The State of the Union Address

The State of the Union Address became more of a statement of the hopeful future of America rather than explaining the actual current state of America. This was done by President Obama and his administration because quite frankly the current state of America is not what they would hope it is. So they rather focused on what they hoped the future would hold. What topic that President Obama talked about extensively was his approach to the job crisis in America. He admitted that currently there were millions more unemployed Americans than there have been in previous years as job growth has been down. He then stated, to a raucous ovation, that there needs to be change in the job market. When President Obama was broad in describing change during his speech he generally received applause from both Democrats and Republicans, but when he went into the specifics the applause from the Republicans often became quite faint and even nonexistent at times. His plan included expanding the small businesses of America, which is a plan that I believe holds huge merit. Smaller businesses employ about half of all Americans and larger companies have the ability to outsource work, so expanding and allowing for new small businesses to form would be hugely beneficial to Americans seeking employment. President Obama's plan involved giving more money to community banks and forcing larger banks to pay greater taxes to allow this to occur. Once the community banks had more money they would be able to give small businesses loans as they need to establish credit in order to be successful, expand, and give job opportunities to a great deal of people. President Obama referred to this as part of his Job Bill, which he challenged the Senate, more specifically the Republican Senators, to pass as quickly as possible so that it could be put into action. By putting these people on the spot in front of the entire nation President Obama was able to put pressure on them to pass the bill. He wants this to be passed as soon as possible, and I believe that it can be successful, so putting pressure on the Senate to pass it was a great strategy. It was also a risky one because perhaps the Republicans will feel a greater need to stand their ground on this issue. I do not see this being an issue as for the most part they seemed to have a fairly positive reaction to this plan to expand small businesses. They did not have a positive reaction to all of President Obama's proposed plans as the more specific he got it seemed the more disapproving the Republicans became. They would often applaud his broad views on change and the topics that needed to change but when he became more specific the Republicans held their applause and their silence was not golden for the Obama administration. To me it spelled out trouble because the more disapproving they are of his plans the harder it will be for them to pass in the House and Senate. It seemed as though there is going to have to be a great deal of sacrifice and compromises from both parties if they wish to get anything accomplished, and it seems as though they are both set on seeing change. For change to happen they must agree on certain issues and agree to disagree on others. Until next time, enjoy the gadgets.

Sincerely,

Matt Magill