January 20, 2015 9:17AM 

# Obama’s SOTU: Opportunity Lost 

By [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

In tonight’s SOTU address, President Obama plans to push [policies](http://www.cnbc.com/id/102350342) aimed at “helping middle-class Americans.”

Why is that a sensible goal for policy? Where are goals like liberty or economic efficiency?

What about scaling back excessive regulation, simplifying our byzantine tax code, or slowing the growth of unsustainable entitlements?

What about the [huge range of policies](https://www.cato.org/conference-forum/reviving-economic-growth) that might encourage economic growth?

The President’s proposals–increased taxes on the rich, more handouts for the middle class–are about redistributing the economic pie; and they will shrink rather than grow that pie by distorting economic incentives.

None of this is likely to matter, of course; the Republican Congress will presumably block most of the President’s proposals.

But it’s sad that a lame-duck president with nothing to lose will not endorse something valuable and historic, like legalizing drugs, vastly expanding legal immigration, or withdrawing all our troops from the Middle East.

Alas, the Republicans would presumably block these policies as well, since Republicans, like Democrats, worry more about pandering to their constituents than promoting freedom or economic growth.

But taking a stand for liberty is a first step; on this score the President’s approach fails miserably.

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).