ON BEING WHO YOU ARE

The truth is, he can’t help it.

President BO (the amateur president) is who he is and couldn’t hide it if his life depended on it (that’s an idiomatic expression, not a threat).

In his State of the Union address, he used his typical methods to deflect, side-step and just plain out-and-out lie.

Who but a political idiot would have expected anything else?

OBAMA: "After years of grueling recession, our businesses have created over 6 million new jobs."

That’s only if you start at the point in his administration where job losses were the highest. The actual gain, including both the private and public sector is about 1.2 million jobs and the net gain is very close to zero.

OBAMA: "Already the Affordable Care Act is helping to reduce the growth of health care costs."

That’s true if you think “reduce” is the same as “increase.” Under ObamaCare, healthcare costs will grow, not shrink. That’s according to the government’s own projections. Healthcare costs are going up not down.

OBAMA: "We have doubled the distance our cars will go on a gallon of gas."

That is patently untrue. The average distance cars will go on a gallon of gas is about 2.3 miles per gallon better than it was 10 years ago. By his formula, 30.1 MPG plus 2.3 MPG equals 60.4MPG. Is that what your new car is getting?

OBAMA: "Real reform means establishing a responsible pathway to earned citizenship — a path that includes passing a background check, paying taxes and a meaningful penalty, learning English and going to the back of the line behind the folks trying to come here legally."

So illegal immigrants won’t be able to cut in line any more…maybe. But while they “in line,” they will be in the U.S. without having had to get permission to be here. In other words, illegals waiting to walk their pathway to citizenship are already here, thus having an advantage over those who aren’t here and are waiting to come here legally. That’s fair, right?

OBAMA: "I urge this Congress to pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago. But if Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy."

Reminder: When both Houses of Congress were Democrat controlled, he couldn’t get a “global warming” bill through. So, Obama promised to do what he likes to do best, side-step Congress and operate by decree.

OBAMA: "Study after study shows that the sooner a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road. ... And for poor kids who need help the most, this lack of access to preschool education can shadow them for the rest of their lives. ... Every dollar we invest in high-quality early education can save more than $7 later on — by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime."

No, some studies have indicated that participants in the Head Start program complete high school more often than those who don’t participate. But a recent DHHS study found that the gains realized in Head Start tend to fade by the third grade.

His speech just made me sigh. He is who he is.