It's hard to imagine a more complete shellacking than the one Barack Obama took in the 2014 mid-term elections. Yes, I know, his name was not on the ballot. But his policies were, as he himself told us. And Democrat candidates for the House and Senate got their clocks cleaned across the country for supporting these ill-conceived policies.
With a loud and clear voice, the public elected a Republican majority as a way of saying, "Enough!"
Enough wealth redistribution. Enough government health care. Enough regulation. Enough hostility toward business. Enough class warfare. Enough spending. Enough foreign policy weakness.
Enough!
So as Obama took the podium for last night's State of the Union address, you might have thought we'd hear some humility from a man so thoroughly chastised by the public. Then again, if you've paid much attention to Obama these past six years, you probably wouldn't expect that at all. It's all about him, all the time. And if he's faced with a Congress determined to take the country in a different direction, then Obama will only double down on his partisan, confrontational, big-government instincts.
And that's what he did last night. When not taking partisan jabs at Republicans and wealthy people, or threatening to veto legislation the public wants (like the Keystone XL pipeline), he took his big-government pandering to a whole new level:
He proposed massive tax increases, particularly on investment or inheritance income, supposedly to pay for "tax credits" for the poor and the middle class.
He proposed free community college and reduced student loan payments.
He proposed to expand family leave time off, which is fine if companies and employees agree to the policy but is not something government needs to be mandating.
He vowed that he will accept absolutely no changes to ObamaCare, even as people's premiums rise and their choices narrow.
Obama thinks the purpose of government is to decide who gets what in society, and to take from those not favored to give to those who are. He has convinced a lot of people that if they don't have what they want, it's because someone else has too much, and they should look to government to confiscate from the haves and redistribute to the have-nots.
But apparently he hasn't convinced enough people, as the massive Republican majorities in attendance last night demonstrates. Some of the public can be fooled by liberalism for a time, but when they see the results of it, they usually came to their senses. As they did in November.
But Obama doesn't care what the voters think. He doesn't care what Congress thinks. He doesn't care what anyone thinks. He knows that none of these proposals are going to pass, but he also figures that if he proposes them, he'll rile up both his supporters and his critics and start an argument that might benefit him and his side politically.
And if Obama benefits, then Obama figures he's done his job. That's our president!
