Cal Thomas: “Here’s a suggestion for Joni Ernst, the new Republican senator from Iowa, who will deliver the GOP response to the State of the Union address Tuesday night. Get a chorus together and open with this old Sammy Cahn-Jule Styne number: ‘It seems to me I’ve heard that song before; it’s from an old familiar score, I know it well, that melody.’ Advance leaks of the president’s address indicate he will call for higher taxes on the wealthy and successful in order to pay for programs for the poor and middle class. This is boilerplate Democratic wealth redistribution we’ve heard since New Deal days, which appeals more to emotions than it does to principles with a long history of success. … Leaders should inspire others to follow examples of people who have succeeded in life. Instead, the Democrats’ mantra has been that the poor and middle class can’t succeed without government help. If that were true, the money spent on programs aimed at the poor and middle class would have succeeded by now. It’s long past time for a new direction and for a new ‘song’ with different words. In the month we observe the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., how about ‘We HAVE overcome’?”