By Joe Messina
Unfortunately, I couldn’t listen to the State of the Union speech live because my national radio show (self-plug there) started when he did. I did, however, go back and listen several times (I couldn’t believe what I was hearing) and found very little truth or fact in his speech. At times, it even sounded like he was running for office again.
For those of you who haven’t been listeners or readers for long, don’t start spewing “it’s because he’s…” a Democrat or black or whatever. It’ll just fall on deaf ears. I took, and continue to take, equal shots at Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party, and the others alike!
Now to the speech… “Anyone claiming America’s economy is in decline is pedaling fiction! What is true and the reason Americans are so apprehensive is that the economy is changing in profound ways…” The secret word is “profound.” It should scare you to death like “fundamentally change,” “hope and change,” and “forward.”)
Profound is an UNDERSTATEMENT. First of all, 2015 ended its worst ride since 2008! The DOW and S&P finished down and even though the NASDAQ finished up 5.7 it had finished in double digits the prior 3 years.
Jump ahead to the first few weeks of 2016. Strap yourself in, it’s going to be a rough ride. The markets opened the year with the worst start since the Great Depression. I am SURE Oblamo will take no responsibility for any of this and his Kool-Aid drinking, low-IQ followers will blame it on Bush and the Republicans… Just wait for it. You will see them in the comments later.
Well, Mr. OZbama must live in the Emerald City because back in the real world the median household income while Mr. O has been in charge has flat lined (quick get the paddles!) It was $56,957 in 2009. As of December 2015 it was at a whopping $56,746. Simple math YOU LOSE!
The labor participation rate hasn’t been this low for 40 years. In January 2009 it was 65.7%. As of December 2015 it stands at 62.6%. Sounds like a no winner to me! It’s been holding at just under 63% for almost 2 years!
The number of Americans needing government assistance under Mr. Obama has been surging. A RECORD 45+ million Americans are receiving food stamps as of December 2015. Compare this with just under 32 million in January 2009. This is better, how? That’s an increase of over 42%.
The 14 million jobs he said he created were mostly part-time jobs! Yes, almost 68% of them were part-time! How, exactly, does a part-time job feed a family? Now households that may have been doing well on 1 full-time and 1 part-time job per household are having to get by with sometimes 3 or 4 part-time jobs per household. And to top it off, it skews the unemployment and jobs numbers being reported. I guess when it comes to jobs “profound” must take in the 150+ stores Walmart will be closing and the loss of about 10,000 jobs, then there is Macy’s laying off 4800, BP laying off 4000+ and many more. But lets remember, government doesn’t create jobs. They can either get out of the way and let the private sector create them, or continue to hinder job creation.
El Prez has talked about equality, everyone having a job, making more money, feeding their kids, and having insurance… but in 2008 39.8 million Americans were living in poverty. In 7 years Mr. Obama has helped a record number of, well, no one! That’s right. His policies have helped ensure that over 46 million Americans in 2014 lived below poverty level. Sound better to you? That’s a 17% increase! All hail Obama!
Mr. Obama keeps saying that the American dream of owning a home should be available to everyone (sounds like a Barney Frank tickle coming on) but, according to the government, in 2008 the home ownership rate was over 67%. By the end of 2015 it was just over 63%. My less educated mind tells me that means FEWER people owned or could own homes under Mr. Oblameless. And according to the Builders Association 2011 was the WORST year for home sales.
I always hear that Mr. Obama hasn’t raised the debt any more than any other president and less than Reagan. Really!? In January 2009 our National Debt was just under $11 trillion. Jump ahead to today where it sits just under $19 trillion. That’s over a 17% increase and is more money than ALL the presidents before him combined! It will be over $20 trillion when he leaves office. What a great parting gift! Not to mention that in 2011 he allowed America’s credit rating to be downgraded! Ugh!
Mr. Obama stated in the SOTU speech that it’s just wrong to burn down mosques (because it happens every day here?)or to speak ill of or to Muslims, saying “that doesn’t make us safer.” Why didn’t he say, “When you vandalize or burn down mosques, churches or synagogues, or when you speak ill of Muslims, Christians, or Jews, it doesn’t make us safer”? Why? Because he has an agenda. If that’s not the reason, then what is?
There have been over 5000 church fires in the US in the last 20 years. 51% of those have been ruled arson and many others are undetermined! As if that weren’t bad enough, over the last decade there’s actually been an increase in the number of black churches burned. Why didn’t the president mention these? (Check out the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) for more relevant statistics.)
From 2007 to 2011 almost 400 synagogues fell to fire with over 40% considered to be “intentionally set.” No mention of them in the president’s speech. What happened to equality for all?
And then there is healthcare. “Almost 19 million Americans now have healthcare through the exchanges” (or what’s left of them, because several have gone belly up!) Really? Quick get the fire extinguisher, his pants must be ablaze right now! But let’s just go with the 19 million for conversation’s sake. Over 6 million forced OFF their company’s healthcare because it was (supposedly) “inadequate” and HAD TO sign up through exchanges online. Another almost 7 million became ineligible for regular medical and HAD TO sign up for Medicare online through the exchanges. Notice they HAD TO! There was no choice. Up to 5% applied for healthcare but never paid for or followed through to complete the process, but they’re included in his count. So we are looking at nearly 15 million of the 19 million being forced on or who already had insurance. A far cry from, and I quote “42 million Americans will now have access to medical coverage who didn’t have or couldn’t afford it before.” Must be Common Core math again!
And the best one of all… “Our relationships with our allies has never been better.” My only comment is, someone please check his meds! He has access to our nukes, but thank God he doesn’t have the spine to use them!
Joe Messina’s radio show The Real Side can be heard daily across the airwaves and over the internet on several stations. He has loyal listeners in 42 states and 38 countries, and the list keeps growing (you can listen live M-F between 9PM and 12AM Eastern by Clicking Here). Joe also runs The Real Side website where you can read conservative commentary from him and his engaging contributors.
