Statements about the Union

Gosh the president can give a speech. Every time I watch him I walk away impressed. I'm usually more or less on board with his vision, but the man has no current rival when it comes to oration. He just knows how to speak. In case you missed it, you can get the full transcript here.

Last night's speech was a particularly good one. President Obama laid out a vision for prosperity and growth that even won him praise from Fox News! Imagine that...The president's speech was great precisely because he believes in the one thing that Republicans do not seem to believe in, that America is stronger when ALL Americans have opportunities. The root of the schism between Democrats and Republicans is simple yet vast. Democrats believe in an America for everyone, Republicans nominated a man who wrote off 47% of the country. It's really that simple, and the policy proposals presented by each side reflect that schism.

The president hammered Republicans on that issue last night, pointing out repeatedly that we have been making progress over the last four years, "we can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is stronger." And it is, because we have worked towards building our middle class. Obama made it a point to say what everyone who understands economics and not ideology already knows, that our main priority should be creating jobs, not reducing the deficit, "Now, most of us agree that a plan to reduce the deficit must be part of our agenda. But let's be clear, deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan. A growing economy that creates good, middle-class jobs -- that must be the North Star that guides our efforts." I was particularly impressed and excited by the president's proposal for manufacturing hubs. I'd like more details, but the idea is great.

And to me that idea sums up the theme of the president's speech, one that I mention repeatedly, and the only path forward for America, a thriving public-private partnership that harnesses the efforts of both in a collaborative manner. This does mean more efficient and thus smaller government, but it doesn't mean the absence of government and it surely does not look anything like the vision (or lack thereof) presented by Republicans - more on that in a minute. How about the President's "Fix-It-First" program, a partnership to fix our infirmed infrastructure? Why is there not more talk about public-private initiatives to bring more mass transit to and among our cities? If you've ever been unfortunate to fly on American Airlines you would be desperate for rapid inter-city transit. Universal Pre-K? Absolutely. Let's invest in Americans, let's use public resources to give our citizens the capacity to do, and then let's step back and watch them do. Public-private partnership.

An important part of this is spending efficiently, and I loved that the president made that link on multiple occasions. Every good businessman knows that it is important to link funds to outcomes. Republicans preach austerity, but good business don't. They spend. In fact the whole theory behind the failed Republican approach to economics is that if we give rich people more they will spend it to create jobs. Underpinning their ideology is the idea that we do need to spend! But we should spend smartly so let's do that. Said the president, "Every dollar we invest in high-quality early childhood education can save more than seven dollars later on," and "Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our economy -- every dollar." Funds to outcomes, that's a 7% and a 140% return on our investments, 7% is good, 140% is unfathomable. Spend smartly.

Meanwhile, Marco Rubio had the unfortunate task of delivering the rebuttal, a job he did eloquently but predictably. If the president soared, Marco meandered. He offered the same trite platitudes we've come to expect, lying through his teeth about the cause of the recession, and accusing Obamacare of costing private sector jobs, when private sector jobs are increasing. Marco seemed to be particularly offended by the criticism commonly leveled at his party, "We only care about rich people." If that's not true then prove it. Prove you don' just care about rich people. He then took time to rail against tax hikes on the rich, "Raising taxes won’t create private sector jobs, and there’s no realistic tax increase that could lower our deficits by almost $4 trillion." That's all well and good, but it's not what the President is proposing. You can't rebut ideas the other guy isn't offering. Marco sounded good, but his speech was nothing but the Republican party's intellectual bankruptcy on full display. 

Back to the President who was busy reminding us of why we are great, and how much greater we could be if we really were all in this together, "Stronger families. Stronger communities. A stronger America. It is this kind of prosperity -- broad, shared, built on a thriving middle class -- that has always been the source of our progress at home."

It was a speech worthy of the moment, a moment in which the American people chose to re-elect the man who has helped us move forward from the hardships of the past four years, and one who has a vision not just for the next four, but for the next forty. There were some pretty strong statements about the union made last night, and I was reminded once again how proud I am to be an American, and how inspired I am to play my part in making this country stronger by making it better for all Americans.