The much awaited and anticipated the "State of the Union" annual address of President Barack Obama to the U.S. Congress has now come and gone. The chamber was full to capacity, all members of the U.S. Congress were present with an exception of the Arizona Congress woman Gabrielle Giffords that is still recovering in a Texas rehabilitation center. She was reported by the cable network MSNBC to have watched the speech with her husband on her side via the television.
What is left today that will follow this speech for many, many years to come are the various political fallouts as well the domestic and international implications of the world's most important speech. The United States of America is the world's only superpower nation, the richest and the most advanced as well as the most prosperous in this 21st century. The reality in the world today is that whenever America sneezes, the rest of the world will catch a cold.
THE DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THIS SPEECH
ON PARTY POLITICS AND OUR DEMOCRACY
The members of the U.S.Congress from the opposing political parties and ideologies sat down side by side for the first time in the history of this presidential traditional annual "State of the Union" address to the Congress. This development last night if it is highly cherished by our politicians, may signify a new era of politics of civility and compromise in America. No politician or political party today has the monopoly of wisdom to solve all the major challenges that face America in the world of the 21st century. The President asked our politicians a question: We seat together tonight, but can we work together tomorrow?
ON JOBS AND THE ECONOMY IN THE 21ST AMERICA
The world has changed in this 21st century as a result of advancement in science and technology. Those manufacturing jobs of the Midwestern America are gone forever. The creation of the much needed new jobs for today and the future jobs to come will be based on technological advances. The focus now in America should be on biomedical research, information technology research and the clean and renewable energy development. The President proposes a plan to put one million electric cars on the American roads by 2015 and have 80% of our electricity come from the clean energy sources by 2035. The President concluded the only way forward to create the future jobs in America is to invest in scientific research and development "an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people".
ON EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY AMERICA
Our schools are failing, 25% of our high school students do not graduate at all or graduate in time, 10 years from today most of the new jobs will require at least a Bachelor's degree. American students are falling behind in math and science when they are compared with students from other developed nations. 100,000 new teachers in the field of science, technology, engineering and math will be needed in America's schools. The "Race to the Top" a national education policy of President Obama's government will now replace the ineffective policy of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The President concluded on this note "we need to out-innovate, out- educate, and out-build the rest of the world". Investment in our education is the key to keeping America on top of the rest of the world in this 21st century.
ON THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN AMERICA
As we advance into the 21st century, the United States will remain a nation of immigrants as well as a nation of laws. American government will continue to promote legal immigration into America. The issue of what to do with the millions of illegal immigrants who are here will continue to be a national issue that will polarize and divide this nation more and more. The present immigration policies of today must be revisited by the United States Congress to adequately address the various loopholes in our broken national immigration policies. The President concluded on this note "And I am prepared to work with Republicans and Democrats to protect our borders, enforce our laws, and address the millions of undocumented workers who are now living in the shadows.
ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE WITH THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD
America plans to double its export to the world by the year 2014. This will create additional hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs domestically. America must ensure that they sign a fair trade dealings with the other trading partners. China is a major trading partner with the United States, but she does not practice a fair trading agreement with America. She manipulates her stock market and undervalues her national currency by about 20% of its actual value to make her exports cheaper. She engages America in cyber war and steals intellectual property rights. This unbalanced trading agreement must be addressed diplomatically.
ON HEALTH CARE AND MEDICAL INSURANCE FOR ALL AMERICANS
The President said that his health care law known as the Obamacare has come to stay in America. Obamacare will give health insurance to additional 32 million uninsured Americans, allows students to be on their parents' health care insurance till the age of 26 years old, makes prescription drugs cheaper for our seniors, and prevents insurance companies from turning down patients with preexisting health conditions or raising their premiums. The President maintained a firm position on his health care law "What I'm not
willing to do -- what I'm not willing to do is go back to the days when insurance companies could deny someone coverage because of a pre-existing condition.
ON OUR NATIONAL DEBT OF $14 TRILLION
These mountains of financial debt started about 10 years ago. Our government continues to spend more than what it generates as revenue, our spending exceeds our income as a nation, we spend what we do not have. The President proposes an annual freezing on the domestic spending for the next five years, that will reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next one decade. The government has also frozen the salaries of federal employees for the next two years. The secretary of defense has also agreed to cut tens of billions of dollars in spending that our military can do without.
ON THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
The President announced that the war in Iraq is coming to an end, there is a government in power in Iraq, elected by the Iraqis themselves and the war is Afghanistan is achieving its purposes, insurgency is down, Afghans now have an elected government in power, and the war against international terrorism is yielding results by preventing threats and new attacks from the terrorists.
ON SOUTHERN SUDAN AND TUNISIA
The President maintained that the government of America fully supports the aspirations of the people of Southern Sudan and Tunisia to be free from the corrupt and oppressive regimes. Southern Sudanese voted recently in a referendum for independence nation and the Tunisians protested and removed the corrupt dictator in power in Tunisia. The President concluded on this note "The United States of America stands with the people of Tunisia and supports the democratic aspirations of all people".
THE FINAL CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER
The President concluded his annual speech by saying that "We do big things. The idea of America endures. Our destiny remains our choice. And tonight, more than two centuries later, it's because of our people that our future is hopeful, our journey goes forward, and the state of our union is strong".
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