State of the Union Predictions

 Later this month, President Barack Obama will present America with his first State of the Union address since his second term re-election last year. But before the president can take the podium it is important to consider topics that will likely appear in the address this year.

The president certainly has a set of recurring themes in his addresses, including his forthcoming policy updates on immigration. Immigration policy has been an issue Obama has worked closely with since his election in 2009, referring to it in his 2010 State of the Union address as a “broken system.” But even with more recent issues pulling on the president’s mind, like his new movement in stricter gun control laws following several tragic mass shootings in 2012, immigration will no doubt make up at least a small mention in the 2013 address.

The gun control debate that has congress locked in battle has become championed by Vice President Joe Biden and openly supported by Obama. Obama gun control policies center on semi-automatic weapon private-ownership and have met great resistance from his conservative counterparts.

Another issue likely to be addressed in Obama’s speech is his upcoming clash with Republican Congress members over taxes and the ever-looming “fiscal cliff” America experienced earlier this month. The president will likely remain silent on the Bush Tax cut expiration, but will address the outcomes of those expirations and, at the very least, assure citizens of the attention he intends to pay toward America economic problems.

On the economic decline front, Obama will likely also address America’s unemployment rate. America unemployment went through a sharp downward spike earlier in the Obama presidency but, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has been holding steady since mid-2012. However, the topic was of heated debate during the 2012 election and will likely still be in the forefront of the American mind.

Gay rights is another issue the president is likely to tackle in 2013. The president has become more vocal on the issue since his election in 2009 when he ended Clinton’s conservative “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy which made it difficult for openly homosexual men to enlist in the military. Obama has worked to move gay rights to the forefront of political issues since then, applying more liberal laws on the Federal level.

In a speech given in Las Angeles during his campaign trail in 2012, Obama vowed to block any attempts made by conservative Congress members to roll back headway made in the Gay Rights movement, vowing to continue his work for equality.

Obama will also bring the success and operation of his health care reform plan to light, which has been another recurring topic for the president in his past State of the Union addresses. Health care reform was one of Obama’s main focuses in his 2012 State of the Union, when explained the lack of order in the country’s current system and explained congresses need to accept his administration’s reforms.

"There's a reason why many doctors, nurses, and health care experts who know our system best consider this approach a vast improvement over the status quo." Obama said.

Speculation on Obama’s State of the Union Address could be endless. The president is in his last term, a cherry position for a president. He will have less concern about pleasing Congress and will have the ability to more brazenly present his plans, be they popular or not. He will recognize the conflicts that will likely erupt between congressional parties but he will have the voice of the people who elected him for a second time into office beside him as the nation pushes forward. Either way, America will know soon enough.