President Obama delivered his third State of the Union Address tonight (January 24, 2012). The speech, clocking in at just over an hour, focused primarily on the economy. Being an unashamed progressive Democrat, I found myself saying “Amen!” during each pause. I of course did not agree with everything that the President proposed. For example, I wasn’t keen on the opening up vast areas to off shore drilling so close to the Deep Water Horizon disaster.
What I really thought interesting was the Republican response, delivered this year by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. When I say response, what I really mean is the Republican non sequitur. Gov. Daniels made an interesting case, but it really did not respond to anything that the President said. Two particular areas stuck out as the most jarring examples.
Gov. Daniels said that Obama wanted to give us a “Nanny” state where the government told us what was best for us, right down to the light bulbs we use (a jab at the Obama administrations push for the use of CFL bulbs). Was he not listening when Obama said he wants to CUT red tape and out dated regulation? Maybe Daniels missed the part about giving more control to schools and states when it came to the education of our children?
The Republican “response” spoke of how President Obama wanted massive government programs, driving the nation to new levels of debt. Strange, but I heard the President suggest that we use half of the money we save from not being in Iraq to pay down the national debt. I also heard lots of ideas on how to help PRIVATE industry be competitive and thrive. Using government as a catalyst to spawn growth and get people back to work is not a government program. It won’t be the government hiring, it will be private industry hiring the properly trained and educated workforce it needs.
What all this tells me is that the Republicans really don’t have anything to respond with. I am sure they would like to attack President Obama’s ideas for the way forward, it is just that they can’t with out sounding out of touch. So, this year, the decided to forgo the response and go for a non sequitur.