My 5 Fave Parts of Obama’s 2013 State of the Union Address

The yoga class I took just before last night’s State of the Union (SOTU) address wiped me out. I fell asleep immediately afterward. Which is good because I had a chance to think overnight about the parts that resonated most with me.

sotu-en 2013

I’ve been tough on the president in the past, disappointed with his timidity and unwillingness to set a big bold agenda.

The other good thing about writing the day after is that others have fact checked. And the de rigeur liberal critique as well as Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) really awful other-party rebuttal have been duly hashed and rehashed.

With the benefit of reflection, here are my three favorite parts of the speech.

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See Red, Be Red for Equal Pay Day, Today

[caption id="attachment_3820" align="alignright" width="175" caption="My red shoes"][/caption]

Red happens to be my favorite color. I’m an Aries after all. A classic one according to my sister (maybe that wasn’t meant as a compliment? Pioneering, passionate courageous, dynamic they say, but also selfish, impulsive, impatient, foolhardy.). Even my planet, Mars, named for the god of war, is red.

So I laughed when tweets from AAUW and National Women’s Law Center (NLRC), two organizations that have been pushing for the Paycheck Fairness Act and have declared this Blogging for Fair Pay Day, told me to wear red today.

No problem. I’ll just close my eyes and pull something out of my closet. It’ll more than likely be red.

There are many fabulous people blogging today about the fact that women make on average 78 cents to every $1 earned by a man, and women of color earn even less: African-American women earn 62¢, Latinas earn 53¢ for $1 earned by white, non-Hispanic men. NLRC can tell you how the comparison shakes down in your state.

Rather than write a long diatribe, I want to link Heartfeldt readers to some sources I’ve found particularly compelling or useful.

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The Girl’s Guide To The Economy: Elizabeth Warren Explains It All–Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About TARP And Were Very Afraid To Ask

With a big shout-out to Lucinda Marshall at Feminist Peace Network for allowing me to cross post, here are the answers to all your questions about TARP–sort of, as best they can be answered, and so forth. Be sure and read all three of Lucinda’s posts on this topic. (Then please e-mail me, gloria@gloriafeldt.com, and explain it to me.) Herewith, Lucinda, Elizabeth Warren, and Jon Stewart:

In Parts 11 and 12 of The Girls Guide To The Economy we have highlighted the work of Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel over the TARP. Below are Parts 1 and 2 of her interview with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show on Wednesday. Kudos to Stewart for having her on because clearly she is not getting the airtime she should be getting which will become totally clear to you when you view these videos. It is critical that what she is saying be heard. Listen, cross-post, send to your mother, your boss, your worst enemy and everyone else–let’s insist that the Obama administration and the media pay attention to Elizabeth Warren.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Elizabeth Warren Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook
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And Now a Word from the Economy Herself

The economy is apparently a woman. Check out this intelligent parody from my friend Marcy Shaffer at Versus.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfYdh-l01zI[/youtube]

… a parody of “I Will Survive” (Words and Music by Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren).

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Is a Good Enough Stimulus Good Enough?

Seems like the 787 billion dollar American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 stimulus package Congress has passed and sent to the President’s desk is just good enough. Though notable for its size, it doesn’t advance bold initiatives that could define Obama’s presidency, nor does it grapple with big, confounding issues like universal health care. It’s incremental rather than transformational. But it’s good enough to mind-shift us into a more optimistic view of the short term economy and to offer real help to many hurt by the downturn.

(If you want a quick look at how we’re going to spend 787 billion, see this chart. That sounds like “real money“, but it’s amazing how quickly it goes when you break it down–well, incrementally. For a more detailed summary, the Center for Law and Social Policy provides descriptions and tables with estimated state-by-state impacts of key provisions. Read that full report here.)

Though many economists say the package isn’t big enough, and feminists wonder whether it does enough to build the human infrastructure, Republicans are predictably squealing it’s too big and too diffuse. This despite all the effort Obama went to to engage and appease his Republican colleagues. I thought by now he would have learned the hooker principle (get paid first) and not have expended so much political capital trying to win over those who want only to create campaign issues with which to wrest back Congressional seats in 2010 and take the White House away from him in 2012. (Remember Newt and the Contract on America in 1994?)

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