Article II. Section 3 of the US Constitution requires that the President "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ...." Let's repeal it.
The State of the Union address has become an exercise in political theater. The President gets to give a political speech using the Supreme Court, Joint Chiefs, and his political opponents in Congress as stage props. The big question of the evening usually is whether the latter can keep their temper when the President takes them task, as this one is especially wont to do.
The political theater aspect is emphasized by the thought administrations put into issues like who gets to sit next to the First Lady in the Gallery. This year it is (drum roll here) Warren Buffett's secretary.
His secretary? Yes, really.
Bold prediction: Obama will use her as a prop for taxing the 1% more heavily. After all, as Politico reminds us:
"Warren Buffett's secretary shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett," President Obama said in September, when he unveiled his American Jobs Act proposal. It's a trope that Buffett himself has repeated, as he has campaigned for higher taxes on investment income.
In an election year, the SOTU is especially galling for those of who do not support the incumbent POTUS, because it amounts to millions of dollars worth of free advertising for the POTUS' reelection campaign.
It's theater. But not very good theater. Time for it to die.
