Bridging the Gaps

On January 28, 2010, President Obama gave the State of the Union Address addressing and acknowledging the economic problems of the United States of America. During his entire speech he did not sugar coat anything but he gave us the raw truth about the state of our nation-- that we are still recovering from the recession, many people are still jobless, and people are still vulnerable to poverty.
As I ate my dinner and watched his speech, I realized that not only were the Democrats standing and applauding him, but the Republicans were too! That amazed me. Although this was the first State of the Union Address I have ever watched, my mother, who was watching it with me, noted that applause from both sides was completely unusual and rarely done.
I suppose the details that Obama gave, contrary to his frequent speeches that do not have enough detail, influenced the lot of Congress. In conjunction with his detail, President Obama expressed the changes he has made thus far: 25 tax cuts, cheaper health care for more than 18 million Americans, financial rescue program, the Recovery Act, energy efficiency, building our infrastructure, etc. He even proclaimed that the U.S.A. does not take second place, because as our political system tells his Admininstration that they should hold on to any huge progressive actions , China, Germany, and India are making progressive actions to create clean energy jobs and being energy efficient. Despite what our political system told him and hos administration, he listed the steps he required to have our nation climb out of the rut we are currently in.
As he explained ways to provide more financial support for those who go to college, health care reform, and our budget , he addressed both Democrats and Republicans about the changes we and they had to make together. Unlike previous presidents, President Obama bluntly called the political parties out. He instructed that instead of widening the party lines, they need to bring them together so that they could work in companionship, tackling the economic and other problems facing our nation. In addition instructing party lines to meet, he has made the first steps to closing the communication gap between the people of America and the government. It's about time a president realized the problem with our government. There should not be a seperation from the voice of the people and the words and proposals that come out of the government officials' minds and mouths.
Toward the end, Obama said to the Democrats that since they have the largest majority in decades, people expect them to solve problems and not "run for the hills." And to the Republicans, he expressed that voting according to their party and not for the well-being of the people is not leadership at all, and that they were sent to "serve the citizens and not their ambitions."
Direct statements like those and the detailed plans of improving our nation and the well-being of its citizens, has convinced me that there is hope for a better tomorrow. These things can be accomplished through the bridged gaps of communication between government and citizens, as well as the cooperation between Democrats and Republicans. I agree with Obama, I do not accept second place for the United States of America. Our progress will be determined on how well we(government, citizens, Democrats, and Republicans) cooperate with bridging the gaps.


Link to NYT article "Obama to party: 'Don't Run for the Hills'" : http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/us/politics/28obama.html?ref=politics