Two decades ago, then president Bush used to speak occasionally of "the vision thing" and its importance to a president. In Bush's shorthand, the vision thing was a reference to the need for a president to have a clear picture of where the nation needed to go. It was the requirement to see the way forward, the items that had to be achieved for the country. When one reads last night's State of the Union speech, the current vision of president Obama becomes apparent. Obama wants us to go nowhere in particular. He seems truly bereft of ideas.
Think about what Obama said. What were his big new proposals? For that matter, what were his small new proposals? Indeed, did Obama say anything last night that you have not heard from him again and again over the last years? The truth is that there really was nothing new in the speech. Of course, Obama's supporters will tell you that because he is such a good speaker, Obama has previously outlined his proposals for the nation, so there was no need for anything new last night. So let's think again about what he said. What were the previously disclosed big proposals about which he spoke? Now don't allow yourself to be confused by this question. Don't think about Obama talking about providing opportunity for everyone. That is not a proposal, it is a supposed goal, one that Obama has managed not to move towards in five years. What was Obama's plan to get to more opportunity for Americans? He did talk about passing longer unemployment benefits; that is not a means to provide opportunity. Obama also spoke about raising the minimum wage, another tweak of the economy for a percent or two of the workforce, but hardly something that provides opportunity. Then there was the universal pre-K pitch. Was that a plan to provide opportunity for nursery school teachers? If not, it had nothing to do with spreading opportunity across America. There was really nothing else. Obama put forward no program, no plan, no blueprint for the future. He failed completely on the vision thing.
Even the successes that Obama claimed were phony. He talked about how the unemployment rate was now at a five year low. We all know that the only reason that unemployment is down is that millions upon millions of folks have gotten so discouraged that they will ever again find a job that they have given up looking and are no longer counted. If these people were counted, then the Obama years have been the worst five years for unemployment since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the figures are not getting better. Obama talked about cutting the federal deficit in half. This is the president who began his term by moving the deficit from 300 billion to 1.2 trillion dollars in his first year. Now, when the Congress has stopped the spendapalooza brought on by Obama and the Obamacrats, the deficit has fallen to "only" 650 billion dollars. So Obama is thwarted on his spending plans and forced to live with a deficit of only 650 billion dollars and he proclaims that a victory. The rest of his claimed victories was of a similar nature.
Then there are the style points. Why did Obama have to speak for so long when he had so little to say? Did he really expect Americans to stay with him as he spoke; does he think that folks still hang on his every word? I predict that the ratings for the speech will show both numbers lower than last year and a major erosion of viewers as the whole process went on and on and on and on. Or as Winston Churchill might have said, "Never in the course of human history, has one man spoken so long to say so little."
Think about what Obama said. What were his big new proposals? For that matter, what were his small new proposals? Indeed, did Obama say anything last night that you have not heard from him again and again over the last years? The truth is that there really was nothing new in the speech. Of course, Obama's supporters will tell you that because he is such a good speaker, Obama has previously outlined his proposals for the nation, so there was no need for anything new last night. So let's think again about what he said. What were the previously disclosed big proposals about which he spoke? Now don't allow yourself to be confused by this question. Don't think about Obama talking about providing opportunity for everyone. That is not a proposal, it is a supposed goal, one that Obama has managed not to move towards in five years. What was Obama's plan to get to more opportunity for Americans? He did talk about passing longer unemployment benefits; that is not a means to provide opportunity. Obama also spoke about raising the minimum wage, another tweak of the economy for a percent or two of the workforce, but hardly something that provides opportunity. Then there was the universal pre-K pitch. Was that a plan to provide opportunity for nursery school teachers? If not, it had nothing to do with spreading opportunity across America. There was really nothing else. Obama put forward no program, no plan, no blueprint for the future. He failed completely on the vision thing.
Even the successes that Obama claimed were phony. He talked about how the unemployment rate was now at a five year low. We all know that the only reason that unemployment is down is that millions upon millions of folks have gotten so discouraged that they will ever again find a job that they have given up looking and are no longer counted. If these people were counted, then the Obama years have been the worst five years for unemployment since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the figures are not getting better. Obama talked about cutting the federal deficit in half. This is the president who began his term by moving the deficit from 300 billion to 1.2 trillion dollars in his first year. Now, when the Congress has stopped the spendapalooza brought on by Obama and the Obamacrats, the deficit has fallen to "only" 650 billion dollars. So Obama is thwarted on his spending plans and forced to live with a deficit of only 650 billion dollars and he proclaims that a victory. The rest of his claimed victories was of a similar nature.
Then there are the style points. Why did Obama have to speak for so long when he had so little to say? Did he really expect Americans to stay with him as he spoke; does he think that folks still hang on his every word? I predict that the ratings for the speech will show both numbers lower than last year and a major erosion of viewers as the whole process went on and on and on and on. Or as Winston Churchill might have said, "Never in the course of human history, has one man spoken so long to say so little."
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