Two Speeches in Wordles

Wordle is a website application that will turn text into word clouds for you. All you have to do is supply the text--the site will assemble it in a cloud that reflects the frequency of the words in the text. Just for grins and giggles I decided to put President Barack Obama and House Leader John Boehner's respective speeches last night on raising the debt ceiling. President Obama spoke first, followed by/rebutted by Rep. Boehner.

Remember, the SIZE of the word reflects how often the word was uttered by the respective speakers. If you want to read the speeches, each man's full name above has a link to the text of the speech. Remember, click on the image to see it bigger.

I find it interesting that where President Obama makes many references to "Americans," Speaker Boehner makes many references to the president. The president seems to be taking a case to the people, trying to engage them, where the speaker seems to be wanting to engage the president. Both men talk policy, but differently. Clearly the president wants the American people to take his side. Boehner is trying to portray the president and his decisions to the listening American voter.

I am not sure where I stand on this complex issue other than knowing this: We cannot continue to spend more than we take in. What it will take to raise our revenue and how much and where to reduce our spending I am not sure about. Many say that smaller tax bills and less government will free our economy to grow, thus generating more tax revenue and helping to cut the deficit. Others feel that the tax rates need to go up for those who have more income. That is the only way for revenue to go up. In addition, aid to those in entitlement programs cannot be reduced too quickly. All this talk has become tied to the debt ceiling being raised, which, as President Obama rightly pointed out, has never been an issue before.

There are four issues floating around here. 1. Whether or not to raise the debt ceiling on or before August 2, so that the country can borrow more money. 2. Trying to reduce the amount of new borrowing the government does currently to run. 3. Reducing the built up debts from the past. 4. Making economic policy decisions that will help the U.S. economy start growing again. They've all gotten attached to each other in this contentious debate. A debate that has made much sound and fury, but not very many good solid decisions or answers.