Brit Hume: I have doubts whether Biden's State of the Union address was confidence-inspiring
Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume shares his key takeaway from President Biden's second State of the Union address.
Joe Biden is running for president again and his second State of the Union address was his campaign manifesto headlined by the notion of "finish the job" as his rallying cry.
Most Americans today, however, want Biden to finish up his job and move over for someone else. Clearly, this president has no intention of backing down from an all-out effort to stay in office even as polls show a majority of Democrats want him to stick to one term.
First, let’s cover what was not in the speech. Inflation – the nation’s number one problem – got almost no mention. In the world of this speech there was no Afghanistan, no crisis at the border, no criminals outside of identity fraudsters and fentanyl runners, no multi-billion-dollar crypto swindles, and of course no deficit or need to restrain spending.
There was a passing reference to America’s dropping educational standards but no plan to raise them and better educate our children. There was no big tech restraint on censorship, no call to take violent criminals off our streets, no call to strengthen families.
It was a litany of promises big and small from ending cancer as we know it to dealing with junk fees at airports. The Age of Possibility (another retread theme) knew no limits of government that could not be solved with raising taxes on billionaires and auditing the rich. In 1995, President Bill Clinton declared, "the era of big government is over." In this State of the Union, Big Government was back bigger than ever.
Much of the speech was classic Democratic red meat. He railed against big corporations labeling them as way undertaxed, Big Pharma as overcharging for Insulin, and oil companies refusing to invest their fat profits in America.
The big gamble of President Biden's peech, and of his nascent re-election campaign, is how he can raise his poor job ratings with new taxes and big promises while sidestepping or ignoring the kitchen-table issues of inflation, immigration and crime .
He was bringing back manufacturing jobs, forcing down the cost of prescription drugs and protecting our seniors by threatening to veto efforts to undo Social Security and Medicare.
He offered parents more paid leave, students more free tuition and teachers a pay raise.
Oil companies need not worry about investing – after all, oil, according to the president, might have a use for the "next 10 years," drawing laughs from the House.
IT'S UNLIKELY BIDEN'S RAMBLING STATE OF THE UNION INSPIRED AMERICANS TO 'FINISH THE JOB'
The president set up several straw men to knock them down and look tough and resolute. He got into the most trouble trying to label the Republicans as the party threatening Social Security and Medicare, only to be openly challenged by members shouting from the floor, causing him to back down.
He also threatened to veto non-existent laws to abolish abortion that could never pass either chamber. And said he would protect 30 million cashiers from non-existent non-compete contract clauses.
The president’s demeanor was feisty, sometimes yelling but most of the time he was strong and assured in his delivery. The liberal press will praise it and say he showed he is ready to keep on serving as president. Others will point out he started off by calling New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer the "minority" leader and frequently slurred and skipped words.
BIDEN BOOED DURING STATE OF THE UNION FOR CLAIMING GOP WANTS TO CUT SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE
He was the Angry Optimist – at the same time showing moments of harsh anger and finger-pointing while moments later espousing optimism, hope and possibility. Expectations for Biden are so low, however, that just being able to get through a 75-plus minute speech gives him the edge on this aspect of the speech.
President Joe Biden speaks during a State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The emotional high point of the SOTU was the recognition of the parents of Tyre Nichols and both parties joined together in applauding them and recognizing the injustice that was done to their child. But the president also shaded the events carefully raising the issue of Black parents having the "talk" with their children, not mentioning that all the cops involved in Nichols’ death were Black.
He did call for bipartisan police reform which could be good news for South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s bill which has languished; while he gave some lip service to police and the dangers they face, he offered no significant measures to push back on crime nor make the job of policing easier. In the face of a violent nationwide crime surge, he called for hiring more social workers.
Much of the first 30 minutes of the president’s speech were devoted to trying to knock down the recent poll finding that most Americans believe the president has done little to help them.
He started off with the semiconductor bill, an odd place to start, and took credit for lower prescription drug prices. He also took credit for job increases and spending reductions without mentioning that they were the result of the end of the pandemic rather than caused by policies of the administration.
He resolutely pushed for raising the debt ceiling without future restraint on spending even though polling shows that most Americans want to see an end to the spending that they think is to blame for the inflation affecting their economic lives.
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Foreign policy got short shrift in this speech. While there was a tepid calling out of Putin and of China, there was no explicit mention of the shooting down of the Chinese spy balloon on Saturday which carried sensors and surveillance equipment.
Most important however was the clear omission of any discussion of Iran, Israel or the Middle East. He knew that bringing up terrorist threats to Israel could have divided his party as the left has turned against Israel and he wanted to avoid angering the Squad.
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Overall, the big gamble of the speech, and of his nascent re-election campaign, is how the president can raise his poor job ratings with new taxes and big promises while sidestepping or ignoring the kitchen-table issues of inflation, immigration and crime on the minds of many Americans who see the country as headed in the wrong direction.
The press, however, is beginning to ask questions, and he might also even get a few about classified documents, pesky laptops and Chinese spy balloons.
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