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Sunday, January 26, 2014

You Can Almost Hear Them Screaming

The headline on the top of the Sunday New York Times announces that president Obama is going to present a "modest agenda" in the State of the Union Address.  Although I live some 30 miles from New York City, I thought that I could hear screams of anguish coming from the Times newsroom as I read that headline this morning.  Just imagine the conversations at the Times:

"Last year, we had the second inauguration speech and the State of the Union address which we both bold statements of a proper liberal agenda for America.

 I sure recall that.  Obama was going to get rid of assault weapons, increase background checks, and maybe even set up a national gun registry.

And don't forget how we were finally going to get citizenship for all the undocumented.  All those poor people could come out of the shadows and get benefits like they should.

Obama was also going to get us totally out of Afghanistan since al Qaeda was gone.

He was also going to bring the economy to life and focus on helping the middle class.

He was finally going to do something about climate change.

And best of all, we were going to get expanded health insurance for all Americans through the Affordable Care Act.

And now all we are going to get are some platitudes?  No specifics, just posturing?  We spent the last year waiting for him to accomplish something, anything, but we got nothing.  There was no gun legislation, no immigration reform, no economic improvement, no end to Afghanistan, no end to Iran's nuclear program, and not even an end to sequestration.  Instead we got the embarrassment of Syria, the lack of any coherent economic plan, and, worst of all, the disaster that is Obamacare.  How could he do this to us? 

At least, he should be offering a way out of the Obamacare mess.  Happy talk works until the truth comes out.  There is no way that Obama can fool most Americans until after the elections; they are all going to see the effects of Obamacare:  millions losing coverage, millions more paying much higher premiums, everyone paying for soaring deductibles, and medical care getting harder for most people to get.

I bet we get another speech about inequality without any real plan to deal with the problem."




 


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