Every year, the State of the Union is my favorite speech — I make New Years Resolutions for myself, set goals for the year, and ambition to do better, at all that I do, than the year before; and, I think it is only prudent that our government be just as goal-motivated.
The problem with watching the State of the Union live is its mostly a dog and pony show. The President’s party in the House and Senate will cheer for policy positions that align with their party platform, and the President’s opposition party will do the same, whenever they can squeeze in a cheer or clap session. It’s like a New England Patriots game, without all the cheating.
That said, I always look for the edited version of the State of the Union. Some kind soul somewhere will do the painstaking task of editing out the 13-20 minutes of clapping and ovations so that the real substance and content can ring through. Here is the one for this year, with my analysis below the fold.
“IT BEGINS WITH THE ECONOMY”
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The President starts with a statement that “The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong.” He underlines this by referencing our “growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production.”
I think that this is mostly true, and certainly highlights the successes economically of the country since 2008’s mortgage meltdown. Another point he underscores is that the unemployment rate is lower than it was in 2008, which can indicate a true “bounce back.” However, one of the biggest contentions from republicans is the allegation that the unemployment numbers are skewed.
But, he’s most right when he states “it begins with the economy.”
In fact, the majority of the speech is on the economy. The President points out that “more than half of manufacturing executives have said they’re actively looking to bring jobs back from China.” Granted, this is an overstatement: 54% of executives expressed interest in re-shoring outsourced jobs; only 16% of those executives are actively doing so.
All in all, the President focuses on a term he calls “Middle-Class Economics”, which “means helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change. That means helping folks afford childcare, college, health care, a home, retirement.” He goes on to discuss paid sick leave, (making a less than truthful claim that the U.S. is the “only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers.” In actuality, there are maternity leave and sick leave measures guaranteed by the FMLA, they are just unpaid. I believe that this is what he wants to try to change.)
“I AM SENDING THIS CONGRESS A BOLD NEW PLAN TO LOWER THE COST OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE – TO ZERO”
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I’ve already written on this issue, and I think overall it’s a good idea. Criticisms of this idea are the same as they were when I first published my article, in that, how it’s paid for must be determined prior to republican approval. That won’t be available until we see the proposed budget.
21st CENTURY BUSINESSES NEED 21st CENTURY INFRASTRUCTURE
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This portion of the speech is a hodgeepodge mess of generalized infrastructure concerns. It doesn’t flow logically from one idea to the other, and is really just a generalized position statement than a clear objective for new or improved legislation.
The President states that he “intend[s] to protect a free and open internet, extend its reach to every classroom, and every community, and help folks build the fastest networks, so that the next generation of digital innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our world.” That’s a good thing. I adamantly support net neutrality.
He touches on issues with the environment, by supporting efforts of “converting sunlight into liquid fuel” and criticizes the Keystone XL Pipeline for the same reasons I do by saying “let’s set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline. Let’s pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than thirty times as many jobs per year, and make this country stronger for decades to come.So let’s set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline. Let’s pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than thirty times as many jobs per year, and make this country stronger for decades to come.”
This doesn’t feel like infrastructure improvements, just good ideas about some of our infrastructure.
“DEMONSTRATING THE POWER OF AMERICAN STRENGTH AND DIPLOMACY”
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The President touches on a series of foreign-policy issues in a row, underscored by his introductory statement that he does not want to see the country “dragged into costly conflicts that strain our military and set back our standing.”
The transition to opening up diplomatic relations with Cuba leads this discourse. Secretary of State John Kerry’s diplomatic efforts with Iran are also underscored, pointing to the successes of a “chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran; secures America and our allies – including Israel; while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict.”
He also, without calling out North Korea for the hack on Sony (or the ISIL hack on the military), states that “no foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids.”
I’m in favor of all of these things, if they work. Cuba is the easiest issue, I think. Iran the hardest we are willing to mention openly. North Korea and ISIL are the hardest things for us to deal with diplomatically, because it’s hard to negotiate with militant despots.
“14 of the 15 WARMEST YEARS ON RECORD HAVE ALL FALLEN IN THE FIRST 15 years OF THIS CENTURY”
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The President devoted more time in his speech on Tuesday to the issue of climate change than he did to any other issue, save the economy. While he touches on abortion rights, the wage gap, the internet, drones, human rights, and diplomacy, climate change was a driving force in the State of the Union for 2015.
He starts by calling out the cynics, stating “I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they’re not scientists; that we don’t have enough information to act.” Coupled with the statement that “The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe.” He underscores this with point out that “the Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it.”
I agree with the science that global warming is an issue, and I believe that even if there is only a minor marginal outlier of human influence on that shift in climate, we should do something to cut down our effects on our environment. It’s why I want to buy a Tesla, and it’s why I bike to work.
But, I am genuinely concerned about what the Federal government can do to stop the creep of climate change. We can shift the subsidies away from coal and oil to cleaner, more efficient, energy production. But that’s about it, I think. As a limited government, the United States has very little control over the marketplace of energy, and so long as guys like Knolan like driving fast cars with internal combustion engines, there will always be a market for oil and gas in this country.
“IF WE’RE GOING TO HAVE ARGUMENTS, LET’S HAVE ARGUMENTS – BUT LET’S MAKE THEM DEBATES WORTHY OF THIS BODY AND WORTHY OF THIS COUNTRY”
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The President closes his State of the Union with a long plea to a Republican-controlled Congress to bring real, substantive debate to bipartisan issues, instead of being the obstructionists they’ve been for so long. It’s a good motive, and his office has certainly had a tough time with “reaching across the aisle” and more specifically, had trouble finding a hand to hold when they do reach.
I genuinely hope that there are bipartisan issues that can be agreed upon and dealt with swiftly. Immigration is the biggest one for me right now. I don’t like the idea of an executive order allocating resources away from deportation as a stop gap for comprehensive immigration reform. I like the Gang of Eight Bill, I like Marco Rubio’s stance on immigration, and I think that if he leads the charge, he could lead the Republicans in a fair fight for the presidency in 2016.
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