SWA #3

Devon Hopkins

Coral

Intro to US Natl Politics

02/11/19

State of the Union Address Assignment

1.         From the begging of the President’s State of the Union Address the President did not stray away from the idea of working with the House Democratic majority. He rarely addressed individual parties and continued to make the point that in order for his plans to be successful all parties would have to work together. President Trump rarely mentioned specific ways he would compromise, but he used a lot of general statements that gave a good idea to the kind of work he wants to get done. Some of the issues Trump addresses include tax reduction, employment issues, and energy conservation (specifically oil and natural gas). He also doesn’t mention too many specific legislative proposals, but he mentions general topics he would focus on improving in the future. Some topics discussed by Trump on foreign policy include illegal immigration (a common sense proposal to end the crisis on the Southern border), trade relations, equal tariff prices with other countries, and an infrastructure investment. Topics brought up by Trump involving domestic policy include lower health care and prescription drugs (as well as protecting patients with pre-existing conditions), fairness and price transparency, school choice for American children, and prohibiting late-term abortion of children.
2.        Trump rarely addresses or hints at the views he has on the executive branch. Most mentions of other members of congress as a whole stated that he was willing to work with everyone in regards to making improvements for the country. His language suggests that he will exert his Presidency to his full power in order to make sure his goals are achieved such as his willingness to build a wall at the southern border. His language did not give much insight on how he feels about checks and balances or his views of Congressional oversight of the executive branch. In regards to Congress as a co-equal branch his language suggests his is willing to work with all members equally as long as it is in terms of supporting his short and long term goals.

III.         Following the SOTUA came the democratic response delivered by Stacey Abrams. In this she brings up issues such as federal workers not receiving their paychecks in weeks, education prices increasing, gun safety, the republican tax bill, voters rights, and healthcare. The more obvious issues Abrams refers to include the government shutdown and Trump’s attempt to build a wall at the southern border. There is room for compromise on certain issues such as health control which both parties have mentioned needs to be improved as long as they can work together. Similarly to Trump, the one thing Abrams states is that both parties would have to work together and negotiate in order for any improvements to be made.

IIII.        The legislative agenda outlined during the SOTUA doesn’t necessarily represent the agenda outlined in my own state legislature and this is most probably because my state representative for district 1 in Illinois is a democrat. They don’t necessarily go along the same lines because one agenda is for the country as a whole while the other is more focused on a specific surrounding area. However there were a couple of similar issues to be dealt with on both agendas which both include improving health care as well as improving education. These are both nation-wide issues and as long as negotiations can be made and all parties can work together and compromise it will hopefully lead to better results in the future.