The date for President Obama’s next State of the Union address to Congress has been announced: January 24, 2012. That just happens to be the 1,000th day since Senate Democrats last produced a budget for the United States government.
The State of the Union speech is delivered at the formal invitation of the Speaker of the House, who chooses the date. Here’s Speaker John Boehner’s invitation for 2012, as relayed by Politico:
As we work together to end this legislative year by advancing initiatives to help Americans struggling in a difficult economy, we must also look ahead for new opportunities to put solutions before politics. In the coming year, Republicans will continue our efforts to create an environment for economic growth and job creation, and we welcome an opportunity to hear your new ideas for working with the Congress. Therefore, I am privileged to invite you to deliver an address on the State of the Union on January 24, 2012, before a Joint Session of Congress.
The White House has accepted the invitation, perhaps unaware of the significance of the date.
It sure would be nice if our titanic government, which we are constantly assured has been starved for revenue by greedy American citizens, had a budget by then – just like all the small businessmen and corporate CEOs who would be indicted and jailed for conducting their affairs after the fashion of the U.S. government. Nobody knows exactly what Washington plans to do in 2012, but rest assured, they need more money to do it. You must also accept that they can perform all these nebulous functions better than any of you small-minded louts in the private sector, with your silly budgets and accountants and such.
In the likely event we still have no budget by January 24, hopefully the President will remember to thank all the House Democrats who managed to survive the 2010 elections for their important role in achieving this milestone of rational and responsible government.
