Morning Bell: Losing the Future

Conn Carroll / January 26, 2011

Last night, in his State of the Union, President Barack Obama claimed, “We have to make America the best place on Earth to do business. … That’s how our people will prosper. That’s how we’ll win the future.” This is true. But then he went on to say: “We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time.” No. No, he doesn’t. The rest of the President’s speech made it very clear that he has no idea what makes America the best place on earth to do business.

On issue after issue (education, energy, infrastructure), the President identified more government “investment” as the key to “winning the future.” But if centrally planned government spending is the key to America’s future success, then we are in big trouble, because China will beat us in raw bureaucratic efficiency every time. The source of American exceptionalism is not an expansive and powerful central government. As Heritage Foundation B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies Director Matthew Spalding has stated, the American creed “is set forth most clearly in the Declaration of Independence … a timeless statement of inherent rights, the proper purposes of government, and the limits on political authority.”

You can read the full reactions of Heritage experts to last night’s State of the Union here. Highlights include: (more…)