Tonight, the president gives his annual State of the Union speech. It will be full of glowing number, facts and figures that paint a story of accomplishment and success and a great economy. Unfortunately, as a researcher and writer, the real facts tell a far different story. Anyone, regardless of party affiliation, who wants honest, objective, facts, should be startled by the real numbers. By the way, passing an agenda through executive action, isn’t an accomplishment.
Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution requires the president to give a true and comprehensive report to Congress of those things he deems necessary. But, the White House has already called this speech “nontraditional.” Another departure from our founding documents, which seems to be the status quo anymore.
From an accurate list that has circulated online, I add a few other facts that rebut any notion that America has become greater, stronger, safer or more respected over the past seven years.
Under this president, we saw our first credit downgrade for the United States. We have 50 million more people on food stamps than when he took office. There are still 40 million people uninsured and those people will have to pay a hefty fine when they do their taxes soon.
America has its lowest workforce participation rate since the 70s with nearly 93 million people under or unemployed. The E3 unemployment numbers don’t tell an accurate story because they only consider those actively seeking work. Millions of Americans have simply given up and many of those are baby-boomers.
Household wages are down $4300 since the president took office. Our gross domestic product is lower than when he entered the White House also. The economic recovery has been anything but a recovery and anyone who invests in the stock market can endorse that fact. Seventy percent of those people, including those with 401k plans and IRA’s lost money last year. How does that help the average American?
And how about foreign policy? We have seen the rise of ISIS, a terrorist group that has taken over large portions of two countries. This president pulled our troops out of Iraq for political expediency and it created a vacuum for the bad guys to fill. Because the president refuses to strike the ISIS oil trucks, which help fund the terrorist organization, for ecological reasons, the group rakes in millions to pay its fighters.
Because of his policy, and the former secretary of state’s, four Americans in Benghazi were allowed to die needlessly. This president supported the “Arab Spring,” which effectively put more radical elements in place. Those, like Mubarak, who were friendly to Christians and Israel, were toppled. He pushed one of the worst foreign policy measures, which gives $150 billion to Iran. Some critics will claim this is just returning the funds that were held because of dropping sanctions, but the fact of the matter is that much of this money will go to support terrorism against the U.S. and its allies. Even the U.N. had found Iran in violation of Nonproliferation Treaty of 1967. This apparently no longer matters in light of the new deal.
Also, Iran will now be a threat to the whole region, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, once they finish attaching nuclear warheads to their missiles. The president also cancelled the missile shield, letting the Russians invade Ukraine and he went back on a promise to protect the country if they got rid of their nuclear capability. At the same time, he has brought the U.S. Navy down to pre-World War II levels.
Domestically, he has labeled Christians, faith-based family groups and even Veteran groups as terrorists, but he refuses to call radical Islamic terrorists what they are. So many people believe that if the president says it, it must be true. This has led to more divisiveness than ever before in America short of the anti-war movement.
The president says that a young man, who was shot while pounding the head of another man into a concrete sidewalk, could be his son. He criticized cops in Connecticut early in his administration. He went on to investigate police departments nationwide as if they were the criminals. He has invited people to the White House, and even this address, who are anti-American or radical.
The State of the Union is not stronger, better or any more worthy of pride. With the policies that have shaped our culture over the past seven years, we are far worse off by any measure.
