State of the Union

Shanteria Vaughn
Ezeamii, Hyacinth C.
US & Georgia Gov’t
25 January 2011
State of the Union Summary
In many respects Obama's speech was a standard political checklist of talking points to provide cover for those Democrats who must run for office in November's midterms. Having signed earmark-laden legislation in 2009, Obama called for reforms in earmark legislation, which isn’t going to happen. The state of the union address tonight was very clear to me and my other friend who also had to watch this for a grade in their class also. President Obama encouraged Congress not to walk away from his stalled healthcare reform drive but made it clear it would no longer be the focus of his legislative agenda. He steered clear of any suggestions on how to push the bill through its procedural quagmire. He did not list specific elements of the overhaul that he wants to see survive, continuing his policy of leaving the heavy lifting of crafting the bill to congressional leaders.
The speech did contain a tone of defiance, acknowledging only ever so briefly his party's setbacks. Clearly, Obama decided weeks ago to emphasize the economy, which polls had been saying since last summer was voters' real top priority. Obama, who's been working in Washington for the last five years, is still trying to play the outsider's role. At one eloquent point he was knocking both parties for playing political games there with petty daily scorecards that do not advance the people's business.
He spoke a lot about how he will help our economy. He said that his main goal is to create more jobs for our country by increasing goods being exported; this will cause more job opportunities to open up. I think that this is certainly doable and would be smart because many Americans have lost jobs in these past few years. He said that the healthcare reform bill would be very beneficial to our economy. I was surprised that he did not talk about this a little more because it is something he is really... [continues]

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