Kudos to the Republicans for taking the highroad after last night’s State of the Union address. I have no such political desire today.
As expected, the president embellished his record and misrepresented much of our nation’s current station to a ceremonially captive audience. In the interests of time and space however, let’s analyze some of the more important points in his speech. One of the biggest “little white lies” if you will, was the notion that unemployment numbers in our country are vastly improved and getting better. Truth be told, the labor participation rate has fallen to its lowest level in nearly 40 years, and the current percentage rate doesn’t accurately reflect the millions having left the work force and thousands more who’ve simply given up looking for work. So if the president’s contention is we have a bigger piece of a much smaller pie, then his assertion is correct. Otherwise, it is a whole lot of smoke and mirrors with far too many still hurting. Common sense and simple mathematics support the latter.
Mr. Obama spoke of an accelerated growth rate, booming stock market, and lower deficits. In fact, while much of America’s growth is sporadic at best and widely varied across the economic spectrum, that growth must also be measured against the largest national debt in US history, a dollar propped up by artificially lower interest rates, and projected deficits in excess of $950 billion per year for the foreseeable future. Well he was right for one year anyway… Overall, the American economy would likely have recovered to at least its current posture even if the president of United States were AWOL for the last six years. Our economy is more a hollow reflection of its former glory and in dire need of some sound fiscal and free market policy.
In the area of healthcare, the POTUS spoke glowingly about the 10 million people with health insurance who wouldn’t have had it otherwise, but spoke little of the excruciatingly high deductibles and premium hikes across the board. Not to mention millions who were dropped by employer programs and millions more who will be dropped when the actual employer mandate kicks in this year. When all is said and done, everyone pretty much understands that government-funded or subsidized healthcare (or anything for that matter) will end up becoming nothing but another bureaucratic entitlement drag on an already struggling economy.
One thing about the SOTU speech that was particularly confusing was how the president seemed to want to take credit for the current price of a gallon of gas. I’m fairly certain most folks would say this POTUS has been the most unfriendly president in American history in terms of fossil fuels. Moreover, all of the real reasons for lower prices at the pump, like for instance fracking and private sector drilling on state and private land, have little or nothing to do with the federal government or the president’s policies for that matter. In fact one could even argue those prices are actually in spite of the presidents best efforts to the contrary.
And finally, the president’s depiction and description of a world that only he seems to be living in was nothing short of laughable. The harsh reality of a planet living in the “shadow” of terror and insecurity, and with the very nation which has carried the torch of liberty for generations now standing firmly at the rear, one is left to wonder, has the president lost touch with reality. The murder of innocent children for watching soccer games, beheadings on YouTube, the rape and plunder of entire towns by the forces of ISIS, the apparent collapse of the president’s much touted Yemeni capital, and the unfettered propagandizing of an Islamofascist ideology which marginalizes humanity in ways we haven’t seen since the late 1930’s, leaves little room for politically expedient interpretation. On this note, and in the name of all those who’ve given their last full measure in the “war on terror”, the president of the United States should carefully reconsider the comments he made on the matter last evening.
There is so much more about the president’s remarks last night which made one want to climb through the television screen to argue the point. From free college, to paying women equally in the workforce, (as opposed to those in his own administration), alas it will inevitably fall to Republicans to make the case on most of these issues. And to be fair, I’m not totally sure they can. With that said, this is a politically correct president who has managed to manipulate a majority of voters through two presidential election cycles. He has succeeded in changing the political dynamic in this country to a degree that it will admittedly be difficult to reverse. The rock-solid foundational principles of success through hard work and determination, have been undermined by the attractive but costly quicksand of big government, entitlement, and class warfare. Constitutional keywords like “promote” are being replaced by “provide”. “Hand up” is now “hand out” or “free stuff”, which is fast becoming the sad punchline of an administration less and less cautious about articulating its intention to remake the American Dream.
In the past we’ve seen our elected leaders bend and sway with the will of the people. Last night however, we heard a defiant almost cocky ideologue fly in the face of a newly elected majority in both houses of Congress sent to correct the wrongs as the voters understand them to be. And whether you believe it’s the color of his skin, the content of his agenda, or simply a nostalgic longing for a time long past, never has an American president been given so much latitude by a free press charged with the awesome responsibility of objectivity as this one, and never have they gotten it so wrong so often.
Ronald Reagan once said that freedom is always but a generation from extinction. I believe we are at that crossroad my fellow Americans. I believe we are allowing our country to slip away for all the wrong reasons and condemning our children to a future absent the freedoms and “exceptionalism” their forefathers fought and died for. The president promises two more years of the same, which will likely include more broken promises, more spending of our great-grandchildren’s money, and a deep pass down the field of flowers and James Taylor songs, which aside from their artistic contributions and pleasantries to the ear, are as meaningless to our collective successes as the generation they were born from. We are truly living in pivotal times my friends. They are times for serious people with more than just perceived good intentions. Regrettably, what we heard from our president last night was self-aggrandizing hyperbole intended only to agitate his political opponents and re-assert his personal relevance. Nevertheless, watch carefully my fellow Americans and remember, we get the government we elect, and ultimately the government we deserve.
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