Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
(Ron Knecht) – Tuesday President Donald Trump delivered the best State of the Union speech ever. He had said it would be “extremely low key.” It was, even as he reported much great news.
“Jobs are booming, incomes are soaring, poverty is plummeting, crime is falling, confidence is surging, and our country is thriving and highly respected again,” he began.
“Our borders are secure. Our families are flourishing. Our values are renewed. Our pride is restored. … The State of our Union is stronger than ever before! … we are building the world’s most prosperous and inclusive society…”
He detailed job creation, income growth and record low levels of unemployment for African-, Hispanic- and Asian-Americans. And for women, veterans, disabled persons and those without high school diplomas.
Poverty has declined greatly, and low- and middle-income homes are enjoying a “blue collar boom.” Consumer confidence is rising as stock markets and investment in poor neighborhoods are surging in part due to his tax cuts.
Extending a tradition begun by Ronald Reagan, Trump introduced people who embody our trials and progress, starting with an Army veteran helped by an opportunity-zone job to full recovery from drug addiction and homelessness, now reunited with his family.
He shared credit with congress for criminal justice reform. He celebrated his regulatory reforms that helped make us the largest producer of oil and gas. He noted 60,000 factories closed under the previous two eight-year administrations, but 12,000 new ones have opened in his three years.
Keeping a campaign promise, he replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. He had also promised to fight China’s unfair trade practices and recently signed a trade deal to protect intellectual property and open China markets to American producers, while improving relations between the two countries.
He introduced President Juan Guaido of Venezuela, who seeks to bring freedom and prosperity to replace the socialist tyranny and national poverty of dictator Nicolas Maduro. He noted other progress in our military readiness and cooperation with allies.
He saluted one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen, 100, whom he recently deservedly made a Brigadier General.
Trump introduced a fourth-grade girl and her single mother who’ve been trapped in a failing government school. He found them a school-choice scholarship and asked Congress for one-million more, plus vocational and technical education at every high school. And he saluted First Lady Melania Trump for her “Be Best” initiative to aid America’s children.
He detailed many health-care and insurance initiatives to cut costs and avoid destruction by socialism, while protecting people with pre-existing conditions. Also, he’ll prevent taxpayers and seniors from having to subsidize illegal aliens via Medicare and Social Security. He’s passed measures to fight rising prescription drug costs and curb the opioid epidemic.
Trump conferred on Rush Limbaugh, a great American with advanced lung cancer, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Speaking in favor of neonatal research funding and against late-term abortions, he recognized a mother and her infant daughter who was born prematurely at 21 weeks and six days.
He consoled the brother of a man brutally murdered by an illegal alien with a long record released by the “sanctuary” state of California. He saluted a successful deputy chief of border patrol and his officers.
Trump promoted merit-based immigration, religious liberty, free speech, Second Amendment rights and a new space program. He praised the Senate for confirming a record 187 federal judges who will uphold the Constitution as written.
He noted our defeats of terrorists and his recent Mideast peace proposal. He recognized the parents of young woman who was kidnapped, tortured, enslaved and murdered by radical Islamic terrorists. Saluting our military personnel, he introduced the surviving wife and son of a soldier killed in combat.
Voicing support for Iranians oppressed by their evil government, and noting progress in Afghanistan, he promised to end that war. Then, he introduced the family of a sergeant on his fourth tour of duty there and returned the soldier to them.
He praised our past and said the best is yet to come.
Democrats consumed by hate for him and his supporters mostly sat on their hands. At the end, Nancy Pelosi theatrically tore up his speech text.
