To even the most causal observer the Union and the larger world have had better years than 2010. With domestic unemployment still hovering around 10 percent the national debt hitting $14 trillion in a hurry and several international hot spots getting hotter business as usual is not a marketable solution.
This new American landscape is humorously illustrated on the front of a recent Economist which features a U.S. map filled with altered state names suggesting the very real possibility of political and fiscal insolvency. The wittiest of these include Taxes standing in for Texas Alabania for Alabama and Credit cut for Connecticut.
Despite these worrisome conditions Obama’s 2011 State of the Union address strayed little from either his traditional political philosophy or the Democratic Party’s bottom line. In a nutshell he reiterated that his core policies would continue to revolve around increasing government-financed infrastructure healthcare education and R&D. This increased federal spending was positioned as a panacea to everything from unemployment climate change and the trade deficit.
Maybe the president’s renewed confidence in these platform policies coincides with the recent up tick in retail banking and commodity sectors that pushed the Dow Jones industrial average past the 12000 mark for the first time since June 2008 last week. Despite this familiar message at several points Obama reached across the aisle in his fierce repudiation of earmarked spending bills and by extending Bush-era tax cuts.
Furthermore Obama was quick to emphasize the key legislation enacted in the last few weeks like repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell the START treaty and the 9/11 first responders health bill. Rather than appearing “shellacked” as it was after the mass ouster of House Democrats in November Obama displayed resilience. However while Obama appropriately concentrated on the economy the glaring omission from the proceedings was Afghanistan.
Granted the president alluded to the current situation and proposed July 2011 drawback of combat forces from the war-torn nation but he failed to outline clear policy objectives. Reacting to this early withdrawal of troops the normally stoic-looking joint chiefs of staff looked even more beleaguered than they did at the mention of repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the significant reduction in the defense budget. Taken in conjunction with only a passing reference about Iran the president clearly treaded carefully on two of the more contentious international issues of the decade.
Surveying Pepperdine students’ opinions on the State of the Union address provides a glimpse into the demographic most affected by the current administration’s policies and rhetoric. Senior Matt Ladew was pointedly critical of the speech.
“I am tired of the incoherence of Obama’s presidency Ladew said. We are supposed to believe that he simultaneously believes in American exceptionalism but thinks the society needs to be radically changed. We are supposed to believe that he wants to cut spending after overseeing the most profligately outrageous budgets in American history. We are supposed to believe that one of the greatest electoral landslides this country has ever seen was a mandate for the two sides to work together.”
Ladew is not alone in his pronouncements as Representative Paul Ryan (R –WI) in his rebuttal to the address also finds this inconsistency troubling citing that “since taking office President Obama has signed into law spending increases of nearly 25 percent for domestic government agencies — an 84 percent increase when you include the failed stimulus.”
A more measured response come from senior Kayla Hendrickson who thought the address marked the return of the Obama people admire for his reasonableness and appeal to bipartisan solutions. She applauded how Obama was evenhanded if restrained.
“I was glad to hear him talk about working with Republicans Hendrickson said. I mean I’m not stupid I know he would rather still have a majority but it still sounded inspirational and as a supporter of his I’m glad to see him go back to why he got elected in the first place: sounding reasonable.”
Hendrickson cited rationality as the theme of the evening in Washington also referencing Representative Ryan’s rebuttal.
“I was also glad to hear Paul Ryan sound reasonable and I thought he was quite good.” Hendrickson says ultimately she hopes “2011 will focus on issues rather than labeling. Frankly that’s the only chance the Republicans will have to change my mind on [their] policies: engaging in policy and finding out what will actually work rather than just labeling things they disagree with as socialist.”
Junior Jessica Nichole echoed similar sentiments over the address noting.
“It was interesting how Obama continually spoke about common goals and working together as a country in order to overcome this economic depression Nichole said. She said she was intrigued by the president’s admonition to sustain [the] leadership which makes America not a place on a map but a light in the world.”
She thought it telling that the President clearly affirms America’s continued hegemonic role while qualifying that “the future of America is not only for our benefit but also on a global scale — to be that “light in the world.”
School of Public Policy student Miriam Keim however has the last word in her apt summary of the wider implications of the President’s address.
“President Obama had another eloquent speech but it felt like at the end the only people he satisfied were those who are never going to stop supporting him regardless of what his policies are Keim said. I kept wondering how we were going to afford everything that he wants to achieve but I didn’t feel like he really addressed that at all. To be quite honest I thought the more interesting part of the evening came after his speech when the dominant factions within the Republican Party gave their speeches. With the SOTU we saw how President Obama is going to run his re-election campaign. With the Republican responses we got a glimpse into the power struggle that awaits the Republicans in the 2012 election cycle.”