President Obama gave his 5th State of the Union address on January 28, 2014, addressing economic disparity and controversial issues facing the country. He stated his willingness to enact legislation "with or without" Congressional approval. Obama outlined some expansion plans, including raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers and expanding internet access in schools. However, the document's author argues that Obama's "year of action" is concerning, as the speech lacked specifics and failed to consider issues like inflation or the democratic system of checks and balances. Overall, the author believes the state of the nation is imperfect and worsening, with little consideration for common Americans under current democratic policies.

1. Sam Stearns
2/2/14
FYS
On January 28, 2014, President Obama gave his 5th State of the Union address
addressing many of the controversial and debated turmoils this country is currently
facing. Obama took a stance of independence from Congress on issues such as
economic disparity and stated that he will enact legislation “with orwithout” their
approval. This was said by President Obama during the address, “But America does
not stand still and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without
legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going
to do.” His expansion plans include raising the minimum wage for federal contract
workers to $10.10an hour and ConnectEd, which aims to bring internet access to
most schools within five years. He was trying to make a conscious effort to address
the economic gap between America’s citizens. Another domestic issue that he
discussed was the infamous Obamacare. The President talked up his healthcare plan
and sited the benefits and “millions” already on the plan.He talked on foreign policy
mentioning Syria and their chemical weapons capabilities and again repeated his
plan on pulling troops out of the Middle East. Obama also briefly mentioned other
topics such as gun control and immigration reform and the keyword is “briefly.”
Now in my opinion, I can see where he is trying to go in his last years as POTUS, but
quite frankly, this “year of action” scares me. In Obama’s speech there was plenty of
rhetoric and not many specifics. He failed to mention the rise of inflation and the
decrease of value on the American dollar if the minimum wage is increased. He also
has forgotten that our democratic system is set up the way it is for a reason. The
system of checks and balances we have established is in place for a reason. If Obama
acts without Congress like he is talking about, it could possibly be for something that
the nation does not want and the only benefit would be to Obama and his
administration/agenda. So all in all, I believe that the overall state of this nation is
far from perfect and its not looking good on the horizon. With all the democratic
polices being pushed and no consideration for the common American, I do not see it
getting any better. However, it is always darkest before the dawn.