Townhall
Obama
Inaugural: Full of Audacity, but Little
Hope
By Michael Barone
Jan 24, 2013
Commentators
both left and right agree that
Barack Obama's second inaugural speech Monday was highly partisan, with
shout
outs to his constituencies on the left and defiance of his critics on
the
right.
Obama
quoted the Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution, and made brief reference to Abraham Lincoln's
sublime
Second Inaugural ("blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword").
But there was not much in the way of "with malice toward none, with
charity for all."
There
were more references than in many
inaugural speeches to specific programs and policies. One interesting
question
is what the practical effect they will have in the next few years.
"We
reject the belief," Obama said,
"that America must choose between caring for the generation that built
this country and investing in the generation that will build its
future."
Later in the paragraph, he specifically mentioned Medicare, Medicaid
and Social
Security.
Practical
effect: No entitlement reforms in the
next four years. House Republicans can pass budgets with long-term
Medicare
fixes, but they aren't going anywhere.
That's
quite a difference from 16 years ago,
when Bill Clinton pursued serious entitlement reform with Newt Gingrich.
"I
see the current American left as
rapidly losing what it once knew about the need for entitlement
reform,"
economist Tyler Cowen writes on his Marginal Revolution blog.
"I
see it happening right under my nose,
day by day, article by article, blog post by blog post." And in Obama's
second inaugural.
"We
will respond to the threat of climate
change," said Obama, citing anecdotal evidence of unusual weather. Put
this in the category of soothing a constituency that's not going to get
what it
wants.
Democrats
were unable to get a cap-and-trade
bill through the Senate when they had a 60-vote super-majority. They
won't get
one through either house in the next two years.
Read
the rest of the article at Townhall
|