Obama is gearing up his reelection campaign. Last night there were house parties all across America where supporters gathered to watch his second State of the Union speech. It was followed by an E-mail from Organizing for America, which was signed simply “Barack” and which asked people to stand with him in doing big things. An unofficial house party was celebrated in my home with good friends, who happen to be registered Republicans, and lasagna, wine, and yum yum cake. (Infamous Lasagna recipe follows)

In my opinion Obama’s speech was a little light on details, a bit too vague for my taste. The three specific goals he laid out were: 80% of America’s Electricity to be generated from clean energy sources by 2035; 80% of Americans will be able to use high speed rail; and 98% of Americans will have access to high speed internet.

His one big zinger, at least from a local perspective, was that he would eliminate the subsidies provided to oil and gas companies in order to pay for subsidies for alternative energies. As an example, early on in the speech, he mentioned a company that reinvented itself from a roofing company to a company selling solar shingles. Since I’ve been considering putting solar panels on my house, I wanted to know more about solar shingles. Evidently they are less expensive than solar panels and easier to install. The beauty of American entrepreneurs!

The general tone of the speech was that we need to stop supporting old technologies and invest in new technologies. We need to stop ignoring our decaying infrastructures and invest in fixing them. We need to change the way we deliver education so that our kids will have the tools they need to compete in a global economy for jobs. And we need to make sure that regulations protect our air, water, and food.

And, finally, he threatened to take out his veto pen if anyone tried to slash Social Security. Interesting choice of word, “slash.” Does that mean that he might approve a bill that simply cut benefits to millions of Baby Boomers? This question is more important than it appears. Paul Ryan, who was given unusual powers to cap spending in appropriation bills originating in the House by his fellow GOP in a vote in the House yesterday, wants to end Medicare and slash Social Security, while continuing to give tax cuts to the wealthy.

For the life of me I can’t understand how Republicans think. Cutting taxes does not increase revenue, it decreases revenue. It does not increase jobs, it increases the gap between the haves and the have nots. Social Security does not increase deficits, it is not a budget item. Social Security is not paid for with income taxes, it is paid for with contributions from workers and their employers. My vision of America is one that invests in the future of its children, not the lifestyle of the rich and famous, and one that takes care of its elderly, its vets, and its infirm. We won’t get there following Paul Ryan’s roadmap.

Homework

Text of Obama's State of the Union Speech

Text of Ryans Response

Text of Bachmanns Response

Bachmanns State of the Union

Paul Ryans Dark Roadmap for America

Paul Ryan's Fiction

Roughing the Health-Care Ref

Solar Shingles

Lasagna (Roberti to De Francis to Haberman to Konola)

Makes two 1 ½ quart casseroles

1 lb. ground beef

1 lb hot Italian sausage, or 1lb regular pork sausage plus ¼ tsp salt, few grains black pepper, ½ tsp crushed red pepper, 1 heaping tsp fennel seed.

(Note: I use 2 lbs hot Italian sausage and add the fennel seed too!)

For the sauce: 1 large can Italian style (peeled) tomatoes, 1 small can tomato paste, 1 clove garlic (or more if you love garlic, as I do.)

½ pt. ricotta or small curd cottage cheese

1 lb (?) mozzarella or scormorzi—the pear shaped one

Grated Romano cheese

Grated Parmesan cheese

6 long lasagna noodles, boiled in salted water—don’t over cook.

Simmer the tomatoes, paste & garlic till tomatoes disintegrate. Stir, so it doesn’t stick or scorch.

Brown ground beef & sausage on opposite sides of skillet.

Set out two casseroles and layer as follows:

·         A little sauce

·         Lasagna noodles, broken in half, 3 halves per casserole

·         ½ the beef, ½ the sausage

·         ½ the ricotta, ½ the mozzarella (sliced)

·         A little sauce

·         Sprinkle with grated Romano

·         The rest of the Lasagna noodles, perpendicular to the first noodle layer

·         The rest of the meat

·         The rest of the ricotta

·         The rest of the mozzarella

·         The rest of the sauce

·         Sprinkle with grated Parmesan

Bake about 1 hr at 400 degrees.

Better if kept day, week, month (frozen, of course if you are waiting a month!) before baking.