State of the Divided Union 20110

by A.J. Focht

Last night President Obama gave the annual State of the Union address. For the first time, he gave his address to the new GOP majority congress. Democrats and Republicans decided to play nice and sit together during the State of the Union for the first time in 100 years.

Blue and red ties checkered the congressional audience attached to tentatively smiling politicians. The seating arrangement might have suggested that the congress was really ready to set aside their differences, but just watch the applause throughout the speech and the nations political divide is clearer than ever. With the exception of the moment of acknowledgment for Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords, not once did the entire house clap in unison during the speech.

Despite the tensions in the room, President Obama delivered a phenomenal speech. And even though at the end he announced, “The state of our union is strong,” there was a lot of talk about what we need to do to strengthen it even more. Obama carefully introduced his plans to move the nation forward while touching on the concerns of the Republican party.

If one word had to be used to describe his speech it would be: tact. Obama approached the nation’s most controversial issues in a manner that acknowledged the diversity of opinions. He notes right off the bat that, “It doesn’t matter if we can sit together tonight but if we can work together tomorrow.” Even the most anticipated item of the night, the country’s new health care system, was handled with absolute professionalism. He admitted that he is willing to work to make any valuable changes, but he also clearly stated we will not move back to a position where insurance companies have control over the system.

Technology was a large concern of President Obama’s, “The rules have changed. In a single generation revolutions in technology have transformed the way we live, work, and do business.” The need for America to move fully into the digital age was made clear. He lightly touched on the need for the government to upgrade its own information systems; he expressed several dreams for the future of technology in America as well, nation wide wi-fi and electronic text books included.

“How we win the future” was the underlying theme of the evening’s speech. Innovation, education, and rebuilding America were his stepping stones. Throughout the hour long speech, Obama made mention of many plans and bills he wanted to bring before Congress. After every big announcement one party, or segments of a party, would start clapping and give a quick standing ovation, while the rest of the room sat with silent scowls.

Out of all his checkpoints, changes to America’s educational systems were the most noteworthy. Obama set one of his many goals stating: “By the end of the decade America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.” His plan for making high education universally accessible? Start with a $10,000 tax credit to students over the course of four years. That was one of the items he wishes to place before the new Congress.

As for grade schools and high schools, the states were challenged with a new program called Race to the Top. The program is set to take place of the failed No Child Left Behind bill. Race to the Top awards funding to states that make innovative and achievable plans to catch America’s school systems up with other countries. A special call was given out to educators; Obama praised teachers, saying society needed to give them more respect. He ended this segment with a call to America’s youth, asking them to become teachers if they wish to really help the country.

There were a whole lot of other goals set out and discussed during the speech. Among them were:

• Double exports by 2014 (an old goal that he touched on) .
• First country to have a million electric vehicles on the road, by 2015.
• Pay for this by stopping tax payer dollars going to oil companies.
• 80% of America’s electricity will come from clean energy sources by 2035.

For more key points from the speech check out Politics Daily or read the full transcript hosted by ABC.

All together, Obama talked a pretty big game. He kept everything respectful and addressed most of the major issues. Unfortunately, this will all be for nothing if the two parties can’t learn from the evening and work together. The general lack of consensus in applause at the end of each item doesn’t bode well. Congress needs to do a hell of a lot more than just sit together if this country is going actually achieve any forward progress.

If you missed the speech you can catch the full thing on the White House Youtube Channel.