Can I put you on?

By Tom Quiner

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElTgJTWZyRg&feature=related]

What do Elton John and Barack Obama have in common?

A song.

Today is the 41st anniversary of Mr. John’s first live album titled 11.17.70.  It was recorded on November 17th, 1970, in the A & R Studios in New York and was broadcast live on radio.

This album was one of my first exposures to Mr. John’s music, and I was quite taken with it. I’m a piano player. Most of the rock music of the mid and late 60s was driven by the electric guitar. I like rock music that is driven by the piano. I like it even better when accompanied by strong melody.

That’s what Elton delivered then and now: pop rock music with infectious melodies and great piano accompaniment.

Listening to some of the tracks from 11.17.70 today, I couldn’t help but think of President Obama as I reacquainted  myself with the song, “Can I put you on?” which I’ve  linked above.

Mr. John sings Bernie Taupin’s lyrics which features this relevant refrain:

“Can I put you on, people can I put you on
Tell you that I love you people
Sing a salesman’s song and put you on.”

Mr. Obama puts us on when he talks about jobs. Take the Korean Free Trade Agreement. The Bush administration initiated, negotiated and finalized this job creator for America in 2007. It required final confirmation from the new President and new Congress.

They sat on it in 2008 as unemployment went up.

They sat on it in 2009 as unemployment went up.

They sat on it in 2010 as unemployment continue to hover above nine percent.

Finally, after three years of economic stagnation, the president and his party finally passed the thing in December. But while we dawdled, Europe swooped in and cut their own agreement with South Korea at America’s expense.

This president claims he’s all about creating jobs. As Elton would say, “Can I put you on?”

The same thing happened with the Columbia Free Trade Agreement, another job creator for America. President Bush and his team had the agreement all set to go in 2007. The Obama/Reid team sat on it as American stagnated, until just a few weeks ago.

Why all the delays? The unions got involved and wanted the agreements to be less free.

This president claims he’s all about creating jobs. As Elton would say, “Can I put you on?”

Some of the best jobs in America are energy jobs. And yet the president has blocked offshore drilling for oil even as Mexico, Russia, Cuba, and Canada move into to scoop up the oil in fields adjacent to ours.

The president has put the Keystone XL pipeline on hold until after the election, which puts on hold the 20,000 jobs economists say would be created by building this pipeline from Canada to Texas. So what is Canada going to do in the meantime? Prime Minister Harper says they’ll send the energy to Asia instead.

This president is only interested in creating jobs for public employee unions (who received billions from the Obama stimulus package) and green energy companies like Solyndra who take our money, spread it among Obama campaign contributors, and then go broke.

In the meantime, Asia, Russia, Cuba, Canada, Mexico, and everyone else is snatching up our jobs while the president plays liberal politics.

This president is about creating jobs?

“Can I put you on?”