President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address on Wednesday contained an urgent message: As countries like India and China invest in their future, the United States of America cannot afford to be in second place.
Addressing lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Obama said that since the day he took office, he had been told that tackling the larger challenges facing America would be too ambitious and such efforts would be too contentious.
“How long should we wait? How long should America put its future on hold?” he asked. Noting that even as these problems had grown worse, “China’s not waiting to revamp its economy.
Germany’s not waiting. India’s not waiting. These nations aren’t standing still. These nations aren’t playing for second place. They’re putting more emphasis on math and science. They’re rebuilding their infrastructure. They are making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs.”
“Well, I do not accept second place for the United States of America. As hard as it may be, as uncomfortable and contentious as the debates may be, it’s time to get serious about fixing the problems that are hampering our growth,” he added to applause. In order to achieve this, the White House said Obama’s 2011 budget would invest in the next generation of scientists “so we will not lag behind countries like China in science and engineering graduates.”
Obama’s once soaring poll numbers have taken a beating in recent months. The President noted that as a candidate, he had campaigned on the promise of change. “And right now, I know there are many Americans who aren’t sure if they still believe we can change - or at least, that I can deliver it,” he admitted. But, he added he had never suggested change would be easy, or that he could do it alone. The President - whose Democratic Party recently lost a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate when a seat held for over four decades by late Senator Edward M. Kennedy was won by Republican Scott Brown - said if Republicans are “going to insist that 60 votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership.”
The US Constitution requires that “The president shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” In recent years, presidents have used this address to promote their party's political agenda for the future. President George W. Bush used his State of the Union address in 2002 to outline his plans for the war on terror.
Slammed by critics over his handling of the foiled Christmas Day attack on an American airliner by a Nigerian man who tried to detonate explosives concealed in his underwear, Obama reiterated his commitment to rooting out terrorists. He said US drone attacks along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border had killed far more Al-Qaida fighters than in 2008, the last full year of the Bush administration.
Obama noted that he assumed office “amid two wars, an economy rocked by severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt.” Many American voters believe that Obama, who completed one year in office this month, must now take some responsibility for the state of the nation. While his party’s liberal Left wing is dismayed by his decision to pour more troops into Afghanistan, conservatives are upset over what they perceive to be a government takeover of healthcare. Those in between feel let down by the administration's decision to bail financial firms out of trouble while the average Joe bears the brunt of a grim economy.
Obama stoutly defended the bailout saying this was not easy to do and something he hated. He explained that had he not acted, unemployment might have doubled and more people would have lost their homes. Obama has proposed a “modest fee” on banks to pay back taxpayers who rescued them in times of need.
With his healthcare reform plan pushed to the brink of extinction as a consequence of partisan bickering in Congress, Obama turned his attention to creating jobs, but not before urging lawmakers not to walk away from healthcare reform. “Let us find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people,” he implored.
Obama called on the Senate to pass a jobs bill he can sign. The House of Representatives has already passed such a bill. “People are out of work. They are hurting. They need our help. And I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay,” Obama said. He also urged the Senate to pass a financial reform package, outlined his vision for a clean energy economy and emphasised the need to double US exports over the next five years, an increase, he said, that would support two million new jobs in America.
