Last
Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of surrounding myself with members of the
College Democrats to watch President Obama’s historic State of the Union
Address. His
speech reinstated the message of hope and resilience in a time of adversity
within American society and economic uncertainty in the world. Mr. President
did more than just demonstrate what he accomplished over the past year; he also
outlined a plan to help stimulate the economy and the American education and
energy systems.
Stated
by President Obama included foreign policy accomplishments over the past year
which include that no Americans are fighting in Iraq, Osama Bin Laden was
killed, troops in Afghanistan are beginning to come home, and the Taliban is
losing support.
Additionally,
the American Auto Industry (which was bailed out by the government) is doing
extremely well and this has been exemplified through the hundreds of thousands
of jobs they created as well as their superiority among auto industries around
the globe. In conjunction, American manufacturing productivity is growing,
companies are beginning to in-source jobs, and more jobs are being created
within the country.
With
strengths also come weaknesses. I happen to believe that President Obama has
initiated several pieces of legislation that would aid in the stimulation of
the economy, education, and energy but such have not been passed due to
bipartisan politics in both the House and Senate. Currently, the middle class
is shrinking and the ones at the top are progressing while the people at the
bottom experience a life of hardships. It is important to remember that the
reason our economy is in such a mess is due to bad mortgages, a lack of
regulation, which caused risky and corrupt financial practices on Wall Street (derivatives,
collateralized debt obligations, credit default swaps).
That
being said, during the speech, President Obama advocated for regulation and
reform on Wall Street by creating a Financial Crime Unit and a Consumer
Financial Bureau to oversee economic practices and activities to ensure that
2008 and 2009 never happen again. Also, he pushed for the Payroll Tax Cut
(which puts about $40 in each American’s paycheck), the Buffet Rule (those
making over a million dollars pay 30% in taxes), a ban on insider trading,
refinancing on homeowner’s mortgages at historically low rates, the expansion
of tax breaks for small businesses, the consolidation of government
bureaucracy, tax credits for veterans, the development of American-made clean
energy, off-shore drilling through the usage of environmental-friendly
practices, and the investment in infrastructure and education.
But,
how can we spend money on plans that cost America millions and millions of dollars?
Simple Answer: Use the money that we saved from being out of the Iraq War and
coming out of the war in Afghanistan. The President proposes that half of that
money goes to stimulating American manufacturing and the other half to help pay
off American debt.
Additionally,
Obama laid out a blueprint to success called, “An America Built to Last”, which
focuses on new manufacturing, innovative skills, American values, and energy,
and another plan aimed at economic stability called the “Recovery Act” which centers
on investment in infrastructure and manufacturing.
January
24, 2012 was a historic moment. President Obama’s State of the Union not only
mentioned the past year’s accomplishments but also what America needs to do to
remain at the top. I urge leaders to put politics aside and vote on legislation
based on what will help Americans and the middle class the most.
Kudos
to the President for another inspirational and motivational speech!
The link to watch the State of the Union Address is as follows:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2012
