Text of Obama's Address has a readability score for an average 8th grader - two grades lower than George W. Bush's Addresses and the historical average for modern presidents.However, a Smart Politics analysis of nearly 70 oral State of the Union Addresses since the mid-1930s finds the text of Obama's speech on Wednesday evening to have one of the lowest scores on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test ever recorded by a U.S. President.
Smart Politics ran the Flesch-Kincaid test on each of the last 68 State of the Union Addresses that were delivered orally by presidents before a Joint Session of Congress since Franklin Roosevelt. Excluded from analysis were five written addresses (Truman in 1946 and 1953, Eisenhower in 1961, Nixon in 1973, and Carter in 1981) and two addresses that were delivered orally, but not by the President himself (Roosevelt in 1945, Eisenhower in 1956). Prior to FDR, most, but not all, such Addresses were delivered in writing. Obama's Flesch-Kincaid grade level score of 8.8 for his first State of the Union Address was the fourth lowest score since FDR's first Address in 1934.
Many of our COMMON CENTS readers may be unaware but we have a sister site - The Internet Radio Network. At the IRN you can listen to over 70 of your favorite radio shows via Free Streaming Audio. Shows include politics (Rush, Sean, Levin, Dr Laura), Religious Programing, Investing, Sports and much more!
Studies show that the Talk Radio Audience has successful upscale demographics and usually:
have an income over $75,000 (vs. median US income of $48,200)
have graduated college
own their residence
are likely to use the Internet
are 25-65 years old (with the numbers of women listeners steadily increasing)
"It's time to man up - it's time to grow up"
Rush Limbaugh letter to President Obama:
I penned a message to Obama that I would like to deliver now. Because Mr. Obama, I think it’s time we had a heart to heart talk. Let me be the father that you never had or never really knew, because I think you need some guidance. It’s time to man up. It’s time to grow up. That speech last night was an embarrassment. You couldn’t focus, you lashed out in all directions, you refused to accept responsibility for your own actions, and you were angry.
And he was, folks! He was mad. Being president is a big job. It’s a big responsibility. You wanted the position, Barack. You campaigned for it. You told the public to trust you with it, and they elected you — and you’re now president of the greatest country mankind has ever known, and yet you act like this was all coming to you, like you deserve it, that you’re better than the people you are supposed to serve and that you have no tolerance for debate or dissent. That’s not the way it works as president, Barack. We have a Constitution, we have checks and balances, we have separation of powers, we have states — and most of all, we have the people. You don’t get to impose your programs and policies on the nation and the people without our consent.
This is a representative republic, not a banana republic, and let me remind you: Karl Marx and Saul Alinsky are not our Founding Fathers. This is a nation built on individuality, built on liberty, free markets, and faith. Yet you, Barack, demand fidelity to a different belief system: A system that crushes individual initiative and free will. The president does not berate Supreme Court justices who are guests of the Congress and who have no ability to respond to your attacks. You’ve made such a mess of things, Barack, and it’s time to stop deluding yourself. It’s time to stop blaming others. You are delusional. You are delirious. It’s time for you to assume the responsibilities of a president rather than pretending to be one.
You’ve driven the nation’s debt over the edge. It is your responsibility to fix it now. Otherwise, our young people will have no future. You were wrong to grant terrorists constitutional rights. Even the libs in New York don’t want the trial there now! You, Mr. President, are endangering the security of this nation. Now fix it! Reverse course, and end the terrorists — all of them — back to Guantanamo Bay, where they belong. You are wrong to nationalize one industry after another from automobiles to banks. You are destroying competition and jobs. You need to stop what you were doing before million of more families go broke from your misguided policies. It’s not too late to stop this. I know you’re not going to stop it because last night you said you don’t quit, and I know what you mean.
You’re gonna keep plugging for the same agenda, which is going to destroy this country even more — which makes me think, Barack, that’s your objective. You know, Barack, unlike most presidents you’re dealing with a Congress that has super majorities in both houses, fellow Democrats. It amazes me that with all the talk about your ability to persuade and communicate, that you can’t even hold your own party members together anymore. Is that Bush’s fault, too? Is it is fault of the banks and the insurance companies and the lobbyists that you can’t keep your own Democrat Party unified — or is it a problem with your leadership, Barack, or lack of leadership? It’s the latter, Mr. President. I’ll tell you, you are not a leader. You are an agitator and an organizer, and a process guy, but you are not a leader. It is you who are doing something wrong.
The people in Virginia don’t like it. The people in New Jersey don’t like it. The people in Massachusetts don’t like it. The people in Massachusetts and all over the country have the ability to inform themselves outside of your sycophant press corps, and they are doing so. Members of your own governing majority don’t like what you are doing. I mean, this calls for some self-reflection and some circumspection. Has it occurred to you, Mr. President, even once that you’re not as cool as you think you are? Has it occurred to you that you are screwing up? And if it has, are you happy about that? Has it occurred to you that you have a great deal to learn and that you need to take your own measure, or are you Mr. Perfect? Are you God-sent?
Are you The One that you’ve been waiting for? See, I have a little concern there may be a psychological issue at play here. I don’t say this to demean you, Barack. I say it because I’m concerned. I mean, Tom Daschle was always “concerned” and I like the word. I’m concerned. You seem to have a whole lot of enemies, at least in your own mind. A partial list would include Fox News, insurance companies, banks, oil companies, the “special interests,” the Supreme Court, Republicans, talk show hosts, executives, anyone or any business that earns over $250,000 a year, mortgage companies, credit card companies — and the list goes on and on and on. You have the longest enemies list of anybody I’ve ever known.
These people are not your enemies, though, Barack. They are Americans. They are part of this country. They are part of what makes the nation work. You are not. You have nothing to do, and have had nothing to do, with this nation’s greatness. You can’t lay claim to greatness on any scale, not even rhetorical. But you have no direct relationship to the greatness of this country. You are damaging the possibility of further greatness. Nevertheless, like a bully, you continue to threaten all of these people. The Supreme Court, Big Oil, Big Pharmaceutical, Big Retail, talk show hosts, Fox News, the list goes on. You threaten anybody who does not agree with you. You try to intimidate them. You smear them. Your sycophantic media goes right along and carries your water. But this is not what presidents do…
As always Common Cents is your one-stop-shop for all of your Global Warming Updates and Global Warming Alerts. As you can clearly see from this recent satellite photo of Great Britain the Global Warming is taking over the United Kingdom from the Scotland in the north to Wales in the South. As Al Gore has often stated "The Debate is Over".
For weeks Fox News' Glenn Beck has been talking about his upcoming documentary on The Progressive Movement and it's ties to Socialism and Communism. This should be required viewing. It is an outstanding hour-long show on the dangers of Progressives including Che, Mao and Stalin.
Common Cents is proud to bring you today's Toyota Quality Update. As everyone knows Toyota vehicles are built with the highest quality with impeccable and undisputed quality.
In another blow to its quality image, Toyota Motor announced Thursday a second huge recall of vehicles for another problem that could cause the throttle to stick open.The latest recall involves 2.3 million Toyota-brand cars and trucks dating back to 2005 models. That follows a recent recall of 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles because floor mats could jam the gas pedal down. About 1.7 million are on both lists, Toyota said. In its latest announcement, Toyota cited problems with "certain accelerator pedal mechanisms." It gave no other specifics about the problem and said it is "working quickly to prepare the correction remedy." "This situation is slowly spiraling out of control. As a company with a reputation for steadiness, these must be uncomfortable days for Toyota," says James Bell, analyst at Kelley Blue Book, a car-shopping and price-researching service. (Read the rest of the articlehere.)
Toyota Quality Update - Previous Toyota recalls and safety issues:
What a upset victory by Scott Brown. As he so famously stated "It's not the Kennedy's Seat, it's the people's seat". Last night's victory was impressive and historic - Lindsey Graham said it was the biggest upset in the history of the US Senate. Senator Elect Brown will be the Next United States Senator:
CC offers its strongest endorsement for State Senator Scott Brown for the US Senate. Brown would be the 41st Senator Republican and a critical independent vote to slow down the Democratic stranglehold on US Government. Brown has run an aggressive campaign initially on a shoestring budget. He is a 29-year member of the Massachusetts National Guard and has deployed overseas with his unit. He offers a fresh approach to the problems that we face and will be a welcome addition to the US Senate. Vote for Scott Brown January 19th!
If this were a private sector entity they would have been fired by now. When the Democrats took over control of Congress in January 2007 the unemployment rate was 4.4%. Somehow the State Run Media had convinced the American Public that those were the worst of times. The fact that the US Economy was in the midst of 55 consequetive months of job growth was ignored. In those days Budget Deficits of $400 Billion were lampooned. (They are over 4 times as large now).
Now flash forward to present day. Since the Democrats took over Congress over 7 Million Jobs have been lost. The unemployment rate has skyrocketed from 4.4 to 10%. They are beneath incompetent. They would have to improve to be incompetent. Remember this the next time there is an election.
Republican Unemployments in Red
Democrat Unemployment rates in Blue
This guy is going to pull off the political upset of the century. Just look at the enthusiasm in the crowd. Its dark, cold and a Saturday Night and he's been campaigning all day but just look at the electricity in this crowd. This guy is the real deal. This will be the new Massachusetts Miracle:
The fact is that Conservative are significantly more willing to donate their time and money to charity. Consider that:
Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).
Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.
Residents of the states that voted for John Kerry in 2004 gave smaller percentages of their incomes to charity than did residents of states that voted for George Bush.
Bush carried 24 of the 25 states where charitable giving was above average.
In the 10 reddest states, in which Bush got more than 60 percent majorities, the average percentage of personal income donated to charity was 3.5. Residents of the bluest states, which gave Bush less than 40 percent, donated just 1.9 percent.
People who reject the idea that "government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality" give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.
The single biggest predictor of someone's altruism, Willett says, is religion.
Common Cents realizes that many people are looking for Full or even Part Time work. The NUMBER 1 way to find employment is by networking (that is to tell everyone you know you are looking for work) and thus expanding your network of contacts.
Number two is via online job postings. Too that end Common Cents is proud to bring you the following list:
Monster.comis the largest internet job search site. If your resume is not posted here you are wrong.
Idealist.org- Over 4,500 Not For Profit jobs posted!
WorkTree claims to be scans MILLIONS of jobs in seconds! View jobs from thousands of online sources INSTANTLY! 50,000+ links to job sites, recruiters, employers and more!
Job.comis another very large job search site. Registration and resume posting isfreeand this job search site always ranks as one of the top career sites on the Internet.
Beyond.com- You can do it all at Beyond.com. Currently there are 461,091 jobs posted.
SnagAJob.com is America’s largest hourly job website, featuring more than 100,000 active job postings in industries including: restaurant, retail, office and more.
Indeed.comclaims to have 693,095 new jobs in the last 7 days. Search job sites, newspapers, associations and company career pages.
Common Cents is proud to bring you today's Democratic Party Ethic's Updates. As the world's oldest political party the Democrat is firmly devoted to being the most ethical party every. As the banner to the right clearly states the Dems are for "Honest Leadership & Open Government." Again - we bring you today's Democratic Party Ethics Update:
There is a Special Election in Massachusetts January 19 to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate Seat. The race is between Republican Scott Brown and Mass Attorney General Martha Coakley. If Scott Brown were to win he would provide the critical 41st vote in the US Senate to stop Obamacare in its tracks. Common Cents is calling all of our readers to Support Scott Brown for US Senate. Scott Brown was recently named the 2004 "Public Servant of the Year" award and has been a member of the Mass National Guard for 29 years.
This Democratic Congress has been a disaster. Since the Democrats took over in January 2007 over 7 million jobs have been lost. The unemployment rate has skyrocketed from 4.4% (Jan 2007) to 10% (Jan 2010). The Budget Deficit has quadrupled and $1 Trillion Deficits are here for as long as the eye can see. This is a critical race that is winnable for the GOP!
In a state known for its left-leaning and pro-abortion politics, Brown has an uphill battle but he enjoys the support of Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Jack Rowe, chairman of the MCFL PAC, emailed LifeNews.com today to say that he is seeing movement in Brown’s direction. “People are terribly upset about health care and asking what to do. Here is the very exciting part. We in Massachusetts can actually save the whole country from this awful health care. Our PAC has been supporting Scott Brown because he will be a pro-life vote in the Senate. Scott Brown will also vote against the health care bill. After the compromise bill comes out of conference, it must be approved again by each house. Brown will vote against the bill. That means there will not be 60 votes in the Senate. That means the bill will be defeated.” That’s a lofty goal but Rowe is encouraging pro-life advocates in Massachusetts to get involved in the special election. “Can we do it? We certainly can! Turn-out will be very small,” he said — adding that the pr-life movement could change the dynamics of the race of it gets mobilized.
Hot Air has an excellent article on the race. And National Review has another outstanding post:
The Democrats have gotten to the precipice — to borrow President Obama’s word — of victory on health-care reform for one reason above all others: 60 votes. Their supermajority in the Senate empowered them to muscle through a sprawling mess of a bill by partisan fiat. If the ball had bounced the other way in a close race or two (or if Arlen Specter had felt more loyalty to his party of decades), the Democrats wouldn’t have gotten to 60. Once there, they were willing to resort to any expedient to stay at the magic number. After Ted Kennedy’s death last summer, the Massachusetts legislature rushed to change state election law to allow for an interim replacement in advance of a special election, explicitly to keep the Democrats at 60. Now, the special election for the seat is less than two weeks away. It represents the only electoral threat to 60 that Democrats will face until November. Republican Scott Brown is mounting a surprisingly strong bid, trailing Massachusetts attorney general Martha Coakley by only 9 points in the latest Rasmussen poll. A state senator, Brown is running an anti-spending, anti-Washington campaign perfectly suited to the political moment. Should he win, it could make it all but impossible for Harry Reid to get 60 votes for the current version of Obamacare — and he’ll almost certainly need to meet that threshold at least one more time. In short, Scott Brown is the man who could pull the brake on this train right before it gets fully out of the station.
As always Common Cents is your one-stop shop to get all of the latest and fast
changing facts on the Religion, science of Global Warming. As you read this Global Warming is encroaching on South Florida and South Texas. This Global Warming threatens our very way of life and as Al Gore is fond of reminding us "The debate is over" and "The Science is Settled". Common Cents proudly brings you these cogent and scary Global Warming Updates:
As we all know the world has been cooling since 1998 but of late the cooling has been accelerating at an alarming rate. We documented this trend in a recent Common Cents post "Is a new Ice Age coming?" last month. In that post we laid out the Alaskan glaciers growing for the first time in 250 years, the fact that sea ice is growing at the fastest pace ever, glaciers are growing all over the world and more. The UK Daily Mail has a superlative article in which they document some of the Arctic Weather that is hitting the earth with ferocious intensity. This is scary stuff folks - if a new Ice Age is coming that would be devastating to life on Planet Earth.
CHINA - Snow storms today have caused chaos in China's capital of Beijing, grinding aeroplanes to a halt and causing severe traffic delays.Around 90 per cent of all flights were either delayed or cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. In addition, major roads in Beijing and Tianjin, as well as nearby provinces Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, were forced to close due to the heavy snow. The snow shows no sign of stopping, however, and temperatures are expected to drop to -16C in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday, causing more problems for those attempting to returning to work after a three-day New Year holiday.
INDIA - Not a country usually associated with snow, India has experienced severe problems since Saturday when snowfall and a dense blanket of fog began to cause chaos. More than 30 people died in cold-weather related incidents in Northern India over the past 24 hours, with 10 of those losing their lives in train accidents caused by the fog. Meanwhile, 24 homeless people have also died in the Uttar Pradesh state since Saturday due to the severe drop in temperature. Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir were all hit with heavy snow, while Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi also recorded snowfall over the past 24 hours.
RUSSIA - A country much more used to dealing with high levels of snow, Russia saw temperature lows of a chilling -20C in Moscow today. Those travelling on trains at stations near the Russian city of Vorkuta, attempted to continue their journeys despite the freezing conditions. Workers also tried to sweep snow from the train tracks, but found it was falling too fast to clear. However, two men making the most of the snow were Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who decided to take to the slopes in Krasnaya Polyana near the Black Sea resort of Sochi in southern Russia.
GERMANY - The snow caused more problems with flights in Germany, with one jet veering off the runway at Dortmund airport in western Germany. The Air Berlin Boeing 737-800 broke to abort the take-off due to a 'technical irregularity', but none of the 165 passengers and six crew members were injured. The plane was not damaged but flights from the airport were canceled or diverted for a large part of the day. Airline spokeswoman Diane Daedelow said: 'A combination of the snowy weather and the speed the plane was traveling at forced the plane to skid off the runway.' Over 30 flights from Frankfurt airport were also canceled this morning.
AUSTRIA - While they are much more accustomed to dealing with snow, even native Austrians were struggling to cope with the freezing lows of -8C at night and -3C during the day. But one creature happy to bound around in the fluffy snow was a mix breed dog called Lotta, who seemed entirely unconcerned as she became coated in snow during her run in Unken, in the Austrian province of Salzburg. Meteorologists have predicted continued light snowfalls for the upcoming days in Austria.
KOREA - Seoul residents slogged through the heaviest snowfall in modern Korean history after a winter storm dumped more than 11 inches (28 centimeters) Monday, forcing airports to cancel flights and paralyzing traffic in South Korea's bustling capital. The snow and icy roads snarled traffic in and out of Seoul, and at least three people died in traffic accidents. Many commuters squeezed into packed subways to get to work, and a Cabinet meeting was delayed because ministers were stuck in traffic.
FLORIDA - A wind chill advisory was issued for most of South Florida, and temperatures were forecast to dip below freezing in far western Broward. On Monday and Tuesday, the mercury is expected to top out around 60 degrees -- 17 degrees below normal. The lows in most of South Florida are expected to be in the mid-30s to low 40s. Jacksonville fell to 26 degrees overnight Saturday, well below the typical temperature of 42 degrees, said Dave Samuhel, a meteorologist for AccuWeather.com. A low of 20 degrees was forecast for Sunday night, which would break the existing record of 22 degrees, Samuhel said. Orlando was expected to slip to 27 degrees Sunday night, shattering its record of 31 degrees.
DALLAS, TEXAS - There won't be a snowy blizzard when a powerful blast of Canadian air reaches North Texas later this week, but the "arctic outbreak" could provide wind chill values close to, or even below, zero. The arctic front might kick up some cold rain Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service. But what is certain is that there will be stiff north winds Thursday, a possible low of 16 degrees Thursday night, and then bitterly cold temperatures Friday and on through the weekend. Also, "wind chill values are expected to fall into the single digits or below Thursday morning," according to a special statement issued by the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth.
