The State of the Union Is Shouty

Plus: A listener asks the editors a question about progressive taxation in the United States.

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The State of the Union Is Shouty

In this week's The Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Nick Gillespie welcome back sudden special guest (and former Roundtable host) Andrew Heaton! The editors reflect on President Biden's recent State of the Union address and look ahead to the unavoidable slog of eight more months of election coverage.

04:11 - President Biden's feisty, yet empty, State of the Union address

24:27 - Third party election outlook

46:43 - Weekly Listener Question

55:49 - This week's cultural recommendations

Mentioned in this podcast:

"State of the Union (on Stimulants)" by Liz Wolfe

"The State of Our Biden Is Historically Frail" by Matt Welch

"Remarks by the President in the State of the Union Address" by Joe Biden

"No Labels, With No Candidate, Says Yes to a 2024 Presidential Campaign" by Matt Welch

"Biden's Inaccurate and Inadequate Lip Service to Marijuana Reform Ignores Today's Central Cannabis Issue" by Jacob Sullum

"Biden Touts More Forever Wars, Breaking His 2021 Promises" by Matthew Petti

"Third Party Candidates Widening Trump's Lead Over Biden" by Matt Welch

"Biden's Plan To Subsidize Homebuyers Won't Work" by Christian Britschgi

"Biden Says He'll Make the Wealthy Pay More To Fix Social Security. Here's Why That Won't Work." by Eric Boehm

"Biden Is Wrong About Student Debt Forgiveness" by Emma Camp

"Not Again With the 'Shrinkflation,' Please" by Eric Boehm

"RFK Jr.: The Reason Interview" by Nick Gillespie and Zach Weissmueller

"The Limits of Taxing the Rich" by Brian Riedl

"How Long Could Billionaires Fund the Government" by Nick Gillespie  and John Osterhoudt

Send your questions to [e-mail]. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Check out Andrew Heaton's podcast The Political Orphanage here.

Today's sponsor:

• A common misconception about relationships is that they have to be easy to be "right." But sometimes, the best ones happen when both people put in the work to make them great. Therapy can be a place to work through the challenges you face in all of your relationships—whether with friends, work, your significant other, or anyone else. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online. Designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist, and switch therapists any time for no additional charge. Visit BetterHelp.com/roundtable today to get 10 percent off your first month.

Audio production by Ian Keyser

Assistant production by Hunt Beaty

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

• Producer: Hunt Beaty

What are we consuming this week?

Nick Gillespie

• Joan Baez I Am a Noise
• God Save Texas

Katherine Mangu-Ward

• The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I by Lindsey Fitzharris

Andrew Heaton

• The Power by Naomi Alderman

Matt Welch

• Wonka

---

Comments

[SQRLSY One]

Correction:

The State of the Union Is SNOTTY!!!

Ass is given unto us all, by snotty-assed brats from BOTH SIDES!!!

(We have other choices, sheeple!!! Vote Libertarian!!!)

[LIBertrans]

Plucky Squirrel just drew redolent hate shrieks from a large fraction of the hundred or so redneck nazi Trumpanzistas I mooted over a year ago. Good show! I tried the Kleptocracy but began switching to voting LP in 1980, straight ticket in 1984 and ever since. Every bad law repealed since 1972 has been the work of law-changing Libertarian spoiler votes on our former platforms. German intelligence is now monitoring Mises-AfD neonazis so we may be able to retake the LP soon.

[Dillinger]

daily reader question why is it okay for Liz Cheney to hide exculpatory evidence?

[A Cynical Asshole]

Because FYTW.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

It's (R)eally (D)ifferent!

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Jacob Sullum could write a thousand word screed explaining the libertarian case for Liz Cheney but the short answer is Orangeman bad.

[Social Justice is neither]

I get the feeling those last two words written over and over would be Sullum's screed.

[Michael Ejercito]

Because it woukld have exonerated Trump.

[JesseAz]

Another question. Why multiple mentions of a Russian journalist but not any of American journalists arrested?

[Mother's Lament]

"Shut up", they explained.

[I…….. Fudd]

Giving a dementia riddled moron a cocktail of stimulants will tend to make make him shouty.

[Vernon Depner]

Don't worry; he was back to his grandfatherly spit-bubbling self the following afternoon:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-biden-speaks-at-campaign-event-in-philadelphia-as-reported-275000-jobs-added-to-economy

[VULGAR MADMAN]

Time for more coke.

[I…….. Fudd]

I wonder how long until the stimulants take their toll?

[VULGAR MADMAN]

Just look at him. He shouldn’t even be there.

[Vernon Depner]

At that age, the damage will show up quickly.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2]

New Biden budget:

Under the proposal, the government would spend $7.3 trillion next fiscal year and borrow $1.8 trillion to cover the shortfall from tax receipts. Biden’s 188-page plan covers a decade’s worth of spending, taxes and debt.

https://apnews.com/article/biden-budget-deficit-9ac66a99e741dab656c15116408060a5

Disgraceful.

Better than Fatass Donnie's $3.1 trillion deficit but still disgraceful.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

Funny how you forgot to mention the 5.5 trillion in new taxes.

[Vernon Depner]

But that was just from freeloading billionaires.

[I woke up when Hillary talked about Reconstruction]

NO,they add far more on the future problems side.
Amazon gets to use USPS on Sunday thanks to Biden and MR Environment doesn't know that : "Amazon generates enough plastic waste to wrap the Earth 80 times over."

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2]

"New" taxes?

Your math is bad. It is $5.5 trillion in TOTAL taxes. (7.3 - 5.5 = 1.8)

[VULGAR MADMAN]

So the taxes don’t even exist, neat!

[I, Woodchipper]

income tax is the biggest sin of all

[VULGAR MADMAN]

You haven’t heard of wealth taxes?

[LIBertrans]

Hey, it replaced the Republican protective tariff in 1894 as promised, didn't it? Didn't it? Brazil has 100% tariffs (or outright bans) on most everything, but income tax rates, though retained, are not very high.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2]

Indiana GOP Sen. Todd Young renews his pledge not to support Trump in 2024
Young said he has not decided who he will support in 2024
By Andrew Mark Miller Fox News
Published March 8, 2024 4:41pm EST

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/indiana-gop-sen-todd-young-renews-his-pledge-not-to-support-trump-in-2024

US Senator disgusted with Pro-Soviet MAGA candidate.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

Goddamn you’re retarded.

[I…….. Fudd]

The irony is that he really thinks he’s clever with this crap.

[Mother's Lament]

Nah, I think he realizes he's been relegated to the short bus and has thus devolved to angry trolling and tricking sarcasmic.

[LIBertrans]

There is a libertarian candidate named Chase Oliver. He is closer to presidential hopeful JFK's age than the Orango-pangolin is to the Warmunist Mummy's age. Oliver is the 10¢ a vote guy who put the Kleptocracy into runoffs in Georgia after paying two hundred times as much per vote. That's CLOUT! Oliver (http://bit.ly/3hFH6QJ) Oliver won in Boston while the girl-bullying Gee-Oh-Poo turned away an actual James L Battersby Hitler-cultist!

[Liberty_Belle]

When did it become acceptable to yell during the SOTU ? I feel like this was unheard of just a little while ago. Sure, you disagree with the people in power; but shouldn't we expect decorum from supposed leaders ? Or at least behaving like an adult. We are "showing our ass" in front of the world stage. It's embarrassing.

[Vernon Depner]

Are you joking? Compared to what goes on in most other parliaments on the "world stage", our Congress looks like a white Sunday School class.

[A Cynical Asshole]

Yeah, it's been a long time since we had outright brawls break out in Congress.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2]

Redneck Joe Wilson yelled at Obama - first time I recall.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

You would have loved the democrat who bashed a republican in the run up to the civil war.

[JesseAz]

Democrats booed ar W dumdum. Wait til you hear about the founding era.

[I, Woodchipper]

democrats yelled and booed at bush and trump during their speeches. Pelosi tore up the text of the trump speech after it was over, and it was basically no different than a clinton speech. decorum is over. Get used it.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2]

“Biden Touts More Forever Wars, Breaking His 2021 Promises”

Wrong – we are in one less war than when Sleepy Joe was sworn in.

EDIT - oh, I get it. The Israel-Palestine conflict is Joe's fault. Just like the 80% inflation rate in Argentina is his fault. I forget about wingnut logic where everything that happens is Joe's fault.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

You forgot about Ukraine already?

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2]

When did we invade Ukraine? Or Russia?

Oh, we didn't.

This reminds me of the idiot 'John' that used to post here. He said that the Libyan War that Obama started was WORSE THAN IRAQ. Yes, because Obama was a Democrat anything he did was worse than the sainted Bushpigs he loved so much.

I wish he were still here so I could rub his nose in a pile of Bushpig shit (you can't judge a president so soon!) said John in 2012.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

It is Biden’s weakness that led to all these new wars. Now we just have to wait for China to take advantage of the dementia patient in chief.

[I woke up when Hillary talked about Reconstruction]

Well , yes, those are Joe's fault. And Biden used to say that any economic changes in America affect the world. YOu do a great Karine Jean-Pierre imitation

[I, Woodchipper]

if "sending 200 billion" doesnt count as "being in a war" i cant' help you

[LIBertrans]

Argentina's anarco-fascista fanboy My Lai just got himself a pay hike. His monthly wage in February was two MILLION Argentine pesos more than in January of this same year. At the rate the currency is inflating--from worth a nickel to worth a penny this past year--that roughly 15% raise will itself fizzle to nothing before long. But if "Libertarian" can henceforth be associated with girl-bullying arnychism, the recently Anschlussed LP will lose voters and repeal clout at a rate simmiler to the Argentine Peso to USD conversion chart. The girl-bullying prohibitionists will have gotten rid of the worst threat to Christian National Socialism since the Soviet H-Bomb.

[I woke up when Hillary talked about Reconstruction]

He comes across as a stupid and lazy man. He is the President,this is not two guys sharing rule, a Trump-Biden co-regency. He's ruined the economy, he did not become the Great Unifier, and he's sold out our national security.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Progressive taxation? Does that mean taxing progressives?

[Gaear Grimsrud]

How do I vote yes on that proposition?

[I, Woodchipper]

State of the union: "how DARE you not be a liberal"

[TJJ2000]

Since 1980....
Tax PRODUCTIVITY!
Subsidize LAZINESS!
What could possibly go wrong.

The very 'plan' to end up in a dog-eat-dog end-game because 'Guns' don't make sh*t.

[TJJ2000]

…or should I just say

There’s nothing ?better? than a monopoly of ‘Gov-Guns’ backed by a [WE] mob of criminals just salivating over stealing all of your earnings.

…because that is what this nation has made precedence (status-quo) of the purpose of having a government and excused it all with the single word 'poor'.

[CindyF]

It is my wish that after this election cycle, the nation retire the word "feisty". It will forever more be associated with Joe Biden and thus corrupts the meaning of the word. The mockingbird media sung as one that "feisty" chorus on the morning following the demented one's SOTU speech.

[LIBertrans]

Funny how the Gee-Oh-Poo can only point to Tranny Story Hour, Queer Thud Blight, Woke something or other, Uppity women with rights and hippies copping a buzz as the fates worse than death if they lose. The Dems meanwhile counter with Sharknado Warmunist Extinction from water vapor, Koch Brothers energy profits and loss of tax revenue as their version of fates worse than death. So how does this Kleptocracy FIND idiots wiling to pass up the chance to cast a libertarian spoiler vote and instead endorse such goibage?