State of the Union address forecasts Obama’s plans

On Jan. 24, President Barack Obama took the stage at the White House and updated the United States with the status of the nation and the future he foresees. In his address, Obama discussed different issues he believes the United States is facing, such as unemployment, illegal immigration, the rising cost of education and making the "tax code fairer," as stated in his Blueprint for America Built to Last plan.

"It was a pretty strong speech," said Justin Holmes, associate professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa. "It wasn't a historical speech. I'm still waiting for that from him. We haven't really had the giant defining speech, but I thought it made good points."

In regards to unemployment, Obama hopes to bring back jobs from overseas by providing lower tax rates for manufacturers and companies that keep jobs in the United States. Likewise, he wants to take away the deduction for overseas jobs and require companies to make a minimum tax payment for jobs sent outside of the U.S.

Jaime Yowler, vice president of the UNI Democrats, finds the idea of bringing back jobs appealing.

"Anything for keeping jobs in America," said Yowler, a senior political science major. "Both sides would argue for that — anything that brings more jobs. Also, a tax relief for those is a great idea."

Obama said he wants to prevent an increase in taxes for the middle class by extending the payroll tax cut. He also wants to increase taxes for those with a high income and, according to the Blueprint, "make sure billionaires and millionaires follow the Buffet Rule by paying at least 30 percent tax."

"The Buffet Rule is this idea that basically gets back to that divide about earned income verse income from investments," Holmes said. "Warren Buffet, he's been a tremendously successful investor, and his secretary pays more taxes than he does because her wages are subject to higher taxes. He pays more money overall, but this is something that for a lot of Americans doesn't sit right.

"But in this economy, we'd also like people to invest," he added. "We need people to buy stock and bonds. Disincentivizing — that is going to be tricky, especially during a slow economic (recovery), but we also need an increased revenue because we have tremendous deficits."

Daniel Jensen, member of the UNI College Republicans, said he believes there are problems in imposing taxes on those with higher incomes.

"It seems like Republicans don't want to tax the top tier, but the Democrats think that's key revenue that needs to be brought in," said Jensen, a senior geography major. "There's a lot of economic models that suggest that doesn't actually get you more revenue because the more money that's out there, (the) more money there is to reproduce and bring in capital production. You might be getting it for the short term in your treasury, but in the long run, that's kind of cutting off your own nose."

Yowler finds an issue with the gap between those with the highest income and the rest of the population.

"Some Republicans say when the president speaks of fairness, he really means class war," Yowler said. "It's funny how, throughout time, those two terms have coincided. Fairness and class war; it is a struggle we are facing in the U.S, and a struggle that I am confident President Obama is up to."

Obama discussed the possibility of granting citizenship to illegal immigrants brought to America as children or foreign exchange students, if they pursue a high school or college education.

"In a way, it really strikes a moderate chord, sort of bringing people into the system and streamlining and easing them in," Holmes said. "… I don't think it's going to pass Congress or at least (it won't pass) in its current configuration."

Jensen agrees with rewarding immigrants who pursue an education with citizenship.

"It would be a tragedy if we're educating these people, and then they go somewhere else with that education," Jensen said. "So (Obama's) absolutely right when he says that. I would like him to act on that and not just say it for the State of the Union."

In regards to the rate tuition has been rising, Obama wants to reward schools that keep tuition down by providing more grant money, and take away federal aid from schools that raise tuition.

Yowler agrees with this idea. He said he finds the rate of tuition is too high and believes "universities across the nation can help by lower(ing) costs while keeping up the quality of education."

Jensen, however, believes less intervention from the government will help lower the rate of tuition.

"What needs to happen is less government subsidization, because that's what we're actually seeing here," Jensen said. "Tuition inflation is a result of govern subsidization, so you're not helping anybody. You're taking money out of the national treasury; you're also taking more money out of the students' pockets."

Yowler approves of the work Obama has done as president and is hopeful for his re-election.

"The world is vastly changing," Yowler said. "… U.S. foreign policy has taken new shapes for President Obama, and the hardships have not yet stopped. Yet, day in and day out, our borders are safe, our debt is slowly going away and soon enough our economy will regain stability and growth can begin again. This speech is his blueprint for re-election, which I am confident he will win."

Jensen however, finds issues in Obama's speech and with his treatment of military personnel.

"The flat-out atrocity of that speech — that I think is just perjury of the first degree — is when he praises military personnel and their team efforts, and then, in the next breath, sends Leon Panetta to cut their budget," Jensen said. "We have all these combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan that now we're going to dismiss about 65,000 army troops, and then we're going to dismiss 20,000 active-duty Marines."

Overall, Holmes thinks certain proposals in Obama's address are plausible, but others may be more difficult to execute.

"If he were to end up being reelected and end up with some degree of majority with the House and Senate, some of this might be doable," Holmes said.

Holmes thinks the tax breaks and job creations are two of the most plausible actions, while Obama's ideas on immigration will be harder to undertake.

"I think any changes to either of the top marginal tax rate or the capital gains tax is going to be really hard to sell because those are just things that are near and dear to Republicans' hearts and, given the way the Senate is constructed, you're going to have a real hard time getting those things passed," Holmes said. "So, things like the Buffet Rule, that's going to be tricky in all honesty. But a lot of it's plausible, depending on the political stance that he (Obama) finds himself in."