Tonight President Barack Obama gives his first State of the Union address. Live blogging begins here with the beginning of the speech and the comment section is open. If you want to watch online, cut and paste this url into a new window: No TV? Watch the State of the Union address online here or click here. You’ll be able to watch the live stream on one window while keeping up with the live blogging and making comments on the other. This page will be updated every five minutes or so for the blogging, so refresh frequently for updates and new comments. Due to the nature of live blogging, please overlook typos, sentence fragments, etc. Comments are moderated and sometimes blacklisted for profanity or obscenity, so stick with substance. Comments free of profanity (and links) are not moderated. SOTU begins in 8 minutes. Well, Hulu’s live stream is almost live. Bob McDonald, Republican governor of VA is said to have the response. Shepherd Smith is hosting the Fox broadcast which is being fed through Hulu. The speech is to run about 1hr 15 minutes with applause time built in. 9:06- The announcement of the President’s entrance. 9:09– Chris Wallace (not Brit Hume) restates what almost everyone knows: The Democrats sit on the left side of the center aisle, the Republicans sit on the right. This is about as close as we get to the much more entertaining House of Commons debates in England. 9:13– Interesting that we have an African American, a senior citizen and a white woman in this picture for the first time. 9:15– I inherited two wars, a bad economy, etc. [Subtle blaming of Bush here.] 1 in 10 Americans still cannot find work. For those who already knew poverty experienced that much worse. These struggles are why I ran for office. 9:18– People don’t understand why bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded but hard work on Main Street is not. We face big and difficult challenges. The President mentions that people want Washington to move beyond partisanship, etc. His introduction sounds a lot like his campaign stump speech. 9:18– The big deal is the economy. Everyone hated the bank bailout? Then why did everyone vote for it? “Too big to fail” without using the term. 9:20– Now he’s pitting himself opposite the very banks he voted to bailout. And most of the people applauding are guilty of the same behavior. 9:21– Apparently, I fall into NONE of the tax cut categories. Applause joke was nice! Income tax has not been raised on a single person, not a single dime. If this is true, it hasn’t been for the lack of planning to do so. 9:23– Economists on the left and right approve of the Recovery Act. I don’t know where all the money is going, but what he just described isn’t taking place in Georgia; not, at least, where I live. I’m not sure a few success stories means the recovery act is working. A jobs bill? Can the government create jobs? What money does it use to pay wages? “Government can create the conditions for business to flourish.” I agree. Kind of like Cap and Trade? That kills business. 9:30– $30B of the Wall Street repayment money be given to small business in the form of credit. A new small business tax credit. The hiring of new workers and raises are going to come from the tax payer. Again, where does all this money come from? Put Americans to work today, building the infrastructure of tomorrow. Our nation was built to compete. Why should Europe or China have the fastest train? Heck, why shouldn’t they? Protectionist policies for job creation: tax breaks for companies that do not send jobs overseas. The President wants “a jobs bill on my desk without delay.” The only way to move to full employment is to move forward. We can afford another economic expansion like the last decade. 9:35– Apparently other nations are rebuilding their infrastructure and funding clean energy. China and India? I thought the climate issues were partially because of their expanding economies and lack of clean manufacturing and too many cars hitting the road. The President is not against banks, he says. Protections need to be in place to financial institutions to take risks that affect the full economy. The House has already passed legislation to this affect. Any legislation must pass the test of real reform or it will be sent back. [So much for a bill being passed.] Last year was the largest investment in basic research in history. Much in clean energy. More companies putting more people to work on tax dollars taken from all Americans and borrowed dollars from future Americans. 9:40– “There are some who disagree with the overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change” (much laughter here). American must be the nation that leads in the clean global economy. We need more exports. We will double our exports over the next five years. That’s the goal; how will it happen? A national export initiative. Reform export controls consistent with national security. Huh? This has the ring of increased tariffs to it, but I could be wrong. Any trade agreement has to be enforce, he notes. Panama and Columbia are in Asia? Must invest in skills and education of Americans. Only successful schools are rewarded. [So much for the kids in sorry schools.] 9:45– Passing the community college bill. A $10,000 tax credit for college families and an increase in Pell Grants? [Can we get that going on while I have a kid in college???] No one should go broke because they chose to go to college. [Working to lift the value of homes? Last month was one of the lowest rates of existing home resales since they started keeping records.] Still need health insurance reform. “Let’s clear a few things up.” [Couple of good laugh lines here. I can’t help it but every time he starts this I can only