My Impressions of the State of the Union Address

Although I only listened to a few minutes of President Obama's State of the Union address, I still came away with several impressions that are listed below.

He's is still campaigning rather than governing. President Obama is a great campaigner and it is understandable that he would want to rely on his strengths. To me, his State of the Union address sounded like a campaign speech, as he pointed out the reasons government wasn't working. Interestingly, Mr. Obama doesn't seem to realize that as the incumbent, he is part of the reason government isn't working. To him, it's the rest of government that is the problem.

He's right about the deficit of trust. Although Mr. Obama is an eloquent speaker. I was skeptical of his campaign speeches when he was was running for office. I felt that his history of accomplishments did not have enough substance to support his positions. After watching him ignore promises of bipartisanship, elimination of earmarks, reducing the power of special interests, I no longer trust any promises made by President Obama. He has mislead me too many times already.

He doesn't have a clue about business and the economy. From the stimulus package to the tax credit for new jobs, government has put funds against short term crutch solutions instead of sustainable high impact solutions. What was needed was an economic environment that offered stability and allowed businesses to confidently invest in the future.

For now, President Obama's performance has as been poor relative to my expectations of hope and change, with which he inspired voters. Hopefully, in his second year, Mr. Obama will change my impressions by working on substantive bipartisan solutions to put our economy back on track.

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This is not financial or policy advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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