The most striking thing about President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech was its disconnect from reality. This is not our “Sputnik Moment.” Sputnik got the nation’s attention because it was an alarming technological advance by our Cold War rival. In 1961, declaring that we would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade was an appropriate presidential response to the nation’s concerns.
Today, the nation’s attention is instead focused on the enormous expansion of government and the spending that has ensued. In 2011, declaring that we would eliminate or seriously reduce the budget deficit by the end of the decade would have been a response similarly commensurate to the challenge we face.
If the Soviet Union’s rocket incited us to put a man on the moon, then why can’t the disintegration of Greece incite us to stop borrowing money?
President Obama didn’t declare any meaningful goal in his SOTU (not counting the same renewable energy goals we have heard from every president since Nixon.) At a time when Americans are focused on the economy and the country’s fiscal health, the president focused on infrastructure, education, and innovation. Those issues should be addressed, but they are not the most critical issues of our time.
Democratic politicians are constantly talking about the government’s successes, like the Interstate and the space program. It would be nice to hear them talk more about private sector innovations over the years, like telephones, iPhones, automobiles, airplanes, Coke, Wal-Mart, Tylenol, etc.
Yet, they invoke only these rare government success stories because, to them, they are symbols of how great the government is. To them, our history is the story of one great government achievement after another.
In truth, building highways and leading space exploration were appropriate governmental responses to the issues of their time. This is a different time. The most important issue today is unleashing the private sector so that it can revive economic growth through new innovations. That requires reducing the uncertainty created by an ad-hoc tax code, explosive spending, and burdensome regulations.
“We do big things” is right. Getting our fiscal house in order would be a big thing that, unfortunately, the president doesn’t seem interested in doing.
Tray Smith is a sophomore studying political science and journalism at The University of Alabama and the opinions editor of The Crimson White.
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