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President Obama Delivers Last SOTU

On Tuesday, January 12, 2016, President Obama delivered his final State of the Union address to the country. What is usually a laundry list of “to do” items for the Congress, the President realizing that his final 12 months in office will be lame duck, elected to use his speech to discuss his progress as President over the past seven years and reassure the country that things are headed in the right direction.

One of the very few specific proposals that the President did share on Tuesday, was the goal of curing cancer with Vice President Joe Biden serving as “mission control” for this initiative. This comes on the heels of Vice President Biden’s loss of his son, Beau, in 2015.

While the President did spend significant time celebrating his achievements over the past seven years, lower unemployment, stronger economic growth, he also expressed disappointment in the continued fracture of the American political system, including the perception that the political system is “fixed.”

With the 2016 presidential campaign officially upon us, the President rightly understand that Congress will have a light legislative agenda and that any attempts to shepherd legislative priorities through Congress will be virtually impossible, however, the President has committed to using the Executive Order and regulatory process to push through key initiatives, including minimum wage, climate change, and gun control.

Read the full text of the President’s 7th and final State of the Union.