Thought #44
January 2010
Author: Bill Thurston
The State of the Union Address
State of the Union Messages to the Congress are mandated by Article II, Section
3 of the United States Constitution which states, "He shall from time to time
give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to
their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient;".
http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A2Sec3.html
As you know The State of the Union Address will be given this Wednesday 27
January 2010 and many of us will listen to it. Last year, a Thought was
published on "A
Helpful Tool when Listening to our Government Officials"
(http://www.aboutthisus.com/2-Listening%20to%20Speeches.htm).
A review of this process will make the address easier to understand and more fun
to hear. I used this tool to pull the important information Obama stated in the
State of the Union Address last year. Here is the link to last year's State of
the Union Address (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/sou/index.html).
The following 16 points are statements taken from The State of the Union Address
for 2009.
State of the Union Address for 2009
1.
Jumpstart job creation.
Over the next 2 years, save or create 3.5 million jobs. More than 90 percent of
these jobs will be in the private sector.
If you lose your job, you will be able to receive extended unemployment benefits
and continued health care coverage.
2. Re-start lending.
Create a lending fund to provide auto loans, college loans, and small business
loans to the consumers and entrepreneurs.
Help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure by lowering their
monthly payments and refinancing their mortgages.
Lower interest rates.
Ensure that the major banks have enough confidence and enough money to lend.
3. Invest in energy.
Confront the price of our dependence on oil.
Double this Nation's supply of renewable energy in the next 3 years.
Soon lay down thousands of miles of power lines.
Place a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more
renewable energy.
Invest $15 billion a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar
power, advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks.
4. Invest in health care.
We will make the largest investment ever in preventive care.
5. Invest in education.
Dramatically expand early childhood education and continue to improve its
quality.
Make college affordable for nearly seven million more students.
Provided the resources to prevent cuts and teacher layoffs.
Families who are struggling to pay tuition costs will receive a $2,500 tax
credit for all four years of college.
6. Help you financially.
95 percent of the working households will receive a tax cut that you will see in
your paychecks beginning on April 1st.
If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes
increased a single dime.
7. Reduce waste and be transparent.
The Inspector General is to ferret out any and all cases of waste and fraud.
Created a new website called
http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx
so that you can find out how and where your money is being spent.
I am committed to restoring a sense of honesty and accountability to my budget.
8.
Government will need more money.
My stimulus plan will require significant resources from the Federal
Government--probably more than we've already set aside.
9.
Reform our outdated regulatory system.
10.
Committed to re-tooling, re-imagining
our auto industry.
11.
Cut the deficit in half by the end of my
first term in office.
12. End the tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.
13.
Forge a strategy for Afghanistan and
Pakistan to defeat al Qaeda and combat extremism.
14.
Close the detention center at Guantanamo
Bay, and seek swift and certain justice for captured terrorists.
15.
Work with the nations of the G-20 to
restore confidence in our financial system.
I would expect Obama to address how we did on each of these issues in The State
of the Union Address for 2010.
Enjoy the speech on Wednesday.
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