Miscellany

I have to start off this week's post by patting myself on the back for correctly calling this year's Grammy winner for the second year in a row.  Mumford & Sons, a terrific new band that has reignited a genre took the honors with its album, Babel.

My second correct judgment came in my assessment that the correct analysis of Washington DC is to view DC as an alcoholic or drug abuser in denial.  Sure enough, Nancy Pelosi made my case for me by arguing that "It's almost a false argument that Washington has a spending problem?"   Huh?   Every hear that kind of talk from an alcoholic?   "I don't have a drinking problem," they proudly announce.  Yeah, well, this is the third time this month you left your car parked your car up on the lawn.

I won't bore you with a full critique of the State of the Union speech.  It contained its expected litany of Big Government solutions to all our problems and conveniently forgot to mention that we don't have anything left on our tab for Big Government solutions.

But I have to pick out a couple of egregious items.

First is Obama's newfound support of manufacturing.  And he proposes to help manufacturers by creating manufacturing hubs (yet another project from the Bureau of Central Planning).  But before we launch off on that escapade, let's take stock of what the Obama Administration has done for manufacturers so far.  He has raised taxes, particularly on Sub-S corporations.  He has inflicted Obamacare on them.  The EPA has unleashed a torrent of new rules on them.  His energy policies (and fiscal policies) have increased energy costs for them.  The Department of Labor (with its unconstitutionally appointed members) has empowered unions, with the most outrageous example of its attack on Boeing for attempting to open a plant in nonunion South Carolina.   Dodd Frank has incrementally made financing more difficult.  I have a simpler solution than manufacturing hubs.  How about just stop inflicting the tax and regulatory torture?

The second knee slapper was Obama's criticism of "sequestration."  True, it is a blunt instrument and arises out of a complete lack of discipline and ability to responsibly budget.  But President Obama forgets that sequestration was HIS idea.  The saner and more responsible approach was Bowles-Simpson, which he kicked to the curb.

I could go on, but I won't.  The true nature of the severity of the division in our politics became very apparent to me on Tuesday night.  I am fortunate to have some very bright and very well educated friends on both ends of the political spectrum.  During the State of the Union, emails clogged my inbox.   My liberal friends are still swooning over the Obama mystique.  "Visionary," "intellectually substantive," "strong agenda," were some of the comments I received.  My conservative friends had things to say like, "every time he speaks, I throw up a little in my mouth," or "is utterly contemptuous of the restraints the Constitution places on him."  It's interesting that equally educated people can see things in such markedly different ways.

Sadly, however, the opposition is in a shambles.  I note that two groups of which I am a member- the Republican Party and the Catholic Church are in complete disarray.   Both are sorely lacking in young, vibrant, competent leadership.  There is hope for the Republicans in Marco Rubio.   We'll see about the Catholic Church.  I am hoping they will use this transition to truly revitalize the Vatican.