President Barack Obama is continuing to take his message from Tuesday’s State of the Union address to the people with an “online fireside chat.” Get your two cents worth in and talk back to the President about his SOTU address!
On Thursday, February 14th, President Obama will host the latest in a series of “Fireside Hangouts” – a 21st century take on FDR’s famous radio addresses – to discuss his State of the Union Address with the people. During the Google+ hangout, the President will answer questions from Americans across the country about the issues and policies laid out in the SOTU. Cozy up with the president online, Thursday, February 14th at 4:50 PM.
Details here. Don’t forget your water bottle.
Tuesday night’s local State of the Union Watch party drew a crowd of over 40 at the Unitarian Universalist church downtown and was organized by Mi Familia Vota State Director Yulissa Arce and co-hosted by Home Defender’s League and Central Florida Jobs With Justice. Immigration, worker’s rights and voter reform groups as well as other community activists gathered, anxious to hear the President’s agenda for the next four years.
Before the President’s address, former Orange County Commissioner Homer Hartage stated that he anticipated the president’s speech to be “history making” and inclusive of all the issues. “I don’t expect him to leave anything out,” Harding said. Brook Hines, Organize Now, stated that she hoped the SOTU would be a “continuation of Obama’s inaugural speech, a chance to hear him expand on that platform and to more fully address comprehensive immigration reform. “I am most interested to see how Rubio responds to Obama’s immigration plan,” Hines concluded.
Hines was not alone in her desire to hear more about Obama’s immigration reform package. There was a buzz among the crowd about Pathway to Citizenship, the effect that reform would have on immigrant and worker’s rights here in Central Florida and expectations of Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio’s response to Obama’s final SOTU.
Obama broad brushed many predictable issues, with longer dialogue as predicted spent on the economy. His desire to increase the minimum wage to $9.00 per hour nationally, drew cheers and support from the audience gathered to watch the SOTU, sour looks and little response from Republicans in Congress. Throughout his speech, Obama prodded congress to work together with him on tough issues of global warming, gun law reform and increasing minimum wage.
A thoughtful listen throughout the day to news pundit’s spin on President Obama’s SOTU and the Republican response by Senator Marco Rubio last night yielded an unusual theme. Curiously, the media didn’t zero in on Rubio’s listless rebuttal to Obama’s overload of talking points about the economy, tax the rich, how the U.S. is woefully lagging in education or the drawdown of military presence in Afghanistan.
Instead, attention centered around a moment when the Republican’s favorite son, Rubio, reached off camera to grab a bottle of Poland Springs water and take a long drink. Remarks seem to gravitate to the President’s desire to increase the nation’s minimum wage as Republican commentators, House Speaker John Boehner in particular, denounced such an increase “at a time when it’s hard enough to create new jobs.” It appears that we are in for a long four years with the same resistance and non-cooperative stance between the administration and congress as the last four.
