The declaration of independence from congress
The declaration of independence from congress
By looking at president Barrack Obama’s record since he assumed office in the year 2009, it is possible to insinuate that he has gone through a lot of struggle to ensure that the economy of the United States remains on track. However, he identifies the lack of unity in congress as a one of the hindrances towards achieving the economic success. With the political divisions in congress, an identifiable observation is that there are difficulties in ensuring that the members approve some of the economic bills tabled in the house. This is mainly due to extensions of political wars into some of the most sensitive issues that are facing the country. From his State of The Union Address, the president was declaring independence from congress (Bacon, 1), a factor that would be likely to assist in coming up with a solution to the economic problems that are facing the country. This paper gives an analysis of such a move by the president, thereby giving support to the decision by the president. If working without the congress would produce result, then it would be wise enough for him to proceed.
In his speech, the president identified this year as “the year of action,” stating that the law approves of his initiative to bypass congress with the aim of uplifting the economy of the nation. This means that he will be able to execute his mandate as provided for in the law, through which he will be able to work with the executive orders. Looking at the division in congress as it is in its current state, one can argue that the move by the president is likely to create a great rift between members of the Republican Party as well as the Democrats. There is a possibility that the move by the president is likely to create a rift between the republicans and the democrats. However, the move might be beneficial in the end since the divided legislation takes a long time to take action on some of the issues that are likely to have a positive impact on the economy of the nation (Bessette et al, 26).
The president gave indications that the opposition thwarted most of the economic initiatives that could elevate the economy of the nation. For this reason, his decision to bypass congress was for the prioritization of the peoples interests, which is a decision he seeks to accomplish this year, 2014. One of the first moves he made was to increase the minimum wage for workers under federal contracts, which is a move the congress was not likely to approve. On the other hand, congress was not willing to expand the unemployment insurance. The president was able to counter this situation by promising the creation of initiatives that would restructure some of the training programs for the unemployed, which would enable them get job positions in some of the workplaces available in the country (Bessette et al, 45).. The training provision aims at elevating the employability status of the unemployed people.
The division in congress is possibly a result of the fight for supremacy between the two parties, consequently creating a negative impact to the economy of the country. More specifically, it is possible to take note of the fact that the large numbers of Republicans makes them capable of controlling the house. On the other hand, the democrats are favored by the provision of a consensus. From this situation, there are prospects that good propositions that might favor the economic success of the country are likely to be subject to political interference due to the divergent views from the members of different political affiliations (Bessette et al, 34). The supremacy battles in this case are likely to surpass interests that might be beneficial to the country, thereby creating an economic slowdown to the nation.
By taking his position on bypassing congress in order to make decisions that are likely to affect the country positively, the president takes recognition of the fact that compromising with the opposition might not be the best avenue to use when handling economic matters. It is possible to argue that the president made the decision in order to remove thwart some of the personal interests that the Republicans would be trying to push for. It would be proper to support the president’s decision mainly for the reason that his agenda works in favor of the people’s interests, which is something that he must consider accomplishing considering the fact that he only has two years to complete his second term. Through his decision, one can predict that the beliefs of some of the key decision makers will shift to the adoption of a working culture that emphasizes on making the life of the people better. This can be instrumental in achieving some of the economic goals set by the government.
Some of the projects set up for improving the nation’s economy require approval from congress (Bessette et al, 44). However, due to the large numbers of the opposition, they might reject some of the government projects in order to ensure that the Democrats do not succeed in any given sphere. This is likely to be an ill motive agenda that aims at ensuring that the Democrats do not win the upcoming election. Since people vote with the expectation that the incoming government officials will make things better, a negative record, in terms of development, would prove to be detrimental to the Democratic Party in the next elections. This calls for the realization of the fact that the elections take place after a number of years, and people have to goo on with their lives afterwards. For this reason, the elected officials should ensure that they put matters of public interest at the forefront, thereby neglecting political inclinations that would not benefit the people. This argument supports the fact that the president’s decision is a consideration that is likely to overcome pressure from the members of the opposition, which might bring positive results to the economy of the country.
Even though the law provides for the president to use the executive orders in reinforcing some of their decisions, there should be some limitation to this. The president should be able to work within with the interest of the people at heart, which might be a very beneficial approach. For instance, by increasing the minimum wage, the president is interested in protecting contract employees from oppression by their employers. This proposal does not warrant any objection from the Republican (Bacon, 1) since it is for the benefit of the people. With this provision, it is beneficial for the president to issue executive orders on issues that are beneficial for the people, which is a path that is likely to lead to the economic improvement of the nation. The consequences of this is that political interest of the congress will be sidelined, giving way to interests that are likely to elevate the economic situation of the nation to greater levels. In fact, the president should work harder to shame those who try to bring him down in the name of practicing dirty politics.
In his speech to the congress, Obama hinted to his plans to address economic inequality in America as well as outline list of steps he would take to accomplish his mission. The critical position here is that he would do them with or without the approval of the congress. The president cited some of the achievements of his government. American diplomacy under the influence of threat of force insured that Syria left dealing with chemical weapons. In addition, pressure was behind the American diplomacy to insure that Iran accepted to negotiate with their enemies (Bacon, 1). Obama mentioned his good plans of removing American troops out of Afghanistan later this year as many nations pressurize him to do. However, he gave threats to the nations who would not work with him. For instance, He pointed out that he would veto sanctions to Iran if she undermined his diplomatic efforts. In other words, he was calling for cooperation from the world. An emotional moment came when the president introduced Sgt. First Class Cory Remsberg who survived a roadside bomb in Afghanistan that left him blinded in one eye.
The president centered his speech on the widening gap between the rich and the poor Americans. He positioned himself as a salvation to the unprivileged poor in the society and seemed to be the hope to them. He accused the top giants in the economy as not performing while those who worked never got wages that pleased them. As a result, there was no upward mobility of the economy (Bacon, 1). In fact, most Americans are working hard just to afford the ability to sustain themselves rather than develop. More so, a given percentage is not working at all. He called for a united pursuance of the objective of reversing these trends. He asserted that these could only be accomplished with a united America. No an America in a rift of politics that add no value to the economy. For that reason, the president announced the raising of the minimum wage to $ 10.10 per hour for federal contracts. In relation to that, the president gave hope to workers who were not qualified to access traditional retirement programs. He instituted a new Treasury savings bond to serve that purpose.
In the speech to state plans for the remaining part of his reign, the president expressed hope for America despite the economic problems that the country is currently experiencing. However, the opposition is to blame for the poor performance of the economy of America. No wonder the president decided to use executive powers to implement his ideas as opposed to using the approval of the congress. The Republicans had something to say in response to Obama’s speech. Instead of focusing on merging their dreams to reform America, they continue to engage in fruitless politics. They responded to the speech by blaming Obama for America’s economic problems. In criticism of the Obama’s healthcare program, Ms. Rodgers gave a personal presentation of her son, Cole who was born with Down syndrome. She blamed Obama of introducing economic policies that makes people struggle for existence. She said that the Republicans have the good plans to close the gap between the wealthy and the economically disadvantaged Americans. There seem to be a division within the Republicans as some of them gave different responses. Mr. Lee was among those who responded to the president’s speech. He said that the healthcare project promotes inequality among the citizens. In addition, he noted that said that his party was part of the economic problem. He explained that his party had always been spotted joining the Democrats to enable the well-connected people benefit from the economy at the expense of all American’s. This posed a very big challenge because his confession confirmed the sincerity of the statement when he said that they were part of the problem.
The president’s resolution to work alone for the remaining period of the term is a wise idea because it would not necessitate the voice of the opposition. This means, the Republicans would not be given attention to respond to some of the president’s proposals. Obama suggested that the congress reform the immigration system. The answer was “one man one vote”. Led by the speaker John A. Boehner, the Republicans were ready to play a compromise of the suggestion (Bessette et al, 23). They collectively responded with a negative applause. Otherwise some of Obama’s success were unavoidable and could not be stopped. There was no loop hole to pin down the president using propaganda in some of his achievement. He tested the response of the Republicans by boasting that he had stopped Iran’s nuclear project. That time, there was no applause pressurized by bipartisan division.
Even though Obama had vowed to work without the congress, he still expressed optimism to work together with them. He called for support of some of the past legislative priorities, for example, extension of unemployment insurance. He encouraged them to see where else they could move together.
Obama defended his projects and asks Americans to stop discouraging what was already helping Americans. He said, “Let’s not have another 40-something votes to repeal a law that’s already helping Americans.” This was a response to those who were opposed to the Obama healthcare program. Mr. Obama was very clear and assertive towards his resolution of restraining from compromising with the Republicans in the Congress. This was after a series of opposition that Republicans have displayed to defame him. It is unfortunate that the ill motives of the dirty politics were being done at the expense of poor Americans. The minimum wage program was just a start of the new form of regime. As he was unlucky to win through legislation last year he resorted to issuing an executive order in order to cover the federal contractors. However, there is a limit of dealing with the executive approach of regulating wages. If the legislation was passed by congress it would imply a raise for 17 million Americans. On the other hand, the executive order would only affect only a few workers initially. It would later affect many employees.
Works cited
Bacon, Perry. President Obama declares his independence from congress in State of the Union address. 2014. Retrieved from: <www. http://thegrio.com/2014/01/28/president-obama-declares-his-independence-from-congress-in-state-of-the-union-address/>
Bessette, Joseph., Pitney, John., Brown, Lyle., Langenegger, Joyce, A., & Sonia, Garcia. American government and politics: Deliberation, democracy and citizenship, Texas edition. Cengage learning, 2011. Print.
