State of the Union Address 2012: What Obama Got Wrong

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This system works better than the government interfering to promote businesses of its choice. Had you done nothing and let the free market do its job, Solyndra could have gone bankrupt without wasting $535 million in tax dollars. You forgot to mention Solyndra in your speech-but I remember. In fact, when you vowed to "double-down" on spending more tax money on the "clean energy industry," it was the first thing that came to my mind. Mr. President, $535 million may not seem like a lot to you, but it does to a lowly middle-classer like me.

Although you did suggest "leaner government" in your speech, you don't seem to understand what this means, either. Most of your proposals suggest the opposite.

You said you want to replace competing, private training programs with a single government one. You vowed to redistribute wealth. You proposed a system of incentives and penalties that allow the state to determine which businesses succeed and fail. That's not lean government, Mr. President -- it's obese.  

Increasing a government's control to make it leaner is like going tanning to stay pale. It's like putting a coat on to stay cool or frying a food for fewer calories. Perhaps your speechwriter was looking for a synonym for the word "plump" and accidentally used an antonym instead.  

Finally, I think you forgot that when you run out of money, you can't buy stuff. In your address, you say you want to give Americans all sorts of things. Higher education every family can afford.  Support for "every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs." Federal cancer research until we find a cure. All of those things sound great, Mr. President, but you seem to have forgotten that we're more than $15 trillion in debt. That's bigger than our entire economy.

I've heard critics say you used words like "free market" and "leaner government" to make conservative Americans feel comfortable voting for you in November, even though you know you oppose these concepts. Others say you're offering to do things you know America can't afford-kind of like how I promised everyone a pony when I ran for second-grade class president.

Don't worry, though. I am too thankful for your devotion to me as a middle class American to ever believe such horrible lies. You were clearly just confused, and that's OK. It happens to the best of us.

Sincerely,

Katherine Timpf

Katherine Timpf is a digital editor at The Washington Times. Follow her on Twitter at @kctimpf.

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