The Real State Of The Union: Disunion
By
Leonard Zwelling
Tonight is the State of the Union Address by the President of the United States. We can all guess what this president is going to say.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/30/trump-state-union-address-375577
First, things have never been better than they have been during the year since his inauguration. I am sure that is true for both him, the wealthy and all those who hold equity in companies on the New York Stock Exchange. For the rest of America, the jury is still out. Whether the tax cut really increases the GDP, decreases the unemployment rate, repatriates American dollars currently overseas, or actually puts spending money in the pockets of average Americans remains to be seen.
Second, America has never been stronger militarily. More of our friends abroad respect us and more of our enemies fear us. Of course, this is not exactly true as it appears that our enemies in Moscow have our number (and our IOUs?) and our enemies in Beijing keep lending us money to buy all the stuff they are making and that used to be made in America.
Third, Mr. Trump will solve the immigration problem, preserve the rights of the Dreamers and build a wall along our southern border to keep us safe. Call me when they get that worked out by February 8.
Fourth, I am sure that Mr. Trump will take credit for the beginning of the dismantling of ObamaCare with the end of the individual mandate. The fact that he has proposed nothing to replace it will probably go unmentioned.
Fifth, an infrastructure plan is likely to be proposed. Where the money is coming from, who knows?
Sixth, the opioid crisis is terrible, What’s the president’s plan to solve this one?
It appears that the First Lady’s box will be filled with guests with both tragic and heart-warming stories that serve to bolster the greatness of the occupant of the Oval Office.
Then, Joe Kennedy III, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy will give the Democratic rebuttal to which few outside of CNN will even listen.
The State of the Union has become a congressional sideshow that anticipates nothing of significance at all. It’s an annual charade in the halls of Congress in which members and the president try to outdo each other slapping themselves on the back. If the Constitution didn’t imply its necessity, everyone would just as soon skip it.
Here’s what we need to know and to look for.
What precise immigration proposal does the president support and what will he sign?
When is the president going to release his taxes and when will we find out what he truly knew about the Russians and what did they know about him? How rich is he really and did he tide himself over with loans from the Russians?
Why did he provoke such a backlash around the world instead of quietly moving the American embassy to Jerusalem? But he sure can claim that Jerusalem IS the capital of Israel as much as Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States.
Why is he pulling us out of all of these international treaties that allow us to stay in the conversation around the world? Why cede power to the Chinese, not to mention the Canadians?
Finally, what exactly is his health care reform plan if ObamaCare is so bad? How will he address the death epidemic from opioid addiction?
The State of the Union is terribly divided. Americans are not comfortable with each other or with the inevitability of greater diversity and the need for more tolerance. The current President of the United States is anything but a healer of rifts. He may sound like one Tuesday night. Let’s see how he acts on Wednesday.
The State of the Union message could be beneficial if it launched a true constructive agenda that presented real solutions to major difficulties. Is that at all likely?
