Last night we witnessed the first State of the Union Address delivered by President Barack Obama. The tone of his message was clear, direct and purposeful. He wanted to convey to the American public that his presidency would not be defined by poll numbers alone and a mess that was created before he walked in the door. He addressed congress in a non-partisan way and charged them to be better representatives of the office they are holding and not to play politics while trying to legislate on behalf of the American people.
Some notable issues he addressed was first and foremost the job crisis. He acknowledged how serious the situation has become and also how he does not plan to let it be an on-going situation, he was projecting a light at the end of the tunnel, which is promising. He specifically referenced certain cities across America being hit hardest and how dedicated the administration would be to rectifying this crisis. The president stated, “I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay”, but he does not fail to acknowledge that a new bill cannot make up for the 7 million jobs that have been lost over last 2 years. He also proposed abolishing capital gains taxes on small businesses and ending tax breaks for businesses that “ship jobs overseas”. The chamber full of congress and cabinet members were particularly receptive to this issue and roared in applause several times during the speech. Post-speech regarding the jobs crisis, the Republican response came from the brand new Virginia Governor, Bob McDonald and he expressed the sentiment that he was “encouraged about the need to create jobs???.
Another hot-button issue for congress and the rest of the nation was the Healthcare debacle. The president approached this topic with extreme humility and immediately took the blame on the health care fiasco and provided a very strong statement in response, “I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people.” “I don’t quit!” He quipped with some humor as well by explaining his plight for even tackling Healthcare by saying, “It’s clear by now I didn’t take this on because it’s good politics…I took it on because of the stories I’ve heard”. It’s obviously an important issue that needed addressing and it remains to be seen how it will play out, but he also sent a clear message to the senate about holding out on votes simply because they have the power in defeating a possible resolution. He implored the audience by saying, “If anyone has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured…let me know”. This response slightly targeted his many critics as the administration is currently juggling so many important issues at this time with a relentless microscope on his every move.
The president also addressed the war by declaring, “This war is ending, and all of our troops are coming home.” There was a mixed response as some people find this declaration a little hard to believe. He discussed the deficit going up as long as the war continues. He was “just stating the facts” when mentioning that as a nation, we were going from a budget surplus in 2000 to a $1 trillion deficit in 2009 and attributes the “policies of the last 8 years” as “what helped lead to these deficits, and we cannot do it again.” He then suggested, “Let’s try common sense”. On the bank bailouts, the president noted that, he “hated the bank bailouts”. He also used humor as an analogy when saying, “It was about as popular as a root canal”. Overall, the tone of the speech was promising and he closed on a positive note, stating that because of America’s “decency and great strength – I have never been more hopeful about America’s future”. Let’s see how year two progresses and where the poll numbers are today.
Elsewhere in politics, it was also released yesterday that Senator and former Presidential-Candidate John Edwards (D-NC), and his wife Elizabeth Edwards would legally separate amidst his admission to fathering an illegitimate child with an ex-staffer in his campaign. This comes just before another former Edwards campaign aide will releases a tell-all book about the Senator’s indiscretions and other issues that will I’m sure will be a best-seller. Seems to me that Edwards needs some new staff workers, some that will be more in-line with his moral standards because the few staffers known to the public have an asterisk next to them, not for good reasons.
