President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address last night elicited both applause and laughter from both sides of the aisle. Despite the cheery atmosphere in the House chamber, the majority of Americans are still feeling the burn of an ongoing recession. Obama made bold statements in his address, but he needs to get tough, both as a president and as a politician, if he wants to see his lofty words put into action this year.
Appropriately, the speech focused mainly on economic issues. Obama stressed that he has lowered taxes for 95 percent of Americans, and that the era of tax cuts for those with incomes of over $250,000 a year is over. The jury is still out on whether or not Obama will eliminate these Bush-era tax cuts on the wealthiest individuals—he does have a habit of making eloquent speeches and then not bringing down the hammer. As the Treasury continues to hemmorhage money, Obama needs to follow through on these promises.
During this speech, Obama also started acting like a politician, which is something he hasn’t been doing enough of this year. In order to avoid a serious blow to the Democratic party’s ranks in the 2010 midterm elections, Obama has to stop playing nice and start pushing Republicans to engage with his agenda.
Obama also promised to lower the costs of borrowing for college tuition, saying that “no one should go broke because they chose to go to college.” An educated workforce is increasingly important for the United States’ economic strength as we continue to shift from a manufacturing—to a service-based economy. Obama realizes this, and in the speech touted legislation that will cap student loans at ten percent of an individual’s income. This makes it more affordable for critically important, but not highly compensated professionals like teachers and nurses to attend school.
Obama’s vow to take down the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, which prohibits openly gay citizens from serving in the armed forces, will probably be the most talked about part of this year’s speech. This is the right move for Obama to make on a critical and long-standing civil rights issue, even if is partly a response to Obama’s falling popularity with the gay demographic.
The President made bold promises, but he needs to deliver on them. The success of our country—not to mention the Democratic Party—will depend on Obama’s ability to turn these promises into policy.
