As I mentioned in last week’s post, the Sate of the Union was on last week. Each year, the President gives a big speech to a joint session of Congress and the American people to update them on, well…the state of the union. I hope some of you caught all or part of it, but just in case you missed it, you can access the video link here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/state-of-the-union-2011
In his speech, President Obama called on Americans to "do big things". He challenged us to "win the future" by creating jobs through education and innovation. So for this week's blog post, I would like to know, what was one thing you liked about President Obama's ideas for the future? What was one thing you didn't like, or thought he didn't speak enough about?" Answers are due no later than Tuesday, February 8th, 2010.
I hope all of you survived the ice storm and enjoyed a couple days off of school. On a good note, Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, forecasted and early spring today!
I liked Obama's idea of getting more good teachers. My sister is going to college to become a teacher and I think its great for a president to encourage and promote teachers. It is not one of the most sought after jobs, so for him to see the importance of this job and to treat it with such respect is great.
ReplyDeleteI do not like Obama's health care idea. The countries that have very poor medical care in their countries have this very same health care plan...not a good sign. People simply do not get the medical attention they should have because for this system. I do not understand how this whole 'health care' plan is really beneficial. I think that if more people would have actually looked at this health care a little more closely, instead of just hearing about all the money they will save, people would not have been so enthusiastic about this idea in the first place.
I really did enjoy that 5 minutes of applause. Couldn't edited that for time could we.
ReplyDeleteIf he's going to take money out of the oil companies and put into cleaner energies, wouldn't that make the oil sources more expensive. It great that he plans on helping up with making cleaner energy sources a more dominant part of our community. But what about those cannot afford to switch to a new vehicle. Wouldn't that hypothetically hurt those who cannot switch?
I like the tax cuts and the financial aid for college students. I do not like the fact the Obama has no real plans for how to accomplish better education, better health care reforms, and increase technology. By the way, what is he going to do with all of the computer advances? Talk is cheap, let's see some plans. These are great topics that need improvement, but I just don't see any plan. Tax money won't solve all of these problems.
ReplyDeleteI really do like the tax breaks, anyway to help save me money I'm on board. Although, I feel like all of our leaders say the will do this, enough talk let's do the work now. I do not like the medicare plan I think it is time we get on the same level as the other countries.
ReplyDeleteI like the financial aid for college students. I agree with Haley Obama does have plans for plans for how to accomplish better education, better health care reforms, and increase technology. Saying you are going to do something and putting it into action are two different things.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of tax cuts and financial aid for college students. We all know that college students need more access to financial aid. I know that I personally get NO financial help because my dad has a steady job that makes it so that even though I pay for my own schooling, the government doesn't think I need help to pay for school.
ReplyDeleteI liked President Obama's idea for a cleaner earth. I support environmental energy. I like his ideas on better educational techniques for students and teachers. Me being a tutor to elementary school students, I am very avid about education I think he made a great point about the Dont Ask, Dont Tell Bill. I am very happy that he included that in his speech.He could have went into taxes more. .I think that if people would just give Obama the chance to work on issues that are bigger than himself, and stop putting him down for everything little thing that hasnt been fixed immediately, we might actually get somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Haley and Nicole with the financial aid for college students. I recieve very little or no financial assistance due to the fact that my parents have well paying jobs. I however have picked to go to school and I will be paying for it myself. I do wish that he had a plan for everything he mentioned instead of just talking about it and hoping that it works out later.
ReplyDeleteI like how real he is in his speech. He explains that the economy and job market is getting better little by little, compared to how it was a couple of years ago. But he also lets us know that he's aware that we still far from a perfect economy, and though progress has been made, we still have a long way to go. I like that he has plans on how to reach the goals he established at the beginning of his term by investing in biomedical research, as well as energy and information technology. He may not have laid every plan out step by step but he has at least shown where he will start and has made some progress already. I also liked how encouraging he was to bring Democrats and Republicans together. Though they take different stands on different issues, we will all need to stand united and work together eventually if we want to keep improving daily life.
ReplyDeleteI also would have liked to hear more about his plans to increase education. I think the Race to the Top plan is excellent, but I don't think it will work for everyone. With so many teachers being laid off due to lack of funding, some schools may not be able to come up with new plans to get more funding. I think it could be beneficial for schools that are suffering low grades and low graduation rates to get extra help by having someone with more ideas on how to raise grades, go in to speak with the school board about re-working their curriculum and anything else that needs to be changed in order to get children to excel in learning.
After watching that entire video, I can honestly say that I agree with most of what President Obama said. One thing that I really agree with and have an interest in is the use of alternate energy. He said that the goal is by the year 2015 over 1 million electric cars will be on the roads. This is great and I plan to own one of these new vehicles (electric run or run on some other form of alternative energy) as I am sick of paying $30-$40 a week for gas. Like President Obama said, the oil companies are doing fine, why not invest in clean energy sources.
ReplyDeleteAugh, my comment never showed up, so I'm going to try again. Sorry if it shows up later! --I basically said that I was really happy to hear about energy conservation and that the idea of a new electric car industry really appealed to me, but that I wasn't sure how he would implement it. I also said that I really wish education was talked about more as a whole. I really wish that they would talk about putting art and school back into the curriculum. As an art student, it upsets me that it's not really talked about by anyone.
ReplyDeleteI liked Obamas tax cuts and financial aid for college students. I hate the fact that i cant get financial aid just because my family has a little bit of money. What i don't like the is his idea of health care and the whole welfare situation.
ReplyDeleteI liked the overall tone of the State of the Union, it seemed to have a very peppy and motivated feel to it. Obama made a good point about how we need to take responsibility for our deficit and in reforming our government. Debt has always been an issue in our government and taking steps in the direction to reduce it is necessary. I would have liked to hear more about the Health Care Reform, he seemed to steer away from the topic and many Americans want to know more details about this expecially since it is such a hot topic.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Obama's speech. I was really motivated on the part about how America is built on ideas. It made me feel like we citizens have to shape it as well, Obama cannot do it alone. I also enjoyed his speech on reducing tax cuts and student loans. I didn't dislike anything he said. Though I would have liked to hear him talk more about healthcare.
ReplyDeleteTionda Burch
I liked the idea to cut oil consumption by 785 million barrels by 2030...because it's a source that will not be around forever and the sooner we can get away from it the better off we will all be...which also goes along with the electric car thing. what i did not like, was the idea of improving education in math and science so America will be more competitive and the need to outsource jobs wont be necessary but then there is a free trade agreement with south korea...it is a contradiction i think it is best to be able to function solely. Yeah you should pay your employees more than 2$ an hour and I know from my classes in fashion design (we are normally told we should outsource because of cheap prices) when you get things made in China it is only 4$ an hour and in India 2$ an hour (I know they are not South Korea, but you get the idea) I feel like this is going to bite us eventually.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of getting more good teachers. I feel like so many schools don't care about having educated teachers, they just need to fill spots. So, having teachers who really know what they're doing and who are educated will really help generations to have more pride in their school work and be more educated.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree with Steven about not cutting oil consumption because I absolutely can not afford electric car (not to mention they're not even on the market for buying yet)and I also can't afford to spend more money on gas with it becoming a rare source. So, I don't think this is a good plan unless electric cars will be traded to everyone for their gas using cars. It will never work.
I really like the idea of putting money into a new energy source, as i am also tired of paying 40-50 bucks for gas everytime i need to go. For something thats a part of our everyday life you would think that it would be slightly more convenient. Everyone just needs to start riding bikes and taking trains, thats the way to go.
ReplyDeleteI personally liked the idea of catching up nationwide with other countries as far as technology in cities go. The toll that urbanization has taken on our cities has been rough and we need to rebuild. I liked the idea of a grander scale of road projects and the high speed rail is a very interesting idea but i will be curious if it will really work. People love their cars and the government will have to make a good case for a convenient railway system. The logistics of organizing something on that scale seems ridiculous. I am sure that many people are as wary of that as I am. I did like the idea of a push for the availablity of high speed internet to more homes, i just hope that it also becomes cheaper. I didnt hear what i wanted to about energy concerns. Sure a high speed rail would help with that, but more work needs to be done to stop our dependency on oil.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Abby, More teachers would be a huge improvement for our country. We are having some much problems cutting schools. Our education is being cut. Which I believe is just horrible.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a time where a degree is everything, yet we don't have enough teacher around to keep schools open or give a quailty eduaction to our children who are our future.
I believe it would be very good imporvement and bring unemployment down a little
Nathasa
This past weeks state of the union displayed a lot of good ideas and little explain how we as the country were going to accomplish it. I feel Obama's idea to give more towards financial aid for college students is a good idea. To base the aid on income is hard when some people on paper seem to be financially stable however a lot of the times they still can pay, with his plan, more money will be able to allow hopefully larger pay outs for students whom really are our future. I did as well like the fact he put a focus on, making sure the American people knew that the future isn't going to happen unless we focus on schooling. What I didn't like is his lack of explain all his ideas. To have a TV spot that takes up so much time, he should of focused more on explaining what is going on rather then listing a new set of open ended promises
ReplyDeleteNow when watching the State of the Union, I really liked all the ideas Obama was giving out. I personally believe that everything starts with an idea. . . Now weather or not it actually comes through and happens, I don't know. But the real problem I have is when talking about education in the United States, he is all for math, science, engineering, but what about the arts? I'm not just talking about college, but all the little kids who will never know who Picasso is because there are no art programs. The other day I heard about an elementary school that got its' library taken away to have another math class. I believe that is worse then not knowing every element on the periodic table by middle school. I just hope he understands that in order to have these plans come through he is going to need idealist, and these people are true artist, which are becoming extinct from these conditions we are now living in.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I really found interesting was Obama's ideas about oil and new energy. I think that it is very important to start decreasing our dependency on foreign countries for oil, but I am concerned how that will affect most middle class people. If we were decrease our oil, it would most likely become more costly. This would not be a problem for people that could afford electric cars which are now being produced, but what about the people that couldn't afford electric cars? They would then be forced to spend more money weekly or monthly on oil to keep their car running. Either way, it is very costly for a lot of people to get started towards reducing oil dependency. I believe that electric cars will have a great impact on our air quality in the future, but the transition is not one that will not be easy.
ReplyDelete