Members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation stood behind President Barack Obama on Tuesday in his call for bolstering the middle class through tax breaks for working families, paid family leave from work and free community college.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, praised both the content and delivery of this year’s address, saying Obama looked loose and comfortable and was more pragmatic and realistic than he has been in the past.
"He’s ready to do business," the senator declared.
The president, Schatz said, sharpened his message this year, describing the economy and the way things are in a way many Democrats failed to do in the midterm elections.
"He pointed out that we are experiencing sustained growth, but to have the economy grow more robustly, we need to grow from the middle out, not the top down," he said.
Witnessing his first State of the Union address as a member of Congress, Rep. Mark Takai, D-Hawaii, served on his party’s Escort Committee and welcomed the president with a handshake as he entered the chambers.
Takai, who flew into Washington earlier in the day and was wearing a lei, presented the president with a cigar lei before the event. Obama, he said, promised to wear it afterward.
Takai praised the president’s focus on the middle class, saying growing the economy should be aimed at everyone, not just a few. "This resonates across the board," he said.
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TAXES
Hikes: Raise the top capital gains rate on couples with incomes above $500,000 to 28 percent, the rate under President Ronald Rea?gan. Impose a fee on roughly 100 massive financial firms with assets exceeding $50 billion. Eliminate a tax break on inheritances. Breaks: Create a $500 tax credit for families where both spouses work and have an annual income up to $210,000. Expand the child care credit to up to $3,000 per child under age 5. Offer the earned-income tax credit to childless workers and noncustodial parents.
EDUCATION
Offer two years of free community or technical college. Students would need to go to school at least half time, maintain a 2.5 grade point average and make progress toward a degree.
PAID LEAVE
Call for federal and local laws allowing workers to earn up to a week of paid sick time a year. Urge Congress to give federal workers an additional six weeks of paid parental leave.
TRADE
Ask Congress for so-called “fast track” trade promotion authority to allow an up-or-down vote on trade pacts. Obama wants to secure two major trade agreements: one with the EU and one with Asia-Pacific nations.
NONSTARTERS
Threaten to veto congressional attempts to roll back Obama’s executive actions on climate change and immigration and existing laws on health care and financial reform.
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Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said in a statement that she’s proud to stand with the president "on the side of working families." She said his proposals will strengthen the economy and grow the middle class.
Schatz, Takai and Hirono all pointed to the community college initiative as a bright idea.
Hirono called the proposal "a game changer for families I’ve met in Hawaii and across the country. We must make investing in our keiki and our future a top priority — from expanding pre-K to making college more affordable."
Schatz said making community college free for every responsible student is "an important step forward."
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, praised the president for his proposals on Wall Street reform and for asking for authority to use military force against the Islamic State.
"Growing our economy, and truly building a strong middle class, must drive our legislative agenda," Gabbard said in a statement. "I agree with the president’s focus on building the 21st century infrastructure that our businesses and communities need — more modern airports, stronger bridges, and the fastest Internet. This is something that Democrats and Republicans can agree on."
Toward the end of his speech, Obama mentioned his Hawaii roots as he implored lawmakers to rise above petty political bickering to achieve "a better politics."
"You know, just over a decade ago, I gave a speech in Boston where I said there wasn’t a liberal America or a conservative America, a black America or a white America — but a United States of America. I said this because I had seen it in my own life, in a nation that gave someone like me a chance; because I grew up in Hawaii, a melting pot of races and customs; because I made Illinois my home — a state of small towns, rich farmland and one of the world’s great cities; a microcosm of the country where Democrats and Republicans and Independents, good people of every ethnicity and every faith, share certain bedrock values."
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FACT CHECK
Political claims can take shortcuts with the facts or don’t tell the full truth. Here is a look at President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech:
THE ECONOMY
>> Obama: “At this moment — with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry and booming energy production — we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth.”
>> The facts: By many measures, the economy is still recovering from the deep scars left by the Great Recession. Job growth has been healthy, but fueled in part by lower-paying jobs in areas such as retail and restaurants, which have replaced many higher-paying positions in manufacturing and construction. Part-time jobs also remain elevated: There are still 1.7 million fewer workers with full-time jobs than when the recession began in December 2007. And the faster hiring hasn’t pushed up wages much. They have been growing at a tepid pace of about 2 percent a year since the recession ended 51⁄2 years ago. That’s barely ahead of inflation and below the annual pace of about 3.5 percent to 4 percent that is typical of a fully healthy economy. That has left the income of the typical household below its pre-recession level. Booming energy production is indeed a reality, but that’s a phenomenon many years in the making, with the development of cost-effective extraction from fracking and other means playing into the rise of the U.S. as an energy production giant.
THE ENVIRONMENT
>> Obama: “We’ve set aside more public lands and waters than any administration in history.”
>> The facts: Waters is the key word here. Before expanding the Pacific Remote Islands National Monument last year from almost 87,000 square miles to more than 490,000 square miles, Obama had protected far fewer acres than his four predecessors, including President George W. Bush. Expansion of the massive Pacific islands monument puts Obama on top. It’s nearly all water, however, and the move has limited practical implications. While it bans commercial fishing, deep-sea mining and other extraction of underwater resources, little fishing or drilling occur in the mid?ocean region now.
WAGES
>> Obama: “Thanks to a growing economy, the recovery is touching more and more lives. Wages are finally starting to rise again. We know that more small-business owners plan to raise their employees’ pay than at any time since 2007.”
>> The facts: A survey of small businesses by the National Federation of Independent Business does show that a rising proportion plans to raise wages. But plans to raise pay aren’t the same as actually raising them. Average hourly earnings rose just 1.7 percent in December from 12 months earlier, according to the Labor Department. That’s about half the rate that is typical of a healthy economy and actually lower than the previous month. Economists generally expect wage gains to accelerate this year, as unemployment continues to fall and businesses are forced to offer higher pay to attract workers. But there is scant evidence that it is happening yet. .
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
>> Obama: “In Iraq and Syria, American leadership —?including our military power — is stopping ISIL’s advance. Instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the Middle East, we are leading a broad coalition, including Arab nations, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. We’re also supporting a moderate opposition in Syria that can help us in this effort.”
>> The facts: The U.S. also has been slow to set up long-promised training for the moderate Syrian opposition, and has yet to begin the actual vetting of the rebels. Also, despite persistent pleas from the rebels, the U.S. hasn’t sent the more lethal weapons they want. U.S. officials have expressed concerns that the weapons could end up in the hands of insurgents. Military leaders, however, agree that coalition airstrikes and the military effort in Syria and Iraq have stopped the momentum of the Islamic State group, or ISIL, made it hard for the insurgents to communicate and travel, and hurt their oil revenues.
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Associated Press
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