By Dantrell Dicks
Stratford High School
The State of the Union address is an annual address given by the president. This address is used for the president to tout his accomplishments and report on how the country is doing and how congress can make it better.\
Joe Biden just gave a state of the union address on February 7th and talked about many things. One thing he talked about was the economy and his plans to put it in better shape but also some of what he accomplished pertaining to the economy. The president called for congress to raise the corporate tax rate even with his inflation reduction act implementing a minimum 15% tax on corporations, he also called for an increased tax on the wealthy.
His reason for those taxes is to better fund the government and more things in his economic agenda. Some examples are more funding to fight climate change and more green jobs. He also talked about 12 million jobs being created under his administration as another sign of an economic boom.
I think the economy is a strong thing to focus his address on given its most Americans primary concern. But arguably the most concerning part of the economy for Americans right now is inflation, which he blames supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine. I feel like this was the most important topic for Biden to touch on and touting some of his economic accomplishments will definitely be important if he actually wants to be re-elected.
He also spent some time addressing things he has fought with Republicans on. Two examples being Medicare and Social Security. He said that if there was any legislation to eliminate those programs he would veto it.
Another issue he spoke on was banning assault weapons. This, one of a few issues that gained reactions from house Republicans. He also invited a man named Brandon Tsay who stopped a gunman at a dance hall owned by his parents. He pointed to him during his call to ban assault weapons and told his story and called him a hero.
These issues are ones that democrats have faced much opposition from Republicans and he used this platform to amplify his calls on these issues.
Now these calls won’t change any Republicans mind on their policies but it gives him a chance for many Americans to hear where he stands but also call the Republicans out.
