Between the abolition of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, increased job creation and spending, and the capture of Osama Bin Laden, this past year has been very busy for the Obama Administration. Combine that with the upcoming election of 2012 and all eyes were on Washington on January 24 for the annual State of the Union address.
This year, President Obama touched on everything from the economy to education. Staying on trend with the desire to create jobs in the United States, Obama stated, “It is time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs oversees and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America. Send me these tax reforms, and I will sign them right away” in conjunction to announcing the implementation of a new minimum tax for multinational companies, which will assist companies based in America with higher tax breaks.
He also aims to expand tax reliefs to small businesses that are raising wages and creating jobs in the United States. President Obama also discussed education proposing that “every state require students to stay in school until they graduate or turn 18”, rewards for effective schools, and encouragement for schools to design and follow their own curriculum.
In terms of upper education, Obama stated that colleges and universities would receive less funding from taxes if they didn’t stop raising student tuition. President Obama also spoke about the environment and initiatives to support natural gas production, reduction of waste in factories, and passing of clean energy tax credits.
Besides the popular topics of the economy, the environment and education, President Obama also spoke about Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, lobby reform, and stopping bailouts and handouts within Congress.
I interviewed students to get their reaction to the State of the Union address and their reaction was a generally positive one. Both Democratic and Republican students thought that the President did a good job at keeping his speech moderate; however, some believe it was just a big campaign pitch. Most appreciated how much Obama touched on education and education reform, and believe that job creation was important and is going to remain an important issue for the 2012 election.