Obushma

During the 2008 Campaign Mr. Obama hammered home the point that electing John McCain would be like electing George W. Bush to a third term. It would seem, however, that that is exactly what we got at least in terms of rhetoric and platitude. Obama is no Bush. In fact, he'd do well to learn from that man. If indeed America is still angry about those eight years, perhaps Obama would want to change course from the massive spending, the fruitless investments into corn and other hocus-pocus "alternative energy" and instead focus on actual economic principles that are historically proven to invigorate economies, generate wealth, and cure the problems of unemployment. Something that, despite being a well evolved chimpanzee, GWB was able to do quite well – despite his insistence on government largess.

I really do have a hard time seeing why liberals detest GWB so much. I mean, other than pure partisan hatred.

Anyway, the Cato Institute has compared SOTU speeches from The One and GWB side by side. They are remarkably similar. Which proves one of a few points:

• That SOTU speeches are pointless displays of meaningless feelgoodism.
• That Obama ignores everything Bush said, and ends up inadvertently sounding like him.
• That Obama has failed to learn anything from his predecessor.
• That Bush was, at least rhetorically, as obsessed on growing the government.

One example:

The idea here is simple: instead of rewarding failure, we only reward success. Instead of funding the status quo, we only invest in reform – reform that raises student achievement, inspires students to excel in math and science, and turns around failing schools that steal the future of too many young Americans, from rural communities to inner-cities.
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When it comes to our schools, dollars alone do not always make the difference. Funding is important, and so is reform. So we must tie funding to higher standards and accountability for results.

Who said which? (hint: "status quo")

This is not particularly flattering to a man who won a nation-wide election based on his ability to speechify, and who won those votes from a base who believed Bush was an amoeba with a suit. Nor is it entirely surprising. Many of his famous campaign speeches were blatant "borrowings" of the words of others.

But here is my main argument: These men can stand and promise us the moon. And ponies. And ponies we can ride to the moon. In the end they will only look after themselves - which often means leaving us with lighter bank accounts and more rules to follow. Which is why the influence of the federal government needs to be drastically scaled back. Our politcal energies ought to be focused in our own states, our own cities, and in our own neighborhoods. Or, as John Stossel put it when speaking of the corporatism and corruption so rampant in the United States today, "get the government out of our lives and economic affairs. If government has no favors to sell, no one will spend money trying to win them."

If only.