President Obama commenced with his 5th SOTU address, and the theme was both very powerful and very obvious: He's going around Congress.
Obama said he will order the U.S. Treasury to create a new federal retirement savings account called MyRA, a savings bond that he added would guarantee "a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in." It will be available to those whose jobs don't offer traditional retirement savings programs, he said.
Additionally, Obama called for:
-- Eliminating $4 billion in tax subsidies for the fossil fuel industries "that don't need it" and instead "invest more in fuels of the future that do.
-- Women who make 77 cents for each dollar a man earns to get equal pay for equal work, adding "that is wrong, and in 2014, it's an embarrassment."
-- Setting new fuel standards for American trucks to help reduce U.S. oil imports "and what we pay at the pump."
-- Reworking the corporate tax code. He urged Congress to work with him to close "wasteful, complicated loopholes that punish businesses investing here" and instead "lower tax rates for businesses that create jobs right here at home."
-- Congress to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay in 2014.
Obama also reiterated that he will veto any new sanctions bill from Congress that would derail talks on preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, adding that "for the sake of our national security, we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed."
Republicans aren't happy about it. Of course, they haven't been happy since November 2008, so frankly, who gives a damn about them anymore?
No comments:
Post a Comment