UNITED STATES—The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama held his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, January 20. There was quite a bit that the President had on his agenda that he wanted to express to Congress and America, with only two more years left on his term.
Did we learn anything that we didn’t expect to hear from our Commander in Chief? Not really in my opinion, but the overall speech gave a sign to America that the game of politics is in full-force and we should expect lots of back and forth from members in Congress.
First up were discussions about progress that America has made in the recent years in relation to the economy, foreign oil and that the war in Afghanistan is coming to an end. It was an interesting tidbit to hear the Mr. Obama discuss the issue of housing in America, which hasn’t fully recovered since the 2008 collapse of Wall Street. Has the housing market reached the proportions that it used to be? Not quite, but he used personal stories from Americans to directly connect with members of Congress and the American people.
The issue of jobs is something that needs further evaluation. I mean has this country really rallied enough to bring the number of jobs that are needed to fully introduce the American society to jobs in vast numbers. The issue concerning the minimum wage was a discussion to ensure that workers could earn a livable wage, but how active will Congress be in ensuring that to happen? Don’t count on it. Perhaps we could force them to live on $7 or $8 an hour and see how well they make it last.
Small businesses taking a hit because of the wage hike has been in constant discussions, but I truly believe making sure that people can earn not just a decent wage, but to have additional funds to do other things is imperative. Issues regarding outsourcing were also discussed. I mean most of us already know its happening more and more with large corporations and even smaller businesses are taking the same route.
The issue of education which is personally important to me became a highlight, but he didn’t spend as much time discussing ways to ensure that all students would have the ability to go to school without the feat of amassing large numbers of debt, and perhaps the kicker is trying to make college affordable for all socio-economic classes.
He did something that impressed me: addressing the childish games between Democrats and Republicans! The debates, the inability to work with one another, “demonizing” one another and a bunch of other things; he addressed politics in a way that no politician has ever done. I’m dying to see how the political pundits and the media respond to such craziness without doing precisely what the President wants us to stop doing.
I was a bit stunned to see him address issues of racism involving Ferguson, Missouri and the police force. Mr. Obama’s speech was something that brought a bit of light to the country. When he highlighted that he had no more campaigns to run, uproar erupted in the House, and the President quickly responded by saying, “because I won both of them.”
That reaction proves that the Republican controlled Congress will not make the President’s attempt to get anything done in his last two years easy. I can’t believe politicians would act this way on live television, knowing that millions of Americans would be watching what is transpiring. The biggest message I got from the President’s speech is that members of Congress are planning to make Mr. Obama’s final two years as difficult as possible.
What they fail to realize is that it affects the American people when things don’t get done. Remember 2016 is not just a presidential election, it’s when more seats in the House and Senate will be up for grabs!
