State of the Union Got You Riled Up? Here's How to Take Action on Issues That Matter
Americans planning to tune in to Tuesday night's State of the Union address can expect something of a victory lap for President Barack Obama. After seven years in office, his key legislation for national health care reform has been implemented, the economy is seeing a prolonged uptick, and the most recent polls find his approval ratings have reached 50 percent after a long sag.
However, in many ways, the president's work is just beginning. Following are just some of the issues we hope to see meaningful changes on here at TakePart.
#ImmigrationReform: With 2 million deportations on his watch, Obama issued an executive action this past November to make some temporary fixes, such as offering some protections to noncitizen parents of U.S. citizens. But families have been cleaved by the Mexican-American border for decades, and it’s time to create a lasting, safe, legal process for immigration.
#BlackLivesMatter: Police are facing scrutiny in the deaths of unarmed black men all over the U.S., and Obama has asked Congress for $263 million to buy 50,000 police body cameras. The officer shooting death of Missouri teen Michael Brown and a spate of cases have forced a national reckoning about law enforcement, the likes of which haven't been seen since Rodney King.
#ClimateChange: At this point, it’s unclear how much more information the world needs before real action is taken on global warming. Just this month we learned that 2014 was the hottest year on record—last year’s average temperature of 52.6 F in the U.S. is about half a degree above the country’s average for the 20th century.
#RightToReport: The world recoiled in horror at the violent attacks on French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, but a free press is at risk here in the United States. The American government has been watching reporters and aggressively prosecuting whistle-blowers who reveal government corruption. French media doesn’t even have the protections that Americans do, rights worth protecting.
#Tuition: Community college–age students are hoping for free classes after the president said earlier this month that those hardworking students are going to get a free ride. While generous and overdue, that does nothing for the students who have gone to four-year universities and struggle to buy homes or gain independence because student loan debts now top $1.2 billion.
#Guantanamo: Despite positive news about rapprochement with Cuba this month, some doors in the island nation have remained closed. Since his first presidential campaign, Obama has vowed to close Guantánamo Bay, the U.S. military prison in Cuba where dozens of detainees have been held for many years without facing charges or going to trial. While some detainees have quietly been released without trial recently, there have also been gross reports of physical and emotional detainee abuse.
Related stories on TakePart:
• 5 Reasons Republicans Taking Over Congress Shouldn't Celebrate Just Yet
• 5 Arguments That Will Convince You the Keystone XL Pipeline Is a Bad Idea
• How Can a Farm Help Close Guantánamo?
Original article from TakePart
