THE historic two-term tenure of the first African-American president is almost over.
On Tuesday, Jan. 12, President Barack Obama delivered his last State of the Union (SOTU) address.
Deemed as his valedictory speech, the president reported to the American people what his administration has accomplished and set the road map to where he hopes the next leader of the most powerful country of the world would stir the nation moving forward.
He also declared, with a sense urgency, what he would still want to complete and deliver in the last 12 months of his presidency, appealing to Congress to work with him for the good of the American people they all have sworn to serve beyond party lines and personal interests.
In his SOTU, Obama also set the agenda on what the American people should be looking for, not only in his successor, but in other elected public officials, to make sure they continue to build on the gains his administration has worked on and fought so hard for.
As of press time, ahead of Tuesday’s SOTU, Pres. Obama sent out messages to his supporters, inviting them to watch his last report to the nation. Here is an excerpt:
“When we took office, we were losing nearly 750,000 jobs a month. But over the last 69 months, our businesses have created more than 13.7 million new jobs — the longest streak of private-sector job growth on record — and the unemployment rate is down to 5 percent.
For the first time, more than 90 percent of Americans are now covered, and more than 17 million people have gained health insurance under Obamacare. Insurance companies can’t discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions, or charge women more just for being women.
And America is now leading by example on climate change. The Clean Power Plan will cut carbon pollution from power plants by 32 percent by 2030. We’ve cut our oil imports by more than half, while doubling clean energy production from wind, solar, and geothermal — creating steady sources of good jobs that can’t be outsourced.
Even as our economy is growing, America has cut our carbon pollution overall more than any other advanced nation on Earth. And we just helped secure the most ambitious global climate agreement in history.
These are your accomplishments, and that’s what I want to celebrate with you on January 12. As long as you’re out there organizing, on whatever issue you’re organizing around, America has a bright future ahead.”
The stagecraft of his SOTU told much of his narrative. Each of his special guests were real people who stood for what his administration fought for, and what would have to be done — economic rebound after the recession; health care and education for all; immigration reform; keeping America safe and secure; stricter gun control measures; addressing the challenges of climate change; hope, equal opportunities and help the middle class and ordinary Americans regardless of economic status, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual preference, religious beliefs, immigration status, etc.
WHAT do you think? In the past seven years, has Obama delivered what his campaign promised?
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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
