2014 State of the Union address: on Budget & Economy

Green Party: Answers to wealth inequality are out there; ask the people

While this year's State of the Union mentioned inequality of wealth, it failed to mention poverty, homelessness, or the ongoing home foreclosure crisis (except in passing), and in any case failed to offer substantive solutions. It is not as if the answers are not out there.

In Pennsylvania, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is moving people into vacant housing. In Richmond, California, Green Party Mayor Gayle McLaughlin is working on a program to take back foreclosed homes from banks and return them to original owners. The people are moving to find ways to meet their needs. The silence of the twin corporate parties makes it only a matter of time before the people move forcefully to build a political party of their own.

Barack Obama: FactCheck: Deficits cut in half, but still higher than 2008

Fact Check: The federal budget deficit has declined in half since 2009, from $1.3 trillion to about $600 billion, but that's not much to brag about. The 2009 figure was not just a deficit Obama inherited from his predecessor, since it also reflected the impact of decisions, such as the $800 billion stimulus bill, enacted early in the president's term.

Moreover, the deficit soared in the first place because of the recession, so as the economy has improved, the deficit naturally decreased. The United States still has a deficit higher than it was in nominal terms and as a percentage of gross domestic product than it was in 2008 and a debt much greater as a percentage of the overall economy than it was prior to the recession.