IN his sixth State of the Union address delivered to the American people before the joint session of Congress last January 20, President Barack Obama declared that after coming from a recession and being engaged in two wars when he first assumed office in 2008, “the verdict is clear.”
“America, for all that we’ve endured; for all the grit and hard work required to come back; for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this: The shadow of crisis has passed,” the president reported about the state of the nation, as he looks forward to the last two years of his term as president of the United States.
Obama presented where America is now, from the ebb the nation was in six years ago. He cited accelerating job growth with the jobless rate well below 6 percent, more people with health insurance, the stock market nearing record highs and lower gas prices.
“At every step, we were told our goals were misguided or too ambitious, that we would crush jobs and explode deficits,” he said. “Instead, we’ve seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health-care inflation at its lowest rate in 50 years.”
Moving forward, Obama urged the Republican-led Congress to work with him, and focus more and build on the aspirations and values they have in common for the good of the American people, especially the hard-working middle class.
Stressing that he is no longer campaigning for his post because he has already won the presidency twice, Obama outlined his vision for America in his final two years in office, starting with a warning to Congress that he will veto any legislation that will undo what he has already secured in place to benefit American families.
The President declared that he will use his veto pen if Congress passes a bill that will seek to overturn the Affordable Care Act, financial regulations that protect consumers, and his executive action on immigration.
Obama also called for increased strikes on ISIS, better safeguards against cyber attacks and for more infrastructure than “a single pipeline,” deemed as a direct shot at the KeystoneXL project endorsed by Republicans, which he has also promised to veto.
President Obama said his focus is not only to further revitalize the economy, but also to make sure that the middle class will get all the help it needs to feel the economic recovery America is now enjoying.
From a report by CBS news, among the proposals Obama presented during the State of the Union address include:
-Provide a $3,000 credit per young child to help families pay for care and an additional credit of up to $500 when both spouses work. His budget will also contain funding to expand access and improve the quality of child-care programs.
-Paid sick leave: Pass the Healthy Families Act, which would allow working Americans to earn up to seven days per year of paid sick time. Obama is proposing more than $2 billion in new funding to encourage states to develop their own programs for paid family and medical leave. The president also wants Congress to pass legislation that would give federal employees six weeks of paid parental leave.
-Minimum wage increase: “To everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise,” Mr. Obama said. But he pushed hard for an increase in the minimum wage in 2014 as well, and Senate Republicans blocked legislation to do so.
-Two free years of community college: An ambitious proposal to waive the first two years of tuition for full-time and half-time students who maintain at least a 2.5 grade point average, graduate on time and perform community service, would cost $60 billion over the next 10 years. The White House wants to finance the plan in part by hiking capital gains taxes on wealthy Americans and imposing a fee on large financial firms.
-Reduce student loan payments: This plan – to cut taxes for 8.5 million families and students, simplify taxes for the 25 million-plus families and students that claim education tax benefits, and provide students working toward a college degree with up to $2,500 of assistance each year for five years — requires an overhaul of tax-based financial aid.
To fund these proposals, the president suggests raising the top tax rate on capital gains to 28 percent, and extending it to cover inherited wealth. The White House says 99 percent of the additional taxes would be paid by the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.
Critics tout President Obama for even presenting these proposals, knowing these would not be passed by the Republican-led Congress.
But with Obama’s increasing approval ratings and the 2016 Presidential Elections in sight, nothing is impossible.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
