By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama made a spirited case for an economic overhaul Tuesday night, as he touted several proposals, including a minimum wage hike and tax reform during his sixth State of the Union address.
“Tonight, we turn the page,” Obama said to the joint session of Congress. “The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong.”
Guaranteed paid sick leave, immigration reform, affordable child care, raising the minimum wage, and a reformed tax code were all policy changes that the president sought to convince the public were necessary next steps in the U.S.’s economic recovery.
He directed his case for economic populism directly to the American middle class, which took staggering blows during 2007-2008’s financial crisis.
“We’ve seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health care inflation at its lowest rate in 50 years,” he said. “So the verdict is clear. Middle-class economics works. Expanding opportunity works. And these policies will continue to work, as long as politics don’t get in the way.”
Obama called on lawmakers to pursue a “better politics” that goes beyond the partisanship that has come to define Washington’s politics, saying that he will work with Republicans “to make this country stronger.”
“If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments – but let’s make them debates worthy of this body and worthy of this country,” he said.
Even so, he promised to veto legislation that seeks to roll back his hallmark health care reform legislation, banking regulations that were put in place after the global economic crisis, or his executive actions on immigration reform.
It was the first time that Obama addressed both houses of Congress following a crushing Democratic defeat in the November 2014 midterm elections that saw both chambers fall to Republicans.
With congressional control, Republicans are highly unlikely to pass legislation that will fulfill the policy agenda that Obama laid out.
“Americans have been hurting, but when we demanded solutions, too often Washington responded with the same stale mindset that led to failed policies like Obamacare,” said Sen. Joni Ernst during the televised Republican response.
“Obamacare” is the term Republicans use to refer to the president’s health care law.
“Congress is back to work on your behalf, ready to make Washington focus on your concerns again,” she said, stressing that Congress would not support increased taxes for the wealthy - a policy proposal that Obama made the case for in his address.
“Let’s close the loopholes that lead to inequality by allowing the top 1 percent to avoid paying taxes on their accumulated wealth,” he said.
But in making his case to the public, Obama is seeking to the shape the electoral narrative ahead of the 2016 presidential elections, said John Hudak, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.
“The president has no illusions that these positions are not starters in Congress,” he said. “What he hopes is that he can convince enough Americans that his view, and the Democratic party’s view, on issues like inequality and opportunity, are the best way forward.”
With campaigning for the 2016 elections set to start later this year, Obama will likely continue to ramp up messaging even as he faces little likelihood of gaining congressional approval for his policy objectives.
“In reality, he’s given up on working with Congress on a lot of fronts, and he knows that the best way to overcome that is to try to win future elections,” Hudak said.
