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THE FIRST NATIONAL ADDRESS BY THE NEXT PRESIDENT

[It is the week after the new president has placed his hand on the Bible at his inaugural. He has requested network television time to address the nation on its energy policies. Already the pundits and op-ed writers have billed this speech as the most important one of the new president’s first term, one talking head even forecast that the speech could even dictate whether or not the president will be re-elected. Others have described the president as betting his entire presidency on the possible success of this speech. With that in mind, here is the speech word for word.]

Good evening. For the last week I have been studying what I believe to be the most challenging problem now and for the foreseeable future – energy. With gasoline now approaching $5.00 a gallon it is time, more than time, to meet this challenge to our economic condition, our foreign policy and our future head on. It is time to begin the journey to energy independence, to wean the nation away from oil and commence a future of renewable energy. After saying that, I caution, this will not be an easy road, not at all, and it is a road that requires all of us, you and me, to sacrifice and bear a burden until we complete the goals I just stated. Our journey is beginning this evening and tomorrow I will present to Congress several bills that will achieve these important energy goals – energy independence, end our addiction to oil and create new renewable energy sources. Here is my program.

I propose to increase the federal tax on gasoline by $1.50 on a gallon of gas. The increased federal revenue generated by this tax increase will provide the funds for research and development in several areas:

*Renewable energy – R&D will be funded in the areas of nuclear, solar, wind, electric and hydrogen powered vehicles;
*The establishment of a National Energy Center to coordinate, establish and administer a national program of energy research to achieve our energy goals within 5 years; and
*To fund tax credits and other tax incentives all designed to energizing the private sector to join with us in this new national commitment to renewable energy.

This new national effort is the first since President Kennedy put this nation on a course which resulted in the manned Apollo program sending a man to the moon in 1969. That was an important goal for this nation and so too is this important new energy program.

I know that there are some Americans who hearing this address simply do not agree with the program I have outlined. Some do not believe that government has the capacity to benefit the lives of its citizens. Mistakes, miscalculations and very public governmental scandals of the last twenty years are all too fresh in their minds. All have undermined how effective we think government can be. Second, make no mistake a tax increase of the kind I am recommending is no small burden – it is substantial. No one likes to pay more in taxes, no one. The fact that I am proposing to dedicate the tax increase to benefits that we all can agree upon requires people to believe that the benefits will be achieved. Again, recent history, unfortunately, indicate otherwise.

Social Security, Medicare and other dedicated funds have been cruelly invaded by past Congresses on the way to spending our way to deficits as far as the eye can see. We all have witnessed the tens of thousands dollars that every future American – our children and their children – will pay to satisfy the willy nilly spending habits of us, their parents.

We have not been good stewards of our nation’s treasure nor of this nation’s resources. We have mortgaged substantial parts of both for immediate ease and comfort. For too long we have taken the financially easy road at the expense of our nation’s future. It is no wonder then, that substantial numbers of Americans are painfully cynical that government can deliver any longer on its promises.

To those who find themselves cynical and skeptical, I ask them to recall our nation’s history. I ask that they recall how another president, Franklin Roosevelt, responded to the economic dislocations caused by the Great Depression. How Social Security was established to ease the financial consequences of those who are no longer able to work whether as a result of disability or age; I ask our citizens to recall how another president, Richard Nixon, responded to hunger in America by establishing child nutrition programs and Food Stamps; I ask people to recall how the nation saw poor children in rural and urban America who fell behind their peers in education and devised the much acclaimed program, Head Start. I could go on, but know this; our nation has always faced challenges and has shown a capacity to respond time and time again.

It is now, more than time, to respond again. We need to create a new energy program in this country. That is my aim, and the program I have outlined tonight will achieve that. I am asking all of you to join with me, to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Do it for yourselves, for your communities and for your country’s future. It is time to act.

Thank you for listening and good night.

[While this speech is, of course, fiction, it poses an important question – are you ready to sacrifice now for a future benefit? Do you have enough faith in the ability of government to once again solve problems and along the way make life better for the future? Are you ready, to take a look around your neighborhood, your city or town or your state – your community - and be willing to focus on real substantial problems even if it means bearing a burden solely on the promise, the possibility, that there will be real improvements in the lives of your fellow citizens?]