Welcome to our LIVE coverage of President Barack Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address. I’ll be live blogging the speech with a special focus on tax issues (they should be BIG). You can send questions and comments ahead of (and during) the speech to kelly.erb@taxgirl.com.
The President’s speech begins at 9 p.m. EST although some of the fun stuff starts beforehand. You can meet me back here (go ahead, bookmark it). I’ll be checking in a little earlier – we all want a good seat, right?
Most network television will be airing the speech. You can also watch it on the White House website.
(To make sure you’re up to speed, you can read about the President’s tax proposals as previously reported here.)
To keep the dialogue going for live viewers, posts will appear in reverse chronological order. This makes it a little more tough to read the day after… my apologies in advance.
Also, I’m typing as I go so pardon the typos. 😉
10:41 p.m. One more important point: PBS reporting 75-77 applause breaks. So there you go.
10:37 p.m. Wrapping for the evening. Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to leave your comments below.
10:35 p.m. Notwithstanding the fact that the response was actually prepared well in advance of the President’s speech, Sen. Ernst’s speech was pretty good. It didn’t seem defensive. It was “we won the election and we’re going for it.” Smart decision.
10:33 p.m. Sen. Ernst says that Republicans will “keep fighting to repeal and replace a health care law that’s hurt so many hardworking families.”
10:31 p.m. Sen. Ernst also mentioned the word “loopholes” in her speech. Considering how much the White House and Congress claim to be annoyed by “loopholes,” they keep passing the same kinds of laws. Just saying.
Sen. Ernst also noted that the Republicans hope for tax simplification. This may be a side swipe at the President’s tax proposal which is clearly not simple.
10:28 p.m. From her speech:
Sen. Ernst worked at Hardee’s as a teen! For those of you outside of the South and the midwest, it’s like a McDonald’s – only better.
Also, as an aside: I grew up in a poor town. I had a pair of shoes for school and a pair of shoes for church. I get it. But the whole town didn’t wear bread bags on their feet. I’m a little perplexed about what kind of town Sen. Ernst grew up in.
10:20 p.m. Here is the text, as prepared, from Sen. Ernst’s rebuttal. The only real mention of taxes in Sen. Ernst’s rebuttal is this: We’ll propose ideas that aim to cut wasteful spending and balance the budget — with meaningful reforms, not higher taxes like the President has proposed.
You can watch it here:
(And yes, it’s getting a lot of press… She’s wearing camo heels.)
10:18 p.m. I’m not gonna lie. All of this discussion about “turn the page” from the speech gives me Bob Seger flashbacks:
10:16 p.m. No mention of the gas tax. Dipped into infrastructure discussions but no mention of how to pay for it. While some Republicans favor boosting the gas tax, the President is not in favor.
10:12 p.m. The President did not specifically address raising capital gains rates, nor eliminating the step-up in basis. Both are controversial. Both are expensive and not expected to pass Congress. The President has inserted both into his “middle class economy” platform which he touted throughout.
10:11 p.m. Various media outlets giving out grades on the speech. Most seem to think it was better than last year’s speech.
10:11 p.m. Standing ovation. The President shakes hands as he makes his way out.
