Response to Obama’s SOTU Speech

It was estimated that only 10% of Americans saw the latest SOTU speech. Perhaps the remaining 90% should understand what President Obama said. 

To summarize: he grossly exaggerated the state of the economy, impacts of climate change, educational achievements, and supposed positive impacts of his statist policies; while grossly under-estimating the negative impacts of such policies, and - most importantly - the real threat of terrorism (as always). And his contradictions and denials of the facts were inexcusable. 

He said he doesn’t want politics to “get in the way” and have factions turn against each other; yet it is his own policies that have done just that. You can’t impose statism/Marxism in this country founded on principles of individual rights and freedom without expecting sharp divisions among the populace. Mr. President, we can’t agree with you just for the sake of satisfying your ego or your ideology. And your political posturing with suggested programs that can’t possibly get through Congress won’t do you or the country any good. 

And you can’t promise bi-partisan cooperation while you threaten multiple vetoes. Or brag about lowering the deficit (due only to the stopping of stimulus spending) when wanting higher spending and ignoring the debt. Or brag about low unemployment when the real unemployment rate remains relatively high. Or brag about our recovery dwarfing that of Europe and then strive to be more like Europe. 

While reported unemployment is down somewhat, that is merely due to private company growth, people dropping out of the job market (due much to the expanded welfare state), and the natural (albeit slow) recovery from the recession; and certainly not to government policies. 

Financial regulations, tax policies and selective corporate subsidies/bailouts are harming our economy, not helping as he suggested. His proposed tax increases are merely more attempts to redistribute income; and all such attempts at that have necessarily failed to boost our economy and work against individual success.  

He took credit for lower gas prices and energy independence, when - in fact - those results are due to private energy development despite his attempts to inhibit the same and raise fossil fuel costs; e.g. his irrational dismissal of the Keystone pipeline. 

He misstated facts about climate change; e.g. rising oceans (a long-term phenomenon having nothing to do with man) and 2014 being the hottest years on record. Mr. President, climate science is certainly not “closed”; and honest scientists have disproved all of your and other environmentalist claims re global warming. And don’t be so naïve to believe that China has truly committed to significantly cutting CO2 emissions. 

ObamaCare is significantly worsening our HC system and will be very harmful to our economy, not the opposite as he suggested. 

Instead of arguing for free trade that would be best for all, he asked for the power to impose trade restrictions as he sees fit. 

Education has been shown to work best in the private marketplace. Government has certainly not, and cannot, improve test scores or better prepare students for better paying jobs. It has, in fact, lowered standards and hurt student opportunities; and has contributed significantly to higher education costs. Creating special interests in education is like forced redistribution of wealth: it only creates class warfare and diminished economic progress. And free community college will only create the under-performing problems that we have seen at the high school level. 

He asked for the power to use force against ISIS, despite the fact that he has already single-handedly used force against them and others in multiple countries (albeit in the weakest fashion possible). And this after saying “America should move off a permanent war footing.” Furthermore, he continues to refuse to name our enemy - Islam, fails to fight terrorists and terrorist regimes in a way required to ever defeat them, and fails to support Israel in their lone fight against their terrorist neighbors. 

From his weak stances against Iran, Syria and others in the Middle East, to his pretense about successful negotiations with such countries, to his naïve belief that he has halted Iran’s nuclear program, to his release of dangerous terrorists from Guantanamo, to his failures in dealing with Russia, Obama has shown no clue about our international vulnerabilities or the ability to deal with them. 

Obama is reaching out to the far left which has been his true leaning all along. He is our most statist, anti-American President ever and we must all recognize the danger of electing another ideologically similar candidate for President. We are not a collectivist nation with a “common purpose” as Obama believes. We are a nation of individuals, each of whom should strive to be the best he can be, and government should leave him free to do so as our Founding Fathers intended.