THE AUDACITY OF HOKUM - PART II: Mr Obama Explains it All

FOLLOWING is my detailed analysis of the first portion of President Obama's 2011 State of the Union Address [click for transcript]. Bold italics are directly from the speech. The remainder is my paraphrase and commentary.

Mr. Obama Explains it All

After his opening remarks, President Obama used the flames of debate manufactured by media and elected officials over the acts of a lone crazy man to pitch the "One Nation, One Family/Era of Cooperation" idea.

“We are part of the American family. We believe that in a country where every race and faith and point of view can be found, we are still bound together as one people…”; that all our children’s dreams “…deserve the chance to be fulfilled.

“That, too, is what sets us apart as a nation.

“Now, by itself, this simple recognition [One Nation/One Family – and our mutual commitment to the children’s dream-fulfillment] won't usher in a new era of cooperation [except in common dedication to children’s dreams]. What comes of this moment is up to us. What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow.”

Speaking to our elected officials, he urged unity.

• New laws. 
• Move forward. 
• No substance. 

Best line thus far: “We will move forward together, or not at all – for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.” 

Churchillian!

“…At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country, or somewhere else. It's whether the hard work and industry of our people is rewarded…” [or NOT…see last Wednesday’s post] as opposed to “…whether we sustain the leadership that has made America not just a place on a map, but a light to the world.”

We have led the world into moving vital national industries (textiles, automotive, manufacturing) first to Mexico, then halfway around the world. Homeland Security warns of the vulnerability of our supply lines and data. 

Who loses? American workers, families and consumers.

Who gains? Follow the money.

“We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again.”

So-called “profits” which have been achieved by sacrificing American jobs, are false profits.

“We measure progress by the success of our people.”  Which "our": the top 2% and their cronies, or the rest of us?

Mr. Obama then tosses out possible – but not promised – bones to the masses:

• Jobs.
• Quality of life from jobs.
• Dreams come true (Prospect of small business owner who dreams [with children’s help, no doubt] a good idea into a thriving enterprise).
• Possible better life passed on to our children.

And to our representatives he avers: “That's the project the American people want us to work on. Together.”

He touted past Republicrat cooperative triumphs:

• Tax cuts = bigger paychecks [for the top 2%]
• Investment tax credit [for those who still have money – and many investments are offshore]

Then divined the future results:

• grow the economy [= Wall Street, India, China and Korea]
• add more jobs [in India, China and Korea – maybe Wall Street]

Mr. Obama pep-talked the legislators. Summary:

• More work to do. 
• Hard work. 

He then switches gears and speaks directly to Outsourced America:

“Many people watching tonight can probably remember a time when finding a good job meant showing up at a nearby factory or a business downtown…” Then he conjectures a bit and snaps us back to reality. “That world has changed.” 

A sad litany ensues. The plight of the downtrodden thumbnailed:

• Painful change for many
• Shuttered windows
• Factories once booming
• Vacant storefronts
• Main Streets silent
• Americans frustrated
• Paychecks dwindling
• Jobs disappearing

These Outsourced Americans are “– proud men and women who feel like the rules have been changed in the middle of the game.”

“They're right. The rules have changed.”

Culprits are introduced:

• Revolutions in technology
• Internet access to cheap labor worldwide

Those who have been most affected by the various international treaties, agreements, memoranda of understanding, etc., were never consulted as Presidents Clinton thru Obama each wielded their fast-track deal-making powers on the backs of American workers they are sworn to protect. 

Who are the real culprits that have facilitated this fiasco? 

Follow the money. (HINT: See who presently scratches the backs and fattens the wallets of our former Presidents and retired politicians responsible for passage of these treaties.)

Economic heroes and role models are introduced and praised as worthy examples for us to emulate:

“Meanwhile, nations like China and India realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world.” Not only does their labor cost a fraction of an American’s, “…they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science.” Other wonders of these hotbeds of profit production:

• Investment  in research and new technologies.
• World's largest private solar research facility (China).
• World's fastest computer (China).

"So yes, the world has changed. The competition for jobs is real. But this shouldn't discourage us." Helpful reminders to Outsourced of America’s inherent strengths:

• Largest, most prosperous economy in the world (Wall Street, and the Military-Industrial-Entertainment Complex).
• Most productive workers (Willing to work for free to keep their jobs).
• More successful companies (exploiting labor here and abroad).
• More grants (to favorite NGO's).
• More patents to inventors and entrepreneurs (really?).
• World's best colleges and universities (for the top 2%, maybe)

Mr. Obama tells us the secret of America's success:

“What's more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea – the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny.” 

Then the pep-talk to the jobless continues with mention of past and present destiny-shapers:

• pioneers and
• immigrants

Because they risked everything to come here, it somehow follows that “…our students don't just memorize equations, but answer questions like ‘What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up?’” Impressive. 

More helpful aphorisms follow:

• The future is ours to win.
• To get there, we can't just stand still.
• "The future is not a gift. It is an achievement." – Robert Kennedy
• Sustaining the American Dream is not about standing pat.
• [Sustaining the American Dream] requires each generation to sacrifice, and struggle, and meet the demands of a new age.

By these final remarks, Mr. Obama sets the stage for his grand plan to solve our present societal ills.

NEXT WEEK: Part III: The Candy Man Delivers

THE AUDACITY OF HOKUM - PART I: AMERICA - OPEN FOR BUSINESS

“We are part of the American family. We believe that in a country where every race and faith and point of view can be found, we are still bound together as one people…”

What a wonderful and unifying statement, on the heels of angst over a perceived drop in civility in the national discourse. President Obama’s State of the Union Address [click hyperlink for entire text] contained both rhetoric and delivery intended to produce feelings of hope and goodwill throughout America, and it has... 

[CLICK for ENTIRE ADDRESS]

...wrongly so. I suspect most Americans have not had the time to read between the lines:

AMERICA - OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Although we are “still bound together as one people” President Obama made it clear that some of us are still more equal than others. Most of his remarks were really addressed to his constituency among the “Haves and Have Mores” of the world doing business in America or with American wealth. This first pass at Mr. Obama’s speech will focus on his few words with direct import to the majority of Americans.

“What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow.”

Although this platitude is addressed to Congress, the application should be universal across our land. Many of us cannot work – much less together, because our jobs have been exported. President Obama proposes nothing for the millions whose jobs have been outsourced to offshore facilities. In fact, he offers this bitter pill to affected Americans:

“Many people watching tonight can probably remember a time when finding a good job meant showing up at a nearby factory or a business downtown… That world has changed. …[T]he rules have been changed in the middle of the game.”

Most of us never agreed to this mid-game change in the rules. Nor to the recent bailout of some who engineered these changes. But Mr. Obama does not want to look back in his speech – only forward.

President Clinton and successive White House Pinocchios have used fast-track authority to negotiate NAFTA, WTO and other trade-related treaties – with little public discourse, and we see the direct results today. The rules will not be changed back under this President and Congress without great public pressure. In fact, the President’s proposed immediate “recovery” strategy rests upon pending approval of more trade agreements – including more with China and India – already the chief recipients of missing American jobs.

In other words, our lost jobs are not coming home unless we convince our Representatives and Senators that this must happen. And enough of those men holding the Wealth of Nations must agree to reinvest in America as well. 

The President’s plans for no-cost improvements to our already dumbed-down educational system, "green" energy development, and future US public works projects provide no immediate relief for the American labor force. Absent restoration of restrictions to offshoring of American jobs, unemployed white- and blue-collar workers have no hope in seeing new life in vacant factories and abandoned offices in the near future with so many dollars already invested and stored offshore.

In fact, the President further promises: “To reduce barriers to growth and investment, I've ordered a review of government regulations. When we find rules that put an unnecessary burden on businesses, we will fix them.” Less regulation - not more. At least he promises to retain American laws against Child Labor, but says nothing about Third World children working in sweatshops profiting the Multinationals. 

Instead of seeking ideas to staunch the flow of American capital and jobs to Third World countries, the President touts his proposed overseas public/private investment schemes (including $Billions of future US tax dollars in incentives, tax credits and investment in R&D to Multinationals) under recent trade agreements with India, China and South Korea (KORUS FTA). He claims that these ventures will collectively “support” 320,000 US jobs. Until those jobs too can be offshored, no doubt.

The big winners in these trade boondoggles are a handful of multinational corporations (General Electric, Boeing, e.g.) and the Friends of Timothy Geithner who will subsist on the income streams generated by these various endeavors. The big losers are the remaining American white- and blue-collar workers who must continue to scramble for an ever-decreasing number of retail and service jobs here which have not yet been outsourced.

Those on fixed incomes, relief programs and the ever-increasing number of unemployed and underemployed Americans are further faced with the burden of the President’s proposed five-year freeze on domestic spending. While those with little are told they must tighten their belts and do with even less, Mr. Obama did broach the subject of possible sacrifices to be made by the wealthiest in our midst: “…if we truly care about our deficit, we simply cannot afford a permanent extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. Before we take money away from our schools, or scholarships away from our students, we should ask millionaires to give up their tax break.”

How about it millionaires (and billionaires): Are you willing to trickle back down that which you have so stealthily sopped up?

Not with Mr. Obama protecting the sanctity and security of all your offshored wealth, recent wrist-slapping for some of those shorting America as in the recent UBS settlement notwithstanding. But I hope that Mr. Obama’s puppeteers and cronies will apply these words to our common plight: “What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow.”

ENOUGH SMOKE AND MIRRORS, MR. PRESIDENT & CO.:

KEEP JOBS HERE/CREATE JOBS HERE/BRING JOBS HOME.