State Of the Union 2013: Obama Outlines Ambitious Agenda

In his first address to congress after winning the election, the president outlined a bold plan for his second term. President Obama sketched an important legislative agenda that would create opportunities for low income and middle class Americans alike.

In his first State of the Union, Obama proposed many substantive policies that would tackle a range of issues. The president offered many proposals to continue to boost the economy. In his "Fix-It-First" proposal, the president wants to put more people back to work fixing the most decrepit bridges. As indicated by the president, the country has more than 70,000 of such bridges. Furthermore, the president wants to attract private capital to modernize the country’s ports, pipelines, and schools. Such infrastructure investments will create millions of well-paying jobs.

To put more money into the pocket of average Americans, the president came out in support of an increase in the minimum wage. Obama wants the federal minimum wage to increase to $ 9 an hour. As a result, a large number of Americans will have more money to spend. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the country’s economy. Therefore, this increase will give the economy a major boost. 

Education has always been an important issue. But it will be even more crucial in our ever more globalized word. As the president noted, studies have indicated that early childhood education will help children become better learners as they grow older. But a large number of children still do not have access to early childhood education because their parents cannot afford to send them to preschool. To remedy the situation, the president proposes universal Pre-K education for every child in the country. Such program could change the education landscape because it would help reduce the achievement gap.

The enactment of these major proposals along with many other initiatives that Obama mentioned will make a big difference in the lives of average Americans. These bold proposals that the president put forward in the State of the Union demonstrate that Obama intends to pursue an ambitious agenda in the next four years.