Comments about ‘Robert Bennett: President Obama's inaugural agenda is unrealistic’

Please name one President who gave an inaugural address (particularly for a second term) that contained a "realistic" agenda.

Well, former Senator Bennett, though you were prominent at President Obama's first inauguration, and then acting, one supposes, in the position you did then, to show Republican Party good will, others (like myself) could see through this "child" running for office (Obama). Here we have, a junior Senator from Illinois, who had previously been a "community organizer", and a junior senator who didn't even complete his first term as senator before being elected to the presidency, and you (then, apparently) thought that he could do the job, and you were showing a gracious welcome in helping organize the inauguration.

Now, this time around, you are "dissing" on his agenda, as expressed in his inauguration speech.

I called Obama a "child" for the following reason—

"And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them." — Isaiah 3:4

"O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. —Isaiah 3:12

Others, like myself, saw that immaturity of the candidate. I'll give Obama, his "community organizer" skills helped him get elected twice. Kudos to him on that. But at what price to our nation?

Democrats hailed it as "liberating" and Republicans denounced it as "frightening."

This coming from the party...

who's only concern for the last 4 years was making Obama a 'one term' President.

A very weak column by Mr. Bennett. It offers no solutions for Social Security, and gives no explanation for our reduced use of green house gases.

I'm sure that Mr. Bennett could produce a thoughtful, well reasoned analysis of these situations, but this editorial seems like a sour grapes response to Mitt Romney's and the Republican candidates defeats in the resent election!

@Bailout Bob: "Unless structural changes are made on the payment side, the programs cannot survive...."

To make the necessary changes would require someone with courage. That wasn't you.

"...climate change..."

Global average temperatures haven't increased since 1997. That was sixteen years ago. Get up to speed.

liberal larry

"A very weak column by Mr. Bennett. It offers no solutions for Social Security..."

It is not a retired senator's job to find the solutions for social security. That job belongs to the one calling himself a genius, and holding the office of the POTUS. Let him figure it out. He thinks he has all the answers. Let him put it on the table!

I see that although Senator Bennett was rejected, not by the public in general, but by his own party in the primaries, he is sticking with the "Party of No" creed firmly ensconced in the hearts of Republicans. After stating their tired mantra "a massive wealth transfer is taking place" he then trumpets the call from the right that the things the president proposed in his inaugural address are unrealistic.

Some of those "unrealistic" proposals included:

"But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action."

"We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher."

If those concepts are unrealistic then we, as a nation, have little chance of enduring. What is unrealistic is to assume we can continue to lead the world out of its current condition when half our Congress gives up before they try.

The speech was replete with ideals and prose but short on specifics, as all inaugurals are. The agenda of which you speak is something of a bogeyman made up to scare people.

The President's purpose was to inspire and he did that. I felt exhilarated and ready to try again after listening to him. Obama's plan for the future is the only realistic one: pay down the debt gradually while keeping the economy upright and do SOMETHING to offset the coming climatic disasters.

The Bennett-Bush prescription was to fight useless wars and cut revenues at the same time, and do NOTHING about climate change but make it worse. That was truly unrealistic and we are already experiencing the catastrophic results of that prescription.

"It is not a retired senator's job to find the solutions for social security. That job belongs to the one calling himself a genius, and holding the office of the POTUS"

It is a touch problem. We have 535 members of congress. But you feel that it is the presidents job to find the solution?

You may want to go back to your history classes to understand how our legislative process works.

It is confusing to me, why a state whose electorate is expected to be more discerning than average, would crow about replacing this man with the Lee - Chaffetz - Love crowd. Would it not be better to lead out in solving the problems than just making a lot of irritating noises.

Oh come on Bob. I really can't see any difference at all between RINOS and Obama.

Let's don't miss the point or beg the question. Mr Bennett knows that the President has a responsibility to exercise leadership in working WITH Congress in coming up with plans to deal with these issues. As I recall Mr Obama said he would do this during his campaign. Unfortunately. Mr Obama's reverting to power politics/arm-twisting betrays those who expected him to live up a promised higher ideal in this time of national crisis.

Liberal Larry,

A very weak comment by Mr. Liberal Larry. It offers no solutions for Social Security, and gives no suggestions for balancing our economy with the goals of reducing carbon emissions.

I'm sure that Mr. Liberal Larry could produce a thoughtful, well reasoned analysis of these situations, but this comment seems like a sour grapes response to Mr. Bennett's editorial.

Bob,

As you morph from your current gig into that of a soon to be lobbyist...

your credibility is sinking faster than the congressional approval rating.

However, you do craft some nice strawmen.

Ah come on Rob, Barack and his agenda unrealistic? Where do you get that from? Since when was Barack's agenda unrealistic? Maybe since 2009? 16 trillion and growing fast in debt - who cares? Just print more or tax more or borrow more. Problem solved. We all opened our January pay checks to see LESS take home pay so I guess that means we are all rich - right? Didn't Barack tell us all in the middle class we were safe? NO TAX INCREASE? It should make you feel great to know you are paying your fair share now and are numbered with the rich. First time I have been rich in my life. Cool. Hey even my son - a Student at UVU is rich because he got hit with the tax increase too. I guess anyone not on welfare got a tax increase which means most of the folks who DIDN'T vote for Barack. America is in BIG trouble and my guess is most don't have a clue .... yet. They will soon!! Obama and his media are EXCELLENT propagandist's and that apparently is what it takes these days to get elected to national office in America going forward.

The majority in this country want BIG government, BIG dept and free stuff. That is what elections are for - to give the people what they want. Well we got it alright and we will get the consequences too which will make the financial crisis of 2008 look like a bump in the road. That light you see is an on-coming train folks!!! NUMBERS DON'T LIE... but liberals do.

It's about as realistic as Mitt Romney's promises to... Well... Everyone.

It's sad how the comments are almost exclusively dedicated to taking cheap shots at the "opposition". We're all in this hand basket together.

This was an awesome column. Right on the money! Senator Bennett seems to have found the groove as a columnist. Now if we could only get Mr. Obama to absorb these truths...