Promises to work with GOP-led Congress
“TONIGHT, we turn the page.”
On Tuesday night, Jan. 20, President Barack Obama addressed the joint Congress and the entire nation at the annual State of the Union address, held traditionally in the chamber of the House of Representatives. It was his sixth address as President, and the first with both houses of Congress under Republican control.
In a roughly hour-long speech, Obama praised the accomplishments made in the 21st century, discussed the War on Terror and international policy with Cuba, and addressed ongoing debates of middle-class economics and workers’ rights. He also rolled out a series of proposals on his agenda aimed at benefiting the middle class, which Republican leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner, heavily criticized.
“It’s about the people’s priorities,” Boehner said in a YouTube video. “Making the government bigger isn’t going to help the middle class. More growth and more opportunity will help the middle class, and those are the Republican priorities.”
The 6,493-word speech was met with both high hopes and criticisms from both lawmakers and the public, with some doubting the President’s optimistic, defiant tone and packed-agenda promises for the final two years of his term.
“After a breakthrough year for America, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. Our unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the financial crisis. More of our kids are graduating than ever before; more of our people are insured than ever before; we are as free from the grip of foreign oil as we’ve been in almost 30 years,” Obama announced proudly.
“At this moment—with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production—we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth.”
The speech was the highlight of a weeks-long State of the Union “season,” in which the President plans to take his political agenda out of the White House and out on the road, straight to the people.
“The shadow of crisis has passed”
“America, for all that we’ve endured; for all the grit and hard work required; for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this: the shadow of the crisis has passed,” Obama declared.
He praised middle-class economic successes following the recession, saying “the country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share” and repeating earlier job-related proposals he made about making community college free, raising the minimum wage, and expanding paid leave for workers.
The President has already announced many of his plans prior to his big speech, including executive measures to protect millions of undocumented immigrants, plans of reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, and striking a climate change agreement with China.
Knowing his ideas would have a slim chance of being approved, Obama exhorted the GOP to take his agenda seriously, promising to work together with the new Congress despite their differences in views.
“If you share the broad vision I outlined tonight, join me in the work at hand. If you disagree with parts of it, I hope you’ll at least work with me where you do agree.”
Rather than focusing on the “checklist of proposals,” he urged, Congress should focus more on the “values at stake” in its choices, beginning with the economy and helping all Americans move forward.
“Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?” he asked. “Middle-class economics means helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change.”
He also addressed national security and the global war on terrorism, using very strong terms to stand together with world leaders and calling on Congress to “show the world that we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL.”
Among other proposals speaking to recent worldwide issues, the President promised to protect “free and open internet,” combat climate change by cutting carbon pollution with China, improve healthcare rights and benefits, and launched a Precision Medicine Initiative to help conduct research to bring scientists closer to curing global diseases and epidemics, such as the recent Ebola outbreak.
In a bold move, Obama also called out the aggressive Russian government, saying its economy is in “tatters” while America leads “not with bluster, but with persistent, steady resolve.”
The LGBTQ community also praised the President for “respecting human dignity” and acknowledging their invisible groups—especially when he said the word “transgender” during his speech, advocating for the rights of all minorities and immigrants, and condemning the persecution of these communities.
Lastly, he commended the nation as a “strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times,” and deserves practical, lasting solutions for the future.
“My only agenda for the next two years is the same as the one I’ve had since the day I swore an oath on the steps of this Capitol—to do what I believe is best for America,” Obama finished. “And I commit to every Republican here tonight that I will not only seek out your ideas, I will seek to work with you to make this country stronger.”
(With reports from TIME, CNN, HuffPost, WashPost, ABC News, Associated Press)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(Las Vegas January 22-28, 2015 Sec. A pg.1)
