I didn't get to watch President Obama's first address to Congress live...I was a little too melded to the recliner last night.  But I take the time (about two hours total) to listen to Obama's speech and then to the Republican response by Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal.

I thought Obama's speech was right on the money.  He inspired hope by reminding Americans of times in the past when we rose to meet vast challenges and overcomin.  More than that, he reminded us that it was in the very act of overcoming challenges that we became a nation of innovaters, of world changers, of moral character and bedrock foundations.

My favorite line from the speech speaks to this point:  "In my life, I have learned that hope is found in unlikely places."  It's obvious why that statement resonates with me given my current situation.  But it also resonates with me as an American who watched 8 years of this nation lose its direction, lose its character and lose its leadership through abject mismanagement.

Which is why I found Bobby Jindal's speech somewhat flat in comparison to Obama's.  Invoking the government's poor response to Hurricane Katrina (especially when it was his party's government) as a way to say that government is not the most efficient provider of recovery, strength and hope seemed to be reaching, imho.

Governor Jindal also talked about the Republicans offering "better ideas" but all I heard was more of the same mantra they've been repeating since 2000.  Cut taxes.  Provide businesses with incentives.  Turn more Americans into homebuyers by providing incentives.

We cut taxes for the last 8 years--developing at the same time the largest deficit in our history.

We provided businesses with incentives (let's call the businesses banks) to open up our lending flows again--and nothing's happened.

Part of the reason we're in the mortgage mess we're in is the assumption that every American should be a homeowner.

By comparison, Obama outlined three top priorities:  Energy, Health Care and Education.  He harkened back to the Great Depression, to the space program and to the building of a national railway system--well, heck.  He said it better than I do.

"For history tells a different story.  History reminds us that at every moment of economic upheaval and transformation, this nation has responded with bold action and big ideas.  In the midst of civil war, we laid railroad tracks from one coast to another that spurred commerce and industry.  From the turmoil of the Industrial Revolution came a system of public high schools that prepared our citizens for a new age.  In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle-class in history.  And a twilight struggle for freedom led to a nation of highways, an American on the moon, and an explosion of technology that still shapes our world. 

In each case, government didn’t supplant private enterprise; it catalyzed private enterprise.  It created the conditions for thousands of entrepreneurs and new businesses to adapt and to thrive. 

 I suppose it is here that I see the biggest contrast between Jindal and Obama, between left and right.  Jindal painted a picture where the answers to all of our questions are provided by small government and the sweat of the American people; where government is the enemy and people are the heroes.

Obama paints a picture where government is the catalyst, during times of nationwide challenge, that boost individuals towards a better future by addresssing systemic problems in a way that allows individuals to thrive, grow, innovate and plant the seeds for a better future for our nation.

No surprise to regular readers, but I think Obama's is the more sensible, indeed, the more proven approach.

 

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