In his final State of the Union address, President Obama managed repeatedly to avoid reality. Simply stated, his performance as chief executive has harmed America. He ended his speech with the claim that “the State of our Union is strong.” Many Americans disagree. One clear measure of that disagreement is the powerful showing of a candidate seeking to succeed him who employs the slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Americans who support this candidate, and others as well, believe that our nation’s greatness isn’t strong.
In his speech, the president pointed to the nation’s “broken immigration system.” He has had seven years to fix it but, as he himself admitted, it’s still broken.
He called again for raising the minimum wage, as if such a task fits within his job description. Sound-thinking economists insist that arbitrarily forcing employers to pay higher wages discourages hiring, especially among the youth.
He took credit for creating “14 million new jobs.” But whatever wealth-creating jobs have opened up aren’t the product or result of any government magic. Real jobs get created despite the taxes, regulations, and bureaucratic control government creates.
He patted himself on the back for cutting the rate of unemployment when the figures regularly given by government don’t count the many would-be workers who have given up looking for a job.
He claimed the “No Child Left Behind” educational program had improved education. Reality shows it to be another failed scheme forced on the schools by the federal government.
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The president’s cheers for solar and wind power failed to mention the tax breaks and subsidies the government provides for such industries. Even more, he skirted the fact that the combined product of both of these energy sources adds up to a mere one percent of what is needed to power our nation.
He took credit for cutting imports of foreign oil when those cuts really resulted from discovery by private enterprise of new domestic sources and new methods of obtaining previously unavailable oil and natural gas.
He insisted that our nation’s “standing around the world” has improved in the years he’s been in office, and he termed any disagreement with such a boast “political hot air.” The reality is that respect for America has declined substantially with him at the helm.
He claimed it is a “lie” to believe that radical Islamists spring from a reading of Islam’s holy books. While it surely is true that most Muslims don’t seek to implement some of the directives appearing in their basic creed, a minority does take what they find literally. And they act accordingly.
He urged acceptance of the dangerous Trans-Pacific Partnership, a new form of entanglement that will surely lead to the surrender of hard-won independence just as European nations have surrendered theirs to the European Union.
He congratulated himself for steering the nation into climate-change agreements. Yet the number of competent scientists who strongly disagree with the need for such action continues to grow.
Near the beginning of his speech, Mr. Obama praised America’s “commitment to the rule of law.” But, like numerous predecessors, he employs executive orders to make law, a horrendous flouting of the rule of law. He also sanctions sending our military into war without a constitutionally required congressional declaration of war. And he does nothing to abolish unconstitutional departments of energy, education, medicine, housing, and more. The rule of law has virtually disappeared.
Missing completely from his address, however, was any mention of the enormous national debt that will almost double during his presidency ($10.9 trillion in 2009 to $20 trillion when he leaves in 2017). Indebtedness that grows daily can alone destroy this nation.
The state of the union isn’t “strong.” It is weak and getting weaker. And much of the blame for this growing weakness can be laid on Barack Hussein Obama.
John F. McManus is president emeritus of The John Birch Society. This column appeared originally at the insideJBS blog and is reprinted here with permission.
