5 things Obama left out of the State of the Union
While President Obama covered a wide range of topics in his speech before Congress Tuesday night, an hour-long address can't be expected to be broach every issue that impacts the state of the union. Some issues may be a lower priority for the president, while he may not care to mention others for political reasons. On some subjects, the president may simply not have much new to say.
Below are five issues left out of the president's address. While some may have never realistically made it into Mr. Obama's remarks, they are nevertheless issues that will impact the state of the union this year.
Upcoming Obamacare changes
Mr. Obama noted in his speech that "the biggest driver of our long-term debt is the rising cost of health care for an aging population." He also noted that "already, the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of health care costs."
He did not mention, however, the huge changes to the health care system looming on the horizon. The federal and state governments are currently in the process of establishing a network of health care "exchanges" that are supposed to be up and running by next year. Many states are also preparing to expand their Medicaid rolls, while other states are resisting that specific Obamacare initiative. Through those two components of Obamacare -- the exchanges and the Medicaid expansion -- roughly 36 million people are predicted to obtain health insurance by 2022.
Other upcoming changes continue to spur controversy, with some faith-based organizations opposed to news rules mandating full insurance coverage for contraception and some businesses concerned about the cost of covering their employees.
Marijuana policy
"Together, we... can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is stronger," Mr. Obama said tonight. But without question, the state of the union is in flux when it comes to drug policy.
In November, Colorado and Washington became the first two states to legalize recreational marijuana use, even though it is still banned under federal law. Mr. Obama's Justice Department has yet to say how it will respond to this conflict. Meanwhile, two Democrats have introduced legislation to leave marijuana policy to the states. Mr. Obama has said it's time to have a conversation about marijuana policy, but he didn't use last night's address to start that conversation.
Mars
Mr. Obama made passing reference to the nation's ventures into space, saying, "Now is not the time to gut these job-creating investments in science and innovation. Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race. "
One could have reasonably expected the president to say more on the issue, given that one of the guests sitting with First Lady Michelle Obama was Bobak Ferdowsi, the flight director of the Mars Curiosity rover.
In 2010, the president laid out ambitious initiatives for NASA, including sending astronauts to orbit Mars by the mid-2030's and sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time. But like most agencies in recent years, NASA is under budget constraints. A report from the National Research Council concluded NASA's goals need more attention and more funding, though NASA's deputy administrator recently said space exploration is still a clear priority for the nation.
While the president does want to send astronauts to Mars, he may have invited Ferdowsi to the State of the Union primarily to stress investments in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. The White House noted that "In addition to his inspiring day-to-day work on the Mars Curiosity mission, [Ferdowsi] volunteers as a FIRST robotics mentor to get more boys and girls excited about STEM education."
The word "drones"
Mr. Obama addressed one of his administration's controversial policies -- the use of drones -- but only with an indirect reference. For those aware of the controversy, the reference was clear, but anyone unfamiliar with his administration's drone policy may have been left none the wiser.
"We must enlist our values in the fight" against terrorism, Mr. Obama said. "That is why my administration has worked tirelessly to forge a durable legal and policy framework to guide our counterterrorism operations. Throughout, we have kept Congress fully informed of our efforts. I recognize that in our democracy, no one should just take my word that we're doing things the right way. So, in the months ahead, I will continue to engage with Congress to ensure not only that our targeting, detention, and prosecution of terrorists remains consistent with our laws and system of checks and balances, but that our efforts are even more transparent to the American people and to the world."
In an unclassified memo leaked to the public this month, the administration defended using drones to kill terrorists, even if they are American citizens, to protect the country. The memo reads that the administration "does not require ... clear evidence that a specific attack ... will take place in the immediate future." And a U.S. citizen can be targeted "if they're believed to be a senior operational leader of al-Qaeda ... engaged in planning operations to kill Americans."
The memo was sent to some members of Congress last summer but wasn't intended for public consumption. The American Civil Liberties Union called the leaked memo irresponsible and chilling.
Guantanamo Bay
The remarks cited above were also the closest Mr. Obama got to mentioning the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
By contrast, in his first ever address before a joint session of Congress in 2009, Mr. Obama said, "I have ordered the closing of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and will seek swift and certain justice for captured terrorists - because living our values doesn't make us weaker, it makes us safer and it makes us stronger."
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told the Daily Beast, "We are absolutely still committed to closing Gitmo." However, he added, "The unfortunate reality is that Congress has gone out of its way to prevent us from doing so, but we still believe closing the facility is in our national security interest."
The defense bill that Congress most recently sent to Mr. Obama did, in fact, limit the president's authority to transfer terrorist suspects from the military prison. As the Daily Beast notes, Mr. Obama signed an executive order in 2011, creating a board to review the prisoners' cases -- but the board has yet to meet.
