Semi-live SOTU Blogging – Turned Off the TV in Disgust Edition

I can’t listen to any more of this prattle so I turned off the tv.

Here’s what I don’t get… GW said something like this:

And this budget will keep America on track for a surplus in 2012. American families have to balance their budgets and so should their Government.

Wonderful. This raises a few questions:

1. Why should we care about his plan for what happens in 2012? Its not like he’s going to be in office then. And he seems to have picked a date far enough in the future that he has zero control over what happens for most of the time period between now and then. He might as well promise me there will be a goat sitting on my desk laying golden eggs. If either promise happens, it won’t be because of anything GW does or doesn’t do.
2. Even if he was in office in 2012, why would he be any more likely to follow it than his earlier promise to pay down debt aggressively and have us on the path to paying off the debt completely by 2011?
3. If Government should have to balance its budget, and Government was balancing its budget before he took office, and he thinks Government will again balance its budget after he leaves office, isn’t it kind of obvious what the problem is?

One other thing he mentioned that I’m in favor of… I don’t like the idea that Congress can pass laws that have spending components that haven’t been voted on at all.