Editorial: Governing for good in an election year

The state of our union is "getting stronger," President Obama told Congress on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the state of our politics isn't.

And because this is an election year, it's unlikely that much of what Obama proposed will be enacted. Indeed, in 2011 -- an election "off-year," if there is such a thing anymore -- Washington's failure to do even the basics almost created a self-inflicted financial crisis that could have reversed the incremental gains the economy has made since the official end of the Great Recession.

So at minimum, Congress should take a political Hippocratic oath and pledge to do no harm. But that does not mean it should ignore the president's common-sense initiatives.

Among the four pillars Obama pushed was an emphasis on manufacturing, which has recently become one of the few bright spots on the jobs front.

The tax code, for instance, which perversely rewards offshoring jobs and profits, should be changed to encourage U.S. manufacturers to stamp "Made in America" on their products.

And Obama's creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit to better police unfair trade practices isn't government overreach, but rather a sensible tool to help level the global trade playing field.

It's also not "big government" run amok to recognize that the public sector has long played a role in trying to align workers with the skill sets needed for today's more demanding jobs.

Based on congressional response, the GOP did seem to agree on Obama's "all-out, all-of-the-above" energy strategy. This is important not just for manufacturers, but for the bipartisan concern that America's dependence on foreign oil is as much a defense and foreign-policy issue as it is an energy issue.

There's likely to be less agreement on the broader issue of income inequality, which Obama called the "defining issue of our time." The theme's theatrics played out twice on Tuesday.

First Mitt Romney released his tax returns, revealing that he paid a 13.9 percent rate on income of more than $20 million in 2010.

And later Warren Buffett's secretary, who embodies tax inequity, was in the gallery when Obama urged Congress adopt the "Buffett rule," which says that those earning more than $1 million a year should pay at least a 30 percent tax rate.

Populist politics? Sure. But prudent tax policy is needed to address the growing inequities in American society. It's not just the Occupy Wall Street protesters who have noticed.

Even Republican Rick Santorum, who hopes to give next year's State of the Union address, has pointed out that Canadians and Western Europeans have more social mobility than Americans.

Obama bookended his focus on domestic issues with a well-deserved salute to our men and women in uniform. He was right to ask the military's civilian leaders to live up to the example our troops set by putting self-interest aside and focusing on the mission at hand.

We, as citizens, should too, in our individual lives, and by telling our elected representatives to not let 2012 politics completely eclipse 2012 governing.

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