{"id":84245,"date":"2015-01-21T06:31:41","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T06:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=84245"},"modified":"2015-01-21T06:31:41","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T06:31:41","slug":"obama-demands-spread-wealth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=84245","title":{"rendered":"Obama demands spread of wealth"},"content":{"rendered":"

US President Barack Obama has declared an end to the financial crisis and pledged economic policies to benefit all Americans, in his annual State of the Union address to Congress.<\/p>\n

In a speech devised to appeal to working families, Mr Obama outlined his strategy for “middle-class economics”.<\/p>\n

“It’s now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next 15 years,” he said.<\/p>\n

But the plans are unlikely to make it past a Republican-controlled Congress.<\/p>\n

In a speech which he described as more focused on values than policies, Mr Obama declared America had turned a page after the worst recession since the Depression.<\/p>\n

The president said he planned to build on this growth by providing working families with help in the form of sick and maternity leave and affordable childcare.<\/p>\n

“Middle-class economics works. Expanding opportunity works. And these politics will continue to work, as long as politics don’t get in the way,” he said.<\/p>\n

He also pledged that Congress should pass a law to give women the same wages as men for doing the same job. “It’s 2015. It’s time,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/div>\n
\"Alan<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Alan Gross received a standing ovation during the speech<\/div>\n
\"Michelle<\/div>\n
First Lady Michelle Obama had her moment of applause<\/div>\n

Mr Obama’s speech included plans to build a competitive economy by improving America’s infrastructure and providing free access to community college.<\/p>\n

“This plan is your chance to graduate ready for a new economy, without a load of debt,” he said.<\/p>\n

In a policy which is likely to bring him into direct conflict with the Republican-led Congress, Mr Obama pledged to close tax loopholes on large inheritances, raise capital gains tax on the richest earners from 23.8% to 28% and introduce new fees on US financial firms with assets about $50bn.<\/p>\n

Some senior members of the Republican party had already dismissed this as “class warfare”.<\/p>\n

\"line\"<\/div>\n

Plans outlined in Obama’s speech<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • improve statutory sick leave<\/li>\n
  • help nine million students to pay for community college<\/li>\n
  • stronger cybersecurity and consumer protection<\/li>\n
  • act unilaterally to hunt down terrorists<\/li>\n
  • action against climate change<\/li>\n
  • continue with plans to shut the prison in Guantanamo<\/li>\n
  • restrict use of drones<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \"line\"<\/div>\n

    The recent cyber attacks against US were on the president’s agenda as Mr Obama urged Congress to pass legislation to give better protection against them.<\/p>\n

    “If we don’t act, we’ll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable,” he said.<\/p>\n

    On foreign policy, Mr Obama said America reserved the “right to act unilaterally” in hunting down terrorists and called on Congress to pass a resolution to authorise the use of force against Islamic State.<\/p>\n

    But he also stressed that his administration will continue to reject offensive “stereotypes of Muslims”.<\/p>\n

    \n

    The BBC’s Katty Kay says battle lines are clearly drawn<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    The president reiterated his belief that the US could negotiate an agreement to prevent Iran gaining nuclear weapons and said he would veto any new sanctions bill which threatens this.<\/p>\n

    He said his decision to end America’s long-standing policy on Cuba and try something new had the potential to “end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere”.<\/p>\n

    Alan Gross, who was recently released after spending five years in a Cuban prison, was among Michelle Obama’s guests for the speech.<\/p>\n

    In ending his address, Mr Obama said he was optimistic he could work with Congress, despite months of political gridlock.<\/p>\n

    \"Joni<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    Joni Ernst rehearsing before her speech<\/div>\n

    “I have no more campaigns to run. My only agenda for the next two years is the same as the one I’ve had since the day I swore an oath on the steps of this Capitol – to do what I believe is best for America,” he said.<\/p>\n

    But consensus with the Republican party on many of the issues he outlined is unlikely.<\/p>\n

    Responding to his speech, Republican senator and rising star, Joni Ernst, said Americans have not seen solutions from Mr Obama and criticised his health and immigration policies.<\/p>\n

    “Americans have been hurting, but when we demanded solutions, too often Washington responded with the same stale mindset that led to failed policies like Obamacare,” she said<\/p>\n

    The senator called on Mr Obama to work with Republicans on issues where they might have common ground – including a trade deal and tax code reform.<\/p>\n

    –<\/p>\n

    Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    US President Barack Obama has declared an end to the financial crisis and pledged economic policies to benefit all Americans, in his annual State of the Union address to Congress. In a speech devised to appeal to working families, Mr Obama outlined his strategy for “middle-class economics”. “It’s now up to us to choose who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-84245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-papa-owusu-ankomah"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}