During President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address on Tuesday night, he covered many topics ranging from terrorism to the economy, from innovation to political discourse. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined.
Advertisement
We don’t need to build them up to show that we’re serious, and we sure don’t need to push away vital allies in this fight by echoing the lie that ISIL is somehow representative of one of the world’s largest religions.
With that lack of support in mind you might have expected a tub-thumping final State Of The Union address – bulging with boasts about his achievements in office. Let me tell you something: the United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth.
The tone of the address was meant to print Obama’s mark on the 2016 presidential campaign, in which Republican candidates appear keen to roll back virtually all of his accomplishments – victories he believes are consistent with American values and spirit.
At times, Obama referred sarcastically to the Republicans running to replace him, though without mentioning them by name, just weeks before the first nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
He vowed a robust campaign to “take out” the Islamic State group, but chastised Republicans for “over the top claims” about the extremist group’s power. “We must resist that temptation”, said Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants.
Trump, who is leading the race for the Republican nomination, has called for the deportation of all 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. and barring of all Muslims from entering the country. It’s just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. “And when it comes to the terror threat we face, once again we heard the President offer rhetoric in the clouds while terrorists plot in our city streets”, Mr McCaul said.
“It was unusual some in the chamber didn’t appreciate that”, Obama said.
Here are eight key takeaways on healthcare from President Obama’s address and Gov. Haley’s rebuttal.
“I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa”, he said near the beginning of his speech, a wink to the crowd of candidates hungry to take his job, some of whom are now serving in the Senate.
LIASSON: And he seemed to be speaking directly to Donald Trump when he said American leadership depends on the power of our example.
For the past seven years, he said the goal of his administration has been a growing economy that works better for everybody.
Warning that “instability will continue for decades” in many parts of the world including Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama said both al-Qaeda and ISIS pose a direct threat to the USA and America’s foreign policy has to be focused on the threat from ISIL and Al Qaida. “No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country”.
Advertisement
East Asia was given one paragraph as the President called on Congress to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal.
