Ah yes, he who sees himself as being on a much higher plain than those of us who are but mere mortals, Barry the Beneficent, made yet another journey down from his retreat, to spend a brief moment in time with those who he and Queen MeeShell view as being the little people. And if I understand things correctly, in so doing, Barry made it quite clear that he, as someone so much wiser than the rest of us, sees absolutely no reason why he must abide by the limitations placed upon him, as president, by our Constitution.
Personally, I just couldn’t bring myself to watch this rather idiotic display of blatant dishonesty last night, mainly out of fear of losing a rather expensive dinner. However, most of the honest morning-after-the-night-before commentary regarding Barry’s fifth State of the Union, would seem to indicate that I really didn’t miss anything. By most accounts there was no, or very little, there, there. It was more about Barry’s portrayal of what he apparently views as being a government of one, with himself being ‘The One."
Supposedly Barry promised to clear red tape away from highway projects that are actually stalled because of the fact that there’s no money for them, not because any governmental red tape stands in the way. And we all know that Barry intends to order a higher minimum wage for federal workers under contract, which affects no one now and not many later. And as much as he might wish, going it alone without Congress first making a law, just doesn’t go as far as Barry made it sound last night in his silly little speech.
Anyway, so what follows here is but a very brief look at some of the facts and the corresponding political circumstances behind Barry’s claims:
What Barry said:"Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled."
And what the facts are: The most recent evidence suggests that mobility hasn’t worsened. A team of economists led by Harvard’s Raj Chetty released a study last week that found the United States isn’t any less socially mobile than it was in the 1970s. Looking at children born between 1971 and 1993, the economists found that the odds of a child born in the poorest 20 percent of families making it into the top 20 percent hasn’t changed.
What Barry said: "We’ll need Congress to protect more than 3 million jobs by finishing transportation and waterways bills this summer. But I will act on my own to slash bureaucracy and streamline the permitting process for key projects, so we can get more construction workers on the job as fast as possible."
And what the facts are: Cutting rules and regulations doesn’t address what’s holding up most transportation projects, which is lack of money. The federal Highway Trust Fund will run out of money in August without action. To finance infrastructure projects, Barry wants Congress to raise taxes on businesses that keep profits or jobs overseas, but that idea has been a political nonstarter.
The number of projects affected by the administration’s efforts to cut red tape is relatively small, said Joshua Schank, president and CEO of the Eno Center for Transportation, a think tank. "The reason most of these projects are delayed is they don’t have enough money. So it’s great that you are expediting the review process, but the review process isn’t the problem. The problem is we don’t have enough money to invest in our infrastructure in the first place."
What Barry said: "In the coming weeks, I will issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their federally funded employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour, because if you cook our troops’ meals or wash their dishes, you shouldn’t have to live in poverty."
And what the facts are: This would be a hefty boost in the federal minimum wage, now $7.25, but not many would see it. Most employees of federal contractors already earn more than $10.10. About 10 percent of those workers, roughly 200,000, might be covered by the higher minimum wage. But there are several wrinkles. The increase would not take effect until 2015 at the earliest and it doesn’t apply to existing federal contracts, only new ones. Renewed contracts also will be exempt from Barry’s order unless other terms of the agreement change, such as the type of work or number of employees needed.
The fact-checking website Politifact also gave Barry "Almighty" two "true" ratings and a "half-true" last night:
Firstly, the site reports that Barry was telling the truth when he argued "average wages have barely budged." Citing federal statistics, "the average annual wage increased by 8.3 percent between 2008 and 2012. … "However, this raw wage data doesn’t take into account inflation — something economists like to consider when determining whether a wage ‘barely budged.’" Some will surely argue the debate isn’t as settled as the president claims.
Secondly, Politifact also gave Barry a "true" rating on his claim that "more oil [has been] produced at home than we buy from the rest of the world – the first time that’s happened in nearly 20 years." But what Barry conveniently left out is the fact that all, or nearly all, of the oil being produced is from private lands.
Barry’s claim about reducing carbon pollution received only a "half-true" rating. "Over the past eight years, the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution more than any other nation on Earth," Barry boasted. But if the cuts are measured by percentage, his claim doesn’t hold water, at least according to Politifact.
So at the end of the day I feel quite comfortable in that I missed very little last night by choosing not to tune in to watch our Liar-in-Chief. As is usually the case with Barry’s speeches, the speech last night was said to be extremely short on substance while including all manner of his typically grandiose, and rather nonsensical, rhetoric. But again, I am relying on the impressions, and the critiques, of others whose job it is to watch, suffering through such things as tis, and to then offer their opinion. Thankfully, that is not my job.
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