Preparing for the State of the Union

Well it's that time of year again. Presidents get an opportunity to address Congress every January, about their plans for the country that year. And yet, the spasmodic way that Obama has thrown himself into the American spotlight to address his people is reminiscent of the Fireside Chat days of FDR during the Great Depressions. In today's world, there are more effective, safer, and numerous way for the White House to address the American Public than ever before. The oldest and most coveted of these methods of communication is the State of the Union address. Since it's inauguration, it has been recorded and made available for the public to read easily. Yet, with the invention of the internet, finding not only transcripts of the address, but full streaming or down-loadable videos of the speech, has become effortless.

Yes, in these days of the Google era, information has become more attainable than ever though possible. The whole world, if in possession of a television, has the ability to watch Barack Obama address Congress and the rest of the free world tomorrow at 9pm ET on every major channel. And what a year it has been!

Okay, perhaps my elation is undeserved. So far, the world has seen very little change since the time that Barack Obama took office last January. However, the lack of improvement in American over the last year is more implicative of the political "sins" of George W. Bush, when he held the office for a near decade. It is simply irrational to assume that 8 years of treachery that broke our country in pieces can be fixed, and our nation consolidated in a period of time as minute and as short lived as one year.

President Obama seemed optimistic about the Health Bill passing in a speech recently, despite "hitting a buzz-saw" with the election of Scott Brown as Senator of Massachusetts. Health Care is an important issue to many and opponents of the bill were ecstatic when the Democrats were unable to get a win in Massachusetts with the election of Coakley. Democrats, however disappointed they may be, were more angry than anything, with Coakley, who in the opinion of many, ran a lackluster campaign that was doomed from the start.

There are Reports coming out of Washington that the speech tomorrow with address the economy above all, and the steps that the Administration plans to take in order to stabilize the economy.

Obama recently devised an act that would penalize banks for running hedge funds while intending supposedly to serve the public. Most of Obama's problems seem to be coming from Congress, who has rejected every attempt at bipartisanship that they have seen, including a bill that would create a bipartisan task force in order to tackle the federal deficit, even after our deficit was found to be at a whopping 1.38 Trillion Dollars.

Experts are estimating that the deficit could drop to $480 Billion in 5 years, but only if the series of tax cuts enabled under George W. Bush are allowed to expire. That being said, this is the worst possible time for a lack of agreement.

President Obama, depsite what once was a 60 seat Democratic Majority in the Senate, has been unable to pass the bills he wants passed. It seems so surreal to me, as somebody who watched as George W. Bush, despite a Democratic Majority in Congress, was able to do anything he wanted, without the slightest hint of caution by either the Administration or Congress.

But the effective parts of Obama's speech tomorrow will be clouded by economic worries. Items on the agenda that might have been given more media coverage or attention such as a plan to counter bio-terrorism, are hidden beneath a want for answers, jobs, and stabilization.

--Dylan Starks
The Corpse Party