This week President Obama gave his annual State of the Union address. Unfortunately for him, viewership was down — way down. Like, perhaps the lowest for the event in 15 years.
But neither a smaller audience nor a Republican-majority Congress could stop the president from laying out his plans for his final two years in office, even though several of those plans are almost guaranteed to never see the light of day because of that GOP majority in power.
Though his plans are bold — higher taxes on the wealthy, free community college tuition, and more — it seems the president may need to go back and check his facts like POLITICO did on several of the proposals he made Tuesday night.
One of the most noteworthy and controversial lines Obama uttered came near the beginning of his speech. Vox.com takes a closer look at the line.
Want to read the entire speech? Go here.
See something missing? Social Security, the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and al-Qaida are just some of the topics President Obama did NOT mention. See what else was left out of the State of the Union here.
As is custom, the GOP responded to the president’s speech. This year newly-elected Republican Senator Joni Ernst delivered the response. Her speech was at times very personal, including memories from her childhood.
You see, growing up, I had only one good pair of shoes. So on rainy school days, my mom would slip plastic bread bags over them to keep them dry. But I was never embarrassed, because the school bus would be filled with rows and rows of young Iowans with bread bags slipped over their feet,” Ernst said.
And finally, for those of us who are visual learners, here’s the “short version” of the president’s State of the Union for your viewing pleasure: