State of the Union Reaction

Last night I watched the State of the Union, President Obama's final address to Congress and the nation (at least as far as we know).  Let us break down what Obama wanted to say and do.  

What the President called for was to cure cancer appointing Vice President Biden to the head of that effort.  This is something nice, even if I as a libertarian think the private sector should be the mover and shaker in this effort.  I can't really get made at wanting to cure cancer.   Likewise President Obama wants to put us on track to defeat HIV/Aids and the eradication of Malaria.  On the side, President Obama said it should be the U.S. leading the way on these and also on Energy reform which I agree with (go patriotism).  He also mentioned that Oil and Gas prices should reflect the cost of their impact on society (climate change), thus this may be lingo for cap and trade which I do not agree with.

President Obama wants to make it easier to vote and to make the nation less partisan.  As such he asked for bipartisan committees to be made to draw up congressional districts.  This is currently being done in a couple of States including California as it is realized that the redistricting process can increase the political divide.  Likewise President Obama will be doing a speaking tour to encourage States to alter their rules to increase access and modernize our voting system.  This effort is basically going to be a speaking tour as States handle these issues. (While talking about this issue, President Obama was humble and sincere).

He also talked about modernizing welfare.  In this case he wants unemployment to include job training, to have wage insurance so that even between jobs people can pay their bills, and even if going from job to job to be able to save for retirement.  The President also wishes to "strengthen" Social Security and Medicare.  How all this will be done is not defined.  

Additionally President Obama wants Pre-K to be instituted throughout the country as a means of giving children a head start on their education (also it allows parents to go to work while the kids are away as well).  Obama wants hands on computer science and math classes as well for computers are an integral to the future of business.  Finally with regard to education, Obama wants the two years of community college to be free.

Obama also talked foreign policy.  He said in many words that his methods to fighting ISIS/ISIL were correct and that it was the best way to avoid a quagmire.  Likewise he says that the coalition he formed is working to fight ISIS/ISIL.  Whether you believe him on this or not is up to you especially with nearly a quarter of a million people dead and many more displaced.  Obama also said that ISIS/ISIL are killers and fanatics, but not Muslim (at least not the Muslim he knows) and said that if Congress wants him to do different and send troops then they should vote to declare war.

Finally, President Obama wants to aid the economy by cutting regulations, and ease rules for startups.  He also said that good corporations with good business practices should be rewarded and thus their stock holders in those good companies would be rewarded as well.  What this means exactly is not clear, and it could mean anything from tax breaks to economic rewards and contracts.

Final thought:  The rest of the speech was the President saying how successful he was.  Though by rest I mean maybe 20 out of the 70 or so minutes he spoke.  Overall he said some nice things with respect to aiding small businesses and helping America's job seekers (hopefully it is done in a streamlined and inexpensive way).  I disagree on ISIS/ISIL as we will at this point in time have to send troops and expect that war to expand if we expect it to end.  With respect to the free stuff, I say "with what money" though money did not stop big government before.  I truthfully want details on some of the smaller stuff mentioned as he said he wants to address legal and illegal drug use, immigration, and criminal justice and gun issues. 

 I can never give a speech like this a ten out of ten for ideological reasons, but as basically a farewell speech to the nation on what President Obama wants to address in his last year, I think he made his point that he got a lot of what he wanted to accomplish (he mentioned killing Osama Bin Laden once) and basically said now if you want more of me, then go out and vote this coming election with the possible undertone that if Hillary or Sanders does not win, you'll probably get Trump.  This is what I got out of it and I hope you enjoyed my little summary and opinion points.  Tomorrow we will have the summary of the Republicans reaction to Obama's State of the Union speech.