Matt Vs. The State of the Union

Earlier this week, President Barrack Obama gave his annual state of the union address and to be honest, it was quite a familiar scene. Vice President was there looking odd and Speaker of the House John Boehner was flanking him looking tanned and constipated. However much of what the president said was seemingly regurgitating points from earlier speeches and campaign such as  the points on Guantanamo Bay and the war in Afghanistan.  While it's good to remind the American public that we still have troops fighting on foreign soil, he could have ended both instances years ago. I'm a bit tired of the war on women and  wage inequality arguments at this point given women have higher graduation rates from both high school and college and lower incarceration rates. Our nation is a service economy with ever increasing numbers of people with college degrees, this will eventually cause a gender gap in the opposite direction. Formerly male dominated fields such as farming and manufacturing are becoming ever smaller portions of out economy. The 10.10 minimum wage for federal contractors feels like an arbitrary decision that really is a poor attempt to buy votes. While it won't initially raise the national wage, it provides an argument that its is unfair to have a separate wage for federal contractors and for everyone else. Seven years ago. I worked for a min wage of 6.75 and I was in high school at the time. I do not believe that work is worth the additional 3.35 now. If anything relying on raising the minimum wage signifies a failure to promote fiscal and monetary policies that create a diverse economy and a labor force up to the task. Given the weakness of the dollar due to the Federal Reserves's monetary policy, I would support a raise to 8 dollars but anything else could prove harmful to small businesses and cause inflation in an era where wages are largely stagnant.

  I really can't recall any of these State of the Union addresses by any president being particularly memorable especially further than the week of the address. I think that sometimes the President forgets that he's been at 1600 Pennsylvania for 5 years now and that his policies for better or for worse have contributed to the National climate we have now. Ultimately I believe the President may have oversold himself in his original presidential campaign as being some transformational figure. The first African American president did come into a situation where the economy was in dire straights and is now in a shaky recovery. I do admire that he had courage to put himself in that position and run. While he is a masterful orator and his life story is unique, he is still a politician and a lawyer with the trappings of both. Perhaps the Democrats and Republicans will be able to get along for the remainder the the President Obama's term but the fruits of that bipartisanship may taste sour to the American public.