The State of The Union

The other night I was roped into (ok so I technically had a choice) watching the State of The Union Address because my brother had to watch it for school.  My plan was to miss it because I didn't think there would be much to listen to.  As I did though I realized that it is not enough to simply dismiss what was said and move on.  The issues raised are too important to just skip over and ignore.  It is with this in mind that I submit to you my brief overview of The State of The Union. 

Barack Obama

I know some of you will say that this is not a typical post and may wonder why I am spending time on this.  Consider Jesus words in John 17:15 “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”  Jesus never wanted us to be taken out of world.  He left us here to make a difference.  When I engage on the issues and people ask why, it gives me an opportunity to talk about Christ.

Some things Obama talked about:

He said we need to raise the minimum wage.  I don’t totally disagree with this but we must be reasonable about our approach.  I say this because when the minimum wage shot from $5.85 to $7.40 in a year and a half (on the state level) it had and extreme effect on my employer.  It was at the very least a contributing factor in the wage freezes and layoffs to follow.     We need to make a plan to raise the minimum wage gradually according to inflation.  We also need to realize the meaning of minimum.  Minimum wage is the lowest amount someone can be paid.  If you raise the minimum wage, everyone’s wages must go up accordingly.  People need to be encouraged to aspire to as well as given the tools to achieve higher career goals rather than simply counting on continued raises to the minimum wage.     

He said “We stand for all human dignity.”  This is probably the most blatant lie in the whole address.  Why?  Because Technology has advanced to the point that you can no longer deny that unborn babies are alive.  You can stand up for a woman’s right to choose, but you can no longer deny that you are ending a life.  A heartbeat can be detected at 2 weeks after conception.  We will not be “standing for ALL human dignity" unless we stop killing our unborn.

He said we should give 2 years of free college to every high school Senior.  On the surface this sounds good.  I mean who can’t use help with school?  But I can tell you from experience that the main reason I got good grades in school was because I paid for it.  I know of someone who got college paid for by their Indian tribe and bombed their entire first semester because they did not care.  After, all they were not paying for it!  Also, for what it’s worth college is not always the lynch pin of success.  I am still very under employed and I know a good number of successful people who have no degree.  Also, where is the money coming from?

He talked about how we need immigration reform and believe it or not I agree.  However, as with the minimum wage, we must take a wise, well thought out approach.  I have many friends who have married people from other countries and as an outside observer it seemed that each time that the immigration process was way longer and more complicated than it needs to be.  That being said, we can do better than the typical “let’s add another law to the ones we already don’t enforce” approach or even worse ignore the law altogether.  We can’t make changes unless we know what needs to be changed.  We need to enforce the law and make changes where needed.

My biggest concern overall is (and has been for a long while) that the Government is way too large and overreaching then our founding fathers ever envisioned.  Much of what they do should be done by individuals, families, friends and churches.  Whatever our government gives us it can take away.  Personal responsibility was at the foundation of our Democratic Republic and it can make us great again!               

Speaking4Him,

Andrew Gommesen