State of the Union Thoughts

“We will stand for the rights and dignity of all human beings - men and women; Christians, Muslims, and Jews. We will support policies that lead to strong and stable democracies and open markets, because tyranny is no match for liberty.” – President Barack H. Obama, State of the Union, January 20, 2012.

Last night, President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address. As usual, he provided us with a great speech, there’s no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama is one of the greatest orators of our time.

As Keith Olbermann pointed out, Obama was all over and most times in contradictory terms: raising taxes and reducing taxes, pro oil against oil, pro war, bringing our troops home; many missed the most important points in between the contradictions.

As I understood it, Obama is for drilling for oil in our land and seas but with stricter regulations and only until we can claim our independence from fossil fuel. Offering more assistance to renewable energy, promoting the development of alternative energy, which it’s good… but it is still like a spoon of sugar after swallowing a cup of vinegar. I am against drilling, in our land or our shores, we all have been witness to the environmental disasters these drillings can cause, but if it is until we can cut the subliminal umbilical cord from oil then we must then endure it but hopefully for a very short time. I dream of the day when we are no longer dependent of oil!

For me, the best and most important point in what it was a beautifully delivered speech was the tax reform he proposed and which I have advocated many times in the past, writing to the White House, creating Petitions and writing to Congress. It was long overdue for the multinational companies that the only thing they export is the much-needed jobs to be penalized for their conduct. I am very happy to see that Obama want to create a base tax for all companies, increasing these taxes to the companies that take the jobs that can be performed here somewhere else and rewarding those that create jobs here. It’s only logical! Why would companies that do not help this country and its citizens be the same as those that do?

I loved that Obama reminded everyone of who took care of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden… just in case the Right suffers from the usual delirious amnesia and forgets who made us safer from the radical Islam terrorists. In case they forgot, it was a Democratic President, it was a Democratic administration, and it was Barack Hussein Obama.

Obama went after Wall Street, China and Republicans in no uncertain terms. No more Wall Street negotiations without accountability, no more bailouts if a bank crash. No more unfair trade negotiations with China – our major lender, that took cojones! And he made it clear that this nation has to work together and stop the childish behavior to satisfy an ideology instead of for the betterment of this country. No more holding stocks of companies in their district, removing this way their personal interest when benefiting a particular sector. He made it clear.

All in all, it was a great speech. A speech suitable for a man who is seeking reelection, a man that has done a lot for this country even though there are many that refuse to see it, that only concentrate on the negative and not the positive. I wonder how many of us could have done as much as Obama given the circumstances he faced: a country in shambles, practically bankrupted, in a downward spiral with a bottomless pit and with overwhelming blockage to any solution he placed on the table. This man has endured one of the most difficult times a President could face and still has moved the country forward, not at gigantic steps as most want, he is a man, a family man, not the Messiah.