On Tuesday, Jan. 20, President Barack Obama delivered the annual State of the Union Address to the nation.
“The shadow of crisis has passed, and the state of the Union is strong,” the president stated. Throughout his speech, President Obama spoke of his new plans for middle-class economics, as well as new policies on cyber-terrorism, foreign trade, and education, among other things.
“That’s what middle-class economics is — the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same set of rules. We don’t just want everyone to share in America’s success. We want everyone to contribute to our success,” President Obama said.
The president then unveiled a number of new proposals, designed to help the average American family, including tripling the childcare tax credit to $3 thousand per child, equal pay for female workers, increasing minimum wage and challenging Congress to draft a bill mandating paid sick leave and maternity leave. “If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it,” the president said when speaking on raising the minimum wage. This is the second time in 2 years that the president has pushed for higher minimum wage.
The question on the minds of many Americans is, “Where is this money going to come from?” The president explained that by challenging Congress to get rid of tax loopholes that give big corporations and the ‘super-rich’ a huge break, but deny middle-class families the same privilege. “We can use that money to help more families pay for childcare and send their kids to college. We need a tax code that truly helps working Americans trying to get a leg up in the new economy, and we can achieve that together,” the president stated.
President Obama also unveiled a new plan to make community college free for any American, as long as they keep their grades up and graduate on time. The president also praised the city of Chicago and the state of Tennessee for “proving that free community college is possible,” obviously referring to the Tennessee Promise program. “I want to spread that idea all across America, so that two years of college becomes as free and universal in America as high school is today. And I want to work with this Congress to make sure Americans already burdened with student loans can reduce their monthly payments, so that student debt doesn’t derail anyone’s dreams.”
The overall tone of the president’s speech was optimistic, even making light-hearted jokes at times. Toward the end of his speech, Obama said,” I have no more campaigns to run,” to which several [Republicans] in the audience applauded. The president smiled and replied with, “I know, because I won both of them.” The president urged Congress to work in a bipartisan effort to help make these proposals work.
In closing, President Obama stated, “My fellow Americans, we too are a strong, tight-knit family. We, too, have made it through some hard times. Fifteen years into this new century, we have picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and begun again the work of remaking America. We’ve laid a new foundation. A brighter future is ours to write. Let’s begin this new chapter — together — and let’s start the work right now.”
