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Welcome back to another episode of The your good news podcast. Big, big news in Washington this week, President Joe Biden delivered his second State of the Union on Tuesday. So understandably, today is all things say to the union, from first, the history of the State of the Union to second highlighting some of the key takeaways of President Biden speech. And third, describing what happens next, what follows the speech. So first history of the State of the Union, the formal basis for the State of the Union is from the Constitution. It's under Article two, section three, clause one. And it says, the president shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as He shall judge necessary and expedient will say to the unions in nature are robust and sweeping. And for me to go through each of what President Biden spoke about last night would be really long. But the State of the Union in nature is a mix of accomplishments. So the president of vision the country can go in, which can include items that Congress would have to directly work on, or items that he can do through his cabinet. So through agencies, agency actions of regulations, things like that, it is a glorified report card, and wish list. So that is what a State of the Union is. And I will say Interestingly enough, the say the union has really evolved considerably over time, from 1790 to 1946, it was actually called the annual message. And then in 1947, was switched to the State of the Union address. My guess on the name is based on that article two, section three clause one where it says, Shall, from time to time give to Congress information at the State of the Union. That is my my educated guess on why it's called the stadium. So 1947 was changed to save the Union. Also interesting, when I was doing research found that President George Washington and John Adams actually deliver their messages in person. But then Thomas Jefferson, ever the writer abandoned the practice and just sent written messages to Congress, written messages continued until 1913, when Woodrow Wilson personally appeared before Congress, and then it sort of became the contemporary tradition to appear before Congress. And along the way, technology has also advanced with the State of the Union. Radio came out in 1923. Television 47, the live webcast was in 2002, which is 21 years ago. Okay, cool world. But it's continuing to gain greater importance because it provides a Nash a nationwide platform for the President to speak about, like I said, not only his accomplishments, but also what he sees for the future. So we've covered the history of the State of the Union. Now, what were some of the key takeaways from this week's speech from President Biden? Let's take a moment to first discuss the landscape. You know, I'm a big person about context and understanding what you're walking into when it comes to politics. And I think President Biden walked into something much different than the last two addresses. You know, I will say, point of point of history. I've said this is his second State of the Union. And you might be thinking, well, Katherine, he's been in office, he's now starting his third year, technically an inaugural year. So his inauguration, he'll do an inauguration speech and then he'll do a joint session of Congress where he'll have like a speech as well. The State of the Union are yours basically, when there is not an an inaugural address, pun packed. But President Biden walking into his second State of the Union, it was a very different chamber. Typically around the time in the State of the Union, pollsters go out and kind of get the vibe, the vibe check, as I guess, the use might say, of where the country is at. And I'll say, recently, a plea that was a WaPo. Post. No, it was an ABC News poll that six in 10, Americans believed President Biden hadn't accomplished anything, despite passage of major bills that we've talked about. And additionally, you know, he was walking into a chamber that was divided Congress, Republicans in control of the House, and Senate and control with Democrats. And so that was a lot different than having Dems in house Dems in the Senate, that we're in control, because that sort of matters, as we've learned about when bills come to the floor, or what initiatives are going to get passed. So he walked in with a country kind of confused if he gotten anything done based on the polls. We all know polls have problems, and also a divided Congress. So those were kind of the dynamics. But let's get to the brass tacks, What did President Biden cover? So here are the highlights. And if I was going to take a second to go in would take more than a second to go through all the things he talked about. I just want to pull out a few of them. That stuck out to me some things that I think, are really interesting or important to personal opinion, to take with it what you will, one of them is tackling under the header of tackling the mental health crisis. And President Biden in his speech built on a mental health strategy that they released last year, which has a stated goal of supporting Americans by creating healthy environments, strengthening system capacity, and connecting more Americans to care. He called out the need to have additional support in schools, so additional counselors, as well as increasing access to life saving treatments to aid those in their fight of addiction. I think the opioid crisis has gotten worse in the last couple years mental health has really I know, you know, personally, it's been hard for it myself over the last few years. I think that was really a theme that was pulled out in this speech. I applaud that work. And I think I will say that many of these items would have to be funded through Congress so they'd need to appropriate or give more money, will they potentially I think it'll be interesting to see what are the fine details on these programs, because Republicans and Democrats have differing views on how care should be given not that either side cares more about mental health than the other. I think as we know, with every issue, they approach it differently. Another thing he called out was launching a national campaign to educate young people on the dangerous dangers of fentanyl, and how Naloxone saves life. So the Ad Council will do a real deal on fentanyl campaign, or they've already done a once it's raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl among youth, you see more and more concerns about Lentinula face fentanyl, off laced pills, different things that are, you know, they don't realize that it's not a real pill and it's laced with fentanyl. And it takes only a very tiny amount of fentanyl to overdose. And so this is something that the Ad Council which is an outside group can work with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, otherwise known as Oh MDCP on this and continue to support it. This campaign will continue to educate folks and educate youth on the dangers that are out there. I think, you know, fentanyl continues to be something we have to watch. And I'll talk a little bit more about fentanyl in a little bit. Another thing the President called out in the speech was expanding access to peer support, including mental health services at the VA. So the Veterans Administration, I think we can all agree, veterans are our heroes, and they deserve the care that we have been promised. These veteran peer specialists are considered an asset within the VA workforce. They basically connect those veterans with the mental health services that they need. This will probably need some additional funding to continue. But I see this as an accomplishable and accomplishable goal. Is that a word? Because we all agree like providing people with the resources so that they can get better, especially with our veteran population is something we should work on. A couple other issues, police violence. The family of Tyree, Nichols was in the the First Lady's box. They were sitting with the First Lady. I think that this is an important inflection point. And hopefully Congress can come together, Congress would have to really address police reform, Ukrainian support, the President, again, reaffirmed his position that Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine was a test. It was a test to US and NATO. It has been obviously been war torn for nearly a year now. The Ukrainian ambassador to America was also in the First Lady's box this week, think it's another affirmation of us support for Ukraine? Will there be an additional supplemental? So supplemental funding would support additional, you know, support of military items? Financial support, I will say that when Republicans took control of the House, they mentioned, hey, we need to kind of understand a little bit more where that money is being used that oversight lens. I don't think that that came out. And I think people launch on it and said, You're not going to support Ukraine. So will there be some additional funding for Ukraine? Time will tell, I think that there is going to be a continued want to support the Ukrainian people. But we'll have to kind of balance that with Republicans have said they're making cuts across the board, but not defend not Medicare, Medicaid. So I don't know what they're going to be cutting. But we'll have to kind of see how that falls. And then I bring this up. Lastly, immigration reform efforts. Immigration reform is always a hot topic. I think it feels it is deeply personal. And the President urged lawmakers to pass a pared down package of changes to the immigration law. But I will say that this caused a lot of stir. This is kind of where that fentanyl piece comes in. Because House Republicans, I won't say all there were a handful at most, that started jeering or saying liar. And I think that this is something I've seen, in watching the states of the Union really kind of evolved from President Bush, President Obama also had, you know, someone will say, You lie. I think that that has kind of started and is continued. I think that's unfortunate. I think it's not a good luck, we can disagree on policy vehemently. And that is what our country is based on. But when you say when you name call, you lose some of that high ground, you lose. And it's not even high ground, you lose the ability to make clear thoughts because it's so deeply personal. And so did it love that it was not a highlight of the speech. In my mind, I think that immigration reform needs to be addressed. I think we all see what's happening at the border. And that's kind of where that fentanyl piece comes in. Because Republicans feel very strongly that if there are different border policies that maybe fentanyl wouldn't be coming in as much. Democrats really focus on the human nature. And so I think it's it's a difficult, I will say Republicans focus on the human nature as well. But I think it's my point, and that is I think Democrats sometimes don't they want to box things, and to immigration reform needs to be one thing and Republicans box it in a different way. That's kind of my point. And that so I wish it was more civil place. I wish Tuesday night had not devolved into that. But that is kind of maybe where our country is at. And that's not a great thing. So we've talked about the speech. These are a few of the things that he talked about in the speech, mental health, veterans Ukrainian support, police reform, immigration reform. So what happens next well, on Tuesday evening, and then in this case, the minority party will always give a rebuttal, a response. So it was Republicans in this case, and this tradition really started in 1966, with Senator Dirksen, and Representative Gerald Ford made a televised joint Republican response to President Lyndon B. Johnson's message, and that has become a feature of the broadcast it has become a feature of this President will give his joint session of Congress or State of the Union and Republicans will give a response. It just provides a counterpoint to really what the President talks about. This year, first term and first woman elected it Arkansas Governor said Huckabee Sanders gave the response. She's well known for being press secretary for President Trump. She's the daughter of Governor Mike Huckabee. But she is really seen as the future of the GOP. She has some legislative chops, she has communication chops. So she is kind of seen as that future. And in her battle, she really talked about oversight, the importance of oversight, which is an important role for the minority, no matter if it's Democrats in the minority Republicans in the minority. That is what our entire system is based on is that no one group cannot shout the other and oversight is really an opportunity to investigate. She also talks about inflation, the use of tax dollars, very similar kind of talking points of where Republicans are at and concerns that they feel voters really connect to and their constituents really vote to. So what's next for the president. In recent history, presidents have utilized the State of the Union as an inflection point as a point to acknowledge their legislative wins, and use momentum for this sort of event to work towards their priorities. And I'll say in the first term of the President, this kind of State of the Union to this second State of the Union, you know, going into their third year, is really a way to mirror a campaign announcement, or campaign. And don't worry, you have not missed anything. President Biden has not announced whether he is running again or not. But it's definitely an inflection point. It's used not only to get momentum, but it can also be used as kind of, you know, towards a campaign. That being said, what happened versus President Biden head, went to Wisconsin, and then he begins building stops based on themes throughout the speech. So maybe he's going to Veterans Affairs place, maybe he's working with schools, maybe is there's an O and DCP that's working on that real deal on fentanyl, all these kinds of pieces and start to go into action, which it's like the action step. It's like you speak first and then action. Couple things before we leave today. To be honest, I am boiling down. And I boil down the message from both the president State of Union, but also the response, the GOP response. And I urge you, you may see crayons over the next week, those little things that are on the news, it's a GOP set x or President Biden said why they could seem like the other party is unhinged or tyrannical or it's his it's pure hysteria. And let's be honest, we talked about this today, we're going to vehemently disagree with the other side. And that's okay. And for the actual text of either message, just look into it, try to understand it research the matter, May that find a resource may that be me, or a non biased Think Tank, to break down what's actually happened. Because when we believe the crayons versus actually understanding what's beneath it, or the why or how they're getting there, it can really elicit on both sides a response, and it's not a positive one. And we think we kind of go into our corners, and we don't work together. So I urge you take a second, if you have a question on what does this actually do? Let me know. If there's something I can help describe. I will continue to do that. And I also foreclosed like to highlight the amazing work of the Congressional Research Service. These are public documents and reports that are prepared for members of Congress and committees of Congress. And then they're online. They're incredible reports helped me do some of the history deep dive and I really appreciated it. Thank you again for joining today's episode of The York good news podcast. If you haven't already, please subscribe.
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