One year. That is how long it has been since President Barack Obama addressed the State of our Union. He has done so for four years arguing the needs to improve education, grow the economy, find better and cleaner energy resources, and the deficit.
Now, it is time for Obama to give his State of the Union address once again.
As he moves into his second term, the question is what we will expect from Obama this time around.
In his first State of the Union address in 2009, Obama wanted to rebuild and recover. He wanted to create jobs for Americans and not send them overseas. He wanted a reform to allow funding for people to receive higher education. New cleaner energy resources and healthcare were also topics he discussed. Obama was hopeful and his issues were broad.
His second State of the Union address was a mere reflection of his first term. Obama discussed the progress the Recovery Act. He argued it created jobs and cut taxes. Obama said “jobs must be our number-one focus in 2010.” He also covered issues such as a need for financial reform, encouragement of American innovation, exporting of goods, investments in skills and education of the people, affordable mortgages for homeowners and the deficit.
In 2011, Obama’s third State of the Union address tackled the idea of the “American Dream.” He encouraged the idea of American innovation. Create jobs here and have the United State be the industry leader once again. Obama proposed by 2035 that 80 percent of America’s energy will come from clean energy sources. He argued it would maintain America’s leadership in research and technology. Ultimately it would lead the country’s success. Obama engaged the issue of improving education leading to more jobs. Illegal immigration was briefly discussed and Obama said to not expel the talent that was enriching the nation. Again, Obama tackled the issues of creating jobs, taxes and the deficit.
In Obama’s fourth State of the Union address, he reflected on the progress the past three years had made and what needed to be done in his fourth year as president. “I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place,” Obama said. He then justified his reoccurring ideas of improving the industrial industry, education, the deficit, job opportunities and taxes.
Those issues will not go away.
Obama will still tell the nation education has to improve because it will better the economy. He will still convey the message for the need to tax people of higher income and cut those for the middle working class. He will say health care needs to improve. He will say these things at some point, but will they be the main focus of his address.
What will he say?
Gun control has become a hot topic since the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn. Due to the impact on the country, Obama took immediate action. Obama has asked Congress to introduce measures to reduce gun violence and keep the children safe. Vice President Joe Biden has also addressed the nation supporting Obama’s plan to reduce the violence.
The change in immigration laws has also become a topic of high interest. Obama says the United States is a “country of immigrants” and that we have always been. He argued we are descended from relatives who lived somewhere else and the only true people of this country are the Native Americans. A writer for The New York Times says the key issues dealing with immigration are “whether to make a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants conditional on further tightening the nation’s borders.”
In Obama’s inauguration speech on Jan. 21, he stressed the need to work as one unit, as one country working together. There is no doubt he will mention it in the coming State of the Union address. Obama will discuss the need to work as a nation to get these improvements done and move from what the state of the country is at the current moment.
The entire purpose of the State of the Union address is for the president to address to the country and Congress about the current state of our country and where he wants to take the country in the coming year.
It is hard to predict all the issues Obama will discuss or whether some of the current issues will even be addressed. Only on Feb. 12 will we all know the goals for the year from the president himself.
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