This daily blog is composed of clips and links from other progressive blog and news sites, accompanied by my own observations. Progressive Blog Digest documents the failure and decline of the Republican party and the efforts of the Obama administration to build a new, lasting Democratic coalition.

Five best moments: Daily Beast

Other highlights: New York Magazine

Reaction to the State of the Union: Political Wire  

Analyses–What Obama Is Really Trying to Do in the State of the Union Address: New York Magazine

Here are 7 policies Obama just said he’d pursue without Congress : Washington Post

For all of his talk of action, President Obama offered nothing but modest proposals: Slate

“This wasn’t the presidency Barack Obama had in mind after winning his historic election five years ago. But it is the one he believes he has left,” the Washington Post reports: Political Wire

Relaxed, Good-Natured, and Pretty Effective: Mother Jones

Full text and video: New York Times

The best five SOTUs: Washington Post  

Top five

Top five things Republicans hated in the State of the Union speech: Daily Kos

“The hardest day of the year”

Maintaining his composure during the State of the Union — while sitting on camera and directly behind the president as Obama delivers his remarks — makes for the “hardest day of the year,” Boehner said. : Rollcall

All the Republican responses

When one response becomes five:  Rachel Maddow Show

It’s not the President’s speech that makes news, but the reactions to it: Daily Beast

Republican responses: Washington Monthly   

More Republican responses: Daily Kos 

Including this response

GOP congressman calls Obama a ‘Socialist dictator’: Washington Post

Boehner warns Obama

Boehner warns Obama not to go around Congress: Political Wire

Boehner’s brick wall: Washington Monthly

What the Republicans want to do

House Republicans vote to ban abortion coverage that’s not in Obamacare: Daily Kos

Republicans have an Obamacare replacement. Economists will love it, real people won’t: Wonkblog

Republican incoherence on immigration, nicely summarized: Daily Kos

Republicans still being dicks: Daily Kos

The kind of people they are

Well here’s something you don’t see every day. A New York congressman threatening a reporter live on air:  Crooks and Liars

See the rest of today’s clips at Progressive Blog Digest.

The post State of the Union: Progressive Blog Digest appeared first on Occasional Planet.

President Obama’s proposed budget for 2012 calls for a 26 percent decrease in military spending. According to Bloomberg News, the $117 billion in military spending would be the lowest expenditures for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2005. The Pentagon’s request for fiscal 2011 is $159 billion.

“That’s the largest year-to-year decrease in total war funding since” the Afghan war began, Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst for the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, said in an e-mail. “

If you like big numbers, here are some others that can help put the new budget into perspective:

• From Sept. 2001 through Sept. 30, 2010, Congress has authorized $1.2 trillion to pay for military operations, base security embassy costs and other items.
• For the first three months of fiscal year 2010, the Pentagon spent a monthly average of $4.3 billion in Afghanistan and $3.4 billion in Iraq.
• In fiscal year 2008, the Pengaton averaged $10.9 billion a month for Iraq and $2.7 billion for Afghanistan.

What does the proposed cut mean? According to AlterNet, “It will force the Army and Marine Corps to reduce the number of troops on active duty and eventually freeze military spending for the first time since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”

According to news reports, the cuts reflect an intention by the Obama administration to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan. Of course, it falls far short of a declaration of a full withdrawal from Afghanistan, but, at minimum, it’s a step in the right direction.

The post $42 billion war-spending cut? It’s a start. appeared first on Occasional Planet.