President Obama: Address to Congress

WOW. This was an amazing speech. President Obama touched on several issues including energy independence, tax cuts, the economy, the national debt, our armed forces, the Iraq war, terrorism/extremism, torture, education reform, healthcare reform, parental responsibility, stories of great American spirit, international cooperation, the bailout, and research funding.

This speech (if Obama does well in these times) will go down in history as one of the greatest by a President (yes, I said it). Let no one deny that Obama is a charismatic speaker. Let us hope that he will 'bring it' and keep the momentum going in order to help this nation. Ok, let's get to the speech.

I am going to hit on some points that I enjoyed during the speech, feel free to comment and add your thoughts because I will leave some stuff out.

Let's take a look at research funding first. I think that this issue will lead our nation into very important innovations that will keep us at the cutting edge. Our last leader CUT funding by over 35% and it showed in the research community. It made it much more difficult for researchers to keep very important research moving forward (specifically one of my projects and ACER at Oakwood College). If we commit to research funding we can cure diseases; and President Obama hopes to cure cancer in our lifetime. This leads to another very interesting topic.

Healthcare reform is LONG overdue in our nation. Some may disagree, but I think it is a crime to not allow children access to FREE healthcare. He pointed to several issues that we should tackle (affordability, a new plan/system, bipartisan ideas) and goals we could accomplish. I think the most telling statement was the idea to encourage preventative medicine. This type of medicine will reduce the overall cost of healthcare and should be the focus of this plan.

Another interesting statement was the tax plan that President Obama clarified. Finally (at least to Republicans). He said that only the top 2% of all Americans would experience a tax increase. However, if your family makes less than $250,000 per year, then you will not see a tax increase. AND if you are like the other 95% of working families, then you will receive a tax cut. So, basically this is a great plan...at least, we all hope so.

There were some really touching stories (a bank CEO giving his $60 million to employees and former employees) that reiterated the point that ordinary Americans are far from ordinary. A little girl (last name Bethea) was at her terrible school in South Carolina and wrote a letter to Congress pleading for a new school so that she and her classmates could grow up to be doctors, lawyers, and even President. And the one thing that little girl said that touched me (and Obama) is that they were not quitters! How great is that?

President Obama really brought it home in this speech. We thought that this nation was going down the tubes (and it may be), but Obama is issuing challenges to all Americans. Better yourselves. Turn off the TV. Be with your kids, teach them. Go further in the realm of education. Do these things and our nation will be back on top in all categories. Because, let's be honest, we are behind in education, which leads to being behind everywhere else.

President Obama, I salute you for putting it out there. Saluting our troops and preaching Iraq war responsibility. Getting Americans to commit to volunteer work. This is what we need in a President. CANDOR. HONESTY. MOTIVATION. AND REALISM.