State of the Union: Missed Opportunity

President Obama attempted a mid-course correction in his State of the Union address.  While short on specifics, the President clearly is trying to recalibrate his agenda - trying to strike a more conciliatory tone - an attempt to move to the center.

The problem is there's very little evidence to suggest that this new approach is anything more than posturing for a re-election bid.

Take the issue of healthcare reform, and the fact that his law, which was just repealed in total by the U.S. House of Representatives, clears the way for a massive expansion in using federal taxpayer dollars to fund abortion. 

His speech last night only briefly touched on healthcare reform, saying "instead of re-fighting the battles of the last two years, lets fix what needs fixing and move forward."  That doesn't offer much hope.  The fact is that "fix what needs fixing" doesn't mean a few tweaks here and there.  Most Americans understand that "what needs fixing" involves a complete overhaul - starting again on healthcare reform. 

The Democrat-controlled Senate isn't budging - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid continues to vow that ObamaCare will not be on the agenda in the Senate.  But, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing forward - invoking Rule 14 to try to bring a healthcare repeal bill on the Senate calendar without going through committees first.

"I dont know why in the world they wouldnt want to have a vote on repeal and proudly vote against it," McConnell told reporters.  "But if they choose not to to have the vote in a, sort of, volunteer voluntary way, we will have it, I assure you."

Yes, there are many issues that need addressed - the economy and jobs are certainly at the top of the list.  But focusing on getting healthcare reform right is important too - and I see no evidence from the President's remarks that he's willing to do what it takes to make healthcare reform affordable and meet the needs of Americans without funding abortion.

As an editorial in the New York Post put it, President Obama "hasn't changed his stripes."  That appears to be the case.