The State of Union

The State of Union is an annual address presented by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. In which the President address his overall plans in the next year before he is up for election again. This year the President addressed the Congress last tuesday at 9pm and this year the Congress all sat together to show the U.S. that we were getting along during the hard times since the shooting that happen in Tucson, where Jared Lee Loughner shot U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords on January 8,2011. Usually the Congress is split up and they sit apart but luckly they weren't. But the President had many plans that he says will set up the United States to become a better country in the next couple years. These are the main things the President went over in his address:

Revenue/Savings:

• A 5 year freeze in domestic spending projected to save $400 billion over the next decade
• Elimination of billions in tax breaks for oil companies
• Reductions in health care costs, including Medicare and Medicaid
• Reform for Social Security
• Ending the Brush-era tax cuts
• A proposal to "merge, consolidate and reorganize the federal government
• A ban on congressional earmarks
• a proposal to lower the corporate tax rate.

Expenses:

• Pledge to provide 80% of Americans with high-speed rail access in 25years.
• Pledge to have 1million electric vehichles on the road by 2015.
• Pledge to have 80% of the country's electricity come from clean-energy sources by 2035.
• New investment in biomedical research, information technology and clean-energy technology.
• A call to make a $10,000 tuition tax credit permanent.
• A continuation of the $4.35 billion Race to the Top incentive program offering competitive federal grants to local school systems.
• A call to "redouble" efforts to repair America's aging road and bridges.

Other:

• A challenge to pursue innovation in "our generations' Sputnik moment."
• Replace the No Child Left Behind reform.
• Raised the bar for the schools in the states and wants the schools to meet the bar.
• Creating new jobs for Americans.
• Expects to be out of Afghanistan by July2011.

The Republicans wore a red tie and respond only to some of President Obama's proposal and only claped sometimes while the Democrats wore a blue tie and clapped alot when President Obama talked about all of his proposals. The House Speaker introduced President Obama and sat behind him with the vice president. This has to do with everything in our gonvernment.

My opinion about the State of Union, for this to be the first one I watch, it was good. I think President Obama made alot of good points about what America needs to improve on when it comes to the problems and issues that we are going threw. I also think that the Republicans should of have been more supporitive when it came to the President making  his proposals. But it is to be said that the since President Obama is Democratic then the Republicans don't support that much and rather see a Republican as the Head of our Country. Well i believe we need to stick with a Democratic President like Obama. What is your opinion when it comes to the State of Union??

http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2011