Yesterday I listened to the State of the Union address, a first by President Obama. I was rather impressed, as usual, by the eloquence of this president, the carefully crafted words and the way he uses them to get everyone listening.
He clearly spent a long time trying to find a good way to try to stop the bickering between Democrats and Republicans in both Congress and the Senate. Bickering about how he would never get it right. Even if he would have turned the economy around in three months, it still wouldn't have been good enough for some people. I sometimes want to yell and tell certain people to 'quit bitching' and 'grow up'. Or in his words: "Rather than fight the same tired battles that have dominated Washington for decades, it's time to try something new. Let's invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt. Let's meet our responsibility to the citizens who sent us here. Let's try common sense. A novel concept."
"... But when I ran for President, I promised I wouldn't just do what was popular, I would do what was necessary. "
For those that don't believe it or keep claiming otherwise...
"... Now, let me repeat: We cut taxes. We cut taxes for 95 percent of working families. We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for first-time homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children. We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college. "
And since I work in the renewable energy area (and was watching this in a pub with 10 of my colleagues) these sections especially rocked our boats:
"... We should put more Americans to work building clean energy facilities and give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy-efficient, which supports clean energy jobs. And to encourage these and other businesses to stay within our borders, it is time to finally slash the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas, and give those tax breaks to companies that create jobs right here in the United States of America. "
Clean energy, renewable energy, science and technology development, is where I would most want to see some big commitment in the near future. And sure enough:
"... But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies. And, yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America. "
I have been reading up on opinion pieces about the speech since Wednesday and there were some criticisms (really?) and some positive interpretations. However, one thing that was mentioned was that Obama will not give in, he will not give up amidst the struggle and he is determined to make this a better country to live in.
Here's one to leave you with:
"We're going to crack down on violations of equal pay laws, so that women get equal pay for an equal day's work. And we should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system, to secure our borders and enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation. "
Looks like life in America may get even better...
