Marking an interest in the new politics of civility, President Barack Obama delivered his second State of the Union address in a filled House chamber with members of the Republican and Democratic parties mixing up their seating arrangements, as opposed to the long-standing tradition that separates party members into two sides of the aisle. Most of the dignitaries seated before the president wore black and white ribbons in honor of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who recovering from a gunshot wound to the head in an attack that left six people dead and several more injured. The ribbons honored those victims as well.
The president began his remarks honoring by Giffords and those who died, but quickly turned to a brief history of American innovation and achievement before launching into several domestic issues like alternative energy. Obama said he wanted to see 1 million electric vehicles on American roads by 2015, and wanted 80 percent of the nation’s power to come from green sources by 2035.
Moving towards education, Obama highlighted his “Race to the Top” effort, which he credited for turning around a failing school in Denver, Colorado. “Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation,” Obama told the nation. Obama also pushed for the enhancement of tax credits to help fund the increasing costs of education. The president used education to tie in a plea for immigration reform.
“Let’s stop expelling talented, responsible young people who could be staffing our research labs or starting a new business, who could be further enriching this nation,” he said.
The president also touched on his health care milestone. He said he was open to tweaks in the law but would not go back to the days of health care providers not offering coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions.
Other speech items included an extension of support to those struggling for democracy in Tunisia, and a push for nuclear abandonment in North Korea.
Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan delivered the Republican Response, and credited the president for mentioning the nation’s mounting deficit crisis. However, he criticized the president’s push for the $787 billion stimulus and other spending measures which he said weakened the nation’s economic standing in the world.
”The facts are clear. Since taking office, President Obama has signed into law spending increases of nearly 25 percent for domestic government agencies, an 84 percent increase when you include the failed stimulus.”
“All of this new government spending was sold as investment, yet after two years the unemployment rate remains above 9 percent and government has added over $ three trillion to our debt,” Ryan’s statement continued.
You can read the full version of President Obama’s address here: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48181.html
Follow this link to the full version of the Republican Response: http://budget.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=221249
