Given that
speeches are political hot air feasts intended to buoy public opinion on upcoming
policy campaigns, they are meaningless without action, yet it is important to
make voters feel that Washington is listening.
It is also
an opportunity for both political parties to present a buffet of policy ideas
and receive feedback from the public, thereby getting a sense on what policy
priorities are more or less popular. Obama's scorecard has already flunked, but
the GOP, in its early grades don't seem to be acing any tests so far.
Americans
were not thrilled with either Obama's speech or the GOP rebuttal.
Obama has
been deaf to public opinion since 2010, so few expected him to recognize that
his Party and policies have nose-dived with independent voters, the same voters
the Democrats rely on to make their minority "Kool-aid" policies seem
mainstream. Indeed his administration has been marked with arrogant
recalcitrant obstinacy that has diminished Democrat power.
Yet the GOP
response to Obama's SOTU speech was underwhelming and disappointing for its
lack of inspiration and red meat, leaving conservatives and libertarians
feeling wary about the lean, low fat agenda the opposition's menu contains.
Senator
Ernst is not to blame, she is just a new member of an old party asked to
deliver a speech that has been cooked up by high ranking members of the GOP in
the back rooms of Washington's political kitchen.
The policy
speech was troublesome for its bland banquet offerings and perhaps more
importantly, worrisome because of the absence of sharp knifed proteins left off
the table. Especially when a starving public expected and deserved full course
satiation at a post game celebration feast.
The first
complaint is that the GOP agenda isn't bold, isn't innovative and somewhat
mirrors the left. The left loves (especially Obama) to talk about job creation.
The Keystone pipeline isn't going to make a dent in the number of jobs needed
to re-energize the economy number one and number two, trade barriers are not
the reasons entrepreneurial opportunities and business expansion is shrinking
in America.
Big
government, class action lawsuits, high taxation, Obamacare, crony capitalism,
myriads of regulations and laws that stifle growth have all have contributed to
America's lackluster economy.
Government need only to get out of the way by
downsizing itself and repealing its unconstitutional presence in the
marketplace allowing the free enterprise to grow. It is basic conservative
policy to remove the mixed market governors from the economic engine that has
served our nation well in the past and indeed created the Middle Class.
Instead of
touting un-tethered private enterprise as the curative, they spoke like
Democrats by extolling what they (government) can do to fix the economy. They
missed the opportunity to state emphatically the Ronald Reagan adage that
resonated with Americans of all politically party persuasion: get government
off our backs and out of our lives.
Second
complaint, was the hackneyed idea of simplifying the tax code. How many times
have we heard that in the past? Today, we have an IRS agency that has been
allowed to violate the law, punish political foes, destroy and or cover-up
evidence, misuse public funding and to date, no-one has been held accountable,
fired or prosecuted.
Americans never trusted the IRS from its inception, but
now more than ever the people want justice and the abolishment of the IRS.
Calling for the closing of loopholes in the post Lois Lerner targeting age is
beyond lame, it reflects a business as usual corrupt cluelessness over the
public's discontentment.
Lastly the
complete absence of bared teeth and pitchfork rhetoric we heard on the campaign
trail in 2014 by the GOP over Obama's king George the third's impersonation in
the White House. GOP Senators and Representatives seeking election assured
voters that Obama's unilateral unconstitutional immigration plans would be met
with legislative roadblocks that would take away his "phone and pen"
by all means necessary.
In the GOP
response speech we instead heard this: "We will work to correct
executive overreach."
Work to
correct? Does that sound like a strong push back or a wet noodle chastisement?
You work to correct mistakes, you don't work to correct defiance. You work to
correct problems, you don't work to correct lawlessness. You work to correct
mishandling, you don't work to correct a complete undermining of our
Constitution and its clear separation of powers.
The GOP
speech did not instill confidence in the public that we are being heard
"loud and clear" instead it made most voters believe we are still a
static background noise to Beltway buddies.
The GOP
seems to want to play nice with the administration until 2016 when it herds us
to the table where Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Mitt Romney wearing hair nets try
to slop the same over-processed goop of small appetizers-teasers on our plates
calling it gourmet opposition catering.
Most know it
to be however, the same old political pablum we were spoon fed as children,
albeit now we are not naive political knickers-wearing "Gruber-ites"
that can be swooned by empty words that produce imperceptible change in the way
Washington operates.
So we will
wait and watch what the GOP will do or not do in the coming months, hoping that
they dial in to our strong voter signal because so far, we are holding our
spoons ready to either gag and swallow or toss that slop back on their obtuse
noggins.
P.S. Advice to GOP politicians, wear a raincoat to
your town hall meetings because Americans don't want to be taken to the
cleaners again.
