SWA #3

Devon Hopkins

Coral

Intro to US Natl Politics

02/11/19

State of the Union Address Assignment

 

Foreign Policy Domestic Policy
  • New MCA (Mexico, Canada, America) which will replace NAFTA
  • US Reciprocal Trade Act
  • Fairness and price transparency for Americans
  • $500 mill over next 10 years for cancer

 

  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.

         

2 thoughts on “SWA #3”

  1. Effective use of brevity in analyzing such a long speech and breaking it down into manageable chunks! I agree with you when you said that Trumps rhetoric shows that he is willing to compromise. One thing that I would change is his view on the power of the executive branch. There were a few key instances that demonstrated his view, namely his decision to send excess troops to the southern border to address the caravan issue. On the Democratic response, I agree that there seems to be some hope of compromise between the two parties on heath care issues. While I think that Mrs. Abrams overstates her parties ability to resolve the issue, I do believe that there is room for practical application of both “solutions”. Overall I think your analysis was good in terms of length and had good “chunk to accuracy value”!

  2. Devon,
    I agree with you that Trump suggested many times his willingness for and the necessity of compromising with the Democrats. Also, good point that he mainly spoke in generalities when referring to this compromising with the Democrats. Maybe he doesn’t want to suggest specifically what he would compromise on because it could give the Democrats the idea that he would settle on things easily. I somewhat disagree your section about Trumps views on the executive branch. Some of his language in regards to “partisan investigations” suggest that he believes the executive branch should be free from congressional oversight. This notion shows Trump’s belief in a strong executive branch that shouldn’t be faulted because it weakens the country’s standing in the world. Overall I really liked your essay and thought you raised many good ideas.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Privacy Statement