Our Union is at least in a State.
Without further ado, here is my response to the State of the Union Address. At least the parts I deemed important.
On the Economy:
The President said we are going through a “period of uncertainty.” He also requested there will be no changes to the economic stimulus bill so it won’t “delay or derail” it. He also was quite passionate about not raising taxes, enough so to say he will veto any bill raising taxes. He even threatened to veto any bills with excessive earmarks, as well as banned all committee earmarks from being passed without a full congress vote approval.
My View: I agree with most of this. I don’t see any bills being vetoed for having excessive earmarks though. Excessive, or “More than 50%” as he put it, is such a relative term that it won’t ever be decided on. Also no progress will be made this year if he has to veto every bill.
On Housing:
The President wants to offer tax free bonds to refinance mortgages.
My View: Thats fine and dandy, but it isn’t going to help turn things around.
On Health Care:
The President said he wanted to make health care available to all Americans. He wants to be “expanding consumer choice, not government control.” He asked to end the bias for those who do not get insurance through their employer.
My View: I like this idea, but since I don’t know how much the bias is I won’t know how much this actually helps. I’m assuming through common reasoning this will level out the playing field, but I’ve been wrong before.
On Education:
The President wants to strengthen the “No Child Left Behind” act, and give pale grants to all public school children (as opposed to just college students).
My View: Since I’m in the education field, this is a tad bit personal. I see states cutting down funding to all public schools with no relief in sight. While this does help students, it doesn’t help schools. They need to feel the money love too.
On Energy:
The President wants to reduce dependency on oil by funding new technology including renewable power, nuclear power, and reversing the greenhouse gas effects.
My View: Reversing the greenhouse gas effects? Really!? Quite a bold request there President.
On Immigration:
The President says we will never fully secure the border until there is a lawful way for immigrants to come for work. Also he says we must find a way to humanely treat illegal immigrants.
My View: While I agree with his points, I look forward to see what he actually does about it. I don’t foresee anything major new laws about work visas or illegal status uplifting happening.
On Iraq:
The President plans on bringing 20K troops home, but wants to continue to fight in Iraq.
My View: I agree with staying in Iraq. It was probably a mistake to go there in the first place, but now that we’re there things need to be done right. Hasn’t anyone see Charlie Wilson’s War!? “They f*cked up the end game.” We can’t let that happen again.
Overall:
I think this was a pretty boring address. There wasn’t much change (to coin a term from Obama), just more of the same. I wished he promised to bring some big changes in his last year. I guess he’s just planning to ride things out. Unfortunate.
