In this New York Times editorial by its Editorial Board, they discuss the message of President Obama’s speech on Wednesday. Overall, the editorial is supportive of what Obama said which was that he will be focusing the rest of his time as President towards, “‘...the defining challenge of our time:’ reducing economic inequality and improving upward mobility.” To show their support of Obama’s message, they provided statistics that legitimize what he is talking about is an actual issue deserving of all the attention he plans to give it. For example, they state that, “Six in ten workers in a Washington Post Poll last week said they were worried about losing their jobs, the highest number in decades.”
They also support Obama’s message by giving other examples of countries with similar relative wealth gaps such as Jamaica and Argentina and suggest that America’s future could be very similar: filled with “growing cynicism and despondency.” Not only does the editorial provide support for Obama’s message in this particular speech, but they also give examples of how the President has attempted to fix this issue previously, but has been blocked by republican opposition to almost any solution he has proposed. They provide the example of Obama’s views on raising minimum wage and taxes for the wealthiest American’s, the later opinion republicans seem to absolutely detest.
The editorial ends by again referencing the President’s speech when he questions what the Republican Party proposes as solutions to the problem, instead of only what they dislike. The editorial’s author(s) last sentence states that the republicans’ silence “explains why economic inequality is rising.” Ultimately, I found the editorial to be effective as the validate the issue that will be the focus of the rest of Obama’s Presidency by providing statistics, and also compare the solutions he has already proposed to those of the republicans which, at this time, are nonexistent.
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