Obama stresses economy, consensus in State of the Union

In the United States, the faith in the leaders of the nation are at record lows — with an approval rating of 15 percent for Congress and 45 percent for President Barack Obama.

Regardless of how disappointed the people are, at 9 p.m. Tuesday, the President stood behind a podium in front of a deeply divided congress to present the 2012 State of the Union address.

President Obama addressed the issue of the economy within the first few moments of his speech.

 "I want to lay out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last — an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values," President Obama said in the State of the Union address. "My message is simple. It's time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America."

President Obama said he would like to end partisanship.

 "What is at stake is not democratic values or republican values, but American values," President Obama said in his State of the Union address. "We need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction. "That politics is about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building consensus around common sense ideas."

Obama continued to address other pressing issues ,such as education and the cost of higher education.

Obama said he wants to give states the power to reward good teachers, encourage every state to establish laws to not allow high school students to drop out until the age of 18, decrease student loan interest rates and increase federal work study programs.

"Let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down," President Obama said in his State of the Union address.

"Higher education can't be a luxury –– it's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford."

A recurring theme in the State of the Union address was the need for action by Congress by members of both parties — to write, sign and send bills.

In his speech, President Obama proposed several new tax reforms for businesses, including  a tax break for remodeling the building and factories for clean energy and preventing tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs.

President Obama also announced the formation of a legal task force to protect Americans from fraud by banks, another task force to assist Americans in mortgages crises, tearing down of red tape for construction projects and furthering the support of veterans of the U.S. military through job placement.

As a politician, President Obama's said he hopes to get re-elected. So the audience was shown some highlights of the third year of President Obama's term.

President Obama recounted the defeat of Osama Bin Laden, the assistance in the liberation of Libya and the homecoming of troops from Afghanistan.

The President also made a few references to failed endeavors by his administration, such as the Solyndra issue early this year.

Bradlee Jordan, member of the Marshall University Young Democrats, was very pleased with President Obama's speech and his past year as president.

"I am glad that we have new options on the table," Jordan said. "I think that there are a lot of initiatives that could have an impact on the country and those are just what we need. We have reached a breaking point and we need to reform things to prevent returning to the failed policies of the past."

However, Aaron Kidd, member of the Marshall University Young Republican, had a different opinion regarding President Obama's speech.

"While lofty and exuberant in their delivery, his ideas have no way of being financially possible or even responsible in some means," Kidd said. "Unless our country can come to grips with the huge amount of debt straddling us, we are destined to follow countries in Europe who are having severe fiscal problems."

In his last words, President Obama left the nation with a truth that cannot be contested by either side of the aisle.

"This nation is great because we get each other's backs, and if we hold fast to that truth, in this moment of trial, there is no challenge too great; no mission too hard," President Obama said in his State of the Union address. "As long as we're joined in common purpose, our journey moves forward, our future is hopeful and the state of our Union will always be strong."

Hilary Freeman can be contacted at roush89@marshall.edu.