Response to the State of the Union Address

As a political junkie, I obviously closely watch the State of the Union Address every year. This year was no different, and I am going to provide my personal analysis of the address by President Obama.

First and foremost, I have been a fan of the President since his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and supported his candidacy for president almost immediately after he threw his name in the hat for the office in early 2007. I worked on his campaign, and talked him up to every undecided voter I knew in the months leading up to the election. I was ecstatic when he won in landslide fashion on November 4, 2008. I have supported him through his ups and downs, but recently he kind of started to lose me. I felt like he lost his message, tucked his tail, and began to let the minority party run this country on the backs of the "tea baggers." I was going into the address tonight in a mood in which the president could have lost my support if he continued down this path. So below is my grade for the president on his address, issue by issue (obviously not every issue, but the issues I felt were most important to comment on):

1) Regulation of the Banks-The president immediately took the gloves off, demanding that Wall Street refund the bailout money to taxpayers, especially since they were able to continue giving big bonuses to executives. Note that the Republican Party continued to sit and did not applaud for this. It is obvious who they are interested in protecting on this issue, and it is not you, average reader of this blog. That is, unless you happen to be a Wall Street executive who stumbled across this blog by accident.

Grade: A

2) Health Care-The president and the Senate have completely botched this issue thus far, but the president made an important step in getting this legislation back on track tonight. I am glad that he called out the Senate to start passing things through, and he gave a nice public spanking to the minority party for blocking everything, rather than doing the job they were elected to do. However, he did not demand that a serious government-run, public option be included in the final bill, which I believe is necessary to make serious reform.

Grade: B

3) "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"-I stand behind the many gay and lesbian Americans who are brave enough to serve their country, and I believe that it is fundamentally wrong to deny them of the opportunity to do something that many people (including me) do not have the strength or courage to do. The president demanded that this policy be repealed this year, and I believe that this is a necessary step in the continued fight for equal rights for all. No one should be denied the right to do anything based on sexual orientation, and I think those brave individuals currently serving who are forced to closet themselves while defending our nation and freedom deserve for this to happen immediately.

Grade: A

4) Alternative Energy-I strongly support the development of alternative energy sources. They can create jobs, improve the environment, and eventually break our dangerous dependence on foreign oil. The president called for action from Congress to create new "green jobs," which would take steps into making this all a reality. He outlined several specific plans that will make this a strong possibility, and brought up the fact that even if Republicans want to ignore the scientific evidence of global warming/climate change, passing alternative energy legislation is still the right thing to do for the economy.

Grade: A

5) New Economic Policies-The president talked about the stimulus package, which has stabilized the economy, and which will continue to improve it as it is allocated as the year moves along. This was a great thing to pass, and it is certainly doing its job. He also talked about the positive economic impact that health care reform and bank regulation (forcing lending to small businesses, etc.) will have on the economy, and urged swift action on these items. He also promised to continue to cut taxes on the middle class, eliminate capital gains taxes on small businesses who hire new workers or increase wages, and to basically undo the Bush tax scheme by increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthiest of Americans. These are great ways to get the economy moving in the right direction and driving the deficit down. However, he was not perfect on this one, and I think his idea for a spending freeze on discretionary spending is a political ploy to appease those who have done nothing but block progress for the nation. For this, he lost me a little. Also, he plugged more free trade, rather than sponsoring legislation that would protect union workers and jobs, such as the TRADE Act and the Employee Free Choice Act.

Grade: B

Obviously, the president pulled me back in by showing me that he has not abandoned the ideals that made me want to work on his campaign and stand behind him during his presidency. I give him an overall grade of "A-" for the address, and I hope to see this President Obama throughout the remainder of his tenure as president. I believe the items discussed will only lead to good things for the Democratic Party in the midterm elections later this year, and more importantly, good things for America. I believe this was more than just a speech tonight, and I look forward to seeing these promises come to fruition throughout the year. However, I will close with a little cliche for the president if these changes do not happen, and he goes back to appeasing the "tea baggers" and the minority party as he has done in recent weeks: Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, and I will support Hillary Clinton in the 2012 presidential primaries!