Obama State of the Union
New Session, Same Old Rhetoric

When President Obama delivers his State of the Union address tonight, Americans will likely be asking themselves: "Where are the jobs?" "How can we stop this crazy spending & borrowing?" and "Haven't I heard this before?  Coincidently, the last time a Democrat-Controlled Senate passed a budget was exactly 1,000 days ago. While conservative leaders have answers to these questions and solutions for the problems they reflect, what we don't have is any sign of interest from the President. One might expect the President to use his address to call for higher taxes and more government spending while invoking the same campaign-like rhetoric he has used throughout his presidency.

Last June, the President said: “The tax cuts I’m proposing we get rid of are tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires; tax breaks for oil companies and hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners.” However, a June 30 USA Today article notes that, “Taken together, the three tax breaks come to about $64 billion, or less than 1% of the projected 10-year deficit.”

Back in December, the President said: “We cannot play games with unemployment insurance when we still have an unemployment rate that is way too high.  I've put forward a whole range of ideas for reform of the unemployment insurance system, and I'm happy to work with Republicans on those issues.” On December 13, 2011 the House passed a yearlong extension of of unemployment insurance benefits that included several meaningful reforms to improve the education and training unemployed Americans receive to help them get back to work.  Many resembled or were drawn directly from proposals the President had previously made. Not to mention, House Republicans have sent more than 30, bipartisan jobs bills to the Senate, where 27 of them are still stacked-up awaiting Democrat consideration. However, the President refused to urge the Senate to consider the legislation.

It is clear that many of the President's most oft-repeated statements show that his rhetoric does not always match reality. Tonight, as Americans tune into the President's address, ask yourself: "What issues are important to you?"   Are you better off today than you were four years ago?