James Clift Debate 1/28/14 FLOW: President Obamas State of the Union Speech 2014 START: The graduation

n rate is higher than it has been in 3 decades. 8 million new jobs past 4 years. Strongest string of farm exports ever. It is the citizens that make the state of the union stronger. The lowest unemployment rate in over 5 years. More manufacturing than since 1990s. More domestic oil than in 20 years. Deficits cut by half. For the first time in a decade, business leaders have decided that America is the best place to invest. 7 years debate over the size of government. New jobs, not new crises. He claims we should start emphasizing compromise and reaching across the aisle. If you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead in America. For 3 decades, massive shifts in technology have hurt the middle class. Those at the top have never been better. Upward mobility has stalled. Wages have stalled. Appalling: wherever I can do things without legislative action, I will. Childhood obesity rates have gone down for the first time in 30 years. 400,000 veterans and military spouses have been employed. Our success should depend not on where we were born, but by hard work, and determination. He basically says that John Boehner was the son of a barkeep and (unintel.) Over of big manufacturers say that they are thinking of insourcing. We should lower tax rates for businesses. We need comprehensive tax reform. 3 million construction jobs will be helped if Congress passes certain legislation. Obamas administration has given more loans to small businesses than any other previous administration. Federally-funded research results in incredible technological growth. We need to pass patent reform to prevent costly and needless innovation. Energy / Environment: today, America is closer to energy independence than ever before. Natural gas: Businesses plan to invest $100 B on plants that utilize natural gas. Protect federal lands. Every 4 minutes, a new home goes solar. $4 Billion in taxes is wasted on fossil industries. Climate change is a fact. Immigration: Immigration will shrink debt/deficits by $1 T over the next 10 years. Economy: 1.6 million people lost unemployment insurance. Get it back. Give them that chance.

Education: Estiven Rodriguez couldnt read English at age 9 when he moved to NYC. Race to the Top has helped schools raise standards. One of the best investments we can make is giving students a high quality education at their youth. Obama says that people should have access to high-quality Pre-K education. 15,000 schools and 20 million students will begin having better broadband without adding a dime to the deficit. Millions of students will only have to pay 10% of their income for college. (His sentence didnt make sense. Women: They make 77 cents for every dollar that men do. Women hold a majority of lower wage jobs. People overwhelmingly agree that nobody who works fulltime should have to raise a family in poverty. MW: Raise the minimum wage to $10. Obama will sign an executive order forcing all government employers to pay employees $10.10. The minimum wage is worth 20% less than it was during the time of Reagan. Earned-Income Tax Credit helps of all Americans at some point in their life. MyRA incentivizes saving. He wants a bill that prevents the taxpayers from eve having to pay for a housing-crisis. Healthcare: Because of the ACA, more than 3 million americans under the age of 26 have gained coverage on their parents plans. Voting Rights Lines will be reduced to 30 minutes. Gun Violence If an Afghan security treaty is agreed to, American forces and NATO allies will be able to do two main things: Training and Assisting Afghan forces and counterterrorism operations to pursue any remains of Al Qaeda. Limits on drones. Surveillance programs will be reformed to accommodate public morale and security need. Close Guantanamo.

Cory Remsburg: U.S. Army ranger who has been medically fighting to recover after a roadside bomb nearly killed him in Afghanistan.

REPUBLICAN RESPONSE: Parents are the most important. We should be focusing on opportunity of equality, not income equality. Last month, more people stopped looking for jobs than people who found them.