The Obama Speech to Congress

I give the president credit for an inspiring speech to the Congress, but I have to say I am a skeptic. It's not because I am a partisan Republican. As an American with children and a young grandson, I want this president to succeed. As a man in the twilight of his life, I want my country to continue to be everything it was when I was growing up. But as inspiring as the president's words were, I want to see the details and the plans. Adopting a strategy is about making choices. There are no easy choices. I've seen potential leaders make the wrong choices because they weren't tough enough to make the right choices. The president laid out many worthwhile goals Tuesday night. It was as ambitious as any president has ever done. But right now, the priority has to be creating jobs, fixing the banking situation and resolving the housing crisis. And don't forget the brave men and women fighting two wars.
Four years ago, Bush went on to say: "America's prosperity requires restraining the spending appetite of the federal government. I welcome the bipartisan enthusiasm for spending discipline. I will send you a budget that holds the growth of discretionary spending below inflation, makes tax relief permanent, and stays on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009." Obviously, the bipartisan spending discipline went by the boards. It's now 2009 and the deficit is not half but 10 times what President Bush wanted. And President Obama is right when he says he inherited a trillion-dollar deficit, a financial crisis and a costly recession. He inherited it, but it's now his problem to fix. He also must understand that the woman behind him Tuesday night at the podium, jumping up and down and applauding like a high school cheerleader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been in charge of the House the last two years. All spending is authorized and appropriated by the Congress and starts in her House. Controlling his own party is the biggest challenge he faces.
President Obama said Tuesday night that he wants to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term, but he also wants massive spending programs for education, energy and health care, and certainly the spending discipline of the Democrat-controlled Congress is suspect. (I wonder if he will say ‘I will not seek re-election and if nominated, I will not run if he fails to deliver on his promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his term.)