Even after pressure from some Republicans to break with tradition and withhold a formal invitation, President Barack Obama will deliver his State of the Union address Jan. 20.
This will be the president’s first address to a Republican controlled Congress.
Prior to the address, Obama has been on a three-day, three-state presidential trip that, according to The New York Times, is intended to steal the political spotlight from the newly empowered Republicans on Capitol Hill during their first week in control of Congress and will offer Union “spoilers.”
At Obama’s first stop in Detroit, the president cited statistics that he said is evidence of an American comeback: the creation of jobs, better health care plans and a surge in American manufacturing. Obama said he wanted to continue to build on this momentum.
Perhaps his biggest announcement before the State of the Union address came Jan. 8 in Tennessee when he said he will propose a government program to make community college tuition-free for students. Advisers say this will be added to the president’s proposed budget and will be detailed in the upcoming address.
While expensive, this legislation would change the face of American education. By removing barriers to higher education, we have a more educated workforce that allows our country to compete with the rest of the world. Funding toward higher education continues to be cut, and just knowing the president realizes the importance of higher education is encouraging.
Of course, the president will have to be more descriptive of his plan to pay for this in his State of the Union address. Will the cost outweigh the benefits, or will the benefits pay for themselves in time? A more educated workforce that leaves school with less student loans means a better economy. Student loan debt accounts for 37 percent of debt for adults ages 20-29, and that continues to rise, according to a USA Today article. This often crippling debt creates a stagnated economy. If students can attend college for much cheaper, as Obama’s proposes, this will make education accessible to more Americans.
At his final stop in Arizona, the president called for federal legislation intended to force American companies to be more forthcoming when credit card data and other consumer information are lost in online breaches, according to a New York Times article. The Personal Data Notification and Protection Act would demand single, national standard requiring companies to inform their customers within 30 days of discovering their data had been hacked.
This comes after multiple data breaches and hacks of companies like Target, Sony and Home Depot in the past year.
Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address was a chance for him to explain his accomplishments, with him touching on the lower unemployment rates, the rebounding housing market and more at-home oil production, lowering reliance on foreign oil. This year’s address will be no different, as Obama needs to highlight his successes against the stronghold of a Republican Congress.
“In coming months, let’s see where else we can make progress together,” Obama said last year, and it will be interesting to see what progress the presidents believes Washington has made.
The president made waves this year by going against Congress, most recently by signing an executive action in November shielding millions of illegal immigrants from deportation. The House passed legislation Wednesday to nullify that action.
Progress has not been made together, and Americans are taking notice. The past election which elected a Republican Congress had the lowest voter turn out since World War II.
“To everyone who voted, I hear you,” Obama said after the November election. “To the two-thirds of you who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, I hear you too.”
The climate of American has changed since last year’s speech, but the president still needs to call for unity. However, Obama is no longer sitting back waiting for things to happen and I expect this speech will have a different tone from last year. His recent trip is proof that something different is coming.
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