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Mahalie Hargis
Professor Harold Blanco
FYS
29 January 2014
State of the Union
“Let’s make this a year of action. That’s what most Americans want, for all of us in this
chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes, their aspirations” (Obama’s). Barack Obama made
this statement at the 2014 State of the Union. He touched on many subjects such as immigration,
minimum wage, climate change, America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, and retirement
savings. On immigration, Obama stated that we need to fix our broken immigration system. It is
being abused and we need to take action. He also spoke about raising minimum wage to $10.10
an hour for all workers which doesn’t seem like it will go through. It would be great for the
lower class if we raised minimum wage, but the market would eventually rise as well and we
would still face the same issue.
One area where Obama can act assertively and may even be successful is on climate
change. Congress has already given him the authority that he needs to act aggressive on coalfired power plants which is the largest source of carbon pollution in the nation. He already set a
date for the agency to create a draft by June 1, with a final rule by June of next year. I love the
fact that this is happening because we do need to cut out things that are harming the earth.
Although, it is terrible that coal miners will be losing their jobs that support them and their
families. Something else that I’m also very happy about is his take on America’s withdrawal
from Afghanistan. He stated, “Together with our allies, we will complete our mission there by

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the end of this year, and America’s longest war will finally be over” (Obama’s). The president
said the United States stands ready to deploy “a small force of Americans” to carry out small
missions, helping Afghan security forces against Al Qaeda.
Two proposals were offered for the issue on retirement savings but neither seem like they
will go through unless Obama has approval by Congress. Overall, I feel that Obama is very
confident on these issues although a few might not succeed. I am for Obama and I really hope he
can help out our great country any way he can.

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Works Cited
"Obama’s Agenda." The New York TimesJan. 28, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014
/01/28/us/politics/what-the-state-of-the-union-means-for-2014.html?_r=0.Jan. 29,
2014.