Jan 28, 2010 Article by Theodore Roe | 1 comment

A Washington Where Every Day Is Election Day

Last night saw the first State of the Union speech of President Barack Obama. Expectations ran a wide range. There were several indications that he would make a move towards the center, the safe bet in America, especially in today’s political climate. This is the sort of pandering a consummate politician, like Bill Clinton, would make. When Congress violently shifted into Republican hands in 1994, President Clinton, who was also trying to push health care legislation through, changed tack along with the voters. He is an expert at tuning into what people want to hear and then saying it to them, regardless of his own personal beliefs (if he has any – it is hard to tell).

So the one thing I can tell you about Barack Obama is that, for all his public speaking skill and suave manner, he is no Bill Clinton.

Instead of taking the safe route and dialing his rhetoric to fit the current political landscape, President Obama has stuck to his guns. I may not agree with what he has to say, but I can at least give him respect for that. I have long had a concern that President Obama might be telling everyone what they want to hear and let the contradictions fall where they may. Last night it became clear that he has his agenda and is not willing to deviate from it in any serious way.

This is excellent, because it gives us a good idea of how to oppose his ever expanding government. If he continues to stick to this plan, cogent arguments against his march towards socialism can be made. It is plain to see that his policies are ineffective. The Massachusetts rebellion proved that. Now it is a simple manner of finding a Republican candidate who isn’t a drooling, born-again Bible (or Book of Mormon) thumping idiot to replace him.

Hmmm. Maybe that won’t be so simple… (Rudy, where are you?)

While Republicans have returned to their usual stomping ground of smaller government, it is not hard to point out that President H.W. Bush presided over a massive expansion of the federal government and, frankly, went a little wacky with spending. It is a pale comparison to the insanity the DNC wants to unleash, but Republicans will have to live it down. Maybe next time they will not make such a colossal blunder of the thing.

Anyway, I could go on with a specific analysis of the speech, but the Internet’s already swimming with in-depth, in-depth, up-Joe-Biden’s-Nose coverage of the specifics. I’m just going to hit on a few things I found fascinating in this State of the Union that was, frankly, more of a stump speech than a national report card.

The U.S. government’s support of high-speed rail lines will revitalize the economy? Who on God’s green earth wants to get to Tampa quickly? Well, if China is doing it, it must make sense! Last time I checked we still had roughly three and a half times the GDP of the People’s Republic of China, and they can only get that far by making many citizens work as slaves as they die of thyroid cancer in their thirties. Pollution controls?! Those are an impediment to a growing economy! Here’s an idea: why not make a stand against the horrific abuses of the Chinese state, instead of citing them as a reason to build more trains.

Then there is the President’s casual insult directed to the Supreme Court. FDR, who had a notoriously problematic relationship with the Supreme Court, only criticized it once, and it was done in such an oblique way that an argument could be made it was simply a caution for the judiciary not limit the other branches unduly. The normally staid Supreme Court justices (you will notice they never react during a president’s speeches, as that might be construed as political bias) were obviously perturbed by the blatant attack on the judicial branch. Justice Alito actually mouthed the words “not true” when President Obama extolled the negative impact of their recent decision on campaign finance reform. You don’t like the Supreme Court’s decision? That’s fine. Don’t bring it up in the State of the Union.

Far and away, the best part of the speech was President Obama’s admonishment towards the behavior of Washington fat cats and insiders. “But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day.” Is this some kind of twisted joke? This, from the man who’s never, ever stopped campaigning? Hell, his whole State of the Union read like a campaign speech.

When he is the sitting president how can he campaign against the establishment? How can a President be so unaware his scathing criticism of the political atmosphere in the country’s capitol would de facto have to include him? Am I insane, or was he not in Washington D.C. for the last year (not to mention his time as a Senator)? How is he, and his political party that dominates two branches of the federal government, not responsible for the tone in Washington?

Stop the insider tricks and back room scheming? Most of the negotiations for the current health care debacle happened behind closed doors. Even before the citizens of Massachusetts made sure there was no way the current health care bill would ever get through the Senate again, I think there was a damn good chance it was never going to make it out of committee anyway. Why is that? Because the monstrosity the DNC leadership is trying to cobble together cannot not stand the light of day, and all those legislators up for re-election knew it.

“I’m calling on Congress to publish all earmark requests on a single website before there’s a vote so that the American people can see how their money is being spent.” Publish earmarks on the Internet? Great idea! For a dry run, why not start with all the earmarks in the stimulus bill? The earmarks in the first stimulus bill (and remember, we were promised a bill without earmarks) were over a thousand. I’m sure they don’t want anyone reading those. And I’m equally sure this potentially good idea is simply lip service to an ideal.

Attack the Republicans for lack of leadership on the national stage? “Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership.” No matter what your opinion is of the RNC, it stands that they had no ability to even exert leadership over the Congress, as they were so outnumbered in both the House and the Senate. So they resisted the DNC’s health care overhaul? It is a terrible, terrible idea in its current form and it was good leadership to not support that Frankenstein of a bill.

It would have been nice to get a speech about the real State of the Union, and not another campaign diatribe. I am not surprised by what happened yesterday night, but it does make me sad. We did not see a commander-in-chief giving a speech about where our country is going, we saw a candidate ramping up for a 2012 election. The problem is, when all those promises of reform go unfilled, who can he blame besides himself?

Everyone.