Monday, March 18, AD 2024 9:38pm

The State of the Union Speech That Will Never Be Delivered

State of the Union Nap

 

 

 

(I originally wrote this back in 2010.  With only a few modifications, here it is again.)

 

 

Here is the State of the Union Speech that will never be delivered:

“Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, Distinguished Guests, my fellow Americans.  Each year it is a duty of the President to report on the State of the Union to the Congress.  Often these speeches have been mere feel good exercises, frequently containing little of substance.  Tonight is going to be different.  Tonight it is time for blunt truth.

America is a great and strong nation, but in many ways the State of our Union is troubled.  We have a lackluster economy.  There are signs of recovery, but that is cold comfort to those who are still unemployed or who have not had a wage increase in years.  I could attempt to assess some responsibility for this poor economy to my predecessor, but that would be pointless.  You, the American people, are not interested in blame.  What you are interested in is improving the economy, and so far, under my watch, that has not happened as much as hoped it would.  I, in good faith, attempted to stimulate the economy through a massive stimulus bill.  Thus far the results have been meager for the amount of money spent.  Time for a course correction.  Beginning tomorrow I am going to hold meetings with the Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress.  The economy is my number one priority, as it rightly is yours, and I am open to all ideas, from whatever source, to jumpstart the economy and return us to the path to prosperity.  If taxcuts and spending cuts are necessary to get the economy moving, so be it.  Whatever works is my watchword on this key issue.  To quote another President from Illinois, “The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present.”  I am a Democrat, by the standards of many Americans a Liberal Democrat.  I’m proud of this, but I will not allow my adherence to certain beliefs to stand in the way of improving the economy.  Time for us all, past time, Republicans, Democrats and Independents, to work together make our economy once again the most prosperous on Earth.    This is my chief concern and I will do whatever it takes to accomplish this task.

Tied in with the recovery of our economy is the fact that we simply must get government spending under control.  For decades both parties have, with the tacit consent of most of the American public, engaged in policies that had us recently running up annual deficits  in excess of a trillion dollars.  We have made progress in recent years, with the deficit for last year being half a trillion dollars.  However, that is half a trillion dollars too much.  Democrats believe that government programs are necessary to help less fortunate Americans.  Republicans believe in low taxes as a stimulus for the economy.  We have had both all of my adult life, through government by credit card, leaving to the future the day of reckoning.  My fellow Americans, the day of reckoning is here.  We cannot continue on our present course without inflicting permanent harm to our economy.  The cuts necessary to break our spending habits will be painful.  Too many Americans believe that we could balance our budget by ending foreign aid which makes up a very small fraction of the federal budget.  Others, especially politicians, claim we can balance the budget through ending waste, fraud and abuse.  This is all nonsense.  To truly cut spending will require sacrifices that I think most Americans will find  hard to accept, but it must be done.  I will veto any spending bill that does not pay for itself through current revenues.  I will expect my Republican colleagues to come forward with specific proposals as to cuts that can be made in the federal budget.  I will expect both parties to confront the outrage that will descend on the government as cherished programs are slashed or taxes are raised.  For too long we have been content to merely engage in political gamesmanship when it comes to government spending.  The time for games is ended;  the time for action is at hand.

In foreign policy we still confront radical Jihadists willing to kill innocent people to reach their goals, as the atrocity in Paris recently demonstrated.    Many Americans are war weary, but this is not an optional conflict.  We must prevail over the Jihadists or face a future where terrorism will assume terrifying proportions, both at home and abroad.

In regard to the Affordable Care Act, obviously changes must be made.  The Act was passed and supported by me with the noblest of intentions to assist Americans who had no health care insurance.  The goal was noble but the execution has been mixed at best.  I will submit to Congress tomorrow proposed changes to improve the Affordable Care Act.  I call upon all members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike, to join me in a sincere effort to improve the law for the benefit of all Americans.

Thomas Jefferson when he became our third President sought to heal the partisan divisions in his time by saying that we are all Federalists, we are all Republicans.  Throughout my two terms the parties have confronted each other in an atmosphere of heated, bitter partisanship.   However, this is not a time for business as usual.   I am beginning my last two years as President and I want them to be productive, and that will be impossible if the partisanship of recent years prevails. Together we can make a start this year in attacking the problems that plague our country.  I pledge myself to work with the Republican and Democratic leadership in Congress to attempt to devise bi-partisan solutions to our nation’s ills.  Too many times the struggle for political advantage blinds us to possible solutions that both sides could embrace if they were not concerned about the political cost.  I recognize that the American people decided to place the Republicans in control of Congress.  Our bosses, the American voters, want us to work together.  I promise that I will do that, and I invite Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader McConnell to meet with me over the next week to begin to forge agreements that will produce legislation to address the many issues that we must solve.

Compared to other times in the history of our nation, the Civil War, the Great Depression, the World Wars, the challenges confronting us are not on so grand a scale.  However, we, not our children, must deal with them now.  If we succeed, future generations may point to us with pride.  If we fail, less prosperous future generations may bitterly reproach our inability to take simple but painful steps to deal with our economic and budgetary woes.  Americans have a history of directly confronting obstacles and overcoming them.  Together we can do so again.

Goodnight, and may God bless you, and God bless America.

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Paul W Primavera
Tuesday, January 20, AD 2015 9:28pm

I got very angry during tonight’s SOTU. I cannot express my loathing and disgust without resorting to unprintable expletives. We have a godless and iniquitous man of sin and depravity as President, a King Manasseh. Pray that God does not send Sennecharib to enact divine justice.

Paul W Primavera
Tuesday, January 20, AD 2015 9:38pm

PS, Lt Col and Senator Joni Ernst makes me proud of America. God bless her and God bring Barack Hussein Obama to repentance.
.
Another PS, I like how she deftly supported the right to life, a clear signal to the baby murdering Demoncraps.

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