1、In his fourth State of the Union address, President Barack Obama says his generations task is to reignite the true engine of Americas economic growth, a rising and thriving middle class.He urged Congress to tie the minimum wage to the cost of living.But the President insists that nothing he proposes
2、 will raise the countrys deficit.Let me repeat - nothing Im proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime. Its not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth.President Obama does admit that rising medicare costs are d
3、riving the countrys long term debt.We cant ask senior citizens and working families to shoulder the entire burden of deficit reduction while asking nothing more from the wealthiest and the most powerful.Obama proposed reducing taxpayers subsidies to prescription drug companies while asking wealthier
4、 seniors to pay more.The President also called for efforts to reduce gun violence and urged bipartisan immigration reform.Republicans are calling Obamas proposals at the State of the Union address as being overly reliant on government.Florida Senator Marco Rubio.His solution to virtually every probl
5、em we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more. This idea - that our problems were caused by a government that was too small - its just not true. In fact, a major cause of our recent downturn was a housing crisis created by reckless government policies.In a separate tea party r
6、esponse, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said both parties are to blame for the rise of the deficit.Both parties have been guilty of spending too much, of protecting their sacred cows, of back room deals, in which everyone up here wins but every tax payer loses.Foreign policy wise, President Obama announ
7、ced that 34-thousand troops, which is about half of the U.S. force in Afghanistan - will withdraw by early 2014.Afghan troops will fill the vacuum caused by the withdrawal of U.S. troops over the next 12 months.However, Zahir Sadat, Afghan parliament member, said as long as the countrys military has
8、 the logistical and technical support he felt confident that the military could take control of the countrys security.But he warned the US administration that they should avoid repeating mistakes of the past.If they leave Afghanistan like they left in 1990s then it will be a very serious issue and I
9、 think Afghanistan will again face major problems strategically and it will be out of control for any administration.Obamas speech on Tuesday also comes less than a day after North Korea carried out its third underground nuclear test.To that end, Obama said the U.S. would strengthen its missile defense and help the world respond to the threat posed by North Korea.For CRI, Im Shen Chengcheng.