THE STATE OF THE UNION 2013

THE FOLLOWING IS NEWS WITH EDITORIAL ANALYSIS.

President Barack Obama

WE CAN FIX THIS, AND WE WILL, vowed United States President Barack Obama as he addressed a joint session of Congress and the nation via the media to deliver the annual State of the Union address Tuesday night.
During his speech, the President laid out an impressive plan covering four major areas of national concern: manufacturing, education, clean energy, and America's infrastructure to promote the country's recovery from the current recession at no additional cost to taxpayers.
Amongst the proposals:
*Raising the national minimum wage to $9 US dollars per hour
*Budgeting $65 billion USD towards road, bridge, and building repairs
*Calling for stronger gun control legislation, a matter Congress has yet to formally address
*Immigration reform, giving those already in the country who want to stay and be part of America a chance to do so
*Fairer voter registration laws than what the Republican party tried to enact at the state level before the November 2012 Presidential election to exclude eligible voters
*Giving home owners a chance to refinance their existing mortgage at a lower interest rate to prevent foreclosures and stimulate the economy
*The possibility of addressing Medicare reform before his second and final term in office ends

The President also addressed other issues, including:
*That most of the US troops will be out of Afghanistan by the end of this calendar year as that country starts taking responsibility for its own security
*Congress needing to pass a balanced budget before the March 1 deadline of automatic cuts that would take efffect
*Improving the country's computer security on and off the Internet
*Congress needed to address the issue of climate change and improve the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency, an organization that was weakened during the eight years of the George W. Bush administration and never restored

"The American people don't expect government to solve every problem," said the President. "They don't expect everyone within this chamber to agree upon everything. But they do expect us to put the nation's interests before those of our respective party's, and to forge reasonable compromise where we can."

Another statement during his address summed up President Obama's position on the State of the Union as, "It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country. The idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead. No matter where you come from, no matter what you look like, or who you love. It is our unfinished task to make sure that this government works on behalf of the many and not just the few. That it encourages free enterprise, rewards individual initiative, and opens the doors of opportunity to every child across this great land of ours."

Response to various points during the address was naturally divided amongst party lines, with the Democrats cheering and the Republicans remaining silent most of the time.

Giving the Republican response in both English and Spanish, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said that the country "needed more free enterprise and not government intervention."

It is comments like the above, and statements from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner that have many pundits and analysts fearing that in the months to come, the Republican Party will do nothing but more "stonewalling" and opposition to whatever the President and the Democratic Party hope to accomplish.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens folks, but let's hope for the best.

THE ABOVE WAS NEWS WITH EDITORIAL ANALYSIS