Tonight’s State of the Union speech will be noteworthy for two reasons.
First is for a kumbaya moment when at least some Republicans and Democrats will break with tradition and sit side by side to demonstrate an effort of bipartisanship.
The second is for what is expected to be President Barack Obama’s comeback moment, oddly enough from when he campaigned for the office. Despite his accomplishments thus far, the public still waits for Obama to shine as he did on the campaign trail in 2008.
Tonight will be his chance.
BEFORE LAW school, Obama worked for 31⁄2 years as a community organizer. One of his objectives in that South Chicago community was to create job-training programs, especially for workers displaced by the steel industry. It was from that experience that Obama said he learned that “ordinary people can do extraordinary things if given the opportunity.”
He used that lesson to inspire the country as a whole that change was possible; that as a nation we had been on a self-destructive path of overspending and underserving.
In his two years as president, Obama has pushed bold re-form. The most significant has been in health care. If it’s left to stand, the health care act will expand coverage to virtually all Americans and prevent insurers from continuing to deny coverage to those with health problems.
When he began office in 2009, the economy was in free-fall. His measures to extend the federal stimulus and provide bailouts to U.S.-based corporations helped to save more than 6 million jobs.
Still, unemployment continued to soar, reaching a bit over 10 percent. Today it stands at 9.4 percent. Kansas is at 6.4 percent.
Obama’s challenge now is to go from stability to recovery. The outlook is a little rosier already. Today’s economic growth is at 2.6 percent. Not a prowling tiger, but at least a curious kitten.
In his presidential campaign, Obama captured the country with a “Yes, we can” message. That same mentality is even more important when put up against a majority of House Republicans who continue to say “no way, no how” — except now with considerably more clout.
Last week, the Republican contingent proposed a 10-year cap on all discretionary spending for a projected $2.5 trillion in savings. Never mind that every federal, state and city employee’s job would be jeopardized.
Such extremism may look good on Fox News, but it would send our country on a true tailspin as millions more people would lose their jobs. The cuts also do nothing to tackle 85 percent of the budget consumed by the military and the social entitlement programs, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Obama understands the need to reboot the U.S. economic engine to spur job growth.
That’s how we take care of our own, now and into the future.
— Susan Lynn
