2011 State of the Union

I agreed with most of the things President Obama said in his State of the Union address to Congress. I especially like his use of innovation as a motif and how he was able to like innovation to pretty much everything that he said. I believe that he was right to say that we need to focus on education and science because we are getting behind the rest of the world. His Race to the Top ideas were very good, and a much-needed change from No Child Left Behind. This could actually help improve education and make schools strive for the highest academic achievement, not just try to pass a test.

I thought it was very interesting, and strategic, for the president to have the people sitting in the first lady's box that he did. He chose people that he could site as examples that his new policies to create jobs were working, but he also chose people, like the science fair winner, that show how important innovation and creating new technologies is. He was able to show how his policies were working to create new jobs, but also show that more work is needed to be done in order for the United States to thrive again.

One of the most important things he talked about, I think, is the need for more clean energy. In his speech, the president got across the need for new, alternative energy sources, and how the government is trying to help with finding these. He also said that they aren't just giving out money, you have to earn it, which I think is an important point. They can't just give out money to any random person on the street and say, "Hey, build some solar panels!" They have to give the money to teams of people that could actually help our planet, and our economy, by creating new, clean sources of energy that are cost-efficient. I believe that this was a very important topic to touch on in the State of the Union address.