Response to the President's address to congress - part 4

Well, Mr. President, now we have to address the final item in your trilogy of huge spending, education. Here’s where you went right over the top I think. You really left reality in the dust.

You opened your remarks by stating that this country is way behind in education. I don’t really know how you can say that with the level of education that this country has to offer. I can’t imagine that any other country on earth has better colleges than this country, yet you say we are way behind. But I guess it’s not really the schools since you said, “We have one of the highest high school dropout rates of any industrialized nation. And half of the students who begin college never finish.” Well Sir, if that’s the case, the problem certainly doesn’t lie with the school system. Kids dropping out of high school has far more to do with families than the school system and it certainly isn’t something that money from the government is going to fix. I’d venture a guess that kids dropping out of college has more to do with them not having the drive or desire to make it through more than anything else.

Then you just blew my mind when you said, “That is why it will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education – from the day they are born to the day they begin a career.” You’re going to ensure that EVERY child has a college education? FROM THE DAY THEY ARE BORN TO THE DAY THEY BEGIN A CAREER??? I cannot even imagine what the price tag on this one is. How can you possibly make a statement like that with a straight face? I guess you’re just laying it right out there, the whole left wing “cradle to grave, government takes care of your every need” concept. Socialism at it’s finest.

Oh, but let’s continue, “Already, we have made an historic investment in education through the economic recovery plan.” In other words you have already thrown a TON of money at this issue and you intend on dumping TONS more into it. Don’t get me wrong, I think education is a worthy cause but we are in economic decline right now. How is spending all this money on education going to help the economy, or should I ask, how is it not going to run the economy into the toilet? If the money spent has any affect at all, it will be 10-20 years down the road! You yourself stated your goal as, “…by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.” 2020! Hey Mr. President, I got a news flash for ya! It won’t make any difference if they have a college education or not because the U.S. economy will be wrecked and they’ll be lucky to get a job shoveling crap on a family farm somewhere!

THEN, you said, “In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will attend those parent/teacher conferences, or help with homework after dinner, or turn off the TV, put away the video games and read to their child. I speak to you not just as a President, but as a father when I say that responsibility for our children’s education must begin at home.” Thank you for stating what’s so obvious to the rest of us but those are absolutely meaningless and hollow words AFTER you just told everyone that the government is going to be mommy and daddy “from the day they are born to the day they begin a career.” I just don’t know which side of your mouth to believe.

Now we get to the point that you made a statement that I agree with but with your next breath you totally lost any support from me you could ever hope to get. You said, “There is, of course, another responsibility we have to our children. And that is the responsibility to ensure that we do not pass on to them a debt they cannot pay.” I was glad to hear that as were a large majority of the members of congress including the Republicans. A lot of them gave you a standing ovation at that statement. But then you had to ruin it. You couldn’t even give the Republicans one moment to cheer. Not one moment. You were so anxious to put them down again, you didn’t even wait until the applause died down until you almost shouted, “With the deficit we inherited, the cost of the crisis we face…we do what it takes to bring this deficit down.” You had to get that in one more time, had to lay blame on someone else. That's the one that did it. That was the straw that broke the camels back. You drove the point home that you are a hypocrite and you ARE partisan. Never mind that the Republicans ran up a debt over the course of 8 years and you just spent the same amount with the stroke of a pen a month after you took office. It's all their fault and you're not taking any blame at all. I’ve never seen such a hypocrite as you. Well, maybe Barney Frank…

Then you had the gall to say, “Yesterday, I held a fiscal summit where I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office.” Hey, I got some advice for ya on how you can do that. QUIT SPENDING MONEY!!!

Then you just started just bald-faced lying through your teeth by saying, “I’m proud that we passed the recovery plan free of earmarks…” Right… no matter what you call it or how much you argue semantics, MOST of your “recovery” plan is wasteful spending that has absolutely NOTHING to do with helping the economy and indeed will HURT the economy but you stand up there and say you’re “proud that it’s free of earmarks”? Right… and Bill didn’t have sex with that woman either…

You went on to lie, er say, you were going to root out wasteful spending. Right… I believe that with a spending package that has over 8600 earmarks. And these truly ARE earmarks Mr. President, no two ways about it and I’d bet you’re going to put pen to paper on that turkey too.

You mentioned getting rid of no-bid contracts (good idea) and reform the defense budget (good idea if it’s done right, but have no faith that it will be) and root out more waste and fraud. Right… you know what? I don’t believe a word you say anymore.

You finished up your speech by railing against the former administration some more, then told some inspirational stories, etc, etc, but at this point I wasn’t much listening. You know why? Because I have absolutely NO FAITH that the Federal Government can possibly do anything good at this point. The more you try and fix, the more you foul up. Have you looked at the stock market lately? It’s pretty much been on a downward spiral ever since your big speech Mr. President. Does that give you a clue?

I actually had faith that our economy was going to recover, but now I have more doubt than ever. I remember when they interviewed a guy on the trading floor of the stock market after the first big drop and he said, “You know the government should just shut up. Every time they open their mouth they make things worse.” That’s all I see you doing Mr. President, spending my money and causing my retirement account to disappear.

You’ll try and blame the last administration for everything, but it’s in your hands now. YOU are responsible for what happens now. I think I see why you are trying to do everything now, it’s because there’s no way you will be there after 4 years and you know it. If you try real hard, maybe you can set another record. You can be the first black President to be impeached.