Employment, Obama’s Priority in 2010

Unemployment, budget deficit, bank taxation: during his first State of the Union, the American President put a slant on the economy.

“We don’t quit. I don’t quit,” was the promise made last night by Barack Obama to Congress and to the millions of Americans who were listening to him live nationwide while he delivered his first State of the Union address. He arrived on Capitol Hill with a smile and apparently relaxed, with his wife Michelle, who wore a dark purple skirt and preceded him by a few minutes. The president appeared more resolute and more on the offensive than ever, while his political camp is going through a rough time. Far from giving up on his ambitious agenda for change, he made the commitment to not let “the special interests” in Washington paralyze his long term reform projects, while also promising to make jobs “our number one focus in 2010.” He warned that without financial reform, without health care reform, without energy and education reform, America will not get out of the structural economic crisis it finds itself tangled up in, calling upon his Republican opponents to put aside their “political posturing.” “We are strong. We are resilient. We are American,” he said, calling on the political class to be daring and expressing his “optimism” for the future.

The exercise was highly anticipated by political observers and the political class, after the scalding political setback suffered by the Democrats in Massachusetts. These last few days, a number of observers judged that Obama had overestimated the American society’s desire for transformation, and advised him to bring his focus back to the center in order to devote himself to the economy and the management of public deficits, which have dramatically increased and are alarming people.

In a highly elaborate speech, with an obviously well-organized thread, the president presented his track record and his plans for the future, reminding his auditors of the incredibly difficult circumstances under which he took office “amid two wars [and] an economy rocked by severe recession.” Explaining the reasons for his recovery plan and for the bank bailout, highly unpopular and put in place only to prevent the system from collapsing, he conceded that he had not been pleased with the priority placed on saving those responsible for the disaster, but that he wasn’t there to “do what was popular [but] to do what was necessary.” Several times, he aimed his remarks against Wall Street, which dares to grant itself bonuses with the taxpayers’ money. The president went on to announce, under a round of applause, wanting to “take $30 billion” from the funds “Wall Street banks have repaid” to launch credits for small businesses to increase hiring. He spoke in length about how “the devastation remains,” even if “the worst of the storm has passed.” He spoke with emotion of Americans’ “struggles,” about which he reads each day in the letters sent to him from all corners of America. “I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay,” said the president to the elected members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“I expect a different attitude from the right”*

Once he had enumerated the measures he had already taken and still plans to take in order to revive the economy, Barack Obama moved on to the second part of his speech to explain that all of this would not be enough to help the country get out of the rut. We cannot go on living the way we have over the past decade, when the cost of health care exploded and when we let a financial and real-estate bubble settle in, leading the country to this disaster, said the president. In the absence of structural reforms, the 7 million jobs that America lost will not be recreated, he added, calling for bigger challenges by investing in clean energy, infrastructures, health and education, so that America may be the “nation that leads the global economy.” “How long should we wait? How long should America put its future on hold?” he asked, reminding everyone that China and Germany “aren’t standing still.” In the name of innovation and technological challenges that America must face, the president implored the opposition and Congress to play their part instead of serving their own “ambitions.” “Millions will lose [their health insurance] this year…. I will not walk away from these Americans, and neither should the people in this chamber,” he said, also insisting on the economic logic behind this necessary reform.

On the topic of the public deficit, which the Republicans accuse him of having ignored, Barack Obama did not mince his words when he recalled the catastrophic heritage left behind by George W. Bush. He pleaded for the creation of a bipartisan commission in the Senate to oversee spending. “I expect a different attitude from the right,”* he said, calling on Republicans and Democrats to work together to serve the nation. Clearly placing himself above the parties, the president defended himself against the accusation that he is “naïve,” saying he understands the existence of fundamental “philosophical differences” between the two camps, which are “the very essence of our democracy.” But he also reminded everyone that every day cannot not be “Election Day” where politicians operate under “the belief that if you lose, I win.” “The only reason we are is because generations of Americans were unafraid to do what was hard,” he added. The majority of his speech focused on domestic policy, with foreign policy comprising only a small part of his discourse. Apart from his engagement to fight Islamic terrorism, Barack Obama promised to fight against nuclear proliferation, sending out an especially strong warning towards Iran. The country’s isolation policy will only lead to sanctions, said the president. “There should be no doubt: they…will face growing consequences.”**

*Editor’s note: This quote could not be verified.

**Editor’s note: This quote, taken directly from the SOTU, is meant to most closely approximate the original article’s French translation of a quote that means, in English, “That’s a promise.”

***State of the Union Address transcript: http://www.c-span.org/pdf/SOTU-Full012710.pdf