Quantcast
Channel: Promoting Urban Lifestyle and Culture in DC » middle class
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

State of the Union 2015: Obama Calls on GOP to Help Middle Class

0
0

In a State of the Union address that was perhaps his most energetic and optimistic — before a Congress dominated by Republican majorities for the first time in his presidency — President Barack Obama proclaimed the state of the union “strong.”

Most people watching the State of the Union address might have expected a chastened and defensive Obama after the drubbing the Democratic Party received in the Nov. 4 general elections, but in the months since the election, the president has defied convention and has challenged his opponents at every turn. And his Jan. 20 speech was no different.

Echoing Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Obama, who heads into the final two years of his presidency, made a passionate case for the executive and legislative branches to join forces and give the middle class a helping hand. In what many called Obama’s boldest and most progressive state of the union yet, Obama challenged Republicans in remarks that set the table for a range of issues Democrats and Republicans will wrangle with heading into the 2016 presidential election.

“Tonight, we turn the page. Tonight, after a breakthrough year for America, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999,” Obama declared to sustained applause. “Our unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the financial crisis.  More of our kids are graduating than ever before; more of our people are insured than ever before; and we are as free from the grip of foreign oil as we’ve been in almost 30 years.

“America, for all that we have endured, for all the grit and hard work required to come back, for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this: The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong,” he said. “At this moment — with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production – we have risen from recession, freer to write our own future than any other nation on earth. It’s now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next 15 years, and for decades to come.”

As expected, the five Republican legislators who responded to Obama after his more than hour-long speech, disagreed, criticizing most of Obama’s positions and successes, saying more needs to be done. Freshman Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said Congress, which was given a mandate by the American people last year, has already begun working hard to reverse the state of dysfunction in Washington.

She said the GOP seeks to eliminate the “failed policy of Obamacare,” and pass “a serious job creation program,” the Keystone pipeline project, which she said “will provide thousands of jobs and billions of dollars with minimal environmental impact.”

Read more @ The Washington Informer


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images