Few
would doubt (even his most fervent opponents) that President Obama is one of
the most gifted speakers of his generation. The tonal qualities in his voice
and innate ability to convey a message leave many Americans in awe of the
president’s elegant delivery. Nonetheless, one should still critically evaluate
the content of his messaging.
In January 2009, Obama delivered a speech
echoing many of the themes of his historic campaign. He emphasized that we are
not a nation of “red states” and “blue states”, but rather the “United States”
of America. The theme hope and change from his 2008 campaign that characterized
his first inaugural address were lost this time around. Admittedly, his elegant
and natural delivery was still very much a part of the fabric of his speech,
but the emphasis of his message took on quite a different tone. President Obama
began appropriately by acknowledging the founders of our great nation, who
established the freedoms we take for granted today with hard fights and a great
deal of bloodshed. But then the speech took a very different turn. Obama
quickly became combative and outlined his liberal attack on the wealthy,
mentioning the various groups and peoples who helped him win re-election
through unfunded entitlements and substantial growth in government spending.
The part that shocked me the most was his failure to even mention the issue
most threatening the future of our nation: the federal deficit. Instead, he
pandered to the entitled sector of the electorate that is the very cause of our
most severe problem in the first place.
The reality that we must face,
however, is that President Obama will be our commander in chief for the next
four years. If his inaugural address is any signal of how he will lead our
nation in that time, I certainly hope that republican lawmakers were listening
up because there are many heated fights that are not too far ahead. I suppose
the first test of what I predict will be an even more dysfunctional government
than any that we have previously seen in American history will be the upcoming
fight over raising the debt ceiling. Until next time…
Interesting post! For me personally, however, a number of your unstated assumptions are quite problematic. First, you seem to resent the fact that Obama, having "campaigned in poetry," now plans to implement policies and actually govern. Quelle horreur. Secondly, and more importantly, can you define who you have in mind when you write "...he pandered to the entitled sector of the electorate that is the very cause of our most severe problem..."? I get the sense that you are not referring to, let's say, the bankers at HSBC who were laundering money for terrorists and druglords, or the adrenaline junkies at Goldman Sachs who tanked the global economy a few years back, or even the Republican house members who caused our credit rating to be downgraded when they refused to pay the debts they had already accrued? That is what raising the debt ceiling is, BTW, not approving new spending. And since you are concerned about the deficit, you might be interested to note that refusing to pay your bills rarely results in a better interest rate. Finally, when you referred to unfunded entitlements and increased government spending, I would love to see some numbers. It is not you, I just have trust issues.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback! While we clearly stand on opposite sides of the political spectrum, I do appreciate the dialogue.
DeleteFirst - I'd refer you to http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np and spend some time looking at the hard numbers, month to month and year to year.
Now to answer your questions more specifically...
As of January 29, 2013, the total public debt outstanding has risen to 16,432,507,858,820.45. You see - the problem that you and many of my albeit intelligent liberal friends fail to understand is the severity of how a deficit of this magnitude can bring down even the world's strongest countries. I come from a family of immigrants who came to this country believing that with hard work, anything would be possible. My family dined on cardboard boxes in an apartment in Philadelphia that was infested with bed bugs and cockroaches while both my parents worked day and night to make a better life for their two children. I'm no stranger to understanding the struggles of everyday Americans and for those who are willing to put in the hard work and exercise their individual freedoms to improve their own circumstances, I tip my hat off to them.
But the rhetoric that boils my blood is the demonization of success. It's time for a cultural shift - a society that admires people who have "made it" and creates opportunities for those willing to put in the work to "make it". The problem is that too many people are looking for a handout. Under the Obama administration (as of November 2012), 14.7 million people were added to the food stamp program while only 194,000 jobs were created during that same time period. Mathematically, that works out to 76 new food stamp enrollees for every 1 job created. Yet this is just one example. Over the course of his first term as president, the federal debt has increased 53%, food stamps are up 46% and the number of employed persons is up only 0.15%. These numbers are only worsened by the projected increase in the working age population, which means more people will be looking for fewer jobs. Total welfare spending (housing, social services, food stamps, etc.) is over $1 Trillion and the system only welcomes new entrants with open arms. (ALL THESE NUMBERS CAN BE FOUND AT http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/food-stamp-growth-75x-greater-job-creation_660073.html) In fact, these federal programs are filled with so much corruption that in many cases, it makes more financial sense for the beneficiaries to remain unemployed and receive welfare than it would be to find a job and earn an honest living. Is that the kind of society we want to be encouraging?
If the president’s second inaugural address is any indication of the legislation he will prioritize over the next four years, I for one am seriously concerned that this country which I love so much and which could once pride itself as a land of opportunity is simply on a road to Greece. That is not the America I want to live in and it certainly is not the America that I want to leave to my children and grandchildren because our politicians continued to selfishly spend money that we simply do not have on entitlement programs.