Accomplishments included recovery from the worst economy since the Great Depression, the reform of health care, much improved health care for veterans, ending the Cold War with Cuba, forging a climate agreement with nearly 200 nations, getting Iran to stop its nuclear program, and securing "the freedom in every state to marry the person we love." There was much to praise about achievements in the economy. "People who say our economy is in decline are peddling fiction," he said. The U.S. economy is the strongest in the world, with 14 million jobs created during the longest job growth streak in history, autos having their best year ever, oil imports down by 60%, "gas under two bucks a gallon isn't too bad either," more Americans employed in solar now than coal, and 18 million people newly covered with health care. He pointed out that too much of the growth is going to the high earners, and that "regular people don't get bigger paychecks by letting corporations write all the rules."
Obama's look into the future featured four aspects: broadening opportunity and security, making the "tech revolution work for us rather than against us," "how to keep the world safe without being the world's policeman," and how to "make our politics reflect what's best in us, not the worst." The last of these had some clear digs at the type of bombastic and xenophobic demagoguery currently apparent in the Republican presidential campaign field. His words may have little effect with them, but at least he has the satisfaction of being right.
The President thanked Speaker Ryan (behind him, right in the picture above) for helping shepherd a compromise budget through the House, and saluted congress for education reform with the recent No Child Left Behind overhaul. He went on to outline areas where he felt the two parties ought to be able to take action in a bipartisan fashion soon. There is, for example, a growing consensus for a more rehabilitative criminal justice reform. Progress is imminent on help for prescription drug and heroin addiction. And Obama got his best reception when proposing a massive new "moon shot program to eradicate cancer," naming Vice President Joe Biden (back left in the photo above), who lost his son to cancer last year, to head the effort. This was greeting by thunderous roars from both sides of the aisle.
President Obama closed with the theme that brought the then-relatively unknown Illinois State Senator Barack Obama to national prominence in a speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention that nominated John Kerry. "All this is within our reach. But it will only happen if we can work together...to fix our politics. Democracy requires basic trust among us, and grinds to a halt when we refuse to compromise...A lot of politicians are trapped by the rancor of their base--we must change the system!"
The President pointed to the need for nonpartisan redistricting, reducing the influence of money in the political process and making it easier to vote. He remarked that the only thing he really regrets about his time in office has been his inability to make much of a dent in overcoming the political polarization rampant in government. But he urged the American people to reject cynicism and insist their representatives reflect the people's desire to work together for the common good. His voice has been the right message at the right time in our national story. That it has not been much heard by the Republicans is disappointing, but has not dimmed its righteousness or the inevitability of its triumph in the end if America is to survive. As Dr. Martin Luther King reminded us, "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
No comments:
Post a Comment