The State of the Union That Wasn't

In the State of the Union address that really wasn't a State of the Union address (No, CNN doesn't have exclusive rights to the name any more than it does "The Situation Room". It's just that presidents who have only been in office a few weeks don't have a firm grasp of the state of the union yet), President Barack Obama told a joint session of Congress Tuesday night that greed is no longer good, and that we will get over the Great Recession if we all sacrifice a little.

Like puppies trained to sit and stay, your elected representatives (and a few invited guests) stood up and applauded too many times to count as Obama ripped into tax cuts for the wealthy, bankers who lived it up on the public dole, and folks who couldn't afford the houses they lived in.

They also listened, then dutifully gave the President a Standing O every time he proposed something he wanted done, such as funding for renewable energy, education, health care, and a plan to halve the federal deficit by 2012. He also wanted to phase out military involvement in Iraq, and increase it in Afghanistan, just like he said he would on the campaign. All this on a trillion-dollar deficit.

After the applause died down, it's obvious to all that Obama faces an uphill battle to get any of his proposals past Congress, Democratic majority or not. The Rush-publicans, who seem to have visions of Hoovervilles dancing in their heads, will try and smack down anything that doesn't include tax cuts. What's that the President said about taking responsibility?

The latest polls show that people are still wild about President Obama, so there is enormous pressure for the economic stimulus package and everything else he has proposed to work. If not, and if the Great Recession continues into 2010, Obama might be giving a different message at the real State of the Union.