State of the Union Predictions Column

Topic Predictions for Obama’s 2015 State of the Union Address

America knows President Obama is busy during this time of year planning to present topics for the 2015 State of the Union Address. What everyone does not know is what topics are going to make the cut.

In the past Obama has shown a great deal of certainty about the future of America when it comes to the U.S. economy and education across the country. During his first term, Obama focused his energy on health care and education and as time went on, he focused on immigration and oil.

Last year the biggest topic that stuck with me, as an American Citizen was income inequality. He painted a broad picture of a country where everyone is equal no matter what class you fall under. He mentioned women in the workforce in comparison to men and the income gap between the upper and middle classes.

Equality was a main topic of education as well and Obama pushed towards equal opportunity for every student. Using these previous topics in previous addresses, several predictions for the 2015 State of the Union Address have come to mind.

Obama has touched on education in different ways such as student loans and grants and equal opportunities when it comes to furthering education. There have been rumors, recently, about furthering equal opportunity for everyone who wants it. Obama wants to see to it that students get the first two years of community college free for everyone who is willing to work for it and as a college student, that is a major topic of discussion.

So far there are only a few details on the proposal and because Obama has been big on education since day one, there is a good chance this will be a topic in this years address.

On Monday the president brought up something new that seems like a candidate for the address this year. According to NPR, Obama said he wants the federal government to do more to prevent cyber attacks; but not just any cyber attacks, he wants the American children to be protected while using data that is collected at schools.

He wants Congress to pass a law that prevents software companies from selling data to students and from using it to create targeted ads.

“If we’re going to be connected, then we need to be protected,” Obama stated Monday.

He recently took a stand on technological advances in other directions as well. For example, he believes the age of technology is making America vulnerable.

With this in mind, he wants to push the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act which would require companies to do a little more work and let customers know when their accounts have been hacked. This is a time consuming process and states have a different policy when it comes to their customers and hacking. Obama wants to make it a nationwide law, which is big a deal and could be a state of the union deal.

Income equality is another major topic that is predicted to be discussed due to the previous address. Especially since minimum wage prices have changed across the country and the country is still in a deep whole when it comes to incomes in the middle class.

It is always interesting to see what the president has to say about important issues and it will be even more interesting to see if these predictions are correct. Obama’s opinions and answers to the nation’s controversies are laid out on the line on Jan. 20, 2015 and as citizens, it is our duty to watch and listen.