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Preview of State of the Union

By Jim Killebrew

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[January 28, 2014]  Someone sent a post decrying the wealth of the Walton family, as if they should be punished for being rich. The implication was that their wealth was a result of their harsh treatment of the poor and that somehow they had gotten rich off the backs of others without fair compensation. That seems to be the theme now, that we should hate all those who have wealth, because likely they obtained their wealth by stealing it from the people who should have gotten the wealth instead of them.

Yes, the Walton family is wealthy. But how many families in America have homes, cars, financial resources and some security because they have a job the Walton family provides? Say what you will about the salaries people at Wal-Mart take home, but if Wal-Mart was not there, they would not take home anything. Many of them would perhaps not even have a home. Before we castigate the Walton family, we need to realize they are providing meaningful, honest and self-respectful work for hundreds of thousands of people in our workforce.

Likely the president will be highlighting his mantra of disparaging the rich with implications they don't deserve it, while those who did nothing to receive it should have it instead. That "redistribution" mentality is getting very tired and old. He really should think of something else to blame for his poor performance on the economy. The socialistic methods tried in other parts of the world that collected the wealth from the rightful owners to transfer to the government for their distribution as they saw fit simply has not worked very well.


It works for some of course: those who are in power and can take advantage of taking what they want and dispensing to whom they want. They seem to be the ones living in the mansions, going around in chauffeur-driven limos, vacationing in the world's glamorous hot spots around the world and having the greatest parties for the rich and famous.

Come to think of it, we see our own salaried politicians living lives of the pampered and adored. They are carted around in armored vehicles, driven by underlings, cutting through the lines, having streets cleared for them, protected by small armies of security, flying across the country at whim in taxpayer jets with fully stocked liquor cabinets and gathering overflowing war chests of contribution cash that affords them the lifestyle of the rich and famous.

Meanwhile, they want to place more attachments on the wealth of those who really don't have it to bolster the entitlements for those who consistently vote for them to retain their plush positions.

Remember the quote from the president that there would be no extra expense through taxes for anyone making less than $250 thousand a year. Guess what? That had the same level of truth as the statement that you could keep your health insurance policy if you liked it; you could keep your doctor if you wanted; and your premiums would not be increased through "affordable" care.

The president's State of the Union speech will be filled with examples of outlandishly wealthy people who are flying around in jets, living in mansions, going on lavish vacations, gathering other rich and famous people for lavish parties, while the "middle"-class people and the poor people languish in much less desirable conditions, working in the sweatshops owned by the ultra-rich, who don't deserve it. At the same time he is saying those words, the television cameras will be zooming in on the multi-millionaires who have been politicians all their lives, sitting in that room and pretending to identify with those who work at Wal-Mart.


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The president will only voice lip-service with his concerns for "job creation" and will blame the Republicans for not being on board with his stimulus and redistribution plans. He will give us statistics that only a few own the wealth in the land, while the many are going without a livelihood to provide the basic necessities. He will amass his army of those seeking economic relief to direct their wrath toward the captains of industry, the Wall Street bankers, the corporate CEOs and the risk-takers of business who are failing to support a minimum wage of at least $10 per hour.

What you will not hear will be any specific recommendations to lower taxes so that each citizen working will have more money in his paycheck to feed his family. You will not hear of extending the free market economy to expand the economy and grow jobs so that the millions on food stamps and millions more who have run out of unemployment compensation could get a job through a growing economy so they don't have to depend on the government to help. You will not hear anything said about bringing Canadian oil to the United States by building the Keystone pipeline so that thousands of jobs could be introduced into our sluggish economy.

Finally, you will not hear the president calling for a special prosecutor to be named to investigate the president's alleged abuse of power. There will be no suggested appointment of a special prosecutor who would operate outside of the branches of government, not being controlled by the executive, congressional or judicial branches of government, to impartially investigate the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, Libya. There will be nothing said about the need for an investigation with autonomous powers to enable them to act as an independent, self-regulating body to get to the bottom of why a video was blamed for the deaths of the American ambassador and three other American citizens, and why the secretary of state stood with the family in front of the caskets and told them about the video being the cause of their loved ones' death. No, those requests will not be made, even though the questions without answers swirl around the administration like a heavy weight.


The president in recent days has blamed his descent in the approval polls on the American people because, in his opinion, they don't like having a black president. He has cast his blame toward conservative media networks and conservative radio talk-show hosts, but he has failed to notice the real reasons for his fall from grace with the American people.

As he looks around that packed House chamber on Tuesday night during his State of the Union speech, he will rehearse all of his failed policies that have not worked in the past but will completely ignore the giant elephant in the room. And that elephant in the room is not the number of Republicans sitting on the other side of the aisle.

[By JIM KILLEBREW]

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