A Reflection on Obama's State of the Union

At this point, there should be no doubt that Obama is a great speaker. There should also no doubt that Obama is a smart man, an academic whose reputation does not end with the colleges that he attended. But as with all academics, Obama dwells too much in the theoretical world and not enough in the pragmatic world. The idea was nagging me as he got elected, and that idea has been reaffirmed with Obama's State of the Union Address.

There is no doubt in my mind that what Obama is trying to do is the right thing to do. Healthcare reform, clean energy incentives, education tax credits, infrastructure spending; all are necessary for building the economy of tomorrow. Many of these measures, like his call for a carbon credit market, even make economic sense. However, trying to make all of these things happen at the same time is not only bad politics, it's bad common sense.

Allow me to list the proposals the President made in his address:

1. $30 billion of repaid TARP money to help community banks and other small banks
2. Small business tax credit that will go to over one million small businesses who hire new workers or raise wages
3. Elimination of all capital gains taxes on small business investment and a tax incentive for businesses to invest in new plants and equipment
4. Rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy-efficient (Cash for Caulkers)
5. End of tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas and increase tax breaks for companies that encourage domestic growth (protectionism?)
6. Financial reform bill
7. Comprehensive energy bill that includes production of more clean nuclear plants, investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies, and a carbon credit market
8. National Export Initiative to double exports in the next 5 years
9. A bill to provide more money to community colleges
10. Comprehensive education bill that includes a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college education
11. Passage of healthcare bill
12. Freeze on discretionary government spending in 2011
13. Bipartisan fiscal commission to enforce fiscal discipline
14. Lobbyist reform bill
15. Earmark reform bill
16. Repeal "don't ask don't tell"

If this list seems imposing, that is because it is. Political analysis is not telling me this, common sense is. At at time when the country is facing massive deficits, at a time when confidence in the government is at an all time low, prioritization is key.

It doesn't matter what the President wants done, or even what the country needs done. The cold truth is that at a time of chaos like the present, a very small percentage of the measures proposed by the President will get passed.

Indeed, everything is best in moderation.