President Barack Obama’s second State of the Union address Tuesday night put an urgent, unmistakable emphasis on growing the American economy and creating jobs, while also seeking to preserve the more cooperative tone that has prevailed in Washington since the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat.
Yet in his first speech to a Congress partly under Republican control, the president also signaled a more aggressive approach to reducing government spending. Along with calling for changes in the tax code and cutting some favored programs, he pledged to reject all bills containing earmarks — specific projects funded at the request of individual lawmakers - and proposed a freeze in discretionary government spending for five years.
“Because the American people deserve to know that special interests aren’t larding up legislation with pet projects, both parties in Congress should know this: if a bill comes to my desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it,” the president declared, to a smattering of applause. During the 2008 campaign, Obama promised to weed out earmarks “line by line;” but as president, he has signed bills containing thousands of lawmakers’ pet projects estimated at more than $16 billion in the last fiscal year alone.
The proposal to freeze domestic spending, Obama said, “would reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, and will bring discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president.”
However, he warned that some further reductions Republicans want could go too far.
“I recognize that some in this Chamber have already proposed deeper cuts,” Obama plans to say. “Let’s make sure what we’re cutting is really excess weight. Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may feel like you’re flying high at first, but it won’t take long before you’ll feel the impact.”
But Republicans, while sharing the president’s call for civility and substance, declared that Obama’s proposals don’t go far enough to tackle what they see as government spending run amok.
The nation faces a crushing debt which could overwhelm the economy “and grow to catastrophic levels in the years ahead,” said Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who delivered the Republican response. Unless the government further tightens its belt, Ryan said, his own young children will grow up saddled with a federal debt that will eat more of their paychecks and force taxes ever higher.
“The next generation will inherit a stagnant economy and a diminished country,” he said. “No economy can sustain such high levels of debt and taxation. The next generation will inherit a stagnant economy and a diminished country. Frankly, it’s one of my greatest concerns as a parent – and I know many of you feel the same way.”
In his sweeping, hour-long address, Obama walked a moderate path, declaring his belief that the nation’s best days still lie ahead. He acknowledging Republicans have a point about the deficit and government spending — some of which, he said, was necessary to save the nation from economic peril.
But he argued that lawmakers can’t afford to ignore badly-needed upgrades in infrastructure, education and manufacturing, investments that will make the country more competitive against emerging economic powers like China and India.
“At stake right now is not who wins the next election – after all, we just had an election. At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country, or somewhere else,” Obama said. “It’s whether we sustain the leadership that has made America not just a place on a map, but a light to the world.”
With more signs that a gradual recovery is taking root even as joblessness abounds, Obama declared that the country is “poised for progress,” and continued to make his most upbeat assessment of the economy to date.
Just two years after the worst recession in decades, “the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again,” the president said. Still, “we measure progress by the success of our people. By the jobs they can find and the quality of life those jobs offer. By the prospects of a small business owner who dreams of turning a good idea into a thriving enterprise. By the opportunities for a better life that we pass on to our children. That’s the project the American people want us to work on. Together.”
Reprising a speech he gave in South Carolina last month, Obama compared the nation’s need to retool its economy and educational system to its response to a similar challenge after the Soviet Union, competing for superpower status, launched the world’s first man-made spacecraft in 1957.
“Half a century ago, when the Soviets beat us into space with the launch of a satellite called Sputnik¸ we had no idea how we’d beat them to the moon,” he said. “We unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs. This is our generation’s Sputnik moment.”
Speaking less than three weeks after the shooting of Giffords that left her badly wounded and six others dead, Obama repeated his call for greater civility in politics, reminding lawmakers about “the empty chair in this Chamber.” Potent reminders of the tragedy were on hand: guests sitting near First Lady Michelle Obama included Peter Rhee, the doctor who oversaw Giffords’s emergency-room treatment, and Daniel Hernandez, the young intern credited with saving her life moments after she was shot.
While fixing no political blame for the tragedy, the president said, the shooting was a long-overdue shock to the political system, one that led Democrats and Republicans to break tradition, cross party lines and sit with one another during his address. While it’s a significant gesture, Obama said, “what comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow.”
“It’s no secret that those of us here tonight have had our differences over the last two years. The debates have been contentious; we have fought fiercely for our beliefs,” he said. “That’s what a robust democracy demands. That’s what helps set us apart as a nation.”
Nevertheless, “there’s a reason the tragedy in Tucson gave us pause,” he said. The shooting, he added, “reminded us that no matter who we are or where we come from, each of us is a part of something greater – something more consequential than party or political preference.”
The air of bipartisanship - and Republican electoral successes last fall - means the GOP must join him in a substantive, respectful debate on spending and policy issues, the president said, particularly since the fates of both parties are now intertwined.
“With their votes, the American people determined that governing will now be a shared responsibility between parties. New laws will only pass with support from Democrats and Republicans. We will move forward together, or not at all – for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics,” he said.
Further outlining his plan to revive the economy, Obama pointed to the federal tax code as a drag on economic growth, and proposed streamlining it along with a cut in corporate income tax rates. But he also insisted that corporate tax changes must be paid for by cutting tax preferences.
“Over the years a parade of lobbyists has rigged the tax code,” he said. “Those with accountants or lawyers to work the system can end up paying no taxes at all, but the rest are hit with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. It makes no sense and it has to change.”
Health care reform—the preeminent legislative achievement of the president’s first two years in office and a major target of the new Republican House majority - got a passing mention in the speech.
“I’ve heard rumors that a few of you have some concerns about the new health care law,” the president said, drawing laughter. “So let me be the first to say that anything can be improved. If you have ideas about how to improve this law by making care better or more affordable, I am eager to work with you.”
Obama endorsed removing a revenue-raising measure in the bill that many businesses consider to be a paperwork burden, but he said he would not accept changes to one of the more popular elements of the bill: a guarantee of coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions. “Instead of re-fighting the battles of the last two years, let’s fix what needs fixing and move forward,” the president said.
But he also vigorously defended the overhaul by highlighting the stories of people whom the law has helped, including businesses and workers who would otherwise have been denied health care. He also declared he will not allow a return to the days of insurance company control over health care.
On immigration, Obama called for reform, but dodged any explicit talk of legalization or amnesty by saying instead that he wants Congress to “address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows.”
One rare new commitment in Obama’s speech came as he discussed the “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal legislation he signed last month. While the bill contained no specific time line for ending the ban on openly gay service members, he declared the policy would end for good this year. And in an overture of sorts to conservatives, he called on universities which banned ROTC programs from campus because of their policy on gay rights to open their doors to military recruiters.
Obama’s foreign-policy agenda contained few surprises, claiming progress in the war in Afghanistan and noting the fulfillment of his promise to withdraw combat troops from Iraq last year. He also said the nation “stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the democratic aspirations of all people,” even though the African nation’s former president was a key US ally in the fight against Islamic terrorism.
Despite calls from some quarters for him to address gun control in the wake of the Tucson shooting, Obama passed that subject entirely. And two sidetracked Obama priorities—the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison and revival of the moribund Middle East peace process— didn’t make it into his prepared remarks.
No comments:
Post a Comment