Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech 2013
On Tuesday, February 12, 2013 President Obama
was again fulfilling his obligation under the U.S. Constitution according to Article
2, Section 3 (a): “He [the president] shall from time to time give to
Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. . .” The
president’s address before the chamber of Congress had a little bit of
something borrowed and something new. To begin with, president Obama borrowed a
speech by John F. Kennedy: “51 years ago John F. Kennedy declared to this
Chamber: ‘The Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress.
It is my task to report on the State of the Union, to improve it, is the task
of us all.’” While not wanting to deconstruct the entire speech there are a few
things that need further scrutiny. Who are those members in Congress that have
proposed sparing defense costs due to “sequestration” (the fiscal cliff) and
instead support cutting education and job training, Medicare, and Social
Security benefits? When president Obama said that the biggest cost of our
rising deficit is associated with long-term care of an aging population-
the need for “modest” reform in Medicare, otherwise our retirement program will
crowd out what we need for our children when they are about to retire, the
chamber got a lot quieter all of a sudden. Medicare and Social Security is the ‘holy
grail’ of federally-funded Entitlements and the mere suggestion of tweaking a
system where the recipients are the majority voting bloc is quite risky. Next,
there was talk about the Affordable Health Care Act slowing down healthcare
costs but they are still spiraling upward. It was interesting to hear about
reducing taxpayer subsidies to prescription drug companies because those same
industries were some of president Obama’s biggest corporate campaign donors and
influential White House lobbyists.
Then there was the chiding of Congress
because they only passed parts of The American Jobs Act, which according
to the president, economists predict would create 1.5M jobs. Of course, there
was no mention of what was in the bill, and who are these economists who can
substantiate these job figures? President Obama mentioned that he wants to lay
out a plan tonight that is “fully paid for” and consistent with budget
framework that both parties agreed to 18 months ago, and that won’t increase
the deficit by a single dime, but the details were not forthcoming. The
statement about developing new technologies and alternative forms of energy
generated by the large wind turbines that dot the landscape in some areas, but
have become an eyesore to environmental groups, not the mention the birds that
are caught in the blades of these large fans, which animal rights advocates are
upset about; despite the thousands of jobs that have been created. President
Obama went on to talk about establishing a new goal for America: cut in half
the energy wasted in our homes and businesses and to encourage this type of
energy upgrade and retrofitting, tax incentives and credits are given for
energy-efficient homes and buildings. This is certainly not a new idea for
homeowners who have been using these deductions for years, and some businesses
who plant gardens of their rooftops to lower their utility bills. The thing is,
though, what about the federal government; how many government vehicles are
hybrids or electric, or how many offices use energy-efficient light bulbs and
how many buildings is energy compliant within the guidelines expected for
everyone else?
And then there was housing and mortgages: To
put a bill before Congress that would give every responsible homeowner in
America the chance to save $3,000 yearly by refinancing at today’s lower rates
[assuming they are not already underwater or delinquent in their mortgage
payments]. This is not a new idea because people used to do the very same thing
in the 1970’s during the housing boom and the ARM’S (Adjustable Rate
Mortgages). Also back then, the IRS tax code allowed for the profit from the
sale of a house to not be taxed as ordinary income but rather at the lower rate
for capital gains [if it was even taxed at all]. The biggest problem with
refinancing today is the unwillingness of banks to renegotiate with homeowners
and you have to jump through too many hoops to get it done. President Obama’s
“Fix-it-First Program” sounds more like he’s channeling FDR’s “NEW DEAL” by
having programs to deal with our aging infrastructure (deteriorating bridges,
roads, sewer systems, etc.) through putting people to work on our most urgent
repair programs (70,000 bridges across the country). He should have promised “A
chicken in every pot and a car [hybrid] in every garage, too.” Continuing with
populist themes like the fact that fewer than 3 out of 10 four year olds are
enrolled in a high quality pre-K program. President Obama wants a proposal to
make high quality pre-school education available to every child [at the states’
expense or 91% of it because the federal government only funds around 10% for
public education pre-K through12]. NOTE:
Whatever happened to the Head Start program?? Besides, this is not new
either.
He further adds: “Every $1 invested now will
save $7 later on by boosting graduation rates [from H.S. but what about
college??], reducing teenage pregnancy [and drug abuse, gangs, prison
incarceration etc.], and violent crime. Funny though, there was no mention of
alternatives to improve student learning outcomes such as Charter schools,
Academies, private boarding schools, Magnet and Montessori schools. Speaking of
the dollar costs, that makes a lot of sense because what the public is dubious
woefully in denial of is the “pay me now or pay me later” principle- The prison
population in America is around 2M and the incarceration cost of a bed and
meals per inmate is, say, $25,000 a year (2,000,000 x 25,000=$50,000,000,000
annually); that is $50B and this doesn’t even include the costs of operating
all the prisons in America, which when you consider all of that, it might be
closer to $200B. A study of the inmate population at the Pennsylvania State
Penitentiary showed that 68% of prisoners did not have a high school diploma.
Besides, all this talk about placing such an emphasis on redesigning high
schools to emphasize Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), has
some educators concerned that this would be at the risk of jeopardizing the
liberal arts, which might get defunded or felt less important and thus receive
little attention.
If you want placate the concerns from
supporters of the fastest-growing minority group in America who caused you to
be reelected, and then you have to tell Hispanics what they want to hear, thus,
President Obama, not missing a political opportunity, says, “I recommend
Congress to pass ‘comprehensive’ Immigration reform legislation. Along
with the proposal he wants to:
-Reinforce stronger border security south of
the U.S. border. He mentioned that illegal crossings are at a forty year low
(what about border agents killing illegal immigrants??)
-Provide a responsible pathway to earn
citizenship (criminal background check, paying taxes and penalties, learning
English [many students already enrolled in ESL classes, anyway], and go to the
back of the line behind those who applied for legal citizenship.
-Fix the legal immigration system (reduce
long waiting periods) and attract highly skilled entrepreneurs and engineers
that will help create jobs and grow the economy. NOTE: Isn’t president Obama talking about the Dream Act or
Amnesty and some countries just might not want to allow their most skilled and
educated citizens to immigrate to America.
And what about the Fourteenth Amendment, Section
1 (a)? “All
persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein
they reside. Some who interpret the Constitution as “strict constructionists”
say that this provision applies to African-Americans [slaves and their
descendants] because this was part of the post-Civil War/Reconstruction
Amendments of the late 1860’s -1870 (Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth) and
anyone else would be subject to provisions of the 1790 Naturalization Law,
superseded by the 1920 Immigration Origin Act, superseded by the 1952
Immigration Law, or superseded by the latest Immigration and Naturalization Law
of 1965.
There was also the curious mention of: “I want to
strengthen families by removing the financial deterrence for low income couples
and encourage fatherhood (how??).” “What makes you a man is not the ability to
conceive a child but having the courage to raise one” NOTE: This quote was essentially taken from the movie, “BOYZ N THE
HOOD” and the words were spoken by actor Lawrence Fishburne, but he said it in
more of the street vernacular. When President Obama said, “We will strengthen
our own Missile Defense Systems”this brought back memories of Ronald Reagan’s
“Star Wars Initiative” about erecting a missile defense shield around America
and allied countries in Western Europe. Then there was the comments about The
United States will partner with our allies to reduce extreme poverty in
undeveloped countries within the next two decade by connecting people to the
global economy; including empowering women [how??].Saving the world’s
impoverished children from preventable deaths (AIDS-free generation). NOTE: Wasn’t the United
States largest foreign aid package ever to Africa for the prevention and
treatment of AIDS promoted by President George W. Bush?
Near the conclusion of the speech president
Obama made the case for a need to counter “Cyber-attacks” to prevent sabotage
to our power grid, financial institutions, and air traffic control systems. He would be issuing a new Executive Order
to strengthen cyber defenses by increasing information-sharing and developing
standards to protect our national security, jobs, and privacy. Congress must
pass legislation to give the federal government [Is this to give more authority
to the Justice Department, Homeland Security, NSA, CIA, or to the Executive
branch to invade our ‘privacy’??] to secure our computer networks and deter
cyber-attacks. He talked about wanting to support military families, just like
First lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, but exactly what have they been
doing? Having a photo taken with a few military families at select times of the
year is not the same as meeting with families of veterans, listening to their
concerns, and being advocates in behalf of them before Congress and the VA, as
well as asking their husbands to use their influence to help soldiers and their
families struggling with a range of issues [mental, physical, and financial];
and somehow it seems that such activities have not been reported in the media,
and if this is even an ongoing concern for these two women is anybody’s guess.
Then came the part regarding one of the most
fundamental rights in a democracy, that is “the right to vote” and being denied
that right because you can’t wait 5, 6, or 7 hours to cast a ballot is
unacceptable. . .
President Obama wants the establishment of a
non-partisan commission to improve the voting experience, to be headed by the
top attorneys for the Obama and Romney campaigns [what about states’ rights because
such activity is under their sovereign jurisdiction unless some electoral
practices violates the U.S. Constitution??]. Saving the “best for last” was
invoking the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre as well as Hadiya
Pendleton being shot to death in a Chicago Park, but her parents were invited
guests in the Congressional Chamber, and there was the mention of former
Arizona Congressman Gabrielle Giffords, along with other such incidents and
their families to pressure members of Congress to just cast a vote, one way or
the other, regarding legislation on changing existing laws on access to
handguns, assault weapons, and the type of ammunition. A beginning remark might
have been better saved for the last: “We must put the nation’s interest before
that of either political party.”
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
February 15, 2013
robertrandle51@yahoo.com