On January 20th, 2015 President Barack Obama gave his annual State of the Union address, highlighting this past year and the year ahead. President Barack Obama Suggested many ideas on the economy, unemployment rate, health insurance, medicare, and schooling. Mainly the presidents thesis was based on a story that was presented to him earlier this year. It was a story about a fresh American family, their names were Rebekah and Ben Erler, who lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both of them worked, Rebekah waited tables and Ben worked construction. The president tells us that their story hits a bump in the road once they find out what happens to the housing and construction market. Rebekah re-evaluated her career and took the community college route and Ben had series of odd jobs. Time passed and all the hard work paid off. Rebekah now has a better job and Ben is back in construction. The President's thesis was that America will be "We are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, hard times". (Obama,2015) He referred to this quote throughout his one hour address to the nation. When he expresses this quote he displays it with so much passion and inspiration. He also displays a lot of confidence in his tone and how he presented his speech and it was very prominent when he was telling the story of Rebekah and Ben. The audiences reaction was priceless as everyone cheered for that family's success. This story became very relatable to America as a country because it showed resilience and hard work can reward you. America has gone through many hardships like the recession, wars, and terrorist threats but America has stood tall and risen from the ashes. America directly relates to the Erler story because like them, America has pushed through adversity and come out on the other side. President Obama's plan for this nation, in a nut shell, has shown resilience and has emerged, again, as a strong independent country. In his speech he suggests many ideas on the economy and how he plans to improve it even more than he has. The president also shows that we as a nation are relying less and less on foreign oil. Now we have started to depend on American oil and Obama mentioned that the average American will save $750 on gas a year! He also talks about even pay for women and paid sick days for family's who have a sick child at home. He shows great sympathy for the working class and seems to always push to make the lives of the middle class as good as they can be. He also suggests making community college free for people of any age. Both Republicans and Democrats were in favor of his ideas but I could also see that they didn't like every idea. The schooling idea wasn't as popular based on the applause of congress. Everyone applauded when the topic of eliminating terrorism was presented to congress and for good reason too. President Obama spoke with a lot confidence in every topic he presented and was very organized in his arguments. President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech was insightful, informative, and inspiring to all Americans who watched it and now America is looking forward to the years ahead in the United States of America.
"I have not given, received, or used any unauthorized assistance"
Cody Byrnes
CO150-16