Obama address to congress reaction

I watched the address to congress today and have walked away with some initial impressions, the beauty of reacting to the speech right away and putting it on paper (or blog) is that my mind is not persuaded by TV pundits.

First of all, I think Obama should have most definitely talked up the economy and like I mentioned previously to instill confidence into a nation that he has in the past month scared stiff. Unfortunately other than a cliche of “America eventually rebuilding and recovering”, words like crisis were mentioned again. The speech was used to outline the major platforms of the administration and that is primarily to revamp health care, education and our reliance on foreign oil.

Fondly talking about the stimulus bill that just passed and what impact it will have on our economy was a must, even if it is largely unsubstantiated. Mentioning Recovery.gov a site not even worth mentioning is just another example of deception considering how little value it truly provides.

A bulk of the speech sounded very much like the campaign trail and for a moment one could easily forget that a presidential speech was in progress. Both the tone and the manner in which vague promises were being delivered was reminiscent of rhetoric delivered several months ago. Ensuring everyone receives health care, saving our car companies, building green energy and even curing cancer all sound great and populist.

Lastly, the president spent a good half an hour citing specific stories from specific areas of the country that either highlighted marvelous human nature (Bank CEO distributing his bonus) or the enduring human spirit (girl sending a letter to DC for school funds). Obama has used personal stories in his 30 minute clip in the last week before the election to drive home the message of personal and humanitarian connection. While this may be customary for all presidents, Obama’s affinity for such emotional stories has become repetitive and in my opinion provide no real clarity to the majority of Americans.

Overall, I am sure the speech will be hailed by the main stream media as an important and successful delivery by the rookie president both for content and super delivery. As an average American trying to get by I heard nothing new that would either inspire my confidence in this economy or provide additional or new information – then again, I may not be an average American!

Update: Bobby Jindal Speech

Bobby gave a decent speech, unfortunately he did not sound as charismatic or powerful as I would have hoped. I am not terribly familiar with Jindal’s oratory ability, but this did not appear to be his best work.

Still, if people were to actually sit through his words they would find buried deep inside the true conservative message. That is, hope and the path for prosperity does not lie within the bureaucracy but rather in the hearts and minds of the individual people. Is it convincing? Perhaps not, considering Americans who voted Democrat several months ago would not be swayed by this message and for the most part believe that free market reign causes more damage than good. Somebody like Jindal can resonate in the not so distant future when the realization that the stimulus bill does not bring about the hope and change that was promised and a growing dissatisfaction with the federal government mounts. This of course assumes that Americans are able to sift through and determine the truth behind any possible economic plight they might be experiencing in the future. A big assumption.

Overall, I suspect that Jindal’s speech will be criticized for being lackluster.

President to adress joint session of congress

Tonight if the Presidential address to Congress, a speech typically delivered within the first year of the term. However as you may have guessed, the speech essentially becomes a state of the union address as all of America will invariably be watching.

What our President has to accomplish today is quite simple really and that is to instill confidence in the economy, something he has failed to do so far. In fact arguably he has done the opposite citing our current condition as a crisis on the precipice of a catastrophe. Since his election our stock market has sold off sharply shaving about 2,000 points on the DOW alone – most astute investors will tell you that the market sold off equally sharply with the anticipation of Obama’s inevitable victory. Although similarities between Obama and FDR are numerous, one distinct difference that jumps out at me is FDR’s ability to inspire and provide confidence in the most trying of times, he was called the great communicator for a reason.

Unfortunately I expect Obama simply playing up his accomplishments with the stimulus package and will continue to mislead the American public into thinking that not only will this bill be successful, but due to the critical nature of our economy a complete necessity. Truth of course, is that this bill is just a tailor made liberal spending agenda benefiting union labors and government dependent constituency.

I will be watching the address and will check back with my reaction and to Bobby Jindal’s speech who was picked to respond, this was a stategic selection considering his stance against the stimulus bill and refusal to accept funds.