By: Shane Holman, Managing Editor
The 2013 State of the Union address by President Barack Obama was layered with optimism throughout. Proposals and partnerships were announced in the House Chamber for solutions to policy concerns spanning early childhood education to industry innovation. The unusual campaign styled approach to the address sparked significant debate afterward among those in political circles. On a note close to our community, President Obama announced the White House’s creation of a national college affordability and transparency center available for free to the public online.
President Obama commented on the significant progress our nation has achieved in such difficult economic times. Such progress mentioned includes the 6.1 million new jobs in 35 months, troops returning home, and a stronger stock market than in the past 5 years.
“We can say with confidence the state of our union is stronger,” President Obama announced.
Many public policy matters were discussed in the 2013 State of the Union including: the economy and jobs, education, health care, immigration, defense and foreign trade, as well as gun safety.
On the economy, President Obama emphasized the importance of infrastructure. The United States needs the right kind of jobs and a workforce that is capable of filling those jobs. Additionally, addressing the housing crisis through extending the refinancing opportunity by a simplified refinancing process to allow homeowners to refinance at the current lower interest rates. President Obama encourages a partnership with the private sector to work together on rebuilding our national infrastructure to provide both jobs, and a stronger national framework of transportation and technology. The President also made a progressive proposal to raise the minimum wage to $9 per hour nationwide.
In the education policy area, President Obama focused a great deal on the importance of expanding the availability of early childhood education opportunities. President Obama urged that it’s critical for the success of our young people to start off on the right foot. To put the expense in perspective, for every dollar spent in early childhood education 7 dollars is saved through preventing social problems such as crime and high school dropout rates.
Furthermore on education, President Obama addressed the higher education tuition crisis that impacts young adults and their families nationwide. The day after the State of the Union address, the White House released a college scorecard showing where the best tuition values are in the United States. The scorecard is a part of the College Affordability and Transparency Center now maintained by the US Department of Education, found at: http://collegecost.ed.gov.
In the area of healthcare, President Obama praised the passage of the Affordable Healthcare Act to be implemented next year. Expansion of the opportunity of healthcare coverage to those unable to afford or to attain insurance coverage will soon be available.
Immigration is a policy issue that has been pressing for many years, and as Floridians we reside in a border state that makes it an even more critical issue. President Obama called for a comprehensive immigration bill from Congress, and supports a pathway to citizenship style immigration policy.
On defense and foreign trade President Obama emphasized his commitment to keep Congress aware of defense efforts, and to be more transparent to the American people. The President warns that our challenges don’t end with al Qaeda, that we must continue to consider North Korea as well as cyber threats.
The gun safety remarks of President Obama were some of the most emotional of the entire speech. After several tragedies resulting from gun violence, the President declared that these families “deserve a vote” from Congress on gun safety regulations. Noting that a vote merely does not ensure passage of a bill, but implies there is a respect owed to the families of gun violence victims that can be earned through discussing the issue and voting on a potential solution.
President Obama started off his State of the Union address with a quote from former President John F. Kennedy,“51 years ago JFK declared to this chamber that the Constitution makes us not rivals for power, but partners for progress.” After listening to both President Obama’s State of the Union, and Gov. Jeb Bush’s speech at our own Business Conference it is clear that the partisan differences are truly just different means to the same end. Let us hope that our representatives do unite as partners for our progress.
