President Obama Addresses Problem of Mass Unemployment Before a Joint Session of Congress

President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress and a larger audience on national TV with what sounded like one of his better campaign speeches, and even threw in proposals calculated to gain bipartisan support. A transcript of his speech can be found here. It did not take long for Republicans to come up with objections and rebuttals.

National Review ran the following statement by Rep. and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann:

Unfortunately, it seems, every time the President speaks, his policies have cost the American people jobs and future prosperity.

Tonight the President under the veil of one of the most sacred deliberative forums, a joint session of Congress, delivered another political speech where he doubled down on more of the same policies that are killing the economy.

Mr. President, what among your proposals was new? What here hasn’t already been tried and failed before?

While the President’s speech comes on the heels of a trillion dollars of failed stimulus, bailouts, and temporary gimmicks aimed at creating jobs, the President continued to cling to the idea that government is the solution to creating jobs.

My conservative colleagues and I have been fighting over the last two and half years for pro growth policies.

I stand here tonight to say to the President, not only should Congress not pass your plan, I say, “stop; your last plan hasn’t worked, it’s hurting the American economy.” Instead of temporary fixes, do what has proved to work in the past, permanent pro growth policies that are driven by the free market...."

Further down in her statement she lists 9 proposals for jump-starting the economy:

1) Repatriate American business dollars earned from overseas,
2) Massively cut spending and the size of government,
3) Repeal Obamacare, which is the government takeover of America’s healthcare system,
4) Cut taxes, including corporate taxes,
5) Repeal Dodd-Frank,
6) Repeal job killing regulations,
7) Increase exports by finalizing free trade agreements,
8) Spur new investment in America, inspire innovation,
9) Provide job creating energy solutions, including decreased regulations on developing new energy supplies from our abundant domestic energy resources.

The way forward needs to be based on permanent solutions grounded in the private sector. That is how we will once again restore economic prosperity to our country.

God Bless the United States of America.

UPDATE1: Glenn Beck's The Blaze has just run a FOX News video that is either a Freudian slip or a frank admission by presidential press secretary Jay Carney that Obama wants to put "party ahead of country."

UPDATE2: At least Obama's Teleprompter had the sense to stop just a few minutes before a much-anticipated football game between the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints (the Packers won, 42-34).