What will Obama's SOTUA include?

President Obama focuses his State of the Union Addresses on topics that have been the highlight of American concern throughout the past year, particularly social issues. This year it is likely that the president will bring up the topics of budget and economy while also paying particular attention to recent issues such as cyber security — an issue raised by the hacking of Sony Pictures.

Budget and economy are the topics commonly covered in every State of the Union Address, historically and currently. Obviously, those are two great concerns for the country and are necessary to discuss for it to run smoothly. The President has held firmly that our economy is improving and he will likely hold to that during his speech. However, President Obama has, in the past, focused his speeches on issues that matter more to the average citizen.

As he will almost definitely address the attack on Sony Pictures and its impact on cyber security, his speech will probably include the plans to address cyber security in the upcoming months. I imagine he will discuss this at length and reassure the country that every measure of safety will be taken.

In 2014 Obama had several major foreign policy points, and I think he will continue that theme in his upcoming speech. Hopefully, this year he will offer more suggestions on what the government can do to straighten out our foreign affairs. It would also make sense for him to discuss the changes that have happened since we decided to pull troops from Afghanistan. I predict that he still feels it was the right decision and that both parties have benefitted from the choice.

It is also my hope that he will address the prospect of women’s advancement in the coming year. He talked about women’s economic plight and how to ease it in his 2014 State of the Union Address, and it would be relevant for him to address equal pay for women again, as it still hasn’t happened across the country.  

Even though several states have raised their minimum wages to a living wage, it would be of his interest to mention the advances that have been made and what can be done to encourage the states that haven’t. Economy matters more to the average citizen on a paycheck-to-paycheck basis, and his reassurance that living wages are coming will be encouraging.

He will probably discuss the Affordable Care Act and what has been accomplished with it so far and what could be accomplished with it in the future. He will want to say whether or not it has been successful in accomplishing what he intended. 

Immigration will be a hot topic on the agenda, as it has been a debated topic of late. Much of the debate has centered on the current immigration policies in the U.S. and where they are succeeding and failing.  The president will be expected to defend the current policy or else propose solutions for better policy.

Environment will be another hot button issue the President choses to tackle in his upcoming speech. EPA regulations are on the country’s mind, and the elections on Nov. 4, at least in West Virginia, seemed motivated by a concern for job stability that overrides environmental concern. The president has been a strong defender of EPA regulations and the environment, so I imagine he will take that same stance in his address.

It will be interesting to see if he comments on or makes any predictions as to why the Nov. 4 elections went the way they did, and whether he believes this is for the better or the worse. It is no secret that Democrats were effectively voted out across the country and it has been interpreted as a message aimed at the political party because of the president and his policies.

I look forward to hearing the President’s suggestions for social change, his opinions of the status quo and what the plans are to address the concerns of the nation. Social issues are of particular concern to me; specifically, equal pay for equal work, living wages and the environment.