THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
Read Time:3 Minute, 55 Second
With his legislative agenda stalled and unemployment stuck in double-digits, President Obama used his first formal State of the Union address Wednesday night to outline his efforts to rebuild a ”tested” nation and put more Americans to work.
In a 68-minute address that focused overwhelmingly on confronting the nation’s economic ills, Mr. Obama did not mention his efforts at revamping the health care system, which dominated Capitol Hill last year, until deep into his speech – and only after making it plain that he was shifting his legislative priorities to the economy.
“Jobs must be our number one focus in 2010, and that is why I am calling for a new jobs bill tonight,” he said to strong applause. And he also focused on the need to rein in Wall Street’s excesses.
“We can’t allow financial institutions, including those that take your deposits, to take risks that threaten the whole economy,” Mr. Obama said in a speech that dovetailed with the populist tone he has adopted since the Democrats’ surprise loss of a Senate seat in Massachusetts last week.
But he nevertheless defended the bank bailout as necessary to save the economy, albeit a bitter pill.
“If there’s one thing that has unified Democrats and Republicans, it’s that we all hated the bank bailout,” he said. “I hated it. You hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal.”
Later in the speech, he turned to health care, citing the need for Congress to act, and drew some spirited applause.
“By the time I’m finished speaking tonight, more Americans will have lost their health insurance,” he said. “Millions will lose it this year. Our deficit will grow. Premiums will go up. Co-pays will go up. Patients will be denied the care they need. Small business owners will continue to drop coverage altogether.”
But, he added: “I will not walk away from these Americans. And neither should the people in this chamber.”
In his speech, Mr. Obama also dealt with national security issues and the threat of nuclear proliferation. He said that since taking office, “we have renewed our focus on the terrorists who threaten our nation” and pointed to investments in homeland security and disrupted plots to attack Americans. He briefly mentioned soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and said, “we all have a responsibility to support them when they come home.”
But by far, the central emphasis remained on jobs, the economy and helping the middle class .
He called for some tax credits, subsidies for expenses like day care and student loans and a three-year spending freeze for discretionary spending. He also plans to appoint a bipartisan commission to make recommendations to reduce the nation’s long-term debt.
But he cautioned: “We have to recognize that we face more than a deficit of dollars right now. We face a deficit of trust – deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years.”
He added: ” To close that credibility gap we must take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to end the outsized influence of lobbyists; to do our work openly; and to give our people the government they deserve. That’s what I came to Washington to do.”
Mr. Obama’s aides had signaled before the speech that he would concede to having made mistakes during his first year in office and call on his Republican critics to redirect their energy and help him rebuild the economy and change the tone and culture in Washington. And in his remarks, he did indeed issue a renewed call for bipartisan cooperation.
“Rather than fight the same tired battles that have dominated Washington for decades, it’s time for something new,” the president said. “Let’s try common sense. Let’s invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt. Let’s meet our responsibility to the people who sent us here.”
The economic and political climate for this set piece of Washington theater is far more abrasive than Mr. Obama might have imagined when he was elected the 44th president in 2008 and declared that “change has come to America.”
The nation has been mired in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s, prompting him to focus on how he will create new jobs and respond to the mounting insecurities and frustrations of working families and the middle class.
In turning to health care, Mr. Obama acknowledged political stumbles in getting a bill enacted but did not suggest there were problems with the proposals themselves.
There is much more out there. This was a great speech by a great man. Google it…
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I loved his comment about that terrible court ruling Bee. Alito clearly doesn’t share our enthusiasm.
MadMike, I think that last comment kind of nailed it – one less thing to bitch about.
I was pleasantly surprised by some of the policies he put on the table, from more tax credits/cuts to the middle class to more for the wealthy. I particularly liked hearing someone finally talk about making it more difficult to offshore than to create/keep jobs here. ’bout time it is even discussed, I say. I’m sure my teabagger co-workers will be fuming this morning over the various smack-downs he gave, but in all fairness, he did talk to both sides like they are unruly children, and that’s pretty much how they’ve been acting. The supreme court – oh, my, those justices didn’t like it very much when he told them they f’ed up, did they? Wow, talk about stony faces from the 5 who voted in favor of corporate rule last week, and Sotomayor looked like she was going to cry (she voted against, btw). Ginsburg looked guilty by association.
Will I guarantee he will end the “don’t ask” nonsense. That will, of course, piss of the left wing “tea baggers” because that is one less thing they can bitch about…
Vigil we all know you hate the president. I don’t understand why you just don’t declare yourself a tea bagger. Please stop pretending that you are on our side…
He brought up “don’t ask/don’t tell”. Hopefully, he takes it beyond simple verbiage this time.
I’m re-writing Mike’s last line:
This was a great speech by a great speaker.
I mean, I didn’t see it, of course. That just sounds more plausible to me.
I agree Tom! No competition despite all the foot pounding by those who would seek to impress us…
I really liked Obama’s speech. I thought I was jaded to his yearlong cycle of do nothing, give a rousing speech, do nothing some more, give another stirring speech…
But he did a really great job of confronting his own failures and shortcomings, spelling out what needs to be done, and I really loved “But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors and stop insurance company abuses, let me know.”
It was a great speech, and Virginia Governor McDonnell’s R2-D2 imitation didn’t compete at all.
I think he did an admirable job. He is working to bring together a coalition of common sense. It will be a tough job. But if he doesn’t get the support of his own party then it would be next to impossible. Those so-called faithful that desert him because he cannot make magic must be held responsible for the what could happen later this year and in 2012. If anyone thinks another George Bush cannot be elected they need to read the record. It is not all about the economy.
So why did the Prez choose root canal when we didn’t need it?
what a self righteous comment.
We needed to FDIC those institutions. Wipe out their equity,fire mgmt.In the case of the less poorly run institutions, recapitalize them. These for the most part were not payment processing institutions that kept the economy going;they were dedicated to leveraged speculation. If they failed,they failed. Bernanke backstopped the money markets, Obama was completely aware of that.
This is not hindsight. Stiglitz, Roubini and a host of economists were saying this at the time. BUT none of those economists contributed millions to Obama’ election campaign.