The Tuesday night was the "State of the Union" night. We the neighborhood team called out to Democrats in the region to get together to listen to the President's speech. Around 150 people in the area joined us and we listened his speech. The three candidates from the 6th district, Geoffrey Petzel, Maureen Yates, and Leslie Coolidge paid a visit to the place as well.
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| Mareen Yates, 6th District candidate for the House |
One of the candidates from the 6th district, Maureen Yates said before the speech that she expected to hear the President talk of jobs and said that we should end the two wars in the middle east. She said that we should try to pass parts of American Jobs Act in Congress in pieces.
In the speech, the President did talk of bringing back jobs and ending of the war in Iraq and withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. On the other hand, the President also praised the US military and stated the United State will maintain its influence in the world. The $1.2 trillion debt from China was not in his speech.
So what should we want from the President Obama's State of the Union speech? Before and after the speech, we asked the audience what to be expected of and what to think of the speech. Some expressed concerns on the cuts in social security. The President referred to that part of the cuts as "reforms that rein in the long term costs of Medicare and Medicaid, and strengthen Social Security". The word "deficit" was in his speech.
The President then talked of "the deficit of trust between Main Street and Wall Street" and that "divide between this city and the rest of the country is at least as bad - and it seems to get worse every year". He made a bold proposal to the Congress:
Some of this has to do with the corrosive influence of money in politics. So together, let's take some steps to fix that. Send me a bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress, and I will sign it tomorrow. Let's limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries they impact.
This could be a way off from being implemented. Here is another proposal from the President to the Congress:
I ask the Senate to pass a rule that all judicial and public service nominations receive a simple up or down vote within 90 days.
The other criticized the state of the economy while the President touted that he had created more than three million jobs. Corporations can make money off-shoring the jobs; but then we do not have the money to spend.
No, we will not go back to an economy weakened by outsourcing, bad debt, and phony financial profits. Tonight, I want to speak about how we move forward, and 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.
Greg from Arlington Heights, IL said he liked the President's speech on education. He said he appreciate the Administration is working to get student loans manegeable. Rightfully so; he had to leave his university because of the financial crisis in 2008. He finished the first year then he could no longer get the loan because of the subprime mortgage crisis. "I am still paying the student loan. The whole week's work goes to the loan, the others to car loan and the rent." he said.
At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July. Extend the tuition tax credit we started that saves middle-class families thousands of dollars. And give more young people the chance to earn their way through college by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years.
Of course, it's not enough for us to increase student aid. We can't just keep subsidizing skyrocketing tuition; we'll run out of money. States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets. And colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down. Recently, I spoke with a group of college presidents who've done just that. Some schools re-design courses to help students finish more quickly. Some use better technology. The point is, it's possible. So 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. Higher education can't be a luxury - it's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.
The educational institutes get subsidies just because they are not for profit -- shortening class hours for saving money does not sound like the right solution.
What appealed to me the most was, the comment from the audience thanking the President "Thank you President, thank you for what you are, thank you for being our President".