Union Obama\'s 2013 State of the Union

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Obama's 2013 State of the Union Address

Finance

President Obama made clear that the budget for the country was the first thing mentioned when discussing finance and economics. Obama suggested that the budget was directly tied to the strength of the nation. The president spoke about the deficit reduction of over $2.5 trillion over the last few years.

Obama suggested that the goal for deficit reduction is $4 trillion and the country is not quite there yet. He offered some suggestions about how this may be accomplished. The president offered bipartisanism as a useful tool in reaching this goal. Long-term debt and health care are related as important factors in reaching this goal.

President Obama suggested that tax reform is also necessary to help eliminate the country's financial problems. Obama fingered tax loopholes for the rich as one way of reclaiming some lost economic power. Also Medicare was not offered as a cut to savings, rather the president promised that it would remained untouched even if other financial goals are not met.

Obama made an explicit agreement to help lead the nation by offering a plea not to pay the country's bills late and to fully uphold that full faith and credit of the United States of America.

Education

President Obama began a conversation on pre-school and government schooling for our youngest citizens in this speech. He emphasized that most middle class people cannot afford to put their young children in a high-quality pre-school.

Obama proposed to work with the state governments to make high-quality preschooling available to every child in America. Obama is pushing for more government schooling for all of America in this part of the speech.

Obama presented a problem in education that pointed out the disparity between what jobs are available for Americans and what they are trained to do. Obama suggested that through tax credits, grants and better loans the federal government can assist its citizens in bridging this gap.

The president also remarked about the high cost of secondary schools or colleges and universities. In his address, Obama pleaded with the congress to help change the current status of this problem. Specifically, he asked lawmakers to amend the Higher Education Act to help level the playing field in the ways that these schools set their prices for their educational services.

Defense

The President commended and celebrated the military's past, current and future service to its nation in this speech. The conflict in Afghanistan was mentioned to help give context to the soldiers' sacrifices that are being conducted to help secure our nation. Obama added that America will have a presence in this country beyond the year 2014 but suggested that presence will be different and will perform different tasks that demonstrate the ability of the Afghans to properly run their country without the military aide of the United States.

Terrorism was also addressed in Obama's State of the Union address. Obama celebrated the near defeat of al Qaeda but also mentioned of new places where this threat could reemerge. Yemen, Libya and Somalia are all specifically referenced as places where al Qaeda could regain power and threaten the citizens of this nation. Obama demonstrated in this speech that he sees no problem in committing American military forces to these problems.

Counterterrorism was also significantly discussed in this speech. Obama assured his audience that the legal ramifications of some of the new counterterrorism measures were being worked out to both protect the civil rights and the personal safety of each and every American citizen.

Cyber warfare was also mentioned as an important trend for the country to watch and monitor. The president spoke of his recent executive order that he signed in which information sharing and cyber defense tactics can be improved.

Values

The president spoke throughout his speech about American values and traditions that have helped define the country and placed it on its historic course.

Freedom was mentioned several times as a principle in which America should stand for. America's allies, according to Obama, must share in objectives and goals that have freedom and democracy as important ideals. The president mentioned that global alliances on all continents must be continually maintained and improved if our status in the world is to grow and become richer. Obama specifically challenged those who are not in the military to do their part in ensuring this freedom by ensuring that voting rules and regulations keep up with the needs and demands of our society. To do this Obama announced that a non-partisan committee would be created to help develop this idea of voting and its effect on freedom and justice.