Letter: A Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union speech

Letter to the editor

The economy was of course front and center on Tuesday night, as has become the standard. President Trump as usual touted his business practices above everyone else’s and succeeded in inflating most of his claims, most of them substantially. 

Tariffs are taxes overwhelmingly paid by individual Americans, with the remainder largely paid by American businesses. While I see their ability to be useful in negotiation overseas, I am extremely skeptical that foreign countries are paying as much as claimed. Republicans have traditionally, in modern times, been against taxes (“Read My Lips” hypocrisy noted). The President sidestepped the opportunity to affirm his support for the Constitution by yielding to the recent Supreme Court ruling, choosing instead to lament that the justices were against him, calling it “unfortunate,” and insinuating that the ruling was against the country. Missed as well was the chance to seize the high ground by declaring that his administration would operate under the rule of law, which would have been a nice contrast to the previous administration. In an address to Congress, this could have been another call for legislation. Instead, we saw him take it personally. 

The GOP has apparently firmly made the shift to adopt the Democratic Party’s position from the mid-2000s in regard to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Instead of calling for reform, and even privatization (George W. Bush), the Republican Party now, for the last decade, has entrenched themselves behind the bulwark of no cuts, only expansion. Doubling down on promises to keep these socialist programs in place — call them what they are. Getting the federal government involved in private retirement and savings accounts also smells like the same. Joe Biden comes away as the victor here. 

No mention of the Epstein files, a campaign talking point from Trump. The administration could not have fumbled harder, from the DOJ to the FBI to the Massie discharge petition. What began as a rallying point for the right has now almost exclusively been ceded to the left. Strange. And the new federal law on this still isn’t being followed. 

Another campaign talking point from Trump was on how much his administration would restore 2nd Amendment protections, probably to salvage his reputation on this from his first term, “Take the guns first and then go through due process…” While some gains have been made, the administration as a whole remains largely opposite of the claims made by candidate Trump. Bondi is praising the ATF. The illegal registry is still growing. Most of the Biden ATF rules are still in play. Multiple cabinet members including the President displayed their position on 2A in the immediate aftermath of the Alex Pretti murder. From the FBI director to the secretary of the Treasury, it was astounding and yet not shocking to see their ignorance and actual stances revealed. Barack Obama wins this one.

While the border was a big point that the President rightfully hammered on, there was no admission from the President that his administration in the part of DHS has been guilty on a large scale of violating the 4th Amendment. In his call to restore funding to the department, Mr. Trump did not make mention of the dire need to implement more training and accountability measures, which would have made his request more appealing and perhaps would even sway votes. On Monday this week, Ryan Schwank, who is an attorney and former ICE instructor, testified before Congress that the agency’s new training program is “deficient, defective, and broken,” leading to numerous constitutional violations and unlawful arrests. Senior officials from both ICE and CBP in the hearing chaired by Rand Paul earlier this month each testified that Alex Pretti did not interfere with agents, nor was he antagonistic on the morning he was beaten and killed. Further damning was their testimony that Gregory Bovino and Kristi Noem each released their now-proven-false narratives on the tragic incident without getting the story from the chain of command. As I write this, the FBI and the DHS both are still refusing to share crime scene information with state and local law enforcement, breaking with long-established custom and tradition. The confusion by those operating the department, the lack of oversight, and a wanton disregard for transparency don’t add up to a good look for the President clamoring for more money.

There was no mention by the President this time of any urgency to cut federal spending or the national debt. It is doubtful how long the state of the union can remain “strong” when debt > GDP. While Congress can and should shoulder the blame for most of this, the President has chosen this past year to repeatedly personally lambast the most fiscally responsible member of each the House and the Senate, in Representative Thomas Massie and Senator Rand Paul. It is telling that while the President on Tuesday night correctly attacked members of his opposing party at length for their involvement in fraud, he is constantly throughout the year feuding with those who consistently offer amendments to codify DOGE, block funding for known fraud areas, and trim pork from spending bills.

The bright spot had to be the recognition of several in the gallery, from ordinary American citizens to military active duty and veterans, which was superbly done and appears to be well-earned by all. These were the highlights of the night.

The entire event though was much too long, made into more of a spectacle than informational, in typical Trump fashion. The standing ovations were generally over-the-top and bordered on cult worship. Stand to honor the victims. Stand to honor the sacrifice. Stand up for representing the American people and not illegal immigrants. There’s no need to stand every time your party’s President makes a point.

Christopher Rose II, Waldo

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