The 2011 State of the Union address delivered

President Barack Obama took a new smoother approach during Tuesday’s State of the Union address. Encouragement of unity was proclaimed to a mixed room.
The 2011 State of the Union address was not a laundry list of proposals, yet it was more of a push for unity than expected. He mentioned his successes in office including don’t ask don’t tell, the reform of health care and a growing economy. Obama did that to show what he has done this year, and that he is working hard in office. Bipartisanship was recognized and all were encouraged to pull together to bring not only stronger communities but also a stronger government.
The economy is growing again, and Obama stressed that under the work of both Republicans and Democrats it will only continue to grow. Obama says, “America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world”. He recognizes that jobs aren’t as easy to come by as they once were for many, because of the change of technology and the change in the type of jobs that are needed. The president says that it is innovation and education that will bring American citizens up to par.
Innovation in the way of clean energy was, as predicted, a main topic of discussion for Obama. There was plenty to say on how clean energy was the future and the changes that will be made accordingly to make our nation one that will win the future. He proposed to eliminate the billions given to oil companies from tax payers’ money and invest it in clean energy efforts. With seeing the promise in renewable energy Obama challenges the best minds of our time to step up to the plate and help advance the market to create new jobs for Americans.
Education was addressed, but instead of talking about finances of college education for the masses, Obama focused more on reform of public schools and taking responsibility for the education of America’s youth. Teachers were used as examples of how we should value the education system. Obama made a plea to “any young person wanting to make a difference in the life of our nation, to become a teacher”. To compete in today’s economy colleges were pin pointed for needing revamping. By raising the bar on the education system Obama hopes it will lead to more educated American college graduates.
Obama spoke strongly about illegal immigration in the fact that there are many people today that pledge allegiance to our flag, but fear deportation. And there are many colleges that educate students from abroad, but as soon as they are done with school are “sent back home to compete against us”. Obama wants to take on the issue of immigration, to protect America’s borders, enforce laws and address the millions of people that are undocumented and living in our country.
Health Care was brought up as a work in progress, Obama wanted everyone to know that improvements can always be made, but he said what he isn’t willing to do is go back to when insurance companies could deny coverage to a pre-existing condition.
The deficit spending is something we have lived with for almost a decade, but now that the recession is over Obama proposes to freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years. This proposal would reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade. The president is, “bringing discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower as President”.
One of Obama’s most prominent campaign promises addressed bringing the troops home from the War on Terror, which we did not see in 2010. Troops from Afghanistan and the remaining troops in Iraq now have a new timetable for returning home, July 2011. He thanks troops for their heroics, and says, “that there will be tough fighting ahead but we are strengthening the Afghan people and building partnerships”.
Overall, the 2011 State of the Union address was delivered in a way that hasn’t been done before. Obama made sure to address the most important things without listing them like presidents before him have done. Even having republicans and democrats sitting next to each other seemed to make a difference in the way the state of the union speech was received. Although some things were taken differently, as anyone can see with officials speaking out in the media, not everyone will be jumping for joy after a speech like that. Obama did his best to acknowledge his successes as well as stressing unity within the government while still focusing on main issues like clean energy and the national deficit. It is encouraging to hear all that was said, but it will be no doubt an interesting year ahead seeing if change unfolds.