*MEDIA ADVISORY*

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1/21/2015
Contact: John Mitchell 773-255-9067 /
Frank Watkins
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pressdepartment@rainbowpush.org

THE STATE OF THE UNION IS A TALE

OF TWO AMERICAS
By Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
The State of the Union is a tale of two
Americas. One America has unprecedented
income, profits and wealth, while the other
Americas real unemployment rate is over 11%,
wages and income for basic workers are frozen

in place, poverty is growing and the disparity in

income and wealth between the haves and havenots has not been this big since the Great
Depression.
First, the American people must commend
President Obama for what he has achieved in
spite of Republican opposition that has resisted
everything he has proposed and there is every
indication that they will continue to oppose his
proposals tonight. But his direction is sound
and should be supported.
He proposes to eliminate the biggest tax
loopholes and ensure that the wealthiest
Americans and biggest corporations pay their
fair share. As the president knows, the top 1%
and major corporations are enjoying a historic
period of prosperity, while the wages of the
average American family have flat-lined. He
proposes to use the savings produced by these
measures to reinvest in the education and other
needs of the middle class. He is proposing to

make the first two years at a community college

free, which would include more students in
economic need. After a record 58 months of
continuous economic growth in which the
official unemployment rate has fallen to 5.6%,
he is focused on raising the minimum wage,
lifting the income of average workers and
providing paid sick days for all. The number of
uninsured Americans is at an all-time low,
health care costs are falling, in coalition with
China hes taken important steps toward curbing
climate change and he has moved forward on
reforming our immigration system. He has
ended a U.S. fighting role in Iraq and
Afghanistan, is gradually reducing the prisoners
held in Guantanamo and taken dramatic steps to
normalize relations with Cuba. He is
challenging the huge sums of money in our
politics fostered by the Citizens United decision
and vows to protect voting rights. He has
vowed to protect Social Security, Medicare and
Medicaid for future generations.

Now that Republicans are in charge of the

House and Senate they have wasted no time in
attacking Social Security, attempting to derail
President Obamas immigration plan and
destroy his achievement of the Affordable Care
Act. Tomorrow, rather than respond to the
positive agenda of President Obama, they will
continue their negative agenda and vote to make
abortion choice more difficult.
Second, however, the American people must
also challenge President Obama on several
fronts. We need a comprehensive urban policy.
Tax hikes for the wealthy and tax cuts for the
middle class do not address the zones of
catastrophic housing foreclosures, vacant lots,
poverty,
dysfunctional
schools,
closing
emergency rooms and hospitals, and urban
abandonment present in todays America. Dr.
King was right - we need direct investments.
President Obama must not only defend voting
rights using the present structure of our voting
system - states rights and local control. In his

2013 State of the Union Address, President

Obama announced a plan to convene a
commission on improving the voting experience
of Americans. Yet since then, 21 state
legislatures have proposed and passed a range of
laws that make it harder for some people to vote
including restrictive photo ID requirements,
cuts to early voting and limitations on same-day
registration. The President should support
adding a right to vote amendment to the U.S.
Constitution so that every American has, not just
a state right to vote, but a fundamental
individual citizenship right to vote, with
Congress having the authority to establish a
uniform national voting system with common
sense minimum standards. The American
people must also insist that the President fight
for police reform that includes more than just
car and body cameras.
So we must commend and challenge President
Obama at the same time. Commend him for

moving in the right direction and challenge him

to do even more.
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