Predicting the issues: The 2010 State of the Union Address

With a year in office under his belt, President Barack Obama should have many things to talk about on Wednesday during his State of the Union address, one of which should be the health care reform bill.

During Obama’s first year in the White House he has faced several different problems, such as the war in Afghanistan, the struggling economy and a health care reform that is facing opposition.  These are all subjects that Obama may address in his State of the Union speech.

In the face of a declining approval rating, Obama will concentrate on making the issues at hand look less like problems and more like issues that can be easily dealt with.

While many of Obama’s supporters make the case that he has taken over the problems left by former President George W. Bush, this is not something he can complain about.  Obama can only work toward improving his approval rating that should rise as the economy approves.

Because of the variation in prospective dates for the State of the Union address being due to the development of health care reform, there is a good chance that Obama will spend a large amount of his speech letting the public know exactly how the health care reform is progressing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. said she does not have the votes that are needed to quickly pass the Senate’s health care bill through the House.  Obama will address this issue by asking for support to get this extensive bill approved.  If the enough support can be raised for the bill to pass, this could mean good things for the Democratic Party considering that this is an election year.

Not only will health care reform be a big issue in Obama’s address, with the reveal of his budget happening on Feb. 1 there is speculation that he will outline what the new budget will cover.

According to politico.com, if the health care reform is not finished before the budget is released then Obama may only include top line estimates, “such as how reform reduces the deficit and cuts from Medicare and Medicaid spending.”

As Obama focuses on the budget and the economy, he is sure to mention the high unemployment rates and focus on how he can turn the economy around to pull the country out of the recession.

President Obama will announce his plans for cutting the deficit, which has been questioned because of his stimulus and bailout packages.  Many believe that this will come from Iraqi troop withdrawals and raising taxes on the wealthy.  According to the New York Times, Obama’s budget will include a 10-year projection, which will begin on Oct. 1 that will show the annual deficit declining to $533 billion in the year 2013.

It will be no surprise if Obama tackles his foreign policy in his State of the Union address as well as the war in Afghanistan and the possible threat of a war with North Korea.  The question is whether he will mention the possibility of nuclear war with North Korea, which could spread fear and possible hurt his approval rating even more.

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address will air on all major television news networks on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and 6 p.m. Pacific Time.