State of The Union 2014
While watching the President's State of The Union Speech some things were quiet evident. I noticed as we discussed in class the staging of the room. From the small business owner to the lady that lost her unemployment insurance, it was definitely an "In Your Face" kind of atmosphere. I was especially moved by the Sfc Cory Remsburg. To know that a young man left home and joined the military at the age of eighteen years old says a lot about his courage. Not only did Cory have the courage to defend the country we all love, he deployed ten times and was struck by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Coming home as a wounded warrior facing many surgeries and left blind in one eye, Corey deserved every bit of the sustained applause he was given and more.
Our own Mayor of San Francisco Ed Lee was spotted by the camera, and seating for the democrats and republicans appeared to be mixed. The supreme court justices were seated right in front as with all State of the Union Addresses while Justice Ruth Ginsburg gave the President a big hug.
Our own Mayor of San Francisco Ed Lee was spotted by the camera, and seating for the democrats and republicans appeared to be mixed. The supreme court justices were seated right in front as with all State of the Union Addresses while Justice Ruth Ginsburg gave the President a big hug.
As I scanned the room with the camera crew it was evident that not everyone was a very happy camper. The look on the Speaker of the House's face, John Boehner would tell the story as the President articulated some of the "Hot Button Issues". The word Affordable Care Act, seems to still be the elephant in the room. However, President Obama still seem eager to engage in asking his republican friends in the house to offer a better plan or maybe just a plan period to fix the problem. After all the republican house members have actually voted with no luck over forty times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Other issues include; the voting rights act, minimum wage increase, climate change, restoring unemployment insurance, reforming the tax codes for small business and the broken immigration system.
On foreign policy, it was clear that the President was able to get a rise out of some of his republican counterparts, after all they seem to love war more than people. The troops will always get a rise out of both groups democrats and republicans, as we must support our troops! The fight over diplomacy in Iran is a huge issue right now because not everyone is on board with easing sanctions in that region. The President ask that we "give diplomacy a chance" and threaten to veto any bill that would threaten to derail talks with Iran. I was little surprised I didn't hear more on gun violence although it seem to have been tied in with mental health issues. Manufacturing is one issue on the horizon that seem to be creeping its way back in some sense, and may very well be the vehicle for training Americans skills for companies that are hiring right now. I thought it was a clever idea to ask the companies and corporations for help in the arena of creating jobs for the unemployed.The rebuttal given by the republican side by the congresswoman from Washington, for me fell short. In my opinion it was basically a repeat of what the President had just spoke about with very little substance as to what the plan is for the other side. Per CNN that held a focus group during the speech, they found that the highest rise came from the democrats during the reference to equal pay for equal work. The Affordable Care Act was the low point for the republicans, while independents tend to gravitate negatively as the minimum wage increase was address.
I found the speech to hit more on domestic and foreign policy, with emphasis on creating opportunity for all Americans and not a select few. When referencing work place policies for women, equal pay for equal work the applause from the women in the audience was palpable. On a lighter note the comment made by the President when referring to how women is treated in the work place as "something out of a mad man episode", I thought was pretty funny. Overall I feel the main focus for the President was for America to speed up growth while expanding opportunity.
http://www.indiatimes.com/news/americas/barack-obamas-2014-state-of-the-union-address-highlights-125479.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/us/politics/obama-state-of-the-union.html?_r=0
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/28/state-of-the-union-2014-video_n_4590455.html
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