|
The State Of The Union.... Before and After
Where's the Change? by James Glaser January 28, 2010 I have no idea what President Obama is going to say about the shape he believes our country is in, but I have my own idea, and here is a little story to illustrate my thoughts. About three years ago Wanda and I were looking for a place to buy. We took a look at a townhouse that was just a couple of blocks away from where we were living in Tallahassee. The location was great, and they advertised hardwood floors, granite counter tops, two bedrooms, and one and a half baths. It sounded good, and the price was $129,900 which was in our budget. Well, we took a tour, and we both decided that we wanted a yard and a stand-alone house. So, we passed. Then last year they put up a sign saying, "You Would Be Home Now." It was kind of catchy as they we making a pitch to all the commuters driving home to the suburbs. Right next to that sign was the one that caught my eye, and that one said, "Marked down to $89,900." $40,000 dollars is quite the mark-down, but by that time we had both decided to get out of Tallahassee, and we were looking at land and houses out in the country. Now that is pretty interesting that they could lower the price that much, but here is what tells me what the state of our country really is. Even though that company lowered their price that much, those places didn't sell, and yesterday, Wanda called me on the phone from Tallahassee to tell me she had just driven by those town houses, and now there is a sign saying that they are going to be auctioned off. A two bedroom town house about three blocks from the State Capital, in a nice section of Tallahassee with off-street parking, and you can't get somebody to bite at less than 90 thousand. You would have thought lobbyists would have snapped them up, but nobody wants to buy anything they don't have to right now. That is the state of our nation and our economy. Nobody wants to go out a even a short limb and buy something, because nobody has any confidence in where our country is headed. In a little while I'll listen to what President thinks. President Obama talked for 70 minutes. I guess what struck me the hardest is how the members of Congress in the audience behaved like school kids at a pep rally. The Democrats cheered wildly at every chance, and the Republicans sat on their hands. I know, it is always that way with every State of the Union speech. The opposing party pouts and the ruling party hooplas. It all bugs me. The first thing that jumped out at me was when the President said that he has never been more hopeful about America's future than he is tonight. He then went on with, "Our nation is strong." Like all politicians, the President then went into spin mode. With a straight face President Obama said that his administration had created 2 million jobs in the last year, and that they would create another 1.5 million more by the end of the year. I don't care if you are a Democrat or a Republican, you have to know that is simply not true, no matter how you spin or twist the job numbers. America has lost jobs every month except maybe November when there were maybe 11,000 jobs created. The President went on to talk about a new Jobs Bill, a Fiscal Commission, how we will double our exports in 5 years, and how Washington will start tightening its belt next year. That's right, next year, President Obama will start cutting spending. While all that belt-tightening and fiscal restraint is going on, we will build nuclear power plants, start drilling for gas and oil off our shores, and create "clean coal" technology. Now this is pretty telling. When the President said, "Let's try common sense," there was no applause from the politicians. After that he talked about repealing the Don't Ask-Don't Tell policy of gays in the military. The Democrats went nuts with applause for that one, but when the camera panned the Generals, they we not even clapping. After that, my eyes started to glaze over. I find it hard to listen to any politician for very long. But what I got out of President Obama's speech is that he still has no idea what the American people are going through. He is going to keep right on spending like every other politician, and our kids will have less money, less oil, and fewer resources to work with because Barack Obama was elected President. I am not saying it would be different if someone else had been elected, but I am saying that President Obama is not bringing change to Washington. |
BACK to the 2010 Politics Columns.