State of the Union, 2012, 2011 or 2010?

I did not bother to watch the President give his annual State of the Union, I saw excerpts of the transcript and it sounded much like all of his other speeches. He spoke of working with both parties, which he has shown repeatedly that he does not and continued to blame others for problems, he may not have entirely created the problems but definitely made worse. He spoke of amnesty and education and the need to spend more money. He spoke on the need to create jobs and spend more on green energy. President Obama did not stop there; he attacked the oil companies and the banks and continued to drive a wedge into the class warfare argument. After I saw the excerpts, something sounded familiar, very familiar. It wasn’t the campaign style delivery of the speech; it wasn’t the reliance on the teleprompter or members of Congress fawning all over the rock star President seeking autographs. I’ve gotten used to his speech delivery, it always sounds like a campaign speech, a whole lot of promise and very little substance. I’ve even got used to the teleprompter; you certainly can tell when the President is not using it. What sounded so familiar was the actual message; it was almost verbatim from his previous State of the Union address, which was almost identical to his 2010 address.
The only “accomplishment” Obama could mention was the banking bill. I find it almost amusing that there was no mention of his health care reform bill, since polls show a majority of Americans oppose the bill and more join the ranks as more “gems” are uncovered. Obama’s State of the Union sounded like more campaign rhetoric, filled with plans of jobs for everyone, homes for everyone a leaner and more efficient government. Another glaring example of his hypocrisy; Obama asked for more power to eliminate wasteful bureaucracies and cut burdensome red tape to trim down government but then in at least three instances he announced a new bureaucracy. The first was the Trade Enforcement Unit; the next was the Financial Crimes Unit and the new slew of federal prosecutors to prosecute those in the banking industry, the new panels to coordinate jobs for Veterans, altering college programs and lending/borrowing practices.
Finally, like in every other Obama speech, he played the class warfare card again. Demonized companies for trying to make a profit, wanting to implement windfall profit taxes to oil companies. The President continued attacking “the rich” for not paying their “fair share.” No one can seem to explain what their fair share is, or what qualifies as rich. Is 35% a fair share? Is 75% a fair share? What’s rich, $250,000 a year, $5 million a year? President Obama even stuck to the same old misleading democratic talking points; the importance of tax payer funded green energy, the misstatement on the amount of oil reserves in the United States. He continues to make false claims about energy production and border security. I can only hope that the people are seeing through all of the smoke and mirrors and see that the hope and change was nothing more than a pipe dream.


Please see my examiner article here for links.