The annual State of the Union address marks when the president publicizes his agenda to congress and their constituents for the upcoming year.  In this year’s State of the Union, from tax reform, national security, and education, Obama sought to please all.

In his address, the president gave the public and elected officials insight as to what to expect from future democratic candidates.

“It’s setting up an agenda for a future democratic president, thats why it was going to be a toned down State of the Union, because he doesn’t want to hurt the democrats or put anything out there that’s going to be unattractive to democrats in 2016,” said Brad Clark, the chair and an associate professor of political science at Fort Lewis College.

Middle Class Economics Proposal

Creating policies to help benefit the lower and middle classes and stabilize a strong economy is a large part of the president’s focus in his final year.

Based on previews the White House leaked prior to the speech, it appears the real thrust for this year’s agenda is reforming the tax code in an effort to hold the wealthiest Americans accountable. This involves closing loopholes and increasing capital gains taxes to the highest rate they have been at since former President Ronald Reagan was in office, Clark said.

“The president is proposing to use those revenues for middle Americans, and that’s sort of the populous message,” Clark said.  “He wants to make the cost of childcare less burdensome, make college more accessible, broadband wireless more accessible.”

Since this proposal goes against elements of republican economic policy, it is likely to be a struggle. However, this could encourage the future democratic candidate to pursue middle class economic and tax reform, Clark said.

“He’s going up against a hostile, republican controlled congress, its the biggest republican majority since the late 1920s,” he said.

Anything the president announces will be met with some opposition, but the capital gains tax will presumably draw the most attention, Clark said.

Capital gains encompass any money that has been acquired through investing and trading stock, which accounts for much of the top 1 percent’s funds, said Dr. Robert Sonora, professor of economics at FLC. The majority of the money held by the general population is called earned income, what you earn when you have a job and are paid a salary, he said.

The Reagan administration’s goal in raising these taxes was to account for tax revenue lost in efforts to close popular loopholes and to simplify the tax code, but the Obama administration's goals lie more in creating equal opportunity Sonora said.

Based on income, certain families easily send their children to high-quality schools where they are expected to thrive. On the other hand, first-generation, lower-income college students, with no background, have to work their way through higher education and can’t devote the needed amount of time. They aren’t set up to succeed at an equal level, Sonora said.

Leveling the playing field is the goal here, Sonora said.

Obama on Education

On the topic of education, the president addressed his upcoming proposal to congress to lower the cost of community college to zero.

“There is substantial data that indicates the quality of life goes way up when people are more educated,” said Alex Thompson, a student senator and the head of the ASFLC’s legislative affairs committee.

More accessible higher-education resonates strongly with many college students, Thompson said. Other opportunities may allow people to transition into vocational jobs, further and better their careers by opening doors to pursuing higher degrees of education, he said.

There could be some repercussions with this initiative on a more local level involving public four-year institutions.

“Fort Lewis is struggling with enrollment currently, and if there’s another option for students to spend their first two years at a community college as opposed to say a public four-year school, that could definitely detract from their enrollment rates,” Thompson said.

The State of the Union Address outlined a clear direction the democratic party and the Obama administration hope to take this year, making suggestions for future party politics, as a precursor to the next year in Washington and the 2016 election to come.