Posted on 01/28/2010 2:40:19 PM PST by TruthHound
While I don’t wish to speak too harshly about President Obama’s state of the union address, we live in challenging times that call for candor. I call them as I see them, and I hope my frank assessment will be taken as an honest effort to move this conversation forward.
Last night, the president spoke of the “credibility gap” between the public’s expectations of their leaders and what those leaders actually deliver. “Credibility gap” is a good way to describe the chasm between rhetoric and reality in the president’s address. The contradictions seemed endless.
He called for Democrats and Republicans to “work through our differences,” but last year he dismissed any notion of bipartisanship when he smugly told Republicans, “I won.”
He talked like a Washington “outsider,” but he runs Washington! He’s had everything any president could ask for – an overwhelming majority in Congress and a fawning press corps that feels tingles every time he speaks. There was nothing preventing him from pursuing “common sense” solutions all along. He didn’t pursue them because they weren’t his priorities, and he spent his speech blaming Republicans for the problems caused by his own policies.
He dared us to “let him know” if we have a better health care plan, but he refused to allow Republicans in on the negotiations or consider any ideas for real free market and patient-centered reforms. We’ve been “letting him know” our ideas for months from the town halls to the tea parties, but he isn’t interested in listening. Instead he keeps making the nonsensical claim that his massive trillion-dollar health care bill won’t increase the deficit.
Americans are suffering from job losses and lower wages, yet the president practically demanded applause when he mentioned tax cuts, as if allowing people to keep more of their own hard-earned money is an act of noblesse oblige. He claims that he cut taxes, but I must have missed that. I see his policies as paving the way for massive tax increases and inflation, which is the “hidden tax” that most hurts the poor and the elderly living on fixed incomes.
He condemned lobbyists, but his White House is filled with former lobbyists, and this has been a banner year for K Street with his stimulus bill, aka the Lobbyist’s Full Employment Act. He talked about a “deficit of trust” and the need to “do our work in the open,” but he chased away the C-SPAN cameras and cut deals with insurance industry lobbyists behind closed doors.
He spoke of doing what’s best for the next generation and not leaving our children with a “mountain of debt,” but under his watch this year, government spending is up by 22%, and his budget will triple our national debt.
He spoke of a spending freeze, but doesn’t he realize that each new program he’s proposing comes with a new price tag? A spending freeze is a nice idea, but it doesn’t address the root cause of the problem. We need a comprehensive examination of the role of government spending. The president’s deficit commission is little more than a bipartisan tax hike committee, lending political cover to raise taxes without seriously addressing the problem of spending.
He condemned bailouts, but he voted for them and then expanded and extended them. He praised the House’s financial reform bill, but where was Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in that bill? He still hasn’t told us when we’ll be getting out of the auto and the mortgage industries. He praised small businesses, but he’s spent the past year as a friend to big corporations and their lobbyists, who always find a way to make government regulations work in their favor at the expense of their mom & pop competitors.
He praised the effectiveness of his stimulus bill, but then he called for another one – this time cleverly renamed a “jobs bill.” The first stimulus was sold to us as a jobs bill that would keep unemployment under 8%. We now have double digit unemployment with no end in sight. Why should we trust this new “jobs bill”?
He talked about “making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development,” but apparently it’s still too tough for his Interior Secretary to move ahead with Virginia’s offshore oil and gas leases. If they’re dragging their feet on leases, how long will it take them to build “safe, clean nuclear power plants”? Meanwhile, he continued to emphasize “green jobs,” which require massive government subsidies for inefficient technologies that can’t survive on their own in the real world of the free market.
He spoke of supporting young girls in Afghanistan who want to go to school and young women in Iran who courageously protest in the streets, but where were his words of encouragement to the young girls of Afghanistan in his West Point speech? And where was his support for the young women of Iran when they were being gunned down in the streets of Tehran?
Despite speaking for an hour, the president only spent 10% of his speech on foreign policy, and he left us with many unanswered questions. Does he still think trying the 9/11 terrorists in New York is a good idea? Does he still think closing Gitmo is a good idea? Does he still believe in Mirandizing terrorists after the Christmas bomber fiasco? Does he believe we’re in a war against terrorists, or does he think this is just a global crime spree? Does he understand that the first priority of our government is to keep our country safe?
In his address last night, the president once again revealed that there’s a fundamental disconnect between what the American people expect from their government, and what he wants to deliver. He’s still proposing failed top-down big government solutions to our problems. Instead of smaller, smarter government, he’s taken a government that was already too big and supersized it.
Real private sector jobs are created when taxes are low, investment is high, and people are free to go about their business without the heavy hand of government. The president thinks innovation comes from government subsidies. Common sense conservatives know innovation comes from unleashing the creative energy of American entrepreneurs.
Everything seems to be “unexpected” to this administration: unexpected job losses; unexpected housing numbers; unexpected political losses in Massachusetts, Virginia, and New Jersey. True leaders lead best when confronted with the unexpected. But instead of leading us, the president lectured us. He lectured Wall Street; he lectured Main Street; he lectured Congress; he even lectured our Supreme Court Justices.
He criticized politicians who “wage a perpetual campaign,” but he gave a campaign speech instead of a state of the union address. The campaign is over, and President Obama now has something that candidate Obama never had: an actual track record in office. We now can see the failed policies behind the flowery words. If Americans feel as cynical as the president suggests, perhaps it’s because the audacity of his recycled rhetoric no longer inspires hope.
Real leadership requires results. Real hope lies in the ingenuity, generosity, and boundless courage of the American people whose voices are still not being heard in Washington.
- Sarah Palin
She’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. There’s no doubt about it. He let his campaign guys run rough shod all over her and then let her twist in the wind. But there was no choice for her that would make her look good. She couldn’t lie, make up an excuse and get out of it, she couldn’t support Hayworth while McCain is running. So, she did the honorable thing and accepted. I hope that she only does 1 appearance. McCain ought to have just resigned and let Hayworth take it over, but he insists that we push him to give up his bid to rehabilitate his Senatorial record. I’m supporting Toomey, Rubio and Hayworth - and I’m putting my money where my mouth is. We all ought to support these 3. Go, Hayworth!
And in doing so, she pays off a debt early.
Pray the people of AZ see this for what it is, and vote for the other guy.
As in “I don’t want to tell you what a moronic half wit 0bama is, but I am about to”.
See my response to TChris.
Btw, I like your idea of Bolton for Sec’y. of State.
Chrith badgered him on the birth certificate issue and he was so calm. The 2nd time that Chrith repeated his question with his faux outrage, Hayworth stuck to his guns, asnwered directly and then added that the President ought to just be straightforward about his records. It’s not an argument that I like at all, but I appreciated how resolute Hayworth was in his answers. When they were down Mr. Tingles whined to his other guests that that was they guy who said, “If 2 American teenagers can reproduce for free, why does the American spotted owl require $50,000 a piece to do it?” I’m so glad he told us that. I had no idea Hayworth had ever said such a thing.
I can see that. And I appreciate her finesse. If I’d had to suffer in public what she has been made to endure, I would take the gloves off. But I have no problem ceding that she is a more refined woman than I am.
Thanks. Just got back from San Diego and did not even turn on the TV or listen to news for the last several daya.
By reading Sarah’s analysis, looks like the SOU speech from Prez Zero was as expected.
“But isn’t the “bottom line” that 0bama is a liar?”
She politely called his lies “contradictions”.
Woo hoo! Sarah tells it like it is. There is no honest rebuttal to one thing she says here.
Palin 2012? Oh please, she’s been the REAL Leader of the Free World since August 2009. God is using her in more amazing ways than she would have been utilized as McCain’s VP. Her presence on the national stage has done wonders for the future of women, for children yet unborn, for the conservative movement, and arguably the Christian faith.
This is the best analysis on the SOTU speech and Obama in general I’ve seen yet. I pray God’s plan for this country includes her becoming the “official” president! But, either way, she’s still my leader. Thank you Lord, for not abandoning America and lifting up righteous, God-fearing leaders such as Palin. May more follow her lead.
Think Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar saying that Brutus is “an honorable man”, at first to sound reasonable and win over those predisposed to like and honor Brutus; by the end “honorable man” is an epithet, and the crowd howls for the blood of Brutus.
Undoubtedly, she would have said a lot more and in half the time.
Sarah’s strongest on offensive.
She should adopt this attitude in every public venue. Screw the nice girl crap - it doesn’t get her anywhere.
Sarah nails it again. Does she write these alone? I mean, are these her ideas? I do not care if she has an editor/proofreader. I am thrilled to have a conservative leader who is unabashed about how great conservative and Constitutional ideals are for ALL Americans, and is out there responding in real time to the issues of our day as they develop. For that alone she is worth a stint in the White House.
I love what she said about the unexpected. I think every American had other plans for 9/11/01, didn’t we? Certainly George Bush was not “ready” for his duties that came crashing down on his head like the tower dust on the Manhattan survivors. Yet his response at home and abroad was what made his presidency. I think even those of us (including myself) who were never ardent supporters of Bush can agree on that.
And where was Obama when the Christmas bomber was captured? Well, no one knows, because for three hours he was not told. And his response is to never mention Islamic terror and to treat the terrorist like a common criminal who stole a case of beer.
Most of all, I think Sarah knows the truth about Obama. The United States of America is built on a principle that men can self-govern. We believe in OURSELVES. Thinking of the American people should make all of us swell with pride for our achievements, our hearts, and our wonderful, unique, experimental 18th century government. When Barack Obama thinks of the American people, I am not sure he even feels pity. I believe he feels something akin to hatred.
She is quick, clear, articulate and cuts through the crap, ...Hard to fool.
Thank You God for the appearance of Sarah Paalin, watch over her with Your hand of protection and bless and keep her, in Jesus name amen.
ARE? YOU? KIDDING???
I came late to the speech so assumed they had already had their "shout outs."
This is [expleteve deleted] scary. HE WAS AFRAID TO OFFEND THE MUSLIMS?? What else could his reasoning have been, never to mention them? I hope you are mistaken.
I dearly hope you’re wrong, but I fear you may be right. I (used to) think that what he feels for us is scorn. Maybe it’s only because I’ve dreaded to think the truth - that he hates us.
Sarah says “Boom, taste my nightstick”
Nope...I searched the video for this very reason alone, he never mentioned them once.
I hope that I am wrong, but from what I have been told(I did not watch the speech last night) he never acknowledged them.
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