President Obama’s State of the Union speech, hopeful, but in need of action

Wednesday 26 of January 2011
Edwin R. Jusino | PRSSA UPR Mayaguez

Read the entire State of the Union Adress

One thing we can say about yesterday’s speech by president Obama is, simply put, that President Obama solidified his position as the leader of our nation. The president managed to do what he does best as a politician; his speech was agreeable to many in the crowd and TV audience, yet Obama has promised in the past and has not yet delivered.

Picture by the Washington Post

 For example, in the 2009 State of the Union Address, the president promised to cut down in half the size of the national debt. It is 2011 and, still the debt of our nation is sky rocketing. An example used by Congressman Paul Ryan in the official Republican response was the economical and fiscal crisis affecting European Union member states like the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Greece. If our nation continues to spend, following outdate Keynesian economical theories; our country has a big chance of entering into such fiscal crises.

This being said, president Obama did talk about fiscal responsibility. “To reduce barriers to growth and investment, I’ve ordered a review of government regulations. When we find rules that put unnecessary burden on business, we will fix them”. These encouraging words, if placed into action, will help out the overall economy. Republican governor, Luis Fortuño, began his term with similar ideas, now being proposed by president Obama. For example, Luis Fortuño implemented public law 7 of 2009 that cut the government budget spending drastically, began a government wide department consolidation program, with an unfortunate loss of about 12,300 (official numbers) government employees. Taken into consideration that Puerto Rico has the largest government bureaucracy of any state government in the United States and its territories, it is but a small portion of governmental jobs.

President Barack Obama said yesterday “So tonight, I am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years… This freeze will require painful cuts. Already, we have frozen the salaries of hardworking federal employees for the next two years…” The president went on to say “…the last major reorganization of the government happened in the age of black and white TV… In the coming months my administration will develop a proposal to merge, consolidate, and reorganize the federal government in a way that serves a more competitive America.” Of course, still to be seen is if these consolidations will mean a stronger, smaller government; also to watch is if these consolidations will mean lay off within the federal government.

In the case of Luis Fortuño, the credit of the island has improved dramatically, and many economists now say the economy of the island should expect a growth in a year or so. Action is what is needed, actions that prove that our government will take the necessary measures to follow a fiscal responsible plan of action to lower the national debt. Lowering the national debt, and strengthening the private sector, strengthens our economy, which means we will have more money that will be invested in the economy.
Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said after the speech: “President Obama used the language of fiscal responsibility, but what he’s proposing is another stimulus and state bailout. That’s the wrong approach. If his free-spending policies of the past two years worked, then we wouldn’t still be looking at almost 10% unemployment.” To a point, the congressman is right, but we need to allow the president space to see if the message of fiscal responsibility sent last November in the midterm elections was heard loud and clear inside the Oval Office.

The proposals of investing in new technologies focusing on clean energy are an innovative way to start focusing on the future. Like the president said, let’s start investing in the future; these new technologies mean a new source of income and innovation on the businesses of tomorrow. That is part of our American tradition, and should be applauded. But, again, words can be written, but must be enforced with actions. Investing in education is also critical to the future of our nation; it is through education we will plant the seeds of the success or downfall of our country.

To finalize this brief comment on the 2011 State of the Union Address, we must applaud the repealing of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy”. Anybody willing to sacrifice their life, so that other may live, regardless of their sexual orientation, should in everybody’s eyes be treated as a hero. As a democracy, we must allow anybody whom willingly decides to serve our country in the military to enlist, and we echo the words of our president: the ROTC and recruiters need to be let back into colleges. Accordingly, the federal government must insist that state colleges, including the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus give adequate facilities inside campus so that students participating in the program have the same opportunities as any other student on campus.

President Obama, if he stays true to his words, will have an ample lead in the upcoming elections. In fact, according to Reuters, stock index futures ticked up late on Tuesday, pointing to a stronger opening on today, after President Barack Obama stressed a freeze on government spending and the need to lower corporate tax rates. I hope he stays true to his words.