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State of the Union

by Greg Krehbiel on 24 January 2012

I didn’t listen to the speech because I don’t like listening to these things, but I tried to read it.

Obama complained that manufacturing jobs left the U.S. Well, why did they go? In part because of cheap labor overseas, of course, but also in part because other countries offered a climate that was more favorable to business. The Obama administration has been famously anti-business, so I really don’t think they’re going to help much.

Obama says the state of the union is getting stronger. Of course he has to say that, but a lot of people would say it’s not true.

The thing about helping GM …. How do we know what would have happened if we hadn’t bailed them out? What if we’d let the regular rules apply and let them go through bankruptcy?

We have no way of comparing what did happen with what could have happened, so we really can’t evaluate if the GM bailout was a good idea.

And when Obama says “your country will do whatever it can” to promote domestic manufacturing, that’s ridiculous, especially coming from this president.

Then he goes on with the old “government picking winners and losers” thing.

If you’re a high-tech manufacturer, we should double the tax deduction you get for making products here.

The master will reward his good servants and punish the ones he doesn’t like. (Just like he’s done with health care, giving waivers to groups he likes — that give him money.)

The talk about trade agreements is a bad joke, especially since the White House sat on two trade agreements for a couple years and then ignorantly blamed Congress for not moving on them — when the ball was in Obama’s court!

Then he talks about job training (which isn’t the federal government’s business), and I get the strong sense that this will be another command and control deal, where the government gets to pick which kids of training get what kinds of benefits.

It’s also not the federal government’s business to get involved in education.

The lies about energy are just too much to hear, especially after he blocked the Keystone pipeline deal.

That’s it. I can’t read any more. It’s the same old boring tripe, with lies thrown in for good measure.

2012-01-24  »  Greg Krehbiel