Sunday, January 23, 2011

State of the Union

On Tuesday, January 25, 2011, President Barrack Obama will deliver the annual State of the Union address to a joint congressional session and millions of viewers across the country.  The State of the Union has evolved since the dawn of our nation.   Although the address is required by the Constitution, the frequency and format has evolved with each president and the advancement of media technology.

The address is to reflect the condition of the nation and establish the president’s legislative agenda for the coming year.  The use of television has transcended the significance and impact of the speech.  Prior to the 20th century, the address was primarily written and read to the congressional members by a clerk.  Woodrow Wilson re-initiated the process of personally delivering the address to congress.  Calvin Coolidge’s 1923 speech was the first to be broadcast over the radio, Harry S. Truman’s was the first television broadcast, Lyndon B. Johnson was the first to deliver the address in the evening, and Bill Clinton’s 1997 was the first to be made available through the World Wide Web. 

The audience includes all members of congress, Supreme Court Justices and most members of the president’s cabinet.  Traditionally at least one member of the cabinet is ask not to attend in order to secure the line of succession. 

The address of 2011 should be an interesting and insightful event.  The continuing struggles of the nation’s and world’s economy, the ongoing warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the recent Republican take-over of the House of Representatives should provide the President Obama with ample issues to address and dicey political terrain to navigate.

What do you hope to hear from the president during the address?  How will the opposition party counter the address?  Do you think we place too much emphasis on the State of the Union?  Has the address taken on greater importance or just greater exposure? 

22 comments:

  1. Halle- I am hoping to hear President Obama's plan on how he plans to decrease the unemployment and get more jobs in the United States. The Republicans will most likely say they want to reduce spending to reduce the deficit and get Americans back to work. We do spend much emphasis on the State of the Union because we need more action and less talking about what we are going to do. I think it has taken greater exposure today than it has in the past.

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  2. Cristina- I am hoping to hear from the president that we will have more jobs available and how we are going to deal with the health care problemo also. I think repulicans willsay that we should be in office because your making every thing go down the hill OBAMA! jk. um Republicans will probuly want more jobs open also. Americans do spend to much time on the state of the union because we need a little less talking about one subject for like an hour an a half. that will make everyone bored.It is getting to a bigger exposure than the past because the economy is down and people are loosing there jobs and then they cant pay for health care so it is a bigger deal.

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  3. Travis-In President Obama's State of the Union tonight, i would like him to address the issue of unemployment. That is definitely one of the worst problems in our country at the moment. But i would also like to hear him talk about all of our many men and women over seas in active duty. We have been over there to long and i think it is time to come to a verdict on what to do with that whole situation. I personally don't always agree with all that obama does but i have to hand it to him, he really does have a great talent. And that talent is very important for a president to have. That is the ability to speak well in front of a lot of people, obama is a great speaker. but of course if you don't like someone, you can always find something that is wrong with them. So i think that the republican party will find something that obama messed up on or that he said or something. I don't think that We place to much emphasis on the state of the union. But i do think that it is important for a new president to give a good state of the union so that america will get a good first impression. I don't believe that it has gotten more important, but i think that it just seems that way because more people are able to see it so more people know about it.

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  4. Sofia- I hope that President Obama addresses the unemployment problem. Our country is really struggling with this problem. THey will probably say that they want to save money and try to get americans to work and quickly as they can. We put way to much emphasis on the state of the union we need to stop talking about this stuff and actually do something. It hasn't gotten more important people just seem to be more interested in these problems now that the economy is so bad.

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  5. Morgan- I would like to hear president Obama say in the address that he would help the unemployment, health care, and world peace. I think that we couldn't put enough emphasis on the state of the union. The address is more exposed because of the internet and television but it is also very important. It is one of the most important speech that the president will give.

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  6. Marya- i really want to hear Obamas take on unemployment. it is a huge, growing problem that is taking over. i think the Republicans will say that we need to stop spending so much and try to get back to work. we put a little emphasis on the State of Union. Obama needs to stop talking and act. more people can see the speech because of internet and tv. so it has grown a little.

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  7. josu- i would like to hear president Obama's plan TO get the unemployment rate down.

    like Travis said the republicans will find a way to pick apart barrack Obama no matter how good or bad his speech is. i don't think we spend too much time on the state of the union because it is good for us to hear what the government is up too. i think it is given a lot of exposure but people need to hear this speech somehow.

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  8. Angie- I didn't get to hear President Obama's speech, but I'll read it on the internet later. Like almost what everyone said, I hope that he will talk about improving the unemployment rate and the health care. Honestly, I'm not all that interested in all this politics stuff. I don't know how the Republicans will response. I'm not sure why this is all that big actually. I think people do put too much emphasis on the State of the Union. I don't understand what you mean by greater importance or greater exposer. But I think that this is important but I think people just make it a HUGE deal. But I'm curious to see what Barack Obama said.

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  9. Atticus-I am hopping(I didnt get a chance to watch it)that he said that the war was over,I dought he did,and that the econ. was geting better,and that he lowered the taxes. The other party will probaly say that they still want abortion out of the loop. I think they do a really crappy job because he just talks but dosnt really say whats going on. I think that obama just uses it for grater exposer because like i said earlier he dosnt really explain him self and the rest of whats going on. Im still cureous to see what he said.

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  10. Hannah- I didn't see Obama's speech . I hope he talked about his opinion on uneployment and his plan to fix it. Because anyone can say unenployment is a growing problem-we all know that-but we actually need to DO something about it. I am not really sure what the republicans will say...I am not really into politics. I do not think the State of Union has become more important-just greater exposure. It is so easy to see it with the T.V and internet- because even though I didn't see the speech I could look it up right now and watch it if I wanted to. I think the State of Union is important but it has not grown any more important just easier to access.

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  11. Maddy- I dont really care about the president or what he has to say. The opposition party will go agaist him because they are the opposite of the president. We spend to much time taking about the address instead of making changes. I think it's both greater exposure and greater importance because of media, the internet and more people hear so more poeple make it important.

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  12. Phillip- I don't care what the president says because it doesn't really matter to me. The oppisition party will counter by disagreeing with what the president says. No we don't place too much emphasis on the State of the Union because i've never heard of it until now. The address has not gained more importance, only exposure.

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  13. every body u have 5 hrs. to post!!!!!!

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  14. Ryan M- I hope to hear him take on unimployment and i would really like to see him deal with health care so that some people dont die out on the streets because the hospital wouldnt take them in. The other side of the goverment will probably say stop spending so much money on stuff that we already have. I think that he is being really stupid about this and saying that you have to pay for health care but while were here sitting in dept Russia is getting free health care. We kind of place to much on the state of the union but thats probably a good thing because we would not be having great arguments in class every day. It has taken on greater exposer because they arnt maing a very big deal of it but people are mad about the unimployment so that means some people will watch it just to disagree with him.

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  15. 4 hours to post a comment or doom will come to you

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  16. Danielle- I didn't see Obama's speech but I hope he talked about unemployment and how 2 fix it, and how to get more jobs. Because some people really need jobs right now because of the bad economy. I'm not to sure what the republicans will say about it, I don't really pay attention to much politics. We do kinda place a little to much on the State of the Union because no one really watches it anymore and he doesn't really talk about important thingds. Even my mom says its not interesting. I think it has taken on good expsoser because some people will watch it just to make sure some problems get fixed, so i guess it has. But like i said, i don't really care about politics so im not really to sure.

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  17. gabby- i personally didnt watch the state of the union, but what i would have liked president obama to talk about important things like health care, unemployment and the education system in america. today in class mr grant said that obama said that we need to talk about curtain issues and then stated them. i think that he should have talked about those things then, instead of just saying we need to talk. i think the opposite party will say what they think is right, all those people were picked so they must have some idea of what they are talking about. if i was someone in that room i would voice what i think because i have the right to do that. i dont really know how much people emphasize the state the union , it didnt seem to get much done so im not sure. i think its terrible when its on every channel and you cant watch anything else. i think it has been more exposure.

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  18. Ryan Z.- (sorry I'm so late! so I'm gonna write a really long post.) I think that Obama's state of the Union was pretty dumb because he kept saying that bipartisanship was the key to fixing America and that we all needed to get along. Screw that! Right now in this time period the white house needs to be doing huge drastic things and making ginormous changes because we have some ginormous problems! To start of, we need to cut spending. Like altogether. We need to drop out of the war and stop spending so much dang money and time on stupid stuff like "welfare" and "health-care". Now I know that that might be a little mean but I'm sorry America we need to wake up from this little dream we're living in and realize that WE OWE THE WORLD APPROXIMATELY $4,346,000,000,000!!!!! Now I don't know where that money went but it was probably on stupid stuff like "new technology for the Army". So a country this far in debt obviously can't afford to be in an 11 year war and definitely can't afford public health-care. Which is stupid any way because to the people that have health-care they will have poured thousands of dollars into an investment that the Dems' want to destroy and to the people that didn't have health-care they now get practically free service. But the people who are gonna get screwed the worst in this whole deal are the doctors, who would have to preform highly riskful (that's not a word by the way)and complicated procedures for minimal wage. So the government really needs to butt out of health-care and let it go completely private so then the people who pay taxes (only about 53%of the general population) get treatment and all of the bums who are evading the IRS (47%) don't. Well, I guess that's just one less bum. But our biggest problem is not here in this country. Our biggest problem is across the Atlantic where Russia, China, and soon Korea, three countries that have nothing in common besides a hatred of us, are designing a currency that is going to overthrow the dollar if we don't deliberate our economy right now. Now I don't mean to be the prophet of death here but if we don't get our country back on it's feet, we're all gonna be speaking Mandarin by 2015. So if we want to keep our country the way the four fathers wanted it, we need to ignore bipartisanship, we need to ignore what the people want and we need to get shiz done. We can do this! We just can't care about what people think.

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  19. wow that totally dwarfs my last rant. Cool!

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  20. Luke- (LIke Ryan sorry im so late i hope you except it) It really doesn't make much of an effect on what the President unless Obama does something really stupid that ruins my dad's job. Which he could do that. Cause he says some much stupid stuff about health care. He thinks that Health care should be free and that really makes me mad. Cause then who pays for my dad's work? Is the tax supposed to pay for him i dont think so.

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  21. Sorry its late and i had to make short post Ive got to go.

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  22. Cooper- sorry this is a late blog I hope he could cut spending balence the budget and create. They would probably say he wasnt specific enough to cut spending.No its an important speech to see were the presidents coming from. Just greater exposure because the media.

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