit now, with the slightly-disgusted remarks about every moment being a new election and so on.
"serve our politics, not our ambitions" -- okay, not bad.
He's trying for a "cut it the fuck out" theme overall.
I suspect that Ira Glass's politics are unsound.
69: dark blue and gray suits are nice though. I guess yellow is nice, but it would not work with my coloring.
Hundreds of Al Qaeda #3's were killed!
Oh great, we've captured or killed lots of AQ leaders. Who knew?
/sarcasm
116: I'd mostly be interested in the fireside chats.
Did the speech coalesce into some kind of actionable progressive items that, going forward, we can look forward to working on with the relevant stakeholders? I didn't watch it.
I suspect that Ira Glass's politics are unsound
Maybe, but the music on TAL is so anodyne that one is lulled into not caring.
No. He's leading into support the vets.
I'd like to see the Al Qaeda org chart with all those number 3's.
If I get drunk enough at the next meetup, I'll read the SOTU text in my Ira Glass voice.
Obama seems off somehow. Maybe tired? Should he have had that pre-speech shot?
I am mentally adding "and the Republicans are all total dickheads." to every sentence in the speech. I'm finding it helps.
I'm glad he's keeping the nuclear disarmament issue on the table.
Am I able to visibly manipulate these lines all on my own? No one else seemed to care about nukes.
Who just laughed at him for saying something about fighting climate change?
Obama seems off somehow. Maybe tired? Should he have had that pre-speech shot?
I get the sense he looked himself in the mirror before he went out there and said, "Eh. It's just a speech."
Should he have had that pre-speech shot?
He should have had a few more, I think.
That one dude in Guinea is totally psyched.
129: I was voting with you on the nukes.
The military leaders are all frowny-faced about teh ghey.
Basically, every vote you make ticks the green line up or red line down for 5 seconds. So yeah, you can manipulate it on your own.
None of us are military leaders, essear.
He should have had a few more, I think.
Or something else. The first president to follow Dock Ellis's lead and deliver a SOTU on LSD will be a hero for the ages.
The first president to follow Dock Ellis's lead and deliver a SOTU on LSD will be a hero for the ages.
He already is.
Well, now I know emdash isn't a military leader.
I don't know why informed people want to watch things like this. There are hundreds of things that both Obama and I know are true but he would be made a media laughingstock of Kucinician proportions if he let slip that he was aware of them. Why set myself up for disappointment?
I guess he's still talking. I bet it's on tv here and I suppose I could go look for it.
What emdash said in 131.
It seems a cross between "this is so annoying" and "can we please move on?"
"...only that it would be worth it."
He's doing the thing where he accurately tells us what we think and feel. It makes me feel extremely listened to. I bet he knows what he is doing. We should trust him.
This internet thing is making it possible for me to watch it without even moving from my chair. Just in time for optimism!
Taft?
I was going to suggest Nixon, but yeah, Tweety, who did you have in mind?
This internet thing is making it possible for me to watch it without even moving from my chair.
But imagine how much more this would be true if you had an iPad!
I think if you're chanting "USA? USA? USA?" you're doing it wrong.
"God Bless the United States of America and the Republicans are all total dickheads."
134: It just seems weird to me that we have all these things sitting around and don't think about them. It's like the everyday possibility of the end of the world.
And now ABC brings in George Will for informed commentary a Republican response pure evil.
153: Are you mocking the good people of Haiti, sir?
Anyway, it's a good thing he stopped. I'm fresh out of wine.
I was scrolling rapidly down the thread and got the impression for a second that someone was reporting that Obama was speechifying with a fake accent.
Is anyone going to watch the total dickheads' response?
Why is the respondomatic still reporting votes. Are people reporting their changing opinion of the whitehouse logo?
158: I would not think of such a thing. I'm mocking the President for not describing events such as he described more poetically.
I was amused that the respondomatic crashed into the red on "God bless the United States of America."
You know Obama's real accent is Kenyan, right?
161: Absolutely. It should be absolutely fabulous.
I'm fresh out of wine.
... and the drunk is hitting me. I've really been babbling, haven't I? Oh well.
You'd think that chick from the White House could have blow-dried her hair before going on TV.
OMG it's dry; it just has a ton of shit in it.
Yes, Mr. Republican Dickhead, it's true that all dignity comes from work. I get so much dignity out of writing Fortran and doodling on blackboards. So much.
No doubt it's where all of his manifest dignity comes from.
Yes, Mr. Republican Dickhead, it's true that all dignity comes from work.
You could sort of spin this as a marxist idea.
Ha ha! Republicans are so hip! They've heard of Facebook and Twitter, and they have a cute woman and a diversity-enriching Asian dude in the background smiling about it!
Republican diversity-enriching Asian dude.
The White House bets you're wondering what four douchey 21-year-old interns think about the SOTU.
Wow. The Four Douchey Interns Show is a really bad idea.
All the non-douchey interns got to go to the speech.
Where does one hear/see these interns?
The live event has concluded. Please select another event.
But I want to know who these interns are!
179: They followed Obama on the Respondomatic.
157: Pure evil, plus discussion of how Pete Rose really fucking hustled out there, you know? Also, bowties.
Great speech, right everyone? Where's JRoth? I just want to slap him five about what a great speech that was!
They all talk like Ms. South Carolina. Like, such as. The Iraq.
next year, when the economy is stronger
and the ponies come
Late in the evening the strange horses came.
By then we had made our covenant with silence,
But in the first few days it was so still
We listened to our breathing and were afraid.
I was especially taken with the part where he said that Democrats should pass health care reform "by any means necessary". Oh, Barack Hussein, you card!
Maybe I should have gone to Brooklyn instead of staying home and listening to the SOTU.
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I think I broke the website.
I haven't read the comments, but I'm compelled to admit that ari is entitled to a bit of I-told-you-so. Pretty decent speech. No surrender on health care; heavy emphasis on jobs - and a sweet jab at recalcitrant Dems, as well as a few shots at Republicans.
Too much bipartisanship for my taste, but of course that's nothing new.
The "laugh at him" was about his dig at the Repubs on how budgeting is done.
OK, that's fine - I tuned in just a couple lines before that, so I really couldn't tell whether it was supposed to be funny. I'll admit that I find nothing associated with the craven freeze humorous, but I'm glad that the Joint Session wasn't actually laughing at him.
I'm not saying "I told you so" to anyone, pf. I thought it was a good speech, especially good for a SotU, but I'm sure that lots of people will disagree and with good reason for doing so. Anyway, I'm not feeling especially gloaty.
Like all things Obama, I felt the speech was a general stab in the right direction that just did not go far enough.
a general stab in the right direction that just did not go far enough
...laydeez?
192: No, but I was thinking about going to this. (I live about fifty miles from Manhattan.)
Color me humorless, since the one instapoll I heard seems to show that listeners feel more favorably about Obama and the direction the country's going in after as compared to before the speech, which I guess is a good thing, but: discretionary spending freeze, fewer taxes on unclear parties (I was unclear on whom), off-shore drilling I believe, green economy, aka the next economic bubble? Also more freer trade, and general hand-waving at health care reform, plus can't we all just get along?
Okay. I may be unfairly negative in mood.
Mostly, I thought it was a good speech. But I don't really care about speeches. Publicly calling out the Supreme Court, to applause, about the low quality of a judicial opinion was pretty amazing -- and something that the Justices really aren't used to. I wonder if Kennedy swings further to the right out of spite
I wonder if Kennedy swings further to the right out of spite
Possibly. Kennedy is weak-minded, and therefore unpredictable.
I thought it was a very good speech. And I say that as someone who is not exactly a huge fan of Obama. I think I like his more informal style better than the soaring rhetoric. And I suspect the speech did what it was meant to do: give pundits a reason to tell people that confidence has been restored, or whatever.
I hated the part about capturing or killing the terrorists. I think the spending freeze thing, even if largely a PR stunt, is a very unfortunate capitulation.
Herbert Hoover, with more war. One term and out.
Calculated Risk posted, and Brad DeLong mentioned worriedly tonight, the one-month T-Bill Rates have turned negative. Ten Year down to 3.57.
Reflation fail.
Most of this year will be spent in terror and rage. Republicans make huge gains in Congress. The second leg of GD II may start in the fall or in January. Unemployment climbs to 15.
Whatever he might want, Obama's rhetoric of tax cuts and fiscal discipline will limit his options. Try to get another Keynesian stimulus through after tonight. Forever, maybe, the fucker.
2011 will be spent gutting entitlements, which will further fuck our already totally fucked economy. I am still betting on a VAT.
Obama will manage to damage everybody and be out in one term. Loser. Wait. Speeches! Book deals! No loser Obama.
I'm [still] so bored with the USA
Most of this year will be spent in terror and rage.
Just like connecting through O'Hare.
The line that shocked me.
"That's why we're working to lift the value of a family's single largest investment - their home."
Rebubble Fail. Arms are coming due. 2010 will be the year of jinglemail, Banks are going down.
The banks are still insolvent. Hell, most everybody is insolvent. 15 months and trillions upon trillions and Bernanke can't get no inflation. Still in a liquidity trap.
Stupid or evil, I, and I think most everybody in the country am just bored with listening to Obama. He will be ignored, he has become irrelevant. He blew it for everybody.
Whatever, dude.
I'm pretty sure neither ari nor anyone else gets to say "I told you so" until stuff happens. As in, not just a speech. As always, the rhetoric is good except for the parts that we hope are right-wing pandering for no apparent reason, but nothing's been signed.
Part's I liked: hearing him acknowledge that the problem is an out-of-the-blue de facto requirement for 60 votes in the Senate. Also, some line early on when he said "I was expecting more applause for that" or something. Funny guy.
203: People hate Congress, like Obama
I'm pretty sure that neither ari nor anyone else should say "I told you so," period.
Bob can keep saying "I will tell you so", however.
ari is entitled to a bit of I-told-you-so
To quote a onetime commenter here,
As for Obama, I thought it was just great. A reminder that Obama is fantastic at delivering formal speeches and has a fantastic speechwriting stuff. The past twelve months are a reminder that giving fantastic setpiece speeches has limits as a political strategy. You drop out of speech mode into the realm of cold, hard vote-counting and I don't think anything's really changed in that regard.I basically missed the speech, so I can't say anything specific, but I should be clear: I didn't actually expect Obama to give a poor speech from a technical POV - the man's a good public speaker. What I expected was that nothing he'd say would counterbalance the ill effects of his stupid, counterproductive, anti-progressive spending freeze "idea." Was I wrong about that? Did he champion progressive ideals and explain that Beltway CW is stupid and counterproductive, and that the American people should listen to liberals if they want their lives to be better?
I get the impression that, instead, he said the government should tighten its belt during a recession, just like a family. I would hoot at any pol in the world who said something that stupid, and he's no exception.
HOOOOT
I'm afraid I'm hooting as well. But I may be shouted down because I went in with negative feelings, and may have had clouded vision.
Meanwhile, this from the quotation in 208:
has a fantastic speechwriting stuff
is great.
But I shouldn't be a dick; I just read this, and it's great:
"The problem is, that's what we did for eight years. That's what helped lead us into this crisis. It's what helped lead to these deficits. And we cannot do it again.
Now repeat it every day for the next 3 years, and we'll be getting somewhere.
You know the speech is available online for viewing, right JRoth? There's no need to guess about what was in it. And parsimon, after I've explicitly said that I'm not saying I told you so, I don't need to be told not to say I told you so.
212: My sweet, I've asked you many times to please stop telling me how to behave. I've asked you nicely, I've asked you snarkily, and I've asked you using harsh language. But you can't seem to stop yourself. So I'm asking you, again: please stop.
213: Just try this for a moment: there's been a bit of "I told you so" here lately. From dsquared, and from bob, say. My 206 was a general remark to all of that, even though I don't find such comments horribly offensive overall.
But 206 was, yes, a statement (of preference or opinion) on my part. It was not about you except insofar as the construction in 206 paralleled the construction in 204: "I'm pretty sure neither ari nor anyone else gets to say "I told you so" ..."
Well, anyway. If you think nobody else here ever expresses opinions about how other people behave (comment), do tell. Do.
I'll go back to ignoring you now, and we should be fine.
I liked it. It was designed to tell the Village that he was back, and in charge, and he totally delivered. I thought the Republicans looked flustered, and their response speech/pep rally was a pathetic little thing.
I've no doubt that this will work well with the public, which is the key to getting votes in the Senate.
Early polling: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/27/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6149049.shtml
Did you read what I wrote in 193, parsimon? Regardless, please do go back to ignoring me.
Sometimes people did tell you so, and sometimes it's worth bearing that in mind, in case they tell you something again, in the future.
I did see 193. I wasn't accusing you of an "I told you so" moment. I was echoing the construction in 204. I said that.
All good then.
Okay, I'll say it, then, if ar's not man enough to say it. Ari told you so.
199: Possibly. Kennedy is weak-minded, and therefore unpredictable.
That was one of the more reprehensible aspects of Citizens United, the neo-facists on the court hiding behind a profoundly-confused person like Kennedy.
My personal favorite low point from the opinion:
When word concerning the plot of the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington reached the circles of Government, some officials sought, by persuasion, to discourage its distribution. See Smoodin, "Compulsory" Viewing for Every Citizen: Mr. Smith and the Rhetoric of Reception, 35 Cinema Journal 3, 19, and n. 52 (Winter 1996) (citing Mr. Smith Riles Washington, Time, Oct. 30, 1939, p. 49); Nugent, Capra's Capitol Offense, N. Y. Times, Oct. 29, 1939, p. X5. Under Austin , though, officials could have done more than discourage its distribution--they could have banned the film. After all, it, like Hillary, was speech funded by a corporation that was critical of Members of Congress. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington may be fiction and caricature; but fiction and caricature can be a powerful force.
Confident Republicans Give Obama a Frosty Reception - Time
Obama to Party: Don't 'Run for the Hills' - NYT
'We were sent here to serve our citizens' - WaPo
Obama calls for unified effort to confront nation's problems - CNN
Speech Seizes the Center, Woos Independents - Newsweek
A yes-we-can speech, and a dose of reality - MSNBC
Renewing 'Change' Promise, Obama Tries to Reset Agenda--FoxNews (But a bigger font is reserved for a picture of Alito and Obama captioned: "READ MY LIPS Justice Dissents as Obama Scolds.)
Analysis: Obama channels Ronald Reagan, 'Stay the course' - McClatchy
What I expected was that nothing he'd say would counterbalance the ill effects of his stupid, counterproductive, anti-progressive spending freeze "idea." Was I wrong about that?
I think you were wrong about that. I was on the same page as you, and I think the speech turned out better than we expected.
(And since I was a bit dismissive of ari in that previous thread, I thought it was only right to offer him an I-told-you-so.)
The freeze had the reek of triangulation to it. Pre-emptive surrender. The speech went a long way to walk that back. This, for example, is Democrat-bashing, but it's not triangulation:
To Democrats, I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve problems, not run for the hills.
I mean, yes, he could have called out Lieberman by name, and said that he's an asshole who needs to put America ahead of his own bloated ego, but this was still nice.
As for bipartisanship, well, that's been an unfortunate feature of his presidency since before Day 1, and he stuck to that theme. Of course, we all know that Obama can't be bipartisan because the Republicans unanimously suck. If bipartisanship is your theme, you can't blame the Republicans for the failure of bipartisanship - that wouldn't be bipartisan.
So Obama did the next best thing, and to the extent he got specific about his inability to find bipartisan solutions, he blamed Republicans.
As for the freeze itself, Krugman and others have remarked that the best that could be said about it is that it's cynical political theatre. I think that in his speech, Obama did a lot to support that best-case scenario.
Now you might say that none of this matters until we see what he actually does, and of course that's true on one level. But that was also true when we were bitching about Obama talking about a freeze.
Mark Thoma ends:"It's not too late for Congress to do more, but even if it fully enacts the measures that are currently pending, once again it will be well short of what's needed."
Look, I can't argue that the politics weren't immensely better in last night's speech.
The opposition is Republicans. The enemy is the Senate.
I think that is close (no quotemarks) to a Sam Rayburn line to LBJ.
I was close to astonishment at the praise of the House, and the attacks on the Senate and Republicans. The most partisan SOTU I can remember. I thought at one time that Obama means this to run the midterms at the side of the House against the Senate. This might even save a few House Seats, and hurt some Blue Dogs, making the caucus more progressive.
But it doesn't much matter. Even if Obama got a rubber stamp in the Senate, what he wants passed is too small, misdirected, and too late. I could go through the details, as in Nuclear Power being extremely capital intensive (very big long loans) and thus more feeding the financial beast.
Obama is still stuck in "credit channel" and "money multiplier" economics. I actually blame thirty years of New Keynesian economists more than Obama.
There will be not enough jobs, not enough money, and the voters will lash out in November.
The Economist looks at the CBO inflation forecast
2010 = 2.4%
2011 = 1.3%