After a day of school when I was younger, I would rush to my grandmother’s house for a bowl of chocolate ice cream. I would sit with her and play dominos for an hour, watch cartoons and try to recreate the moves I saw on Power Rangers every Saturday morning. I would pretend that I had no homework, no spelling tests, no grade sheets and no baths.
The dream always ended. My mother would arrive and take me home to the reality of third-grade responsibility and icky vegetables. Regardless of how much I wanted to pretend that life was just like another day at grandmothers, I was always wrong. At some point I had to get to work.
And now, Mommy has finally arrived to pick up Congress from grandma’s house.
At first, the State of the Union address seemed to be nothing more than a campaign speech in a thousand dollar suit with a bow on top.
Under the title “An America Built To Last”, the President unveiled a vision that included insourcing and creating new manufacturing jobs, providing workers with new skills, an increase in American energy production, and stressed a “renewal of American values”. He touted his success in eliminating bin Laden, ending the war in Iraq, cutting deficit spending, reviving the automotive industry and reforming the bureaucracy. He also dodged and sidestepped ‘third-rail’ political issues such as Social Security and Medicare, entitlement programs and debt reduction.
While the speech might have been an election year surge, President Obama was not afraid to try to take on and challenge the political status quo.
The President chose to spend a majority of his time and effort in establishing himself as a disciplinarian to an unruly, problem-child Congress. He challenged Congress to draft and pass a multitude of legislation.
He urged Congress to increase accountability in big business with the model “no bailouts, no handouts, no cop-outs”.
Another such proposal, tax reform, included a base tax rate for all overseas profit, tax breaks for companies that choose to remain in the United States, continued tax relief for small business, an extension of the payroll tax cut that affected approximately 160 million workers, and implementation of his Buffet rule – a minimum, uniform tax on those making over $1 million in a year.
“Now, you can call this class warfare all you want”, Obama said. “But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.”
The President continued to place Congress on the chopping block by referencing the Senate’s inability to pass legislation in a timely manner. “Neither party has been blameless in these tactics. Now both parties should put an end to it.”
President Obama urged Congress to follow the example set by our servicemen and women; an example of teamwork, goal-setting, and accomplishment. “Our destiny is stitched together like those fifty stars and thirteen stripes.”
Now that mother has arrived to pick up the children, let’s see if they decide to get to work.
Important take-aways from the State of the Union:
– Urged Tax reform
– Urged Wall Street accountability laws
– Urged new clean energy standards
– Announced creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit
– Urged Congress to prevent the doubling of interest rates on federal student loans
– Urged immigration reform and assistance to acquiring citizenship for migrant workers and students
– Split money spent on Iraq war – 50% to paying the debt, 50% to nation-building
– Urged the elimination of tax breaks to oil companies
– “no options off the table” for dealing with Iran
– New defense strategy