Five things we learned about Obama from the State of the Union
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Version 0 of 1. US President Barack Obama stood before the nation on Tuesday night and delivered an optimistic State of the Union Address, touching on how to improve the middle class amid a strengthening economy and asking the nation – politicians and civilians alike – to stand together as he completes the final two years of his presidency. It was bold of Mr Obama to be so ambitious, so optimistic in his rhetoric, considering his party lost complete control of Congress in November’s midterm elections and, for the first time in his presidency, would hold a minority in both houses. And it appears his calls on improving partisan relations have fallen on deaf ears in the legislature based on reaction from the GOP. We’ve learned quite a bit about Mr Obama in the past six years, but his State of the Union speech offered several clues about the president and his agenda going forward.
He wants to cement his legacy in the middle class Mr Obama’s government has succeeded in pulling the US out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and put the economy on solid ground, especially compared to the rest of the world. But, if his presidency were to end tomorrow, it seems he would be disappointed in his failure to fortify the middle class. The president spent 25 minutes of his address talking about the economy – according to The Washington Post – and much of that time was spent outlining his agenda to boost middle-class Americans. The plan calls for increasing taxes on the wealthiest, including closing loopholes on capital gains, and using that money to help fun tax cuts for things like childcare and an effort to increase wages for women in the workforce. He has high ambitions heading into the final lap of his presidency The start of Mr Obama’s speech was heavy in economics, but it was far from the only thing on the docket. He also discussed plans to make community college free for qualified students, asked Congress to allow him to forge new trade deals with Europe and Asia, and launched an initiative promoting modern medicine, and that was just in the first half of the address. Oh, to be young and ambitious. These proposals sound nice, sure, but we’ve heard them before. After the speech, Mashable tweeted a graphic that showed the 18 bills proposed in Mr Obama’s 2014 address. Only two of them have been signed into law. So we’ll hold our breath before getting too excited, Mr President. He was hopeful in his calls to end bipartisan beef Part of what has prevented the president from instituting more of his agenda is the bipartisan gridlock that has gripped Capitol Hill throughout much of his presidency. A majority Republican legislature and a Democratic executive branch will make for difficult bedfellows over the next two years. Still, the president has asked for legislators on both sides to reach across the aisle to work for the American people, presumably the first president ever to do so. “Imagine if we broke out of these tired old patterns. Imagine if we did something different,” Mr Obama said during his address. “Understand – a better politics isn't one where Democrats abandon their agenda or Republicans simply embrace mine. A better politics is one where we appeal to each other's basic decency instead of our basest fears.” But will veto anything he doesn’t want Mr Obama imagined a government that did something different, one that actually worked together, and it’s a lovely vision. But in the same speech, he threatened to veto almost any piece of legislation that this Congress is likely to put on his desk. He only used the word “veto” twice, but in those two utterances, the president threatened to throw out legislation reforming health insurance, Wall Street regulations and immigration, and said he would reject increasing sanctions on Iran before negotiations with the country are set to wrap up this summer. He has a bit of cheek remaining Arguably the best moment of the entire address came near the end, when the president showed a flash of his snarky side. Trying to make the point that he would be focused only on the duties of the president, rather than another campaign, Mr Obama said, “I have no more campaigns to run.” Republicans in the chamber responded with sarcastic applause and without a beat, the president said, “I know, because I won both of them.” |