SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Progressives Chime in on the State of the Union
Jan 29, 2014
As President Obama delivered his fifth State of the Union address on Tuesday night, critical progressive observers let fly with their immediate reactions to the speech via Twitter.
Disappointed by a political speech that was previewed as a call to action, what many critics on the left continue to point out is the deep gap between Obama's acknowledgement of certain problems that must be addressed and the milquetoast quality or contradictory nature of his proposals to fix them.
On topics including economic inequality, trade policy, climate change, foreign policy, and education--progressives voiced frustration with what they see as misguided policies overall or lofty rhetoric unsupported or contradicted by the vision set forth.
Economic Inequality / Jobs & Wages / Trade Agreements
Focusing on the idea of economic inequality was said to be one of the key sections of the speech, but many found a contradiction between Obama's simultaneous push for an increased minimum wage while also championing a new set of "free trade" agreements that have proven to hurt U.S. workers while undermining key protections around the world.
And low-wage workers fighting for a minimum wage pivoted on Obama's vow to increase pay for federal contract workers, to say that such a move is just the beginning and much more must be done to achieve true economic justice.
_______________________________
Climate Change / Energy Policy
Obama acknowledged, once again, the undeniable existence of human-caused global warming by declaring in his speech that "Climate change is a fact." But for environmental campaigners, Obama's "all of the above" energy strategy--especially the president's continued and worrisome endorsement of fracking and his habit of treating natural gas as a "clean energy" source--betrays the urgency of what the scientific community says is necessary to actually mitigate the worse impacts of the unfolding climate crisis.
_______________________________
Foreign Policy
Obama mentioned Afghanistan by saying that "by the end of this year, and America's longest war will finally be over." Just several sentence later, however, he acknowledged that his intention is to pursue an ongoing agreement with the Afghan government that would leave a sizable military force in the country. He also again vowed to close the offshore U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, but offered no concrete way to do that. He championed the ongoing and so-called "peace process" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and ongoing talks between the P5+1 and Iran over that nation's nuclear technology program. In the emotional highlight of the speech, Obama pointed to injured U.S. Army Veteran Cory Remsburg, who sat next to First Lady Michelle Obama in the crowd, and though tears flowed for the hardship of the young man who served ten war-zone deployments before his devastating injuries, others interpreted his story as a sad and brutal comment on the nature of U.S. militarism so ingrained in the national fabric.
_______________________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
coalcodepinkdronesfrackingguantanamoiranisraeljeremy scahillmedea benjaminmichelle obamaminimum wagenaftapublic citizentar sandstpptwitter
As President Obama delivered his fifth State of the Union address on Tuesday night, critical progressive observers let fly with their immediate reactions to the speech via Twitter.
Disappointed by a political speech that was previewed as a call to action, what many critics on the left continue to point out is the deep gap between Obama's acknowledgement of certain problems that must be addressed and the milquetoast quality or contradictory nature of his proposals to fix them.
On topics including economic inequality, trade policy, climate change, foreign policy, and education--progressives voiced frustration with what they see as misguided policies overall or lofty rhetoric unsupported or contradicted by the vision set forth.
Economic Inequality / Jobs & Wages / Trade Agreements
Focusing on the idea of economic inequality was said to be one of the key sections of the speech, but many found a contradiction between Obama's simultaneous push for an increased minimum wage while also championing a new set of "free trade" agreements that have proven to hurt U.S. workers while undermining key protections around the world.
And low-wage workers fighting for a minimum wage pivoted on Obama's vow to increase pay for federal contract workers, to say that such a move is just the beginning and much more must be done to achieve true economic justice.
_______________________________
Climate Change / Energy Policy
Obama acknowledged, once again, the undeniable existence of human-caused global warming by declaring in his speech that "Climate change is a fact." But for environmental campaigners, Obama's "all of the above" energy strategy--especially the president's continued and worrisome endorsement of fracking and his habit of treating natural gas as a "clean energy" source--betrays the urgency of what the scientific community says is necessary to actually mitigate the worse impacts of the unfolding climate crisis.
_______________________________
Foreign Policy
Obama mentioned Afghanistan by saying that "by the end of this year, and America's longest war will finally be over." Just several sentence later, however, he acknowledged that his intention is to pursue an ongoing agreement with the Afghan government that would leave a sizable military force in the country. He also again vowed to close the offshore U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, but offered no concrete way to do that. He championed the ongoing and so-called "peace process" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and ongoing talks between the P5+1 and Iran over that nation's nuclear technology program. In the emotional highlight of the speech, Obama pointed to injured U.S. Army Veteran Cory Remsburg, who sat next to First Lady Michelle Obama in the crowd, and though tears flowed for the hardship of the young man who served ten war-zone deployments before his devastating injuries, others interpreted his story as a sad and brutal comment on the nature of U.S. militarism so ingrained in the national fabric.
_______________________________
As President Obama delivered his fifth State of the Union address on Tuesday night, critical progressive observers let fly with their immediate reactions to the speech via Twitter.
Disappointed by a political speech that was previewed as a call to action, what many critics on the left continue to point out is the deep gap between Obama's acknowledgement of certain problems that must be addressed and the milquetoast quality or contradictory nature of his proposals to fix them.
On topics including economic inequality, trade policy, climate change, foreign policy, and education--progressives voiced frustration with what they see as misguided policies overall or lofty rhetoric unsupported or contradicted by the vision set forth.
Economic Inequality / Jobs & Wages / Trade Agreements
Focusing on the idea of economic inequality was said to be one of the key sections of the speech, but many found a contradiction between Obama's simultaneous push for an increased minimum wage while also championing a new set of "free trade" agreements that have proven to hurt U.S. workers while undermining key protections around the world.
And low-wage workers fighting for a minimum wage pivoted on Obama's vow to increase pay for federal contract workers, to say that such a move is just the beginning and much more must be done to achieve true economic justice.
_______________________________
Climate Change / Energy Policy
Obama acknowledged, once again, the undeniable existence of human-caused global warming by declaring in his speech that "Climate change is a fact." But for environmental campaigners, Obama's "all of the above" energy strategy--especially the president's continued and worrisome endorsement of fracking and his habit of treating natural gas as a "clean energy" source--betrays the urgency of what the scientific community says is necessary to actually mitigate the worse impacts of the unfolding climate crisis.
_______________________________
Foreign Policy
Obama mentioned Afghanistan by saying that "by the end of this year, and America's longest war will finally be over." Just several sentence later, however, he acknowledged that his intention is to pursue an ongoing agreement with the Afghan government that would leave a sizable military force in the country. He also again vowed to close the offshore U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, but offered no concrete way to do that. He championed the ongoing and so-called "peace process" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and ongoing talks between the P5+1 and Iran over that nation's nuclear technology program. In the emotional highlight of the speech, Obama pointed to injured U.S. Army Veteran Cory Remsburg, who sat next to First Lady Michelle Obama in the crowd, and though tears flowed for the hardship of the young man who served ten war-zone deployments before his devastating injuries, others interpreted his story as a sad and brutal comment on the nature of U.S. militarism so ingrained in the national fabric.
_______________________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.