Our pugilist POTUS

 

 

 

"He swears he will go out kicking and screaming. No surrender or compromise with the loyal opposition. Only trench warfare looms in the offing..."

Well it is here again. The year sure has gone fast! What is it you ask? The State of the Union speech of course! The night when Netflix and Amazon Prime score big on ratings. Some people will watch the speech. Mostly political pundits or the dwindling cadre of "true believers". Many (like myself) will be binge watching Dark Skies or something on that order.

Besides all of which, the "high points" of the speech have already been leaked. It is a grab bag of leftist goodies (like most years). Only this year, they don't stand a snowballs chance in (you know where) of passing. Then why go to all the trouble of proposing them? Simple - he is itching for a fight. They only group POTUS hates worse than ISIL are the Republicans. This speech will be an excellent opportunity to show the masses he is a "man of the people" while the Republicans remain married to Wall Street and the one percent class.

The problem is many lemmings believe this dribble. Many Democrats in Congress are fabulously wealthy and have strong ties to Wall Street. Hillary Clinton is a multi-millionaire and has a strong connection to Wall Street. They will stand and applaud when POTUS suggests things which will constitute a major threat to our fragile and healing economy. 

Like what you may ask? Raising the capital gains tax for one. Because Professor Obama never really worked in the real world, he does not understand that investors invest because the gains they can make will be taxed more gently than ordinary income. If we raise the capital gains rate, there will be less investment. Less investment means less growth. If you want more growth, you lower the tax on capital gains. Simple concept. I learned it my first year in business school.

Then there is changing the taxing rules on inheritance. You know - after you pay taxes on money you have saved to pass on to your heirs, the government wants to tax it again. After all, it is not "fair" that you should have money, saved through discipline and hard work. All money belongs to all the people. Gosh - that almost sounds like Communism. Oh well, I might be getting ahead of myself.

Now I am going to say something which might shock some of my friends. First let me set the table. I am NOT in favor of Pre-K for every child. The jury is still out on the long term positive effects of Pre-K. I am however, fully supportive of grades 13 and 14. And I say that with two caveats. First, only if the curriculum is solid and not something squishy like Common Core. We must stop the graduation of kids who have very little knowledge. If you talk to most colleges, they will confess many of the kids walking in the door are in no way prepared for college. They must start out with remedial classes.

Second, these additional two years will not be "free". Kids must work part time to chip in. This is how real college works. You pay to go, you work to help get money to pay for school. If POTUS would frame this idea with those caveats, he might get some support from the other side of the aisle. If not, this proposal will also be DOA.

One more thing (and trust me, I could go on for pages). If POTUS really wants to hit a home run tonight, spend a good part of the speech talking about the growing threat of radical Islam. What he and our government are going to do to keep us safe. Be specific. The threat is very real. Leon Panetta said the other day he expects a Paris type "hit" in the United States in the next couple of months. People need to know that they are safe, that their government is on top of things.

Well that is it. That is what I would like to see. What I know we will see is a guy coming to the end of his second term, just itching for a fight. Not with ISIL, but with fellow Americans. I have to sign off now. It is time to start my binge watching on Netflix.