Americans Wanted to Hear Specifics in President Obama’s SOTU Speech, Didn’t Get Any

According to Gallup.com polling data, “Americans would prefer that President Barack Obama use his State of the Union address mainly to make specific proposals for Congress to pass this year, rather than to outline his broad vision for the direction of the country.”

So did the President do that? Did he provide the country specifics, or did he just outline a broad vision?

Here’s a breakdown on some of the issues the President addressed in his speech:

On education: “Teachers matter. So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let’s offer schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn,” said the President.

No reasonable person can disagree with that, but Americans want more than just a broad vision. No program specifics were proposed by the President on education.

On illegal immigration: “We should be working on comprehensive immigration reform right now. But if election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let’s at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, and defend this country. Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away,” stated the President.

After three years in office and apparently no progress, why didn’t President Obama offer a proposal? He put this issue off, and on Congress.

On energy: “We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly one hundred years, and my Administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy. Experts believe this will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade,” claimed the President.

The above sounds great, but it’s not the kind of specific proposal Americans are looking for from the President.

On infrastructure: “In the next few weeks, I will sign an Executive Order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many construction projects. But you need to fund these projects. Take the money we’re no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home,” the President proclaimed.

That’s a plan, but it’s not bi-partisan, it doesn’t really involve Congress. Shouldn’t it?

On finance: “Send me a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress, and I will sign it tomorrow. Let’s limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries they impact. Let’s make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for Congress can’t lobby Congress, and vice versa – an idea that has bipartisan support, at least outside of Washington,” stated the President.

That sounds good at face value, but it’s a request for Congress to come up with something. It’s not a specific plan from the nation’s leader.

We’re into the third year of the Barack Obama Presidency. During the course of a 65 minute State of the Union Address, the President touched on 12 major issues. But in taking stock of the condition of the country, it would seem the President didn’t give the American public the substance they wanted.

Mike Thayer is Eastern Iowa’s most vocal conservative, offering the Heartland perspective. Providing news analysis and a unique take on the issues of the day, Mike is Sick Of Spin! View profile


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *