He was good, but could have gone further. That’s the opinion of the Communist Party in the United States.

In some ways last night’s State of the Union address by President Obama was a virtuoso performance. There were stirring moments, memorable turns of phrase, humor, a defense of activist government, and proposals that will be welcomed, and surely help, millions of people in need.

But as good as many parts of Obama’s speech were, it didn’t fully rise in substantive terms to the challenges of our times and this era. The president could have knocked the ball out of the ballpark, but he settled for less. He had a chance to make the case for deep-going political, economic and social reform, including radical reform, but he came up short of that.

Who knew? Well, now you do.

[T]the private sector at this moment (big or small business) isn’t generating jobs and probably won’t for a long time. In these circumstances, only direct and indirect government intervention in the form of a massive public works jobs program, infrastructure repair and renewal, aid for state and local governments, and special measures for the hardest hit communities, and especially communities of racial minorities and immigrants, stands a chance of lowering unemployment in any kind of meaningful way.

Right. And that’s exactly why, unless Obama changes course, the private sector won’t be creating sustainable jobs for a long time. Obama will see to it. There’s not a dimes worth of difference between what Obama calls social justice and the CPUSA platform.

Link: Obama State of the Union: He got the ball rolling » cpusa.