Wednesday, January 26, 2011
State of the Union
President Obama's State of the Union speech took a positive tone in which he focused on innovation and education. The President put an enormous emphasis on investing in education and infrastructure. The President spoke about past instances where investing has proven to help this nation's way of life. Investing in green energy, and new education programs will help improve the future because innovation will evolve. As a result of education and innovation, the economy will grow. The other major point that President Obama addressed was the deficit. The President wants a discretionary spending freeze and a ban on earmarks to help with the deficit. The President exercised his power to persuade and to take it "public." The State of the Union is one of the biggest platforms a President can have, and therefore is trying to convince the public that his agenda will be the best for the country. I believe the President was only using his power to persuade because he did not go into details about certain activities. In fact, the President spoke mostly about what could be if we do this and that. He is obviously calling on Congress for money to invest, but he is really trying to get the public on his side. The speech sounded more like an election speech than what our current state of the union is. I do not believe that the President used his power effectively because he did not talk a great deal about the "tough" topics that we face today and in our future. For example, he only briefly mentions foreign affairs, without ever mentioning Iran or only briefly mentioning afghanistan. I think education and innovation are extremely important, but the deficit, economy, and foreign affairs are the real tough topics he should have gone into great detail with. With over 40 million people watching, he could have tried to convince others to get with his agenda. Objectives he can receive are money, and perhaps a future reelection. Most of his speech was on investing in education and technology, therefore he wants Congress to give him money to invest. I find this ironic because he wants to cut the deficit, yet he talks about investing in education and innovation. I do think that his goals will require extra-constitutional activities because the President had two goals. First, to get the public on his side, and second, for Congress to give him money. The first goal will not require extra activities, but the second will. I say the second goal will because he needs Congress to give him the money to "invest," however he is dealing with a Republican Congress. Therefore, the President will most likely have to negotiate some "back-room deals" in order to achieve his goals. I'm not sure the Framers wanted these behind the scene deals that give the President an enormous amount of power.
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I like the ending to your post.It leaves me thinking about an informal power that wasn't mentioned in class. The president can use back-room deals to help push his agenda. For example, he could tell Congress he won't veto a bill (one of his formal powers) if they pass legislation he wants. It further involves him in the legislative branch, which the Founding Fathers would have been disappointed about. He's using one of his formal powers to create an informal power.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that I agree with you on your point about the "extra-constitutional activities" President Obama outlined in his State of the Union. Article II of the Constitution acknowledges the president's agenda setting and lobbying power when it notes: the president shall "ecommend to their (Congress's) Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient". This "lobbyist in chief" model has long been accepted as an informal, yet not illegal, role of the president. Thus, reasserting his ideological platform, that government investment is the best way to overcome economic slowdown, was well within his Constitutional powers and objectives.
I found it very interesting that you mentioned that this speech sounded more like an election speech rather than a state of the union. I think that this speech, more than others in the past, was more about creating an atmosphere that would be conducive to the types of policies his administration would like to implement in the next two years rather than what those actually ideas would be. Due to the new Republican majority in the House, in order to create this atmosphere, Obama basically had to sell it as if it were a new election, because in truth, it's a whole new playing field.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Ryan about how recommending legislation to Congress is, in fact, well within the powers of the President. I do agree with what you said, however, about the possibility of more "back-room deals" in order to achieve the types of things he wants to tackle. That will play out really interestingly I think, especially considering the emphasis Obama made about the government's need to earn the public's trust back. How will the Obama administration achieve its goals if it must juggle remaining relatively transparent if they can only accomplish things through back-room deals?