The real state of the union: A broken generation

Tuesday night marked the sixth State of the Union address for President Obama, yet sadly, we saw and heard nothing new.

Each year, the State of the Union address just emphasizes the complete disconnect between what is actually going on in the country and what is being said by the Obama administration.

{mosads}Two of the biggest initiatives that were touched upon were the president’s plan to give a “free” community college education to everyone in America and his plan to expand paid sick leave—the Healthy Families Act.  The president offered these proposals under the guise of “helping” the middle class and young people. 

Over the past couple weeks we have seen a large emphasis placed on young people by the Obama administration.  The president knows that he has lost his favor with millennials.  Offering “free” community college tuition to everyone, however, only appears to be a frantic attempt to win back young people for the future benefit of his leftist causes and colleagues.

It’s no secret that Obama has a track record of breaking his promises to millennials.  Remember when Obama promised free healthcare to young people when he was touring college campuses at a whirlwind rate?  Has he kept that promise? The answer is no.

Obama assured millennials that he would lower premiums.  Today, the facts are quite the opposite.  A recent study shows that health insurance premiums have risen steeply among 23-year-olds, especially males, who have seen a 78 percent price increase.  Women have seen close to a 45 percent increase.  Obamacare has been a job killer as a result of it’s high cost, meaning fewer employment opportunities for graduates.   Many Americans—especially our nation’s young people—are suffering as a result of this law. 

And the president’s latest effort to expand paid sick leave does nothing to help our nation’s unemployed young people find jobs.  The Healthy Families Act will only reduce the number of employment opportunities, since it will require businesses with 15 or more employees to provide paid sick leave.  Mandating this policy will hurt small business all across America who are just barely getting by; meaning less job creation and less hiring. 

Let’s talk about the real state of the union for our nation’s young people.  There is no doubt that young people have struggled greatly under the Obama administration—with youth unemployment at 18.1 percent, the average student loan debt at $30,000, and an ever increasing national debt.  This administration has created little to no opportunity for millennials to succeed economically, and this will have dire consequences for our economy now and in the future.

This administration has a serious spending problem and promises the world to our nation’s young people, with the goal of creating a permanent dependent class out of millennials.  But, guess what?  Sixty percent of millennials believe that the federal government is too big and spends too much.  Policies that are meant to “help” young people actually hurt them in the long run.   Millennials are smart enough to understand that there is no such thing as a “free” government program.  These idealistic programs are never actually free or void of costs. 

Obama’s presidency has been one of vast expansion of government programs, adding a staggering $7 trillion to our nation’s $18 trillion debt.  Young people are those who are most affected by the rising national debt and reckless Washington spending, since their individual share of the national debt is $58,437. 

If this president truly wants to help young people, he should decrease taxes, cut the spending, and allow for free market approaches to make college more affordable.  Most importantly, he should stop making promises that he can’t keep.

It is fair to say that young people are jaded by the broken promises of this administration.  As all that glitters is sure to fade, and that’s exactly what we saw on Tuesday night: a President who realized that his support among a key demographic—millennials—is waning. 

Pratte is the spokeswoman for Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth organization whose mission is to educate young people in conservative values.