Current Event #14: State of the Union Address
Due: Friday, January 27th
President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver the State of the Union address, Tuesday, January 24th @ 9pm. You will need to view this address which will outline the status revolving around various topics that the President will discuss, concerning the current state of affairs on some of our nation's key issues. As you listen to the President's State of the Union Address, make note of certain key topics that he highlights. Based on the information presented, you will analyze in order to voice your personal opinions of our progress toward accomplishing or falling short of the goals outlined. You may watch the address at the following website http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2012/01/25/2012-state-union-address-enhanced-version or by watching it on television.
What You Will Do:
At the conclusion of viewing the State of the Union Address, be prepared to discuss your thoughts and opinions surrounding 2-3 topics of interest. Be specific and provide detailed explanations to support your opinions and thoughts. I look forward to hearing you exercise your Freedom of Speech as an American citizen.
Brian Thornton
ReplyDeleteperiod 2
After listening to state of the union address I am going to talk about how the troops have come home from Iraq. I think that Barack Obama is doing a very good thing here by bringing all of the troops back home. They all get to see there families and all of there friends after years of fighting. This will be good for them because the troops get out of a war zone and they get to relax and stay at home with the people they care about. Barack Obama also talked about the jobs of teachers. I think that he is right and the teachers that aren’t teaching should be fired and the teachers that are actually teaching should keep there’s. Some teachers that are being fired are actually doing there job
I think Barack Obama is right about what he said on everything. How he talked about the car industry and how when he took office everything started to get better with the car industry and jobs. More businesses are creating more jobs for people who really need them and he his doing a good thing for this country.
Kristin Thompson
ReplyDeleteJanuary 25, 2012
1st Period
After Listening to the State of the Union Address I think that Barack Obama mentioned some very important thing. One of the topics that he talked about was bringing the troops out of Iraq. I think that this was a very good thing that happened. Many people where able to be sent home and visit with there families and friends. This is also a good thing because the troops where able to be sent out of the war zone. Many thousands of people died fighting for our country, now the families of the troops can feel hopeful again. Barack Obama also talked about business in the U.S. He talked about how it was doing so bad when he first became the president then he let everyone know that he is restoring it and that it has improved over the past few years. With more big companies in the U.S. that opens up more jobs for thousands of Americans. One of the big things that stuck out to me was about teachers. He let people know that there will be a change in the future, The teachers that are not doing a good job are going to be fired and the teachers that are doing there job will be kept for that , Many great teachers across the U.S. are being fired for a very bad reason. I think that that Barack Obama made some great point in his speech; I think that later on in the future America will rise up and improve.
Raziyah Farrington
DeletePeriod 1
January 25, 2012
After Listening to the State of the Union Address I think some of the big issues that need to be adressesed is bringing the troops home from Iraq. I think this was a very great thing that happened. Our troops needed a drastic break. It was great that he troops got to go home and see there family and friends after years of fighting. The downside is that many people died in the war and when Obama sent the troops home, I bet it was a very sad time for those loved ones of who passed during this time. Another interesting topic that Barack Obama was the firering of the best teachers, and those who don’t infact teach or get anything accomplished are being held to teach hundreds of students the things they need to know to be successful in the future. He had a great point there. The problem is that they are not getting paid enough which is why they don’t want to complete the job that they signed up for. But that is not an excuse for anything. In the future I think Obama can get through many more individuals over time. Which means America will rise and get stronger.
David Batson
ReplyDelete2nd Period
1/25/12
I think that the president gave an excellent state of the union address. He talked about many achievements that occurred during his presidency such as the Iraq war, our weak economy, outsourcing jobs and what he has passed to protect the shrinking middle class. With the Iraq war he mentioned the fact that, for the first time in ten years, there are no U.S. soldiers in Iraq. I think that this is excellent and he did do what he promised while running for president which was to remove all soldiers from Iraq. He talked about ways he has helped the economy in that he saved many American car companies and banks and is trying to get them to build more factories in the states to help provide jobs in exchange for the bailout money. This is good and the fact that he is trying to get the price of importing goods from china taxed more than it currently is. He wants to have most goods of American companies produced right here in the states.
That leads into my next point outsourcing jobs. He is trying to stop this, as I have said, and he is trying to get factories built in places hit hardest by the recession. He doesn’t want the unemployment rate to continue skyrocketing as it is right now. He believes that after a tax is imposed on imports from china to level the playing field, more companies will produce goods in America. He has protected the middle class by eliminating bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy and imposing tax cuts for the middle class to help those overwhelmed by expenses. He also spoke about the fact that Detroit had turned around because of big companies building factories to produce goods and giving jobs to those on the verge of falling out of the middle class. He believes that if this kind of thing can happen in Detroit it can happen all across the US. Overall, he has promoted himself for this upcoming presidential election by pointing out all the good things that have happened in his presidency. That was the kickoff of his campaign so to speak. He has officially put himself into the race for president.
Kat Westover
ReplyDeletePeriod 1
I believe that the State of the Union address went well. President Obama made a lot of good points about what has been done and what needs to be done. He talked about how he plans to fix our economy. I think it is an excellent idea to tax companies who are outsourcing more than companies who are insourcing. Obama brought up the fact that there are hard-working Americans who are unemployed and they could get jobs if companies insourced more. He also mentioned making it mandatory to go to school until you are 18. I feel like that will help the unemployment rate lower. He also plans on making a Trade Enforcement Unit, which will help millions of people. With less counterfeit items on the market, people can spend their money in more productive ways.
Obama also talked about the end of the Iraq war. I think that it is amazing that we have finally ended something that took so much of our time, resources, and citizens. We are also almost done with the war in Afghanistan. Twenty-three thousand troops are supposed to come home by the end of the summer. He is making it easier for the veterans to come back to America and get the benefits they deserve. I also am extremely grateful the Osama is dead. It makes me feel safer knowing that he cannot plot against America again. I feel that Obama’s speech has made him into a good candidate for being the President of America.
William Bukowski
ReplyDelete5th period
1-25-12
Obama talked about some very interesting topics, and some achievements we had this year. One thing I like about what he said was finding ways to level the playing field for manufacturers that are remaining in the U.S. and not outsourcing to china or india or any other cheaper place. It is a good idea because it will create more jobs and stimulate the economy here.
I also like his idea of helping the US turn green, and he supports green energy. He supported the idea of natural gas and stop importing oil into the country. I think it is important tha the looked ahead and saw what we should do with our energy nees.
Finally his idea of bringing tuition down was a good one because the rich shouldn't get to exclusively have a chance at a quality education. Or if the don’t then the taxpayers should not have to fund them. The plan may have some flaws initially but after it is fully developed it will improve the Us. As well as the other ideas he had.
Huibo Qi
ReplyDeleteP-2
The Union Address was lengthy but nonetheless informative, outlining the important events of during Barack Obama’s presidency. As he had promised, Obama has withdrawn all troops from Iraq; this decision has given many military families a chance to reunite with one another. As stated in the previous assignment, America is alerted to the news of Iran enriching uranium, which could possibly lead to a World War III, given the intentions of Iraq and the actions of the other countries. I feel that Obama did fulfill his promise; he did withdraw the troops, but from the recent Iraq news, I hope no one prematurely attacks the now stable country.
While listening to the Union Address, I picked up a particularly interesting subject. The income of teachers based on their skills. From the speech, I concluded that Obama wants to give higher incomes to excellent and proficient teachers, and let go of teachers who are not meeting the expectations. I agree to some extent; teachers affect their students’ future, just as much as the students affect theirs. But who has the right to determine the rightness or wrongness of a person’s ability to teach? Everyone has their own opinions and everyone has their own expectations on every subject. People can be biased, and if events go as they wont, a hardworking teacher may lose their job. Attitude and social skills are also important. It would not be fair if a pleasant but lazy teacher gets a higher income than a irritable, excellent teacher.
Parker Larson
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
Obama gave a wonderful speech. It was a great moment for this country (as well as the start of his campaign). I found the speech to be somewhat bi-partisan. One of the main topics he included was energy. I found Obama to be a great compromiser. Rather than just arguing over which energy to use, he chose the all of the above option so we can have the least dependency on foreign oil. He also was focused on the whole wealthy vs. poor topic. I think everyone should pay his or her fair share. But some businessmen (I am not saying all rich people) already pay capital gains tax (usually 15% on top of their income for a large net tax), which is a huge slice of their income and their employees’ income. However, we should lay off on taxes in general. I found it funny that this office and the media talk of tax cuts as if they were losing money that was needed. Tax cuts just keep the government from mooching of all your money. This absurd idea like we have to raise taxes to deal with the debt is ridiculous. We need to prioritize were our money is going, and cut the useless money holes.
The government needs to raise taxes (or more properly, to allow Bush's horrendous tax cuts to expire) - your family seems to have money to spare, Parker. The government doesn't "mooch" - they accept taxes in exchange for roads, hospitals, airports, electrical power, the ability to decide who runs the country, protection from criminals, protection from foreign powers, inspection of food, free school, healthcare for those who can't afford it, food stamps for those who can't afford groceries, college and university scholarships, and protection from large-scale bullies are just a few of the things that the government does for you and people like you every day.
Delete"However, we should lay off on taxes in general. I found it funny that this office and the media talk of tax cuts as if they were losing money that was needed." Bush's tax cuts coupled with his enormous spending increases were what caused the federal deficit, and what Obama proposes would increase federal revenues and decrease spending.
In point of fact, Obama's tax policies would lower taxes for the vast majority of Americans. His (factual) example of Warren Buffett's secretary having to pay a higher tax rate than Mr. Buffett himself is, as Buffett has pointed out, simply ludicrous! "But some businessmen (I am not saying all rich people) already pay capital gains tax (usually 15% on top of their income for a large net tax), which is a huge slice of their income and their employees’ income." Taxing someone at the head of a company does not in any way affect the profits of the company itself; CEOs do not pay for their employees' pay out of their own pocket.
Heather Fowler
ReplyDelete2nd period
President Obama’s State of the Union Address touched on many important topics. Not only did he talk about what was going to be done, but he constantly brought up what had already been done. I think it’s important to touch base on the positive things he’s already done while in office, to keep everyone thinking positive things. He talked about the troops coming home. I think this is probably the best thing he’s done as president; it’s great that all the soldiers can finally reunite with their family. He also talked about the increasing of job opportunities. He’s doing a good job encouraging companies to create more jobs, and helping America’s auto industries peak; but he’s not done yet. The progress we’re making is good, but it shouldn’t stop until every citizen has an opportunity at a job. Another thing he talked about was the interesting idea of paying teachers based on their teaching ability. Allowing teachers to keep their jobs if they are successful, and letting go the teachers that fail to do so. I think this is a really great idea, firstly because teachers should be payed much more in general. Secondly, there are teachers that are really passionate about what they do, and there are teachers that could really care less. Separating the two would be a really good way to give credit where it’s really due. Overall, I think the President gave a good speech. He did a good job of keeping people enthused, and I think he’s slowly changing America for the better.
Roy Huang - 2nd period
ReplyDeleteI thought that Obama did great in his State of the Union address. He touched on many important topics that the citizens really care about. He touched on his plans for the job situation, taxes, the military, energy consumption, and much more. He showed that in the past few years, there have been much more job openings. He touched on the topic that the rise in car manufacturing is also providing many job openings. Obama stated that he would also begin to limit taxes depending on a person's financial situation. For the first time in nine years, there are no longer any soldiers in Iraq as well. Obama has said that he will use the funds that originally went to the war, for improving our own country now. He also seemed very determined to find new ways in creating energy. The US is becoming less oil-dependent, and looking to find ways such as wind and solar power to generate energy. I thought that Obama was very persuasive in his speech, and did a good job of addressing issues that people wanted to hear about.
I think that President Obama gave a terrific speech. In it he discussed many burning topics and solutions for them. I really liked his solutions for creating jobs. I believe that his ideas for rewarding companies for insourcing jobs is a very good solution to keeping companies from outsourcing to foreign and competing countries such as China and India.
ReplyDeleteI also like his ideas about creating new jobs for people, climbing out of debt and his message to big businesses . First of all his message to big businesses; that we will not bail them out again no matter what is a very good message. As for his plan for getting us out of debt I like the fact that he specifically tells us as a nation how, and where the government is getting the money from in order to pay our way out of debt. Over all this was a superb speech, which I am very glad to have witnessed
Vatsal Parikh
ReplyDelete2nd period
I thought that the speech was very well written and spoken. I think that President Obama is probably one of the best recent presidents at making speeches because his speeches tend to be very influential. I thought that it was very interesting at how he talked about many of the improvements he made to the country during his term in the first part of the speech. He talked about how he created many new jobs, killed Osama Bin Laden, weakened the Taliban, and what he has done for taxes. I think that the purpose of this was so that he could bring everyone together and supporting him for the end when he talked about some of the new bills that he wants to pass. This made it so that everyone was thinking about how good he was and they were more easily convinced into accepting the bills. I thought that overall it was a very well structured speech that people liked to listen to.
Elisa Frazier
ReplyDelete5th period
I thought that President Obama's speech was very well said and very well thought out. I liked how he talked about many of the Nations problems and how he was planning on fixing it. I really hope that he will actully do some of the things that he said. Because right now our Country is in a financial crisis and we need help.
For my current event about Obama’s State of the Union address, I want to talk about our country’s troops, and the rise in jobs and our economy in the past years that Obama has been in office. Having our troops back is a huge deal. Our country morale it boosted by huge amounts, and now tons of families and couples are reunited. Although there are debates over whether we were in Iraq for a good reason or not, soldiers had to go through a lot, like sleeping in tents, with no running water for weeks on end. Many even lost their lives trying to protect our country. Our rise in economy and number of jobs is also a huge deal. Our economy was not doing very well, but we are managing to turn it back around. The government is trying to pass bills that benefit companies that bring business back to the USA, and do not turn to other countries for less expensive work force. This job surge will give anyone living in this country that needs a job one, which will help a lot. Over all, I think the government has done a good job helping America back on its feet.
ReplyDeleteJulia Haines
ReplyDelete1st period
Unlike a lot of people, I personally didn’t like president Obama’s speech. I felt that, instead of reflecting on the past year and going over how America has changed since then, it was more of a campaign speech. It highlighted Obama’s accomplishments specifically, instead of focusing on the country’s accomplishments as a whole. With that said, I can talk about my personal topics of interest.
One topic that I feel was surprising that Obama brought up was education. I do believe that we should higher the quality of teachers in America and try to make basic education the best it can be. However, Obama stated that one of his goals would be to eventually get all American kids to go to college. This I disagree with, not because I don’t think that college is great, but because I believe that college should be an optional thing for kids to pursue. America is supposed to be equal because of equal opportunity, not necessarily equal education and equal income and equal health care plans.
A second topic of interest was how Obama talked about companies that have factories overseas coming back and bringing jobs with them. I fully support the idea that companies with parts in other countries should pay higher taxes than companies here. I don’t understand why this wasn’t a plan in the first place. It will bring both income and jobs to the U.S. and help bring up out economy.
Thirdly, Obama mentioned pulling the troops out of Iraq and he congratulated the army and military. I think that this took a lot of nerve on his part. He calls our army and military strong while he has cut defense spending in half during his presidency. Our defense isn’t as strong as it used to be, because soldiers are now hired on lower salaries and fewer weapons and ships, etc are being built. While I wish that having an army and navy weren’t necessary, they are for the good of our nation.
Caroline Liu
ReplyDelete5th Period
I think Obama’s State of the Union Address was excellent in every way possible. It was concise, to the point yet elegant and powerful at the same time. President Obama, known for being a fantastic speaker, did a grand job delivering the speech, as usual. He covered a wide range of important topics from green energy policies and educational reform to spilled milk, proposing many solutions along the way, and used the lives of ordinary people to prove his points.
One thing I couldn’t help but notice while listening to the president’s speech was that he really emphasized the American dream, American values, and the idea of patriotism in general. This technique was extremely effective, in my opinion. I felt very proud for our country and a sense of urgency while listening and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. “What’s at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but AMERICAN values.” Along with American values and such, the president repeatedly emphasized the need for congress to unite as one, which I completely agree with. “I’m a Democrat. But I believe what REPUBLICAN Abraham Lincoln believed: that government should do for the people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.”
Elijah Moore
ReplyDelete2nd Period
http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2012
Im very pleased that I was able to listen to President Obama give his State of the Union Address. During his speech Obama addresses many important issues regarding the United States. He talks about many of the downfalls the this country has went through over the past five years. He addresses the the status of the troops overseas who are now finally coming home, promotes decreasing the amount of money is needed to attend college, increase the quality of the teachers in all schools and increasing the dropout age in high-schools to eighteen years old. Obama also addresses the status of America's oil supply.
Even though Obama talks about such important things he does say one thing that gets my attention more than anything else does.
"Now I recognize that the people watching tonight have different views about taxes, debt, energy and healthcare, but no matter what party they belong to, I bet most Americans are thinking about the same thing right now 'Nothing will get done in Washington this year, or next year, or the year after that because Washington is broken' can you blame them from being cynical?" President Obama (47:48)
Obama could not have said more truthful words. The amount of accomplishments America has been able to achieve is great, but not nearly as much as it would have been if we where able to put differences aside and work together. It does not matter if Obama says he will increase the products of American goods if no one will help him work towards his goal. In order for America to become the number 1 nation in the World again is if we can just work together
After listening to President Obama's State of the Union Address, I am more convinced than ever that he needs to radically change his oration style of he wants to pass anything. Sure, his even-headed, calm demeanor worked great when he was running in 2008, but now that he has -at most- four and a half more years in office, he needs to convince people that his ideas are correct, and you can't do that with logic. It happened in 2004: during a presidential debate, Sen. Kerry's logical reasoning won over the debate audience, but more people came away liking Bush. The Democratic Party, as a whole, needs to fortify their logos with a healthy dose of pathos - that is, they need to appeal to emotion as well as to logic.
ReplyDeleteAside from that, there was nothing wrong with the content of President Obama's speech - on the contrary, the problem was with what he left out. I've been waiting for someone to point out in a nationally televised program that the Republicans of Abraham Lincoln's day were nothing at all like the ones we have now - if Lincoln ran today, he'd likely run independent. Honest Abe fought a war to preserve federal authority over the states, and the two words that Republicans use to demonize opponents - "radical" and "progressive" - were then used by Republicans to describe themselves.
But as I said, Pres. Obama's speech was superb and I am confident of a second term.
President Obama’s State of the Union Address was a very good political, economic speech. I thought that he made many interesting points like, how the US troops are out of Iraq now. That was a big decision he made that everybody was proud of him for. The change in taxes will really help a lot of the population. The tax rates are just too much for many people to handle and I think we should really just get rid of taxes. Obama also stressed the importance of staying in high school to finish up your education and I think that was a great topic to bring up because dropouts have become numerous in the past decade. The key to student success is well educated, smart teachers.
ReplyDeleteWhen Obama brought up the issue about how more than half the products we have in the United States are from out of the country and that he would like to change that by helping unemployed Americans find manufacturing jobs, I thought that was a great idea. This topic was definitely one of the most interesting and bright ideas I found in his address and I would hope that he will decide to take action in what he said, and give many more Americans the opportunity to be employed.
Ariella Hirsch
ReplyDelete5th
After listening to President Obama's State of the Union Address, I'm not convinced that progress has been made in many areas that need attention. He mentioned many things for example, education, that need to be addressed but haven't been. The main point of the State of the Union Address should be what progress we have already made, however I felt more as if President Obama was talking about his plans for the upcoming year. Though he did mention statistics that show improvement in many ways from last year I didn't think that was what he stressed in his speech. President Obama did a good job addressing many pressing issues having to do with the economy, education, the government itself, and many others.
President Obama did a great job of addressing the problems with education in America. I completely agree that people should be required to complete high school. I also think that is is necessary to ensure that all teachers are doing their jobs, and supporting students on their way to success. I think being a teacher is a very honorable thing to do, and they should be rewarded for their work. President Obama brought up the cost of attending college/university to continue your education. I agree in that all students should have an equal opportunity to attend the school of their choice. I would be interested to see if anything changes relating to the cost of college before our class is completing our applications as I think whether or not the cost should be lowered is something that will be debated.
Grace Gollmar
ReplyDelete1st Period
I thought that President Obama’s State of the Union address brought up a number of good points and ideas. One thing I really appreciated about the speech was how Obama chose the U.S.’s armed forces as an exemplary model for everyone in America. I think that this was a smart thing to say, since it is something that all of the people present and watching the speech could agree on, regardless of political party or ideals. Another point that stood out to me from the address was that more economic fairness is needed in our country right now, and that the divide between the rich and poor has grown at the expense of a functioning middle class. I think that this is a negative path for our country to be taking, and I agree that something has to be done to fix our current situation. In my opinion, Obama’s general ideas of lowering taxes for local companies could benefit our economy, but I hope to see something more definitive to help those who are currently living in poverty.
In all, I support much of what Obama spoke of in this address, but I hope to see action on these ideas in the future. I hope that despite a divided and politically charged Congress, the people involved in our government will be able to see past their differences to improve our economic state in America.
Current Event
ReplyDeletePeter Williams
Pd. 5 WH
During the State of the Union Address President Obama discussed many topics that I am interested in. One of the topics that caught my attention the most was when he was talking about the companies that get tax deductions for outsourcing jobs and the companies that keep the jobs in America get higher taxes. He didn’t think this was right and neither do I. Obama said that from now on the government would help companies that keep jobs in America. I think this is a very good plan and it will encourage a lot of businesses to stay here instead of sending their jobs to another country.
Another topic the President discussed was the rise in American car companies. He said that GM was back on top and that Chrysler, Ford, and others are growing big again after they all went bankrupt. Soon American cars will be popular in foreign countries such as South Korea instead of it being the other way around. I think this will really help the economy so it is good that the car companies are coming back.
Mookho Paw
ReplyDelete2ed period
I have just finished watching and listening to President Obamas lengthy State of the Union Address speech and personally, I thought it was a very good and informative speech. He talked about many changes and many improvements that had happened during the four years that he has been our president. He talked about the Iraq war, which was extremely important. He also talked about the unbearable numbers of unemployment in our country and how our economy is very bad. Listening to these topics made me think about many things that are currently happening right at this moment in the United States. President Obama talked a lot about the Iraq war. He promised to end this war and bring the soldiers back to their families. He accomplished it. As of right now, the U.S troops are home happy to be with their families and free from the danger in war. It has been 10 years. The war was fought for ten years and now it id finally over thanks to President Obama.
As for jobs and the high number of unemployment, President Obama talked about how he has helped many car companies and factories. He believes that goods should not be imported from countries like China, Japan or the U.K for example and instead, goods should be produced in the United states so that thousands of jobs can be open to the unemployed. I think that this is a very good idea. With families suffering, the United states should deffinatly create more jobs here, rather than doing business with other countries and sending our workers overseas. I personally really like president Obama. He has done many good things for this country as well as the earth. He promoted on going green, and I am a hug supporter for t
Bryan Zhang- 2nd period
ReplyDeleteI thought that Obama did exceptionally well in his State of the Union address. He said many different but also important topics that the citizens of the U.S really stress. He mentioned his plans for the taxes, job situation, the military, and energy consumption. He aforementioned that in the past few years, there have been much more job openings. He said that the rise in car manufacturing is also providing many job openings. Finally, there are no more soldiers in Iraq. Obama had said that he would use the funds that originally went to the war for improving the United States. He also seemed determined to find different ways in creating new kinds of energy. The US is becoming less oil-dependent, and looking to find ways such as wind and solar power to generate energy. I thought that Obama was very persuasive in his speech, and did a good job of addressing issues that people was concerned about.
Kefu Zhu
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
Obama bringing the troops back was a very nice thing. It finally ended the endless money pit that was the Iraq war. However, there are still troops in Afghanistan, and that might just drag all this out. There are also wars looming up ahead in the form of Iran and Pakistan. Iran has a fetish for nuclear weapons, and Pakistan enjoys letting insurgents fire old Ruskie rocket batteries at US troops in Afghanistan.
It’s absolutely amazing that the Economy has reached a point where it’s cheaper to hire workers overseas, create a product overseas, and then ship it back home. I think Obama’s doing a good thing for the economy if he decides to incentivize hiring workers at home in America. If all of this goes as planned, it’ll be a good year for the US.
I think that President Obama's speech was very good, although I believe that he was a little unrealistic in his goals for the next few years. His idea to start an agency of investigators to explore unfair practices in other countries across the world is probably not going to be allowed by most countries. Also his idea to stop outsourcing by stopping tax breaks is unrealistic because I do not believe that is why so many jobs have been outsourced. I think that it is mainly because of the fact that many other countries have lower wages than America and will work for much less money. This problem is more about wages than taxes in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Jang
ReplyDelete1st Period
1-26-12
I think that President Obama gave a superb State of the Union Address. He stated about the many achievements that occurred during his work. For instance businesses have created more than 3 million jobs, getting all the troops out of Iraq, and gradually building our weak economy. For the first time in 10 years Iraq has no troops in its baron soil. President Obama has helped build our economy so more American citizens have jobs; if you look at the increase of number of jobs you can automatically tell. Over the past twenty-two months since President Obama took office nearly 3.2 million jobs have been created.
Obama also talks about how there were hard-working Americans who are unemployed and only if they had the money or experience than they would be able to get jobs. Furthermore he also mentioned that it was mandatory to go to school until you are eighteen. I think that this will lower the unemployment rate. Also President Obama has made plans on making a Trade Enforcement Unit, which will/would help millions of people.
Jeanie Stouffer
ReplyDelete1/26/12
5th
http://articles.cnn.com/2012-01-24/politics/politics_sotu-key-points_1_tax-credits-minimum-tax-tax-relief?_s=PM:POLITICS
you can live without education, but it is very hard. I would not say it is vital, but it is very important. Some kids drop out of high school when they are 16 because they cannot handle the work or their family is in really bad shape. For the lazy ones, they need to go to school because they can at least get a better jobs. In chapel hill, 95% of students graduate. Chapel hill is a very unusual place. Most places have less then that. The lazy ones would like less pressure. Schools need to put on less pressure. It depends on the kid, but some kids, after you talk about something too much, they start doing what you do not want them do.
Forget iran. The united states is a very powerful country. People need to stop being selfish. There is too much competition on this planet. We can not stay neutral anymore. If iran bombs us, its sad, but they bombed us. You have too except that countries always want to be better than each other. You have to give them somethings. It is not worth worrying about if you do not know if it going to happen.
Emilee Taxman
ReplyDelete2nd Period
I thought that this address was very informative and interesting overall. It brought up many issues that are pressing our country and said very good and doable solutions. President Obama has many good plans that in my opinion should be brought into action. In his speech, one major issue that was brought up is that outsourced factories should come back. He said that it was crazy that companies actually got tax cuts for leaving and had to pay more to stay. I agree with him completely. We should bring back the companies and give all the unemployed people jobs. It would be good for our economy and good for everyone in the country. We should definitely follow Obama’s plan and give them plenty of reasons to come home and help our own country not others.
Another pressing issue is our dependence on foreign oil. He brought up that we’re depending on unstable countries for us to even function. We need to work on getting clean energy and move home at the same time. It would bring more jobs and money and it would also help the environment. We’ll need to work, but getting ahead on this could mean spearheading another industrial revolution. We have the chance to do something huge, but we have to take it before another country does. Both of these issues are pressing, but would also take time, so we need to start now.
Carolyn Deutsch
ReplyDelete2nd period
1/26/12
After listening and watching the State of the Union Address I think that one of the big issues talked about was finally bringing home the troops from Iraq. This is a great thing for all of those who were fighting in Iraq. It also is a great relief to all of their families and friends. Many lives were risks and many of the troops died there, in Iraq, and it is good to have them safe and home. Another important issue is jobs. Over the past few years there has become many more job openings which is very good for us. The resent rise in our car industry has also helped to provide more jobs for us. I think another good point is that he said that the education will become better. Teachers not doing a good job will be fired and those who are good will stay. This will help improve our schools education all over America.
Juliann Cho
ReplyDelete2nd period
Obama talked about a lot of issues our country has been facing for a while. He talked about a number of interesting topics. He really got down to his major points, and he talked about things that he wanted to get done.
The topics that really caught my attention were the tax deductions, how weak our economy is, outsourced jobs, and much more. I really liked how he started off his speech by mentioning the Iraq war, and how all soldiers are finally back home. He talked a lot about how he is planning on fixing our economy, and ways the he has fixed it already. I also noticed that he talked about American car companies, and how they should build more factories to supply more jobs for the unemployed.
I overall really liked his speech. I think his determination to fix the economy while he is our president is great. Just the fact that he was very determined to bring home all the soldiers from Iraq shows and tells a lot about him. I definitely agree with everything that he talked about, and I look forward to the future, to see what he will do for our country.
While watching the State of the Union Address I noted three major issues that Obama continually pointed out. The issue repeated the most by Obama was the strength of our Armed Forces. America's highest achievement is the strength of the Armed Forces, and Obama was sure to mention that throughout his entire speech. I think that this is a very important aspect of a nation's overall standpoint, however, Obama shouldn't have visited that as much as he did. I just feel like he went a little overboard on that. I also noted that he compared himself to his predecessors quite a bit. He would say things like, jobs have been at their best than they have been in the past 8 years. While Bush was president, a lot of people disliked his beliefs and the amount of work he actually accomplished. Obama is definitely aware of that. I think it was a childish move to compare himself in such a way to his predecessors when he knew that they didn't accomplish much. In a way I thought he was insinuatingly slandering them. Another topic was his opinions on teaching. I completely agree with what he was proposing. Essentially he was proposing that good teachers stay, bad teachers go. I agree with this because, bad teacher do not help, if not, deter the student from learning as much as they can. Teachers that take time out of their day to actually help a student should be rewarded, instead of bashed. Overall, what he was trying to do by stating this was improve the 'No Child Left Behind' policy made by Bush. Obama believes that just getting by is not enough, and that student need to excel in their studies; and I couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteDilay Uras 5th-pd Hons. W.H
ReplyDeleteI do not like president Obama’s speech. I think that instead of reflecting on the past year and going over how America has changed since then, it was more of a campaign speech. It highlighted Obama’s accomplishments specifically.
One topic that I found shocking was when Obama brought up teh idea of education. I think we should hire teachers that are willing to teach the students. Obama had also said that he would like to have all kids go to college. This I agree with, because I believe that all kids should be educated no matter what.
Another thing that I found shocking was that he really emphasized the idea of patriotism in general. I am proud for our country. Along with American value the president kept stating the need for congress to unite as one.
Jeremy Werden
ReplyDelete1st period
I really enjoyed listening to Obama's State Of The Union Address. I feel he discussed some really key issues that are vital for our nations future. He discussed a full range of problems, but i believe 3 to be more important than the others. These are our current debt, the job crises, and the cutting of the military.
America has a current debt crises that we need to get out of. Obama said over 2 trillion in future debt has been cut. This is not just good, this is vital for our market would crash without a cut of this amount. A historically low number of americans do not have jobs. People need to get the proper education in order to have ample job selections. This is what Obama said and I agree. Obama has helped end the war in Iraq which is good for our country, because our work their is done, and we have money to spend on cutting debt, and nation building. Also soldiers can come home and be with their families. But with cutting of military, means cutting soldier. Obama has set out to help soldiers coming home with jobs though. Overall good speech by Obama.
Morgan Mann
ReplyDelete5th Period
The economy has been in a bad state for a while now in the U.S. I believe President Barack Obama did a great job of stating this and how it needs to be fixed. Our middle class has suffered significantly. There have been issues with mortgages and finances. This all lead to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Obama mentioned the addition of jobs by businesses, which was an improvement. Though he also stated factors that we need to work on in order to rebuild our economy. A couple being, American energy and manufacturing. I agree with him, in order to be where we need to be, America needs to start providing for itself.
Another concern Obama addressed was illegal immigrants. He wants to lessen the amount of those illegally, and give them more of a chance to come in legally. I think this is fair and will decrease the amount of those put in jail each year. My last topic would be those that finally got to come home from Iraq. To me, this was one of the greatest things Obama could do for our country. Bringing these people home to their families and ending a feud. Overall, I thought President Barack Obama gave a well planned out speech.
Sophie Kahn
ReplyDeletePeriod Five
I think that President Obama’s speech was excellent and covered many topics. I agree with him on most of his opinions, one of them being outsourced jobs having tax cuts, and how he didn’t agree with that. It’s not fair that people who work away from our country aren’t taxed as much as the people who work here, and I think it’s a good plan to let the government help keep businesses around. Another subject I agreed with was education. People should be required to complete high school and have the chance to get into a good college. With an education, people can make it farther in their lives. However, I hope that these things can be accomplished in the future, but I’m doubtful. Obama’s speech was outstanding, but with our government’s turmoil, how much improvement will actually be completed? We need to work together if we’re going to solve and U.S issues.
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ReplyDelete1/26/11 Daniel Ferreira 5th
ReplyDeleteI believe Obama's State of the Union Address substantially helped his chances on getting re-elected. One important topic he talked about was creating more jobs right here in America. He wants everything to be home grown. I believe that this is extremely important if our economy is to become any better. I was surprised to see that General Motors is back on top of car sales. Obama implied that we should not be in favor of outsourcing. I believe that this is very important for our economy as well as America's integrity.
Another important topic Obama covered was taxes. He said that he should not be getting special deductions while average middle class civilians should. I believe that we should tax the much higher paid people. With the amount of money they have, it won't be a major deal if they have to pay higher taxes. The middle class and poor deserve deductibles. Just because the rich donate to charities and things like this, does not mean they deserve tax breaks. There are major loopholes in the system that need to be fixed. If Obama can fix this, he will help lower the debt ceiling and our economy.
Another very important topic is the cost of tuition for universities and colleges in America. School is not a luxury (as Obama said) and everyone deserves financial aid and schools need to lower tuition costs. Obama stated that the government will help the schools with lower tuition, which i thought was a big statement. If Obama can do this, America can once again have the highest percentage of college graduates, which will boost job growth and help our economy.
Kevin Chen 1st Pd
ReplyDeleteI think President Obama made some really good points in his speech. The first thing that I agreed with was his point on the war and its end. I agree that we should be spending part of the money not spent on the war on reducing debt, and part on ways to improve the economy and the country. I also think that his mentioning of the insourcing of jobs was important. We should be giving money to businesses that keep jobs here at home in America, instead of businesses that outsource their positions out of the country. We should be spending money on businesses that help improve America's economy and decrease the unemployment rate.
He also mentioned education. Laying off teachers would harm students' ability to learn, and that generation wouldn't be able to fix the issues that arise in the future. He suggested that we keep good teachers in their positions, instead of firing them and replacing them with inexperienced and worse teachers.
I think that his speech was well prepared, and had a good mix of what the country accomplished and what it could do better.
President Obama has thought up some really interesting topics and issues that we should be discussing. One of these points is the troops coming home. Now that the USA will not have to pay for the war we can start putting money into decreasing the debt and creating jobs for the jobless. I like how Obama put this. Obama had decided that half the money we make from not being in Iraq will be put into the debt while the rest will be used to make jobs for the lower class and jobless.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue that Obama addressed was education. In NC period, education is lacking in most of the state. This is because we do not have enough funds to pay for good teachers and to pay for school supplies, or even just to pay for teachers. Obama stated, " I will get rid of all the teachers that do not teach and replace them with the ones that do. I believe that this is a good idea because in middle school we had some pretty bad algebra and LA teachers who did nothing. My math teacher Mr. Tulino got fired but my English teacher Mr. Stevens, never did.
Louisa Fine
ReplyDelete1st period
I think that Obama made some very valid points in The State of the Union adress. In his presidency some good things have happened. First the bringing home of the troops from Iraq is a great step in our nation’s history. It has brought many hard working American families back together. Though this is a great accomplishment it does cause a minor problem because it raises the unemployment rate for those that have returned from over seas.
I like Obamas views on tax breaks for companies who stay in our country versus taking jobs over seas. Right now companies are taxed at such a high rates that it is better for them to go over seas. I think that as of now the system is the opposite of what it should be. Obama has the right idea in trying to change this.
Obama also addressed the issue of construction and public works projects, he said that its never a better time do this. He said that since we were spending less money on the war it should be spent toward building and public works projects. In a way this will create jobs but I do not agree with this statement. The money that was spent on the war should be cut out of the budget as money we can save. The United States should not be going further into debt when there is not a legitimate reason.
Over all I think that Obama did a good job on The State of the Union Adress, although several times he seemed to contradict himself. He has tackled several issues that America has dealt with and he has some good ideas for the future.
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ReplyDeleteArturo Tornero
ReplyDelete1st
Although Obama’s speech turned out to be a campaign speech than a reflection over the past year, we very well should put his successes and achievements into recognition. First off, as we all know, he “bagged” Osama. Also, he brought back troops from Afghanistan in the war that still continues today, for there are still troops out there still fighting for their family and country. Finally President Barack Obama made a good observation; the wealthy couch rotten sweet potatoes of our country who earn money through capital gains require paying less taxes than the hardworking 99% do! An example; owning two houses, but one as a beach house, and next year when the price of that beach house raises 150,000 more, the owner would sell it (free money for one year of doing nothing). One thing I noticed in his campaign speech was the Trade Enforcement Unit, which simply translated to me that it will turn out to be an agency based on the awareness of piracy. I enjoyed very much listening to President Obama’s speech and I am eager to know what he will to with the taxing segment of his campaign
Sunny Osment
ReplyDelete1st pd
I think President Barack Obama’s speech was essential to assure the people of the United States of America that he should be re-elected. I thought his speech was well written, to the point and right. He talked about many things; job creation, taxes and the economy in general, schools, teachers and education, renewable energy throughout the nation and immigration among other things. He spoke about how he promised to tax people who make more than a million dollars a year would pay 30 percent on their taxes--which means they’d have to scrape by on 700 thousand. He also spoke specifically on job creation, how he would try to move companies and factories to places that were hit hard with crashing economy--if factories moved to places that were hit hard by the economy, they’d get a tax break. He spoke about investing more in schools and in good teachers as well as helping colleges out so they do not raise university tuition--education is a right.. Ultimately he talked about renewable energy and how the entire U.S. army would start using renewable energy. I thought all around it was a great speech and it motivated and will continue to motivate people to get out there and campaign for him and vote for him.
Ian McKeown
ReplyDelete5th period
1/26/12
After watching the state of the union my biggest concern was trying to stop laughing. No matter what way you look at it from, president Obama just used the address to campaign by talking himself up and making what should have happened naturally, seem like a huge accomplishment on his behalf. The automotive industry was going to revive anyways but he decided to take credit for it and attribute it to his tax plans. The entire address was a perfect example of what is wrong with modern day politics. It is more about a politician or position of power, than the actual issues occurring these days. Obama did do one thing right which he milked like it was the worlds fattest cow. He did bring the troops back and order the operation that took down Osama Bin-Laden. However, he is relying on this alone to keep him in office and used the state of the union address to emphasize this idea. After watching the state of the union, the only thing i learned is that the only thing more messed up than politics, is half the politicians attention spans.
Melissa Galvan
ReplyDelete2nd Period
after watching Obama's speech, he brought up some interesting topics and issues. Obama mentioned war being over. Obama did a good thing ending war because we have been at war for 10 years now and he also promised to end war and he did. Now the people that were at Iraq have time to relax and be with their families that they haven't seen in a while.
Another topic that he mentioned was paying teachers based on their teaching ability. The teachers that are successful at what they are doing will get paid more and the teachers that fail to do so will be fired. i think that is a good idea because some teachers really do have a passion for teaching and others would really care less about teaching students. Overall Obama has done a good job on improving this country and his speech was interesting to watch.
Hugh Kelley, 5th
ReplyDeleteThe State of the Union speech was very important because it adressed the issues The United States have. Along with those issues he adressed how to make them better and fix them. Throught the well written speech Obama proved that he should be realected as the President of the United Stated of America. He has overcome many challenges. Obama made a major step toward being realected when he brought the troops home from Iraq. He is also working on creating many job opportunitys for people. I think that Obama should be realected again.
Taylor Headen
DeletePeriod 1
I think the president did a great job with the speech, because he made a lot of important/good points. He talked about outsourcing, which I think is very important. I think that we need to work on outsourcing because tons of people are losing their jobs. He also talked about education. He stated that he was going to change the law in every state that the age for drop outs are going to be raised, so you won’t be able to drop out so early. The new drop out age is going to be 18, I also think this is a good thing, because 16 is too young to decide if you are going to stay in school are not. The last thing he talked about was immigrants. I think that the immigrant rat is way too high. I think that it needs to go back down to where it was in 2004.
Melissa Turner
ReplyDelete2nd Period
The State of the Union was important to America because it adressed the issues with the United States and was important to the re-election of Obama. He mentioned the war being over which was a very important topic because it is great that he got our troops out of Iraq. Another topic he brought up was how we need to give more raise to the good teachers and fire the bad ones. I think that is a great policy. I think that is great because some teachers really work hard adn put a lot of effort and time into teaching kids but others just think of it as a job.
Overall, I think that President Obamas' speech was great and he deserves to be re-elected this year.
Sadie Frank
ReplyDelete1st Period
Barack Obama's state of the union was inspirational and patriotic. He discussed the renewal of the American auto industry, and how soon, we will be exporting cars to different countries. This makes everyone feel good about America, because they feel as if they have something good to offer to the world.
He also talked about education, and how he wants to improve the educational system in our country. He wants to improve teacher quality and also he wants to not allow students under eighteen to drop out of school. I think that is a fantastick idea and, if executed, will improve our country and help people graduate and get good jobs and live in the suburbs and have dogs and picket fences and eliminate the school to prison pipeline. All of these things are great.
Tim Li
ReplyDelete2nd Period
Obama's State of the Union speech was a very enlightening speech. I feel that he covered many of the important current world problems and that his ideas are very good. An important event that he talked about was the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. This is a big event because our troops are finally out after a long time, and it also lets them spend money that was formerly used to fund the war on reducing debt. Another good idea was the increased taxing of companies who move to other countries. This is good because it may help keep jobs in America instead of moving to other countries where the work is cheaper. This would give more jobs which our country needs right now. Another great idea was his plan to give the good teachers raises and to fire bad ones. Personally I know many teachers who ought to earn more for all the work that they've done. Keeping college tuition from rising is also important as education is a right to all people, not just those who are wealthy and can afford it.
Nate Bolon
ReplyDelete5th period
I thought that the SOTU adress that president obama made was very good and touched on a lot of points that are very important. first off, Obama talkd about the american educational system. he suggested that it should be required that all kids stay in school until they gett their high school diploma. i think this is a good thing, because if more people have diplomas then our nation will be more productive in the long run.
Another issue President Obama spoke about was our dependence on foreign oil and workers. Obama said that we need to start bringing jobs into america because the american worker is th best so companies need to stop outsourcing work to india or china and bring the jobs back home.
Obama's main point of the speech is that we are america, and we are still the most powerful nation in the modern world,and that there really needs to be more unity in america.
Olivia Donahue
ReplyDeletePeriod 1
President Obama's State of the Union served as a appropiate platform to acknowledge his accomplishments so far as president, and his goals if he is re-elected for another term. As tradition, he touched on many of the most important issues facing our country and offered what his administration could do to help eradicate these issues. The part that resonated the most for me was when he spoke about promary education, and ways to help fund students for higher education. He urged many states to abolish the 16 year old drop out age, and to further acknowledge insufficient teachers, and reward ones who fufill thier promise to empower the youth of our country.
When iwas watching his speech i noticed how her brought up how he ended the war after 10 years of war. I also liked how he mentioned all the achivments we as in the whole country have accoplished, i tought that was nice and made us all feel like heros to this country. I also like how he has but more troops out on the bgorder bto stop from people risking thier life crossing the border for a better life, he also mentioned how he wants to help immigrants and new comers to this country and that was a very nice touch. So over all i really did enjoy his speech and it showed how much obama actually cares about our country, and if i was old enough to vote i would vote for him.
ReplyDeleteDavid Archer
ReplyDeletePeriod 5
I thought that the state of the union given by president Obama was fantastic. He hit on a couple of key points including the econonmy, The war, abd international affairs. Obama talked about how many factories in the US are running at full speed and that is the first time in years. He also talked about the car componies sales sky rocketing and the dept they are in are being paid off. Obama also talked about the troops in Iraq leaving and the troops in Afhanistan. I thought he did a great thing withdrawing the troops from iraq. Obama also talked about the debt to china. The debt is slowly going down due to the economy rising.
Lianna Malawski
ReplyDelete1st period
After watching the State of Union Address, i thought Obama talked about some very important conflicts and ideas to help the U.S. One of the topics i found very interesting was when he talked about the soldiers coming home from Iraq. i think it was a very smart move that Obama made by bringing our troops back home. They deserve it, to see their famalies, and friends. Obama also mentioned that their are no soldiers in Iraq right now fighting, they all made it home safely. And hopefully we won't have to go through this again soon.
Obama also talked about world wide depth, i think that this is also very important.So many more famalies are struggling now because of much depth they owe. It's truly ridiculous by the amount of famalies in poverty right now, and without jobs. Obama is doing the right thing by lowering the tax rate for them, and making many more job oportunities for them. If we can get our economy back up then hopefully these horendous tax rates will go down. If it doesnt start to rise, many more people will be struggling, and i know Obama does not want that. Hopefully Obama can pull through for us again, and makde a bigger difference for his country.
Alexa Parvey
ReplyDeletePeriod 1
The speach Obama made was interesting and informative. A very important thing he brung up was that he is bringing home our troops after many years at war. Another thing i thought that was interesting was that he talked about kids not being able to drop out. A lot of kids are dropping out of school because its hard and they just don't want to put up with it anymore. Kids not being able to drop out until they are about 18 gives kids a chance to think about what they are really doing. Also i think its good that Obama recognises that teachers don't always work to the best of their ability to teach their students. I'm glad he wants to fire the ones who aren't helping and encouraging their students and give a raise to the ones who are working hard to make sure all their students graduate.
The State of the Union Address was very informative to us as citizens. We were told of changes this country has made and improvements still under way. Specifically, President Obama mentioned that this is the first time in 9 years where there are no American troops in Iraq. And although there are troops still in Afghanistan, they have started to come home also. Problems addressed in this speech were a shrinking middle class, and millions of jobs being lost. This country needs the motive to keep everyone employed with creating more jobs. Another thing mentioned was to stop interest rated for college tuition from doubling, and instead double work-study jobs. According to the president, States should make higher education a priority, further adding that "higher education can't be a luxury, it should be an economic imperative." The president addressed many issues in this country and issues in the process of being resolved. One main focus of this State of the Union Address was for the "renewal of American values," and an overall better America.
ReplyDeleteMatt Dayton
ReplyDelete1st period
I thoght that Obama said a lot of great things in his state of the union adress. I think it is a great idea to make kids stay in highschool until they are 18. With out a highschool education you are pretty much useless to society. I also liked how he was talking about how Americans need to work harder. Americans can't just asume that the government will bail them out. They need to be an active citizen in the US. People who are lazy are how the US got into this recession. I also liked how much Obama has helped the car industry i Detroit get better. This shows that Obama is a great president and he is doing benificail things to help this society grow. That is why I liked Obama's state of the union adress.
Blaire Sobolewski
ReplyDeletefirst period
The state of the union was very interesting on a lot was brought up in it. The successfull things that Obama has done were also brought up in this speech. Like how there are finally no more troops in Iraq. This was a really great thing that happened for the United States. I also think that making kids stay in high school until they are at least 18 years old will no a lot for the United States.I think that this will really help kids, and allow them to get jobs easier and have more successful lives. Overalll i think this speech was very informative and interesting to hear.
First Period Honors World History
ReplyDeleteIn the State Of The Union Address given by President Obama there were two main things that stuck with me: Kids staying in school until the age of 18 and the troops being home from Iraq. To me, Obama's introducing of kids staying in school til they're 18 showed me that Obama DOES want the economic status of America to be better. In order to build a new economy, you have to start with the people who are learning to do it...US! Also, the troops that were over in Iraq had endured being away for holidays, birthdays, cookout, family get-together's etc. with their families. Bringing them home took a large burden of off the shoulders of their loved ones.
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ReplyDeleteRia Das
ReplyDelete2nd Period
I think that President Obama made a lot of good points in his speech. He covered some of the things he has accomplished in his presidency, such as taking the troops out of Iraq. This is a major accomplishment, because now we can use all the money that was funding the war, to help our economy. He also talked about how he would try to get states to mae it illegal for children to dropout of highschool, until they were 18. I believe that is is very important. Staying in highschool and getting your diploma can lead to higher paying jobs. When people have money and are more educated, they have the right tools to start buisness and get back the jobs that are being shipped over seas everyday.
Obama made some very good points in his speech. First he talked about all the improvements he had already made during his presidency. He also talked about how we need to get more jobs back overseas so Americans can actually get jobs. The other thing he said that I really liked was that wee need to spot cutting education and start thinking of ways to improve our school system. All this stuff sounds great, but I seriously doubt any of it will happen since the Republicans have been blocking every single piece of legislation that Obama supports. Plus it's election year and politics always gets messed up on an election year
ReplyDeleteEverett Dang
ReplyDelete2nd period
The State of the Union Address had quite a few strong points throughout its duration. People have said so much about how Obama never improved anything or how little Obama has done, but after looking at actual statistics, it reinforces the idea of Obama being a good political leader. He also talked about the limitation of outsourcing jobs in order to provide millions of Americans with jobs. He encouraged companies and factories to do this by cutting the taxes of companies that successfully provide Americans with jobs instead of outsourcing. He also talked about how American companies are productively rebuilding and returning to some of the worlds greatest companies (for example the auto-industry). After this speech, I feel that Obama has reiterated his goals and ideas for our country and that he has promoted himself well enough to influence the lingering election in his favor.
Alex Haggis
ReplyDelete1st Period
Obama made a good solid state of the union address that brought up all the major things that had been going on during his administration. Now although I personally believe he has fulfilled more than what plenty of presidents have in the past, there are still some things that I believe he could have done better. I am not well versed in the goings on at the white house but we should have withdrawn all of our troops from Iraq to start with and although he did catch Bin Laden, besides that there is still a tremendous amount of hypocrisy and corruption involved in our invasion of Afghanistan, and I personally think we should have been out of there right after he was killed. He talked about opening up more oil drilling off our coasts and about tapping into our other sources of energy. All in all a pretty good speech, and what I believe to be a pretty good administration.
Ye Htet
ReplyDelete2nd period
The State of Union Address had many topics that were really important. President Obama stated many successes that have been made when he held office and I think that's pretty cool. Like how the United is making more jobs. He brought a lot of jobs back and made the some companies get back to the top. He pointed out that all the soldiers are back from Iraq and I think that is great because the troops won't be in danger in foreign lands and chill out at home. The speech provided many information to us and I think that Obama is successful leader and has helped the United States regain some losses.
I really liked watching President Obama's State Of The Union Address. He is a very charismatic speaker. The things that he says make a lot of sense to me and I agree with his plan and vision for our country. During his speech he discussed some key problems that our country is facing and offered some feasible solutions. The three most important topics to me were the current debt crises, unemployment, and the cutting of the military.
ReplyDeleteThe US has a current debt crises that we need to reduce. Obama said over two trillion in future debt has been cut. It is important that we have a plan to reduce the debt because if we can’t cut this, the market will crash. The toughest part is that the President does not want to make cuts in the programs that the people really need. One plan is to tax the rich at a fairer rate. The job crisis is very bad right now. This is partly a result of people not having a good education to be able to find a job because they don’t have the skills needed. In fact, there are jobs that are open but no people who are able to do them. President Obama wants to help by providing training for the new job market. Obama has helped with the war in Iraq. This is great for our country because troops have come home, and we will save the money that was being used to support the war effort. That money can be used for debt reduction and to support the President’s Job Act which includes building and repairing roads and bridges as well as improving schools. It is a great idea to build up our country’s infrastructure. The only problem is that all of the soldiers who come home need to find jobs and we don’t have many jobs for them. President Obama would like to offer monetary incentives to businesses that employ the returning war veterans.
I think that the president gave an excellent state of the union address. He talked about many achievements that occurred during his presidency such as the Iraq war, our weak economy, outsourcing jobs and what he has passed to protect the shrinking middle class. With the Iraq war he mentioned the fact that, for the first time in ten years, there are no U.S. soldiers in Iraq. I think that this is excellent and he did do what he promised while running for president which was to remove all soldiers from Iraq. President Barack Obama made a good observation; the wealthy couch rotten sweet potatoes of our country who earn money through capital gains require paying less taxes than the hardworking 99% do! An example; owning two houses, but one as a beach house, and next year when the price of that beach house raises 150,000 more, the owner would sell it (free money for one year). He also spoke specifically on job creation, how he would try to move companies and factories to places that were hit hard with crashing economy--if factories moved to places that were hit hard by the economy, they’d get a tax break.
ReplyDeleteEMERY HARWELL
ReplyDeleteFIFTH PERIOD
Watching President Obama's 2012 State of the Union Address was very informative. As usual, he addressed the ever growing national debt, and the various details involving our current economic turmoil. However when it came to unemployment, things seemed better than they did last year, and this was something he could build off of. On the front page of YouTube the next morning, the NRC had posted a video comparing Obama's speech to the one he gave last year. It was a tad disheartening, but the thing is, the things he said last year and the things he repeated this year are not really pivotal subjects. During his speech, Obama was able to focus on bringing home troops from Iraq, and also the unemployment rate. Being such a great speaker, he could use these to build his speech around, creating a sense of belief and commitment, unlike the pessimistic and seemingly hopeless view of the NRC video. And though our country is by all means in the best of economic situations right now, the way our leader, commander in chief presents himself is key to how we feel. If we have faith in him, we have faith in ourselves. So not always, but definitely in this one, the state of the union was really just a big happy boost. To make Americans feel good about their country, all of which was not untrue. So seeing the changes this year, i am excited to see what will be new next year, how our possibly new president will address his (or her) union after what Obama has done with this country in his past four difficult but impressively successful years.
Sophie Manik
ReplyDeleteJanuary 30th 2012
2nd period
I think Obama gave a great speech. Some things I questioned but I agreed with a fair amount of what he had to say. One thing I would like to point out is he promised to veto any bill with earmarks. Presidents have been promising this for a long time but have failed to follow through. He also said he is going to cut the budgets for things we don't need, and raise taxes for those making over a million, lowering taxes for the middle and lower class. However, he never said what he was going to take money from. Although, I agree it is a good idea to work on improving education, research, technology and transportation to make the nation more competitive. I also think it's a good idea to bring industry back to the united states to create job openings. In all of this he was short on specifics. Maybe if he was less blunt his speech would be more seemingly viable.
Jamil Walker
ReplyDelete5th
With listening to the Obama’s speech, I think it was excellent. He went in detail about his topics about our taxes is rising and our economic problems and more. That’s one thing about Obama, he helps the country in many ways it just that he is an African American and people are feeling some type of way about him. He did an even better job by bringing our troops back because they have been working their tails off. One thing I did like is that he mentioned things about having more jobs. That’s good because there have been so many struggles out there in the world about people losing jobs not being able to take care of their families. And a job will be awesome for them. Obama has been doing a good job taking care of the country and supplying us with everything we need.
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DeleteObama's speech was a very informative speech about America's current state in the world. He had to mention, of course, our nation’s debt and how it's going up by $100,000 every minute. He addressed the war in Iraq and notes that for the first time in ten years, there are no U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
ReplyDeleteObama has done well for our country so far. He has raised taxes on those with higher incomes and reduced taxes for families living in poverty.
Obama states that he will be asking the country to consider a law preventing anyone under the age of 18 to drop out of school. Demanding changes in education could help many people. I think he is a great president and should be re-elected.