Congress Watch: State of the Union

(Joe Jansen has a decade and a half of experience working as a staff member on Capitol Hill.  He has worked in almost every legislative capacity in both the House and Senate. Joe will be a frequent contributor to TPA’s blog.) The State of the Union speech probably served an important governmental purpose at one time.   After all, why would the Constitution require that the President, “from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union” if it didn’t?  But, cultural changes and technological advances, among other things, have turned the State of the Union Address into what George Will accurately called in his latest column, “a tiresome exercise in political exhibitionism.”

Congress returns from a week-long recess to receive the President for his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday night.  There is no doubt that the first year of President Obama’s second term has not been his finest.  His approval ratings are in the tank and, with the possible exception of immigration reform, his legislative agenda is unlikely to advance anytime soon.  Tuesday’s speech is a way for the President to talk directly to the American people, in a setting designed for the most powerful man in the world, to gain their support of his vision for the United States.  It happens to also be a great time to try to set the tone for the mid-term elections that will be held this November.

The President and his Democratic friends running for re-election do not want this election to be about Obamacare, the President’s handling of events in Syria, the weak economy, or the number of unemployed Americans.  They must run on issues they think are more favorable to their political survival.  What are these issues?

The bulk of his speech will revolve around economic issues.  And, the major theme of this will be a growing income gap or income inequality.  He will put forward familiar democratic ideas for narrowing the gap.  He will talk about the need to help those who, through no fault of their own, are unemployed and have been for a long time.  For them, we need to extend long-term unemployment benefits immediately.  He will argue that many Americans work full-time job(s) yet still live on the margins and an increase in the minimum wage will help them get ahead and provide an opportunity to move up the economic ladder.  He will no doubt talk about the importance of education in narrowing the income gap and ask Congress to pass a universal pre-K education program.  And, he will most likely outline some sort of spending plan or “investments” to get Americans working again.

Many believe that the President can find common ground with Republicans on immigration reform measures.  I would expect him to hit on that issue in his speech.  Immigration reform will only be enacted in piecemeal fashion.  The first piece would have to be border security.  Reports indicate that the President has already indicated a willingness to work with Republicans.  Expect to hear a surprising amount from this President about border security as part of overall reform.

As Congress is the only entity in Washington with a lower approval rating than the President, he will try to portray himself as a man of action.  He will argue that the American people are facing problems and they need government action to move forward.  If the Congress will not act, he will.  He’s been quoted as saying, “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone — and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward.”

The President certainly has plenty of pens and phone lines.  But, the ink is already dry on the Constitution so I’m not sure how far those things will get him.  Surely not far enough to win over the 63% of Americans that a new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows have little or no confidence that the President will make the right decisions for our country’s future.