After watching the State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 24th, I am convinced that President Obama is just a good speaker. His speeches always sound great. They make you believe that things will indeed change. His speeches also give hope to those losing their homes and those without jobs. Everything President Obama says in these State of the Union addresses sounds amazing. On Tuesday, I'm sure everyone is thinking to themselves that on Wednesday the country will be renewed. Unfortunately, Wednesday comes along and things are still the same. The person without a job is still jobless by Friday. Since he has been in office, President Obama has talked the talk. He has given hope and made headlines. This week for my Welfare Policy class, I had to watch a video on Clinton giving a speech about a reform he has worked on when he was in office. As I watched and listened to President Clinton, I felt empowered and I felt that not only was he honest in his words, but he was also going to actually make a change. In contrary, when President Obama speaks, all I hear is a good speech. Sadly for the population, the days go on by and we are still in the same mess. 

I read an article this week about the rate of unemployment improving. The article talked about how the rate can help or hurt Obama in the upcoming election. After reading the article, I realized one or two things; the economy is going to improve at a very slow rate if things in Washington don't improve. I understand that it has been a challenge for the President to communicate with the house and senate on important issues. I find it critical that President Obama improve his relationship with the rest of the people in Washington responsible for our well-being, so that changes in unemployment and other areas are not so slow to improve. I also find that Obama's State of Union address on unemployment came at the perfect time to make him "look better" in the eyes of the public. The truth is, most of the new jobs created, have been created by the same big huge companies that he wants to raise taxes on. It hasn't been President Obama the one coming up with new policies or new programs to create new jobs... it is still corporate America that is doing so. 

All in all, I try to always watch the State of Union address live. I also try to read comments on it and become more aware of what the President is truly saying and how it relates to what the he is really doing. I'm very glad that the unemployment rate in the country has improved. But, let us not forget that it has been mostly to corporate America that has facilitated these new jobs. Let us also look back on the last four years that President Obama has been in office, and let us remember how well he speaks but how little he really does.