Review: State of the Union address
On Tuesday, President Obama delivered his seventh and final State of the Union address to the Congress. Unlike the previous six, this was not a long list of policy agenda items he would like to see the Congress address in the coming year. It was, instead, a broader conversation regarding the state of American democracy.
His broader themes regarding the impact that partisan rancor and division have had on, not only our political and legislative process, but on the psyche of everyday Americans was a far cry the type of speech that the American public has come to expect. As a result, his address was well-received by his usual allies but also by some of his traditionally harshest critics.
For retailers and restaurant operators, the speech had very few direct policy implications to either the entry-level business model or broader reputational issues. Early in the address, he acknowledged that while some of the workforce-related issues that he has traditionally championed – specifically paid leave and an increase in the minimum wage – will still be priorities, there is little chance for passage in this political climate.
The most interesting development was the President’s suggestion that the Congress enact some type of loosely-defined “wage insurance” whereby if an employee loses their job and either finds no job or a lower-paying job, the government should have an entitlement program to make up some or all of the difference. Today’s Time Magazine article http://time.com/4178408/state-union-wage-insurance/ detailing it was entitled, “The President’s Most Unorthodox Idea.” Clearly there will be little political appetite in the foreseeable future for such an approach, but the labor community has a well-deserved reputation for patience when cultivating public support for their agenda items and it may be an issue we hear more about in the years to come.
Outside of those policy proposals, the rest of the address had little direct importance for operators. Again, the speech was focused less on the coming year than the coming decade and the broader themes of international security, climate change and the precarious health of our democratic process were the major themes.
But it an election year, he did a good job of focusing on themes important to Democratic voters and laying out a worldview they could rally around.