Tag Archive: analysis
President Obama says that without his leadership, the economy and the state of our country could be worse. However, it is an argument that won't fly.
President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night was more of a preview of his new campaign strategy than an actual review of our current situation as a nation. Our growing deficit and our debt crisis, the two elephants in the room, were barely mentioned by President Obama, who preferred to spend his time bemoaning the success of wealthy Americans and pitting rich against poor. Fortunately, if these items are any indication of President Obama’s reelection strategy, Republicans should defeat him easily.
President Obama’s new strategy seems to depend on two central tactics: the first being to wage war against the rich in America and the second being to marginalize the problems that his administration has perpetrated. Pitting the rich against the poor and demonizing the successful in America will allow President Obama to essentially shift the blame for our current economic crisis onto the wealthiest Americans, who represent a minority in the United States. Castigating the rich can indeed win some voters, as some Americans are jealous of the wealth and prosperity of others. Fortunately, however, scapegoating the successful is not an effective strategy in the long term because it invites criticism from those on the right. Republican leaders have already decried President Obama numerous times for his divisiveness and for his pursuit of class warfare.
The more dangerous campaign strategy of the president is one that diminishes the real magnitude of the problems to which he has greatly contributed. Our national debt has increased by several trillion dollars since President Obama’s election back in 2009, and things are getting worse by the day. The United States debt currently sits at an alarmingly high $15.2 trillion, and Obama’s attempts to control spending have been quite literally non-existent. In fact, Mr. Obama has been more dedicated to increasing spending over his first term than he has been dedicated to decreasing it, as evidenced by Obamacare and the infamously wasteful stimulus programs that he championed. The economy continues to be driven into a ditch as disappointed, dispirited Americans continue to leave the workforce in droves and artificially suppress the unemployment rate, and the wanton waste of taxpayer dollars on government-funded messes like Solyndra shows an utter lack of stewardship of the hard-earned money of Americans by the Obama administration. All of these issues present major shortfalls for Obama’s reelection campaign, so the president’s new strategy is to simply minimize these topics. For example, the president has been attempting to diminish his failure at managing the American economy by saying that things could have been worse. However, be assured that whomever the Republican Party nominates to face the president this year will definitely focus on these topics and will make the president account for his failures. It is up to voters to listen to the truth and to realize that President Obama’s shortcomings far outweigh any of his supposed virtues.
Businessman Herman Cain speaking at the CNN Las Vegas debate on Tuesday.
At a fiery debate on Tuesday, newly crowned front-runner Herman Cain took plenty of heat on his 9-9-9 tax plan from other candidates. The Georgia businessman handled himself well in the debate and managed to deflect most attacks on his bold proposal. However, is Cain’s 9-9-9 plan fatally flawed?
In the debate, Michelle Bachmann pointed out that a 9% federal sales tax could easily become a 90% tax due to tax increases by Washington politicians. Rick Santorum cited a study that claimed that taxes would go up for 84% of Americans. Romney piled on as well, adding that the federal sales tax would be a burden on those living in states that already have state sales taxes.
The GOP debate in Orlando was not very important in terms of policy. No radically new policy positions were introduced by any of the candidates. Rather, this debate was a contest of articulation, and it was a contest that was clearly won by Herman Cain.
Herman Cain has an incredibly unique life story and possesses an incredibly straightforward personality. He articulates his policies simply and effectively, and has proven yet again through this debate that he is a unique, refreshing candidate that is easy to understand. Mr. Cain did an excellent job of articulating his 9-9-9 plan in this debate and also was able to focus on other issues, such as health care. Cain, a stage 4 cancer survivor, made the most powerful statement of the debate, saying that if Obamacare was in place during his cancer treatment, he would have died because he would not have gotten his treatment in time. I certainly hope that this debate helps the Cain campaign pick up speed, as I believe that he is the most dynamic candidate in the race.
The constant bickering between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney is definitely getting frustrating for me, and I am certain that voters feel the same. As Chris Wallace quaintly put it, they are acting like an “unhappily married couple” on stage, and such shenanigans do little to articulate their policies. However, between the two candidates, Mitt Romney did a much better job in the debate. He has fewer chinks in his armor than Mr. Perry, who was verbally bludgeoned to death on his controversial immigration stance. Romney dealt with his flaws better than Perry as well. Toward the end of the debate, Perry looked and sounded unsteady and confused on the issues, only regaining some of his strength when asked about the economy.
Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Jon Huntsman had some excellent moments in the debate, but none of them had a particularly memorable performance tonight. Candidate Gary Johnson, who is new to the GOP debates, probably said the best line of the night: “My next door neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this administration.”
Overall, a very good debate for Herman Cain and Mitt Romney, and a bad one for Governor Rick Perry.
