In his 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama focused on making the year one of action by Congress to help Americans. He highlighted that over 8 million new jobs have been created in the last 5 years, unemployment is at a 5-year low, and manufacturing jobs are being insourced from abroad. However, average wages have not increased and the middle class struggles. Obama called on Congress to strengthen the middle class by reforming the tax code to discourage keeping profits overseas and raising the minimum wage. He also emphasized investing in manufacturing using natural gas and fueling cars with domestic energy sources rather than foreign oil.

1. Mason Dino
FYS 100
State of the Union Recap
“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,” stated Obama in the 2014 State of
the Union Address. America has created over 8 million new jobs within the last five years, and
manufactures plan on hiring more this year while insourcing jobs from abroad. Also, the
unemployment rate is the lowest in the last five years and congress finally agreed on a budget for
the country. Obama also mentioned that the war is coming to an end after twelve years. One of
his main areas of focus was the middle class. He said jobs have been created but the average
wages have not budged and the middle class is having working too much to get by. He wants to
strengthen the middle class. The tax code rewards companies who keep profits abroad, and
Obama said he would like to reverse that. Over 100 million dollars is supposed to be invested
into manufactures that use safely driller natural gas and possibly use this natural gas to fuel cars
instead of foreign oil. Congress basically ordered to renew the unemployment insurance because
people are need of it and tells congress to get on board and raise minimum wage because some
states already have.
This is not all of the things Obama talked about. He talked about many other but these
were his main focus. He focused on the creation of jobs for the betterment of the economy, and
he focused on alternative energy use, another main focus was helping the middle class and
raising the graduation rate of students. It seems like he also wants the country to be more
independent and bring jobs back into the country.