Obama's Open Buffet

[Geee]

American Spectator:

Glib and cocky as ever, Barack Obama used his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to push his sophomoric and gimmicky socialism. While the nation drowns in debt and the economy continues to teeter, Obama devotes himself to the empty symbolism of the "Buffet rule." He had the Omaha billionaire's secretary placed in a seat of honor near the First Lady.

Barack and Michelle are the quintessential champagne socialists, enjoying the trappings of power -- the First Lady donned an ostentatious royal blue designer dress that probably cost more than several months of her prop's secretarial salary -- while decrying the excesses of the rich.

The speech was immensely dull, revolving around the usual tedious laundry list of nothing proposals. It made Monday's sterile Republican presidential candidates debate look stimulating.

Obama conceives of himself as the great puppet master of the American economy, doling out "rewards" and "punishments" to the business community. He paid tribute to the widow of Steve Jobs, also strategically placed in the audience. This seemed odd. Didn't Steve Jobs regard Obama as an anti-business president? Jobs was also known for shipping jobs to Asia, owing to the left's stifling regulations. Obama, in this address, made a special point of condemning this practice, vowing to reward companies that keep jobs at home and punish companies that go global.

It is clear that Obama doesn't want companies to prosper here or abroad, unless they somehow fit into his statist schemes. The speech was full of dreary government-knows-best proposals. The great community organizer announced that community colleges under his leadership will play a pivotal role in the revival of the American economy. Community colleges can become "community career centers" that tutor Americans in new skills, he said. Obama also revealed his high hopes for wind farms and other forms of "clean energy."

He made liberal use of the word "investment" as his euphemism for new government programs. Near the beginning of the speech, he praised bailouts (he bragged at length about bailing out the American auto industry); by the end of it, he had vowed to end them.