President Obama is a professional motivator. He rallied a country to say “Yes We Can” in Hyde Park, and he can still address the Union with speeches that can make even a nonbeliever hang a HOPE sign in their window. He even mustered a few applauses from John Boehner on Tuesday.
However, the reality of Obama’s promises are unsettling. I’m sure Obama meant what he said, and I’m sure he has every intention of following through with his agenda, but Obama knows the restrictions on a president the best.
Innovation: “This is our generation’s Sputnik moment.”
Obama said he’ll be sending a budget to Congress that will help research and development in biomedical research, information technology and clean energy technology.
Reality? Obama began motivating his audience during the first five minutes. But this is just a proposal. Congress has to approve this. Obama has no direct say whether this will happen or not.
Education: “If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child – become a teacher. Your country needs you.”
Obama promised to get rid of No Child Left Behind and start enforcing Race to the Top, a proposed reform of our public schools. Obama claims it was established by governors throughout the country and it has led 40 states to raise their teaching and learning standards (Indiana must not be one of them).
Reality? Not much. Although education has always been high on Obama’s list, it’s not something he has a lot of control over. Yes, he can throw out No Child Left Behind and implement a new system, but how Race to the Top works in public schools will be up to administrators. He’ll also need Congress to approve his education budget.
Reducing the deficit: Obama proposed to freeze annual domestic spending during the next five years, which will reduce the deficit by $400 billion during the next decade.
Reality? Congress will once again have to approve these spending freezes.
The president spoke on other issues as well, such as immigration. But he simply stated his stance and what he hopes the country will do, but he even recognized himself that he can’t change our immigration laws alone.
The only things Obama promised that’s in his realm of power is to veto legislation that came to his desk with “earmarks.” However, this is not news to Obama. He was careful to say “propose to Congress” throughout his speech and to say that the health care reform will not be repealed, but he is willing to work on many kinks that have already appeared. He followed Kernell’s theory that public opinion matters with his motivational “We do big things.” He did this whenever he talked about small businesses and large railway system: He was trying to win over the American people by “going public.” He did this when he thanked teachers and when he spoke of lowering cooperate taxes, and it’s definitely a good way to win votes. He also followed Neustdat’s theory that the president must persuade the people around him in order to get legislature proposed. He tried to make his proposals as appealing as possible and attempted to win Congress over. Lucky for Obama, he’s a very motivational speaker and convincing guy.
More to come I hope? Haha. I'm with you so far.
ReplyDeleteObama is without a doubt an excellent speaker. He seemed less forceful this time and more sympathetic to work through compromise than last year's... perhaps this is because Dems dont control the House anymore... Boehner only applauded because he renewed his tanning bed membership.
ReplyDeleteI like how you take his hopes/propositions and apply them to a real life setting-as I agree with you, it is unlikely for everything to be done, especially with Congress playing such a large role in what he hopes to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteBoehner was also the only one in the chamber to laugh at Obama's airplane joke. I bet that speechwriter got fired.
ReplyDeleteI like your reality checks, that's a nice way to organize it, though they do seem to imply that Obama was trying to overstate his ability to enact the measure he proposed, which I don't really think he was. As you mentioned at the end, he was well aware of his limited ability to put his proposals into place, and urged legislators to work together on them and the public to support them.