State of the Union Address - Jordan Sylar

     It seems that the time many republicans have been waiting eight years for is finally approaching: Obama is getting ready to leave the presidential office. He gave his final State of the Union address on January 12, with many Americans watching, cheering, and critiquing his words. I was one of those Americans, and I found myself to be impressed, surprised, confused, and saddened by what I observed.

    One of the first things that Obama says is that he will not spend as much time discussing proposals, and he goes straight into a very idealistic rant about the future of our country. All of his ideas were good, sure, but he seemed to be making sugarcoated, unkeepable promises to the American people. I mostly found myself wondering if he believed them, and if not, if he was only saying nice things to maintain the morale of the public. Obama’s speaking skills did impress me, as always, and I can understand how he sways people to support him.

    There were four main points, or rather rhetorical questions, used throughout the speech:  “how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy?”, “how do we make technology work for us, and not against us, especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges like climate change?”, “how do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman?”, and “how can we make our politics reflect what’s best in us, and not what’s worst?”. These are four excellent questions that the American people have not only been asking for a long, long time, but also ones that we desperately need answers to.

    As for his first question about giving everyone fair opportunities, he answers by discussing providing free college and pursuing the Affordable Care Act. Which both seem like good ideas at first glance, but I worry about the consequences of implementation. I do agree that education and healthcare should be accessible to all, I just do not think we have found the best way to provide it without leaning toward socialism.  If this is an issue of equality v equity, I definitely believe that these types of policies lend themselves to equity, and worry about their result on our democracy.

    Technology was addressed mainly in the form of finding new energy sources. He states that there is progress being made in the areas of wind and solar energy, and that this progress will both help the environment and save Americans money. The next point, keeping America safe, I feel was brushed under the rug. Obama seems to have a very high confidence in America’s safety, and he seems to discount threats like Isis too easily. I also feel as though America is taking on too much at once as far as foreign affairs go, and we are quickly becoming the world’s policeman. My desire would be for our safety goals to become simpler and more concentrated.

    As for the last question asked, I would love to know the answer. Obama called for radical change in politics, which I agree with. He said, “The future we want, all of us want — opportunity and security for our families, a rising standard of living, a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids — all that is within our reach. But it will only happen if we work together. It will only happen if we can have rational, constructive debates. It will only happen if we fix our politics.” He goes on to present many more ideas about changing politics and the divisiveness of parties, which I really enjoyed hearing. It was mostly pathos, but I liked the idea presented of using the tools put in place by the framers the right way, and arguing constructively.

His approach to finding solutions can be summed up in the Lincoln quote he used, “we thought anew and acted anew.” The solutions proposed are very much new and forward-thinking, with the end goal of positive change in the areas of technology, economics, medicine, education, etc. Although I didn’t agree with a lot of what was said, I enjoyed this speech. I believe that the first step to improving our country is having leaders that care about the people, and I really hope that Obama cares as much as he claims. He ends by saying “God Bless America”, which is honestly all I can pray after listening to this speech. 

[Please add the points to my FRQ quiz grade]

Kinsey Anderson-State of the Union

The State of the Union Speech occurred on January 12, 2016, and it was President Obama’s final State of the Union Speech. Towards the beginning of the speech, President Obama had a few proposals such as raising the minimum wage, fixing the immigration system, equal pay for work, protecting children from gun violence, and paid leave. After the proposals, President Obama spoke about his vision for the future, which was a consistent theme throughout the speech. Since Obama has less than a year in office, he felt it was important to focus on the future rather than many proposals. Throughout our history, Americans have dealt with significant changes like wars and depressions, and we have not feared the future. President Obama said our optimistic spirit and our choices have helped make economic progress during his presidency that will continue in years to come.

The future was an important element to President Obama’s speech. There were four essential questions that encompassed the remainder of his speech. Obama asked, “First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy? Second, how do we make technology work for us, and not against us -- especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges like climate change? Third, how do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman? And finally, how can we make our politics reflect what’s best in us, and not what’s worst?” 

After stating the four questions, President Obama addressed each question. Initially, Obama stated that the United States currently has the strongest, most durable economy in the world. Obama also said the unemployment rate has been cut in half since the 1990s because approximately 14 million jobs have been created. Then, Obama shifted to technology and discussed how it has replaced assembly line jobs or jobs that can be automated. He mentioned his goals to make college more affordable by reducing student loans, and giving students two years of free community college. Although Obama felt education was significant, he also emphasized the importance of health and retirement. Obama stressed the importance of Social Security and Medicare and how we should work to strengthen them. 

As Americans, Obama said, “That spirit of discovery is in our DNA.” He placed Vice President Biden in charge of leading the medical research for finding a cure for cancer. Since we are dedicated to medical research, Obama wants us to advance clean energy sources. Obama provided facts about how clean energy sources has affected us positively. Next discussion point was the security of America and how it is the strongest nation in the world. Since ISIS is currently a common topic, Obama said ISIS is using propaganda to try and place fear in Americans. Obama’s first priority is to protect Americans by sending forces to Iraq and Syria to reclaim territory. While Obama talked about global matters, he mentioned the significance of improving diplomatic relations.

Our Constitution begins with “We the People”, and Obama said this means all Americans, which led him to his fourth point. We must work together towards the future that we want. After addressing his last point, Obama explained how he wanted to make the political process easier. Obama ended with saying it would be easier to not make changes, but we cannot stop or we will abandon our future.

As I reflect upon President Obama’s speech, I agree with some of his points, but disagree with others. Though the economy has improved, the national debt is rising rapidly. During Obama’s presidency, we reached the peak of our most recent recession with very high unemployment rates. Our economy is getting stronger, but we must recognize the level of debt our country is facing. I also think it would be helpful to make community college free for two years. I believe medical research is very important, and we should strive to find cures for many diseases. President Obama noted that the political process must be easier. One of the areas needing improvement is the voting procedure. It is imperative to make the voting process more stringent. Voters should be informed and understand who they are voting for because we are selecting a person who leads and shapes our country. In order to fix the future, I believe there are changes we must make in the present. 

JD Sanderson - State of the Union

The main points of Obama’s speech were listed in the beginning. The four big issues that he addressed were making sure that the emerging economy is fair for everyone, using developing technology in a way that benefits everyone and addresses long term issues, keeping America safe from threats military or otherwise without becoming the international police, and how to change politics to reflect what the country should be like. I think that Obama is addressing concerns that many Americans have had for a long while. I think that the theme of this address was making sure the future is someplace that you would want to be in. He said that there needs to be change in the economy to account for the changes we see today. There is new technology and policies that creates the opportunity for jobs and workers to be replaced through outsourcing or automation. There needs to be a change so that normal Americans are not left to fend for themselves while the money from replacements goes to the top. Along with technology, the future will need better education as well, which was addressed. Obama made a great point in that the schools should start teaching kids more computer and math skills. Computers are becoming more and more widespread and integrated into commerce and industry, so the new workforce will need to be trained on how to use them. Along with high school education, the issue of college education was addressed. Obama said that college should be more affordable and, at least for community colleges, free for the first two years. This will let kids explore what they want to do without being too locked into one path because it would be too expensive to switch degree paths. This is important because more jobs are requiring a degree, so a college education is becoming more important as factory jobs are being replaced with machines. These machines will need engineers, programmers, and technicians to keep them working, which will all most likely require a college education. This reflects the theme of needing to prepare for the future, in that education will need to change drastically from what it is now to prepare students for the future. Obama addressed another important topic that also has a big impact on the future: new energy sources. Obama stated that because of the growing industry of wind and solar energy, Americans are saving more money while also using a much cleaner energy source. He also said something I really appreciated, realizing that this change won't be overnight and that future generations will have to work for it.

Overall, I liked this speech much more than I thought I would. I didn’t expect to agree with so many things that Obama says, but his politics are surprisingly sane compared to what I’ve heard said about him. I think the part I agreed with the most were his points on education and technology. Colleges are expensive and put strain on graduates. It may be too ideological of me, but I think in a country that’s going to be changing in almost every way, economic strain shouldn’t come with you right into the job market. The only thing I wasn’t completely sold on was our involvement in world politics. I think the country is too focused on maintaining peace that it’s hurting us and other countries. We should be able to focus on our economy and well-being, especially if it will change as much as Obama says it will, which we can’t do very well if we’re worrying about who’s blowing up who across the world. He addressed this, but I think it should go a little further: America makes other countries weaker when we intervene so often. I agree with him not wanting our country to become the police again, but I think except for trade, science, and directly defending our security, we shouldn’t be involved with other countries because they will and have started to rely on us to step into most conflicts. I don’t understand why we can’t let the countries solve their differences themselves, otherwise they’ll be arguing over a river for 60 years until another terrorist group shows up. (For the Test)

KP: SOTU Extra Credit

On January 12, at roughly 9:10 pm, President Obama gave his last State of the Union address. My initial impressions, just based purely on rhetoric, were more pleasant than I expected. Living in the midst of the conservative South, it almost seems second nature to dislike any and all things put forth by the Obama administration. This speech was definitely viewed in a skewed light, as I found myself being rather critical and looking for disagreements, but perhaps that is because nothing is unbiased anymore. Regardless, here are my thoughts.

Obama began with stating that this speech won’t be filled with a traditional list of proposals for the year ahead, however, the following paragraph read a bit like someone running for class president and wanting to initiate no homework, recess all day, and dessert for every meal. Pushing that aside, he gets to his theme for his final address: the future. We live in a time of change and because we adapted to it, we are stronger than before. According to Obama, our recovery from the economic crisis, reform of the health care system, and resulted in the Supreme Court ruling this summer was all product of our work ethic, diversity, discovery, and optimism. With this in mind, we must focus on the future that has been so kindly separated into four points for us.

First is the question of “how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy?” Immediately my mind was drawn to an economics discussion we once had, equality or equity. Equal treatment or equal opportunity? I believe this portion of his speech, if nothing else, highlighted the differences between the two. While in good efforts, this first point seemed to be largely about equalizing the treatment of individuals, the education system, healthcare benefits, etc. I guess my question is what more does Obama want? With ObamaCare  and NCLB, working through Common Core in place, what other equalizing treatment does he propose the country offer?

The next question is “how do we reignite the spirit of innovation to meet our biggest challenges?” My first impression was something along the lines of, what in the world is this man talking about and is this a tangible point? Moving forward, Obama declared action to continue the American legacy of discovery paired with advancements in technology, and appointed Joe Biden head of something to do with medical research and curing cancer. Global warming, gas prices, and solar panels all fell into this topic as well, but to be honest I didn’t quite follow it all. I know he is calling for a reawakening and continued excellence in these fields, but other than that I’m a bit lost.

What I did understand was the mention of America being the greatest country on earth, and the mention of ISIL in the third topic of the speech. I find it interesting that we are the most powerful nation, yet we have not taken extreme measures to fight this group of heartless terrorists, but that’s just my two cents. I understand that for the past year we have joined with nearly 60 other countries to cut off funding, fights, and plots, but what I don’t understand is the apparent contentment with these plans as attacks continued to happen.  I agree with the President and that we should be serious about winning this war, but I understand that it is a delicate matter. I also got the sense of America as having their hands in a little bit of everything, from conflict in Syria and drawing weapons out of Iran, to fighting Ebola in West Africa and resuming relations with Cuba. We are inching towards that policeman mentality, and I pray that we approach that line with much thought and consideration of the consequences.

Lastly, Obama spoke about politics. Radical change in politics is what he wants. He made a mention of respecting every faith, which I thought to be a bit of a rose colored glasses view of American culture. Regardless, this is where I saw the strongest tie to his theme of the future. He pleads for a better political system for the future, one with vague ideas of how to implement. I didn’t get the practical ways this would happen, but maybe that’s perhaps I don’t quite grasp the political realm yet. I did see mention of federalism and the conflict the framers knew it would entail, and I was relieved to see a topic I nearly completely understood.

Overall, I clearly saw Obama’s theme of the future; however, I seemed to get lost in the four points just a bit. While many fact checkers go to show that his points were embellished and dressed up, I am still in awe of the power of words. This speech was uber American, uber empowering, and I can see why some people so easily like him. He tied it up with a pretty bow full of pathos, but effective nonetheless. While I wish I understood more, and desperately want better facts, I was ultimately shocked to see that after the year we had as a country, the optimism rang loud that the State of our Union is still strong.

[extra credit for the Unit 1 test]

State of the Union - Unit 1 Extra Credit

State of the Union - Extra Credit Assignment

DUE: Day after Test

• Watch the State of the Union - either live on 1/12 or online afterward.
• Make notes on President Obama’s main points.
• Write a 2-3 page reflection (double space/12 point font/regular margins) addressing:
• What do you think were the main points of the speech?
• Was there a theme? What was it? Why?
• What was your reaction to the State of the Union? Do you have opinions about what the President would like or not like to do?
• Extra Credit will be added to Unit 1 Assignments - Quiz or Test (20 points on MC Quiz, 1 total point on FRQ Quiz, 5-10 points on a Test) - Please include which assignment you would like to add the extra credit.
• Title your Blog with your name and Assignment Name.