President Barack Obama delivers the State of Union address before a joint session of Congress in the House chamber Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, in Washington, as Vice President Joe Biden, and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, listen.
(AP Photo/Larry Downing, Pool)
President Barack Obama urged Americans to action in Tuesday evening’s State of the Union Address.
“Opportunity is who we are,” Obama said. “And the defining project of our generation is to restore that promise.”
Calling on Americans to involve themselves in both their communities and the country as a whole, the president emphasized his desire to continue as an active administration.
“In the coming months, let’s see where else we can make progress together,” Obama said. “Let’s make this a year of action. That’s what most Americans want – for all of us in this chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes, their aspirations. And what I believe unites the people of this nation, regardless of race or region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all – the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead in America.”
Obama called upon Americans to participate in economic recovery efforts.
“Over more than three decades, even before the Great Recession hit, massive shifts in technology and global competition had eliminated a lot of good, middle-class jobs, and weakened the economic foundations that families depend on,” he said. “Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better.”
Affordable healthcare, an increase of minimum wage for federal contract workers and immigration reform were articulated as clear priorities. Obama made it clear that he intends to distance himself from an unpopular Congress in addressing economic issues and pushing forward policy priorities.
“Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled,” the president said. “The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by – let alone get ahead. And too many still aren’t working at all.”
“Our job is to reverse these tides,” he said.
Obama proposed a “set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class.”
“Some require Congressional action, and I’m eager to work with all of you,” Obama said of his plans. “But America does not stand still – and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Multiple Republicans issued responses to the president’s address, with the official response being issued by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, who currently serves as the No. 4 GOP leader and is the highest-ranking female Republican in Congress.
Members of the president’s Cabinet held live chats following the delivery through Google+, electing to answer questions posted to social media using hashtags #SOTU and #SOTUChat.
Mississippi Republican senator Roger Wicker issued statements following the president’s address indicating his disapproval of the policy agenda presented.
“Tonight, President Obama used the prime-time moment to set forth a big-government agenda – not bipartisan solutions,” Wicker said in a press release sent Tuesday night.
Senator Wicker criticized the Obama administration’s comfort with crafting policy by executive order.
“At a time for leadership and cooperation, the President continues to threaten unilateral executive action instead of offering to work with Republicans and Democrats,” Wicker said. “The President continues to advocate the politics of jealousy rather than promoting a message that would inspire economic growth.”
Sean Higgins, senior political science and African American studies major and president of the Ole Miss College Democrats, said that the nation saw President Obama willing to cooperate.
“Tonight we saw a president that was very willing to work with Republicans to fix problems that affect everyday Americans,” Higgins said. “The president is willing to work with both sides of the aisle, and made it clear that not all Americans can wait for congress to get their act together and stop with the obstruction.”
Jeremy Holliday, senior health and exercise science major and treasurer for the Ole Miss College Republicans, said the president presented few innovative policies.
“There were no new ideas presented, but ones that polled well with the public — there is no harm, but also no good,” Holliday said. “There is no meeting in the middle, and that is the problem.”
