From Fox News’ live coverage of President Obama’s address to Congress:
On Obama’s speech:
It was not a great speech, but I think it was an extremely important speech. This is what the Obama presidency is all about. It’s in one document, announced dramatically. He’s a man who wants to change America in three areas. He wants to be to health care what Lyndon Johnson was 30, 40 years ago. He wants universal health care. He’s going to be the one to start it.
He wants a brand-new American energy system, a green energy system. He talked about a cap and trade in carbon, which is a revolution in America, which will have a lot of winners and losers. It will change the face of our economy, if he gets it.
And on education, he’s speaking about government-supported universal education up to and including college. All of these are very new. I think they’re very ambitious, almost radical, but it defines who he is, and he laid it out unequivocally here.
On Gov. Jindal’s response:
Jindal didn’t have a chance. He follows Obama, who in making speeches is in a league of his own. He is in the Reagan-esqe league. And there is nobody like him, and he had, as Brit indicated, a wonderful, glorious backdrop behind him, and a setting that was as grand a setting.
Jindal can only make the case, which right now is not going to be a ringing and popular one, but I think in time it might be, of Republicans being the grinches here at the big spending giveaway.
After all, the stimulus is the largest giveaway in American history, and that is what Obama is defending, and he is defending even more without ever speaking about getting revenues except for the two percent of Americans, the richest two percent, who apparently are going to fund all of these programs ad infinitum, which, of course, is a pipe dream.
But his case is an austere one, and right now it’s not one people want to hear. So Jindal had a really hard task, and he tried the best he could.