COMMENTARY | President Obama delivered his State of the Union Address on Tuesday. Throughout the speech he attempted to reach across the aisle and bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans. Obama presented his plans for tax reform, job creation and the economy. The main headline of his speech was keeping the “American Dream” alive.
The Republican response to the State of the Union was mostly negative as expected. The Republicans had hopes Obama would address the national debt which currently exceeds $15 trillion dollars. Despite Obama’s best intentions, Republicans have difficulty seeing past what they perceive to be the deficiencies of the Democratic Party.
With the economy the way it is, it seems like the general goals of Republicans and Democrats are similar for once. But if either party suggests a solution, the other believes the plan goes too far, or doesn’t go far enough. Even when one party, suggests a potential compromise, it is rare to have an agreement reached quickly.
There isn’t an easy solution to solve the country’s woes, but more bipartisan leadership and cooperation is a step in the right direction. The way the U.S. government is structured prevents progress and encourages poor discourse. With Congress and the Executive Office on opposite sides, neither one can accomplish anything. Anything President Obama pushes will be shot down by Congress, and anything that Congress pushes through can be vetoed by the President. Even when Congress wishes to overrule the President, they don’t have the strength of a two-thirds vote to get something passed.
The way the government works, any progress would be good progress, however both sides are so paranoid of allowing anything to happen. Approval ratings of the government are dropping by the day, and it seems that no one is ready or willing to step up and make a difference. The 2012 election is less than a year away, but the Republicans can’t seem to find a reasonable candidate to challenge Barack Obama.
Unfortunately it appears that Obama will win the presidency again, but Congress will remain divided, and the U.S. won’t be able to move ahead as one unified country for a long time.
Source: Dan Lothian, Jessica Yellin and Tom Cohen, Defiant Obama challenges Congress on sticky issues, CNN.com