Will's Response: State of the Union address

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.

During the President's State of the Union speech Wednesday night, the oratory of our country's finest speaker was on full display.  After having seen the actions and consequences that followed similar rhetoric in the past, however, I am left concerned about another round of "hope" and "change."

Despite a blistering rebuke delivered by Massachusetts voters in the state's recent US Senate election, President Obama showed no sign of putting the breaks on his and Nancy Pelosi's ambitions.  Instead, he deferred blame to just about everyone but himself, and proposed some token measures to ease the concerns of moderates (although, some of these ideas indeed merited implementation).  He declared he would set aside the mandate voters gave him to change course on healthcare and promised to press forward with a proposed government takeover of the system that would consolidate power and decision-making in Washington.

Beyond that, however, the President touted a "stimulus" that helped drive our national debt to unprecedented levels and cited comedic economic data (i.e.- "saving" 2 million jobs; there is no such macro-economic variable as "a job saved").  Well, at least we can be thankful he didn't go patting himself on the back for creating 25 jobs in Connecticut's 42nd Congressional District, as an administration website has proudly asserted - particularly as there isn't a 42nd Congressional District either.

Among other sources of frustration were his attempt to shame and politically pressure the Supreme Court of the United States, the justices being directly in front of him as he attacked a recent ruling he disagreed with, and a seemingly intentional misrepresentation of reality.  The President lauded his status a "tax-cutter," but failed to mention that the reason there have been no tax hikes is because his legislation failed to pass the Democrat-controlled Congress (i.e.- Cap & Trade).

I am one of the people who, during the 2008 Presidential election cycle felt truly moved and inspired by Barack Obama.  I felt as though this guy really knew where I was coming from and would help unite our country after 8 years of bitter partisanship and get us back on track (and I say this as someone who worked on the McCain campaign).  Obama's policies, however, proved to fall far short of his rhetoric of "change you can believe in."  Now that the President has seen his poll numbers crash down to earth and political capital evaporate, he is repeating the mantra that led to his sweeping victory in November of 2008.  While I would love more than anything to believe his message again, I simply cannot.

What Washington needs isn't more rhetoric, but real substantive change.  We need fresh thinking and fresh blood in our nation's capitol.  Two weeks ago, I launched the first installment of a Congressional Reform Package that will remake the way Washington does business.  I have proposed specific checks and balances that will ensure spending is kept in check and budgets are balanced, not passed along to our future generations.  I have put forward plans that will shed light on appropriations while making a no earmarks pledge.  And, I have taken a stance that our members of Congress should no longer be treated as a special class of citizens that are exempt from the laws they write.

Real change is on its way.

Paid for by Will Gregory for Congress
PO Box 972, Stamford, CT 06904

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