2012 State of the Union address: on Government Reform
Jill Stein:
Voter Bill of Rights: full public financing; paper ballots
The Voter Bill of Rights is a 10-point platform: the calling card of the modern day voting rights movement:- Voter-marked paper ballot for all voting, and require that all votes are counted before election results are released.
- Replace partisan
oversight of elections with non-partisan election commissions.
- Celebrate our democratic aspirations by making Election Day a national holiday.
- Bring simplified, safe same-day voter registration to the nation so that no qualified voter is barred fro
the polls.
- Do away with so-called "winner take all" elections, and replace that system with instant runoff voting and proportional representation.
- Replace big money control of elections with full public financing and free and equal access to the
airwaves.
- Guarantee equal access to debates.
- Abolish the Electoral College and implement direct election of the President.
- Restore the vote to ex-offenders who've paid their debt to society.
- Enact Statehood for the District of Columbia
Source: Green Party 2012 People's State of the Union speech
Jan 25, 2012
Barack Obama:
Ban insider trading by members of Congress
Let's take some steps to fix the corrosive influence of money in politics. Send me a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress, and I will sign it tomorrow. Let's limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries they impact.
Let's make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress can't lobby Congress, and vice versa--an idea that has bipartisan support, at least outside of Washington.
Source: 2012 State of the Union speech
Jan 24, 2012
Buddy Roemer:
We need better & smarter government; not more government
Why, Mr. President, have all the policies you talked about tonight--why have none of those things been accomplished, when you've had three years in office to make progress on them?Now you say that you want to introduce a new unit to investigate
abusive mortgage lending practices that led to the housing crisis, and a 'trade enforcement unit' to tell us what we already know about China's manipulation of currency and unfair trade practices. There's a big difference between
President Obama and myself--I don't believe that the solution to the government's problems, and to the peoples' problems, is MORE government. The solution is better government, and smarter government--adequate legislation
to regulate lending, like that which Glass-Steagall provided, and tough action against China's practices rather than a bloated investigation.
Source: Response to 2012 State of the Union speech
Jan 24, 2012
Buddy Roemer:
Super PACs distort and corrupt our politics
I was surprised to hear the President use the words 'money in politics.' That's my issue, and I've been talking about it since I declared my candidacy for the Republican nomination for president. But unlike President Obama,
I live the message, not taking a single penny from PACs or Super PACs, which distort and corrupt our politics. Limiting stock ownership by elected officials, keeping bundlers from lobbying, banning insider trading by members of
Congress--which is illegal for EVERYONE, by the way, not just members of Congress--those are great things, but as long as PACs and Super PACs are buying our elections, they won't mean anything.
How can a president who is planning a billion dollar reelection campaign decry the influence of money in politics?
Source: Response to 2012 State of the Union speech
Jan 24, 2012
Mitch Daniels:
Experiment in trickle-down government hurts middle class
In three short years, an unprecedented explosion of spending, with borrowed money, has added trillions to an already unaffordable national debt. And yet, the President has put us on a course to make it radically worse in the years ahead.
The federal government now spends one of every four dollars in the entire economy; it borrows one of every three dollars it spends. No nation, no entity, large or small, public or private, can thrive, or survive intact, with debts as huge as ours.
The President's grand experiment in trickle-down government has held back rather than sped economic recovery. He seems to sincerely believe we can build a middle class out of government jobs paid for with borrowed dollars.
In fact, it works the other way: a government as big and bossy as this one is maintained on the backs of the middle class, and those who hope to join it.
Source: GOP response to the 2012 State of the Union speech
Jan 24, 2012
Mitt Romney:
Make government simpler, smaller, and smarter
If tonight were the first message to Congress in a Romney administration, I'd have the courage to tell the American people how it is and tell Congress what we really need to do. I wouldn't spend my time blaming others for how we got in this mess;
I'd explain how we're going to get out of it. I'd use the State of the Union to lay out an agenda that will get our country back on track and get our fiscal house in order.My agenda would make government simpler, smaller, and smarter. As President,
I will repeal unnecessary regulations and restore our good credit rating. I will reduce tax rates and simplify the tax code, especially for middle-income Americans. I will streamline regulation, ensure the prompt review of projects, and order agencies
to focus on economic growth.
I would pledge to do all that a President can to get America working again. When it comes to the economy, my highest priority would be worrying about your job, not saving my own.
Source: Prebuttal to 2012 State of the Union speech
Jan 24, 2012
Page last updated: Feb 24, 2019