Barack Obama's First State of the Union Speech

On Wednesday January 27, 2010 Barack Hussein Obama gave the first state of the union address of his reign. Various people and philosophies will see what was said and what was done differently. I watch every state of the union address and will give my opinion of some of what I heard and said. The first thing that I will say is that I see a bit of an awakening in Barack Obama and that will only help his reign. Losing that seat is Massachusetts was probably the best thing that could happen to him to not go down in the history books as a virtual dictator that does not care what the people who elected him think.

I was about to give Barack Obama props for actually having the intelligence to realize the will of the people but they he got on healthcare and tried to pass the buck to the Republicans not realizing the Republicans were doing what the people wanted in that healthcare bill not going through and all polls have anywhere from 52-60% of people not liking that bill. He discussed the economy and jobs extensively these are things that I think everyone wanted to here. The economy sucks and unemployment is still running about 10%. The stimulus might have helped, but most agree (even Obama supporters) that it has not created the amount of jobs as promised and was a great expense with little reinvestment. He also did not pass the buck as much as usual to the Bush administration. He still did blame things on republicans and the previous administration though. I will say I do believe it has saved some jobs and created a couple, but they are more band aids as opposed to any real long term fix.

One contentious subject that was discussed was the ban on gays in the military and the "Don't ask don't tell rule". Obama and many liberals that need to read up on their scripture want to end the ban. In all fairness I can see this, but my concern is you do not want to make social statements in the time of war that we have. If anything I think the military should decide it and not a bunch of lawmakers who never spent a day in the military. The majority of military men and women voted against Obama anyway and this is not helping him endear himself to our soldiers. I don't think he wants to rock the boat too much, so I doubt he will do anything in regards to this. He will be all talk.

Another controversy that showed itself during Obama's address was his criticism of the Supreme Court's recent decision to end the practice of barring companies from contributing to run ads for or against elected officials. Previously there were limits on what a company could contribute or do in regards to congressional and presidential elections. This decision reverse allows any company (United States or foreign) to spend freely on an election. It also ends a previous practice that barred political spending by unions and other organizations. I personally don't like this ruling because I think it means money can buy elected officials. I am very aware this happens, but this will just make it more common. Barack Obama did not agree with the decision and let it be known and called on leaders of both parties to do something to remedy it. I will write more on the decision in another article, but I think Obama does not like it because it seems republicans may benefit more. I am sure he would change his tune if it just applied to labor unions. Since many some union members in certain industries want more money than they deserve they tend to vote Democrat. If Republicans are the party of "No" then Democrats are the party of hand outs.

Obama directly criticizing the Court was not as contentious as Rep. Joe Wilson revealing that Obama was a liar on illegal aliens being able to sneak into coverage because of no checks in place in the healthcare bill before the outburst. This time it was Obama who many believe was out of line in directly criticizing the court's decision. Justice Samuel Alito, whom Obama voted against confirming, was visibly upset. He shook his head and his lips were read to say "That is not true". Msn had an online poll and it ran about 50/50 on if it was appropriate. I personally don't think it was a big deal. He might have delivered it better, but I agree with the substance of what the president said.

There are various things that were raised by Obama during the State of the Unions. I figured I would cover some individually and give my impressions. Obama said that he has not raised taxes on any person during his first year. This is directly true, but is a very clever play on words. If Obama and the Democrats had their way and got Obamacare through that would have been a bold face lie since there were tax increases for some Americans in it. There were also going to be taxes on high premium "Cadillac Plans". Obama did make a deal to take care of his buddies in the unions since most of them have what would be called a "Cadillac Plan". So much for treating people fairly, the union gets breaks and the non union person who works as hard or harder pays taxes on their "Cadillac Plan". Also Cap and Trade ( which has not became law) would not directly raise taxes, but when power companies pass on the expense to their customers they will see an increase in their bill directly related to taxes levied against the business. I find him saying that funny as anything. Kind of like a serial killer saying "I did not kill anyone today", but knowing they have and will. With Obama the taxes will come. Even if someone else has to do it over that stimulus that was too big and did not do enough. He also touted "two million" Americans working as a result of the stimulus. The congressional budget office and his own party dispute those numbers. There are people that are still working because of the stimulus, but I am sure people will not be in the future when it comes time to pay the piper.

During the speech Obama mentioned spending freezes on various federal expenses. This is probably a good idea, but the average person will not know that McCain actually suggested this during the campaign. Obama referred to these freezes as a problem were you are "using a hatchet when need a scalpel". Like most of his reign he has changed coarse. Changing your mind is fine, but he slammed a much more qualified person in doing it. Also had McCain won and this been done earlier it would have more effect. With the time that Obama has waited savings are estimated to be less than 1% of the deficit. This makes it virtually useless and it will be tough to get congress to go along with this in the midst of a recession.

He also mentioned his policy against former lobbyists in government administration jobs. This is pretty hypocritical since he has a bunch of them with him alone. Seven waivers have been issued for officials within the White House alone. Another thing that really had me busting at the seams was his discussing the "White house and Congress to do their work openly, and to give our people the government they deserve". Seems ol Barack forgot about the crap him and the liberals tried to pull with healthcare. All the Chicago style politics, backroom deals, bribes, and thumbing their noses at the American public and refusing to broadcast healthcare negotiations on C-SPAN after promising to during the campaign. The American people were saying no they don't want it. The only ones who were listening were all of the Senate Republicans and some House Democrats. The win by Scott Brown in Massachusetts is probably the wake up call. The shady liberals are still trying to find ways to sneak it through rather than listen to the people. I will call this a bold face lie. Obama will only want things out in the open when it benefits him.

Obama also implied that he has done more in the war on terror by killing various terrorist and their operatives. The reality is that he campaigned on how much he was against the military action in Iraq and bringing the troops home. This only partially has happened. I agree with his sending more troops to Afghanistan, but that is not how he acted during the campaign and what many supporters expected. In reality since 9/11/2001 we have had more terrorist activity and near misses like the "underwear bomber" on Christmas day 2009 in the past year than the entire time George W. Bush was in office. That is saying quite a lot. I think the terrorist feel Obama will be less aggressive in dealing with them than Bush was and I, and many patriotic American, agree. Not many presidents go around putting down their country to the Islamic world and constantly apologizing for us. He has gotten better, but has a long way to go. McCain had his short comings, but I think anyone with half a brain would have felt safer with McCain in the White House. This comes from the same idiot that slammed the Bush administration for not closing our Gitmo prison and wants to try the terrorists in civilian court. He is beginning to use his mind and re-evaluating that.

Factcheck.org also analyzed the speech and the Republican response and seemed to find much more stretches of the truth in Obama's comments than the response. I do believe the President wants the country to be successful. The problem is many ideas are not thought out like Obamacare. Also the liberals and Obama did not really care what the public thinks. Many Democrats have basically said that "they will come around once they see how good it is". I love this country and what it to succeed, but I really think we are in the wrong direction and Obama has divided this country more than I can recall. All you need to do is look at healthcare. Things were not even this divided under Bill Clinton. This president is probably one of the most intelligent presidents we have had. He is sure as hell a lot smarter than Bush was. So far though he does not act it, and that is harming our country.

Thank you for reading.

God Bless you and God Bless and Help America

Sources.

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=716cfeda-3acf-485c-a382-c626cdb92759

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35112718/ns/politics-white_house/?gt1=43001

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35112718/ns/politics-white_house/?gt1=43001

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nationworld/stories/DN-obamamiddle_26nat.State.Edition1.aa700f.html

www.factcheck.org

CBS EVENING NEWS with Katie Curic.