President Obama's popularity rating has improved dramatically since the State Of The Union speech when he dramatically shifted focus from the climate red herring and the health care red herring to the one major concern for most Americans: the economy.It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand what the American people want to hear from their President. So, better late than never, President Obama told them what they wanted to hear... and his approval rating jumped from minus 19 to minus 6... probably on the hope of change rather than any real change in direction.
I suspect it is the absence of talk about health care, climate, and alternative energy that has given people the illusion of change in the President's agenda. What hasn't changed are:
- a focus on spending, taxes, and more regulation rather than working with business to improve the environment for jobs creation
- a focus on restricting the growth of existing energy sources in the hope that unreliable alternative sources will sustain the needs of businesses and consumers without added crippling costs
- a focus on government growth in the belief that bureaucracy brings out the best in our nation