State of the Union...Anything New

State of the Union ... Anything New

I have struggled with what the subject of my next topic should be. Monday night’s attention was on the President's State of the Union message, and I have wondered if anyone actually sat and listened to the entire speech and the Democrat response given by Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas that followed.

I listened to both and, to say the least, was disappointed in both. Governor Sebelius started out rather good with her "we are all one" speech, which sounded much like the President’s "We The People" sound bite. But I expected a bit more from this lady than the "join us, Mr. President" routine that we have been hearing from the Democrats for seven years now. I wished she had offered some real points of what he is to join them on that hasn't been repeated over and over. No real challenge has been offered, and no specific points spoken. Alluding to the war, to the economy, to health care, to immigration, and such, makes for good sound bites for the media to chew on, regurgitate, and then chew on again until finally there is nothing left to regurgitate, but it still offers no real substance for which this President could join them.

Likewise, the President did not offer anything new to speak of. He said some things that he would do on issues like spending and earmarks, which he should have been saying and doing seven years ago. I call it a too-little-too-late plan, Mr. President, and would ask you why you have waited until now to slow the spending that you have allowed for seven years, the spending that has been compared to that of a drunken sailor. Too little, too late, Mr. President.

The President has stuck with his guns on Iraq and, from the looks of things, a good part of what he has pushed is working. Even the UN and NATO is agreeing that the surge has, to date, done its job. Again, Mr. President, too little, but hopefully for our military's sake, not too late. No, I am not being a Monday, or in this case, a Tuesday morning arm chair general. I have been saying that this war was under-staffed, under-funded, and under-estimated for over four years.

The stimulus package appears to be a bipartisan band-aid, and the call for the Senate not to overload the barrel was correct but put mildly. The Senate, as I wrote in the earlier post on the Stimulus Package, will attempt to load up the trough and dare the President to veto it. Either way he goes, he is going to be attacked.

On immigration, there was nothing new to that story. I thought that surely, by now, the President would have gotten the message that his plan is not in line with the wishes of the majority of the American people. The candidates on the Republican side are, for the most part, running from the plan, including McCain, who endorsed and sponsored the plan. But then he's running for President and needs to say during his campaign what the folks at home want to hear, and then he will do what he wishes should he be elected. Things like this do not cut it with me, nor do I believe it will cut it with the American voter.

On the tax cuts, although a lot of folks don't agree with them, it seems that a lot of other countries are doing the same thing and seeing good results. Ireland, Australia, Sweden, and a few others of the Euro states are getting the message that tax cuts work ... but they have to be tied to reduced spending. There is where the two parties differ in this country, and they did again last night. I believe that may have been the only new thing spoken tonight, and it was so sudden and so quick that I fear most may have missed it; I almost did and had to go back and review it. But the message was still pretty much the same and, hopefully, the tax cuts will remain in place. Taxing and spending will not get us out of the hole any more than will just tax cuts. It has to be hooked to spending. The President did mention that, as I stated in the earlier paragraphs, but I also said it was a bit too little and a bit too late.

I didn't stick around to listen to the pundits talk about how many times the Republicans stood and applauded and the Democrats sat and looked dour. Nor did I stick around to hear how many times the Democrats stood and applauded while still looking dour. Listening to the pundits reconstruct the entire speech is insulting to me, to say the least. They evidently think that the viewers are not intelligent enough to hear and decide for themselves. Admittedly, there are some who wish to be spoon fed instead of cutting their own meat on the plate. Those are the kinds of folks I fear the most because they vote, unfortunately, not on facts gained from actually listening and digesting what has been said but from the spoon-fed sound bites.

Well, hopefully, you heard the State of the Union message, so ... I ask if anyone heard anything different or new. And I also ask, what would your response have been if you had been asked to give one, as was Governor Sebelius. What say you?