As the Western world celebrates the ringing in of the new year and the promise of tomorrow, 2011 brings new challenges and opportunities, many of which President Barak Obama addressed and laid out guidelines for in his State of the Union Address. The president covered issues including economic policy, ending the war in Iraq and the future of technology and renewable energy.
Obama placed strong emphasis on reclaiming the top educational position in a global context, specifically by strengthening students in the subjects of math and science. Obama’s address also emanated both caution and optimism in regard to the future. He noted that while the United States is still the world leader in many respects, we must be careful not to let it go to our heads, as nations like China and India are advancing rapidly and relentlessly.
Obama greatly emphasized the importance of renewable energy sources, reducing or eliminating oil subsidies and pushing ahead technologically but doing so efficiently. He compared the challenges of today to the days of Sputnik and called on the American people, and especially our government, to work together, cut through unnecessary red tape and to put it up where necessary. There is no doubt that Obama is a talented orator. Accordingly, the State of the Union Address was moving, passionate and optimistic, but also had a foreboding undertone.
Many Americans have become wary of our government in the last decade, and rightly so. It is this very skepticism that helps to make America what it is. Without it, the United States would remain stagnant, with leaders unbefitting to the need of our nations and its populace. This sentiment constitutes my own skepticism in regard to this speech. By no means do I think Obama is a weak or malicious leader. However, I am wary of his grand gestures and great promises. Most politicians make promises and propose daring plans of action, but few live up to them.
With a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, it is not hard to imagine that many of the things Obama wants to put into action, such as cutting oil subsidies, diverting money from the military, ending Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 will encounter serious resistance in Congress. Furthermore, Obama has pledged to veto any bill brought to his desk with earmarks; we can only hope for so much. Obama has once again implored us to leave behind party politics and unite on the issues he truly believes are for the betterment of our country.
As a skeptic of promises made by politicians and with my abstinence from identifying within the two- party system, it is difficult to visualize sitting down somewhere, five or even 10 years from now and remarking, “Wow, President Obama made good on exactly what he said he would.” While Obama hasn’t fulfilled his campaign promises 100 percent, he is certainly not slacking in breaching party lines, and it seems to be a different breed of politician than what America has grown accustomed to. This gives me reason to pause, and the faintest hope that might indicate an honest man in the White House.
For all of my fellow skeptics and those Americans not aligned with Obama, our gripes, grudges and grievances are many and often times just. But renewable energy, continuing to invest in and stay at the forefront of technology, working to end the war in Iraq, cutting the fat from the federal government and giving real equality to any who wish to serve in the armed forces are issues which we, as Americans, should all unite to accomplish. The difference for most of us lies in where the push to do so comes from.
Albert Einstein once said, “The only justifiable purpose of political institutions is to ensure the unhindered development of the individual.” It seems that with Obama’s pledge to better our standard of education, to remain the birthplace of so much innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, that maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way.
In response to Ryan Neff’s assessment of President Obama’s State of the Union message, I can only shake my head. Obama loves to talk and make many promises. He promised C-SPAN would cover the Health Care reform debate which it did not. Every American will be impacted dramatically by Obamacare. One example: If you add 30 million patients and zero doctors, what will waiting rooms look like? How much face time will you get with your doctor? Doctors will first look at Obamacare guidelines first, then determine what kind of care you receive. So much for what they learn in medical school.
Obama has a “command and control” agenda and his outreach to Republicans will reflect his desire to win re-election, not his desire to expand individual freedom. From regulating the cars we drive, the food we eat, the light bulbs we buy, we see our freedoms sliced away all in the name of a false and fraudulent claims of global warming.
If electric cars are desired, if wind mills are the preferred energy for consumption, then let the collapsing state of California show us the way. We do not need 50 states doing exactly the same thing at taxpayer expense with no examples to point to demonstrating success.
One simple example of the problems of electric cars is that cold weather destroys the charge thereby making driving impractical, if not impossible. They have been known to catch on fire more easily too. Further, Obama’s push for high-speed rail is a failure. Look at France and see how union-run public transporation brings the country to a halt because of a nation-wide strike. This is control. Automobiles represent freedom.
I reject much of what President Obama stands for because his message, while pleasant, relies more on government solutions–at the expense of our freedom–than on free market ingenuity. Few people on college campuses, particularly at the College of Wooster, seem to embrace liberty over the soft tyranny from Washington.
Respectfully,
Mike Crowe
Houston TX
Class of ’87