Highlights of President Obama's 2015 State of the Union Speech
I liked it. Most of his agenda will be ignored by Congress, but hopefully these issues will be kept front and center with constant exposure between now and November 2016.
On (finally) ending the Cuban embargo:
“When what you're doing doesn't work for 50 years, it's time to try something new.”
On the need for better bridges, roads, ports, and trains:
“Let's set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline. [zing] Let's pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that will create jobs. Democrats and Republicans used to agree on this.”
He urged Congress to send him a bill allowing all American workers to earn paid sick leave:
“We're the only advanced country on Earth that doesn't guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers.”
To Republicans who keep voting against increasing the minimum wage, he said:
“If you truly believe you could work full time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, try it.”
He repeatedly used the term Middle Class Economics, defined as:
“The idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”
Urging Congress to stop trying to turn back the clock on Obamacare, banking regulations, etc., he said to stop:
“...unraveling the new rules on Wall Street, or re-fighting past battles on immigration. If a bill comes to my desk that tries to do any of these things, it will earn my veto.”
The number of SOTU rebuttal speeches seems to grow exponentially every year. Tonight there were supposed to be five of them. Joni Ernst gave the “official” rebuttal speech. I tried to stay awake through the first few minutes of her fixed-smile sing-songy head-bobbing kiddies' show TV hostess demeanor, but I wasn't up to the task.
Other rebuttal speeches were by Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Curt Clawson and...(five was what I'd read online; I don't know who the fifth one was. Does it matter?)
posted by Tom Harper @ 1:20 AM
4 Comments:
I think Obama is setting up talking points for the 2016 election. Democrats want to show republican rejection of popular issues.
I just love Obama's current groove. I think he knows the current crop of Republicans are against his support for the middle class but he's playing the long game here, setting up Hillary or whoever the Dem nominee is as a economic populist champion.
Tony Perkins did one the day before for the mind everybody else's family group. I see that Boehner has invited Bibi to address congress next month too as of this morning. they just don't get it at all, people do not want the US to be all over the place fighting things we have no business fighting. Mitch is already saying the president does not control what happens in congress, we will decide what is voted on and so on. Keep doing you Mitch and you guys will never win another presidential level election again.
Jerry: I think that's exactly what Obama is doing. I hope so. These issues need to be all over the media and in the public consciousness, between now and November 2016.
Jim: Yup, the long game, that's what we need now. None of his proposals stand a chance of being passed in the next 2 years, so Plan B is to keep these issues burning and lay the groundwork for the Democratic candidate in 2016.
Jess: Tony Perkins, that figures. I think Congress is walking right into the trap Obama is setting for them. The more they dig their heels in, the more times they try to repeal Obamacare and derail Wall Street regulations and the EPA, the more vulnerable they'll be in 2016. I hope.
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