‘Mr. President, Say This on Tuesday Night ’.

President Obama delivering the State of the Union
address last January.With four days until President
Obama gives his State of the
Union address, interest groups
have buried the White House
with a barrage of unsolicited
advice about what they want
him to say.
The suggestions come from all quarters — the
Mr. Obama’s liberal supporters who are already
suspicious of his commitment to their causes, the
conservative activists who oppose his policies
and independent groups who are urging
compromise and conciliation.
Gun control groups want the president to call for
restrictions on the size of high capacity
ammunition clips. Gay rights organizations say
he should talk about bullying aimed at
homosexuals. Think tanks believe he should
focus on the nation ’s debt. Tea Party groups
hope he will endorse a repeal of his health care
overhaul.
Aides to Mr. Obama remained largely silent on
which of those, if any, are likely to make it into
the president ’s address, which he will give
Tuesday night in front of a joint session of
Congress.
“The State of the Union is an annual occasion to
get a mountain of advice both public and private
on what to include in the speech, ” said Dan
Pfeiffer, the president’s communications director.
“A lot ends up on the cutting room floor, but
getting all the ideas and sifting through them is a
very constructive process. ”
The Caucus asked more than 20 interest groups
in Washington what advice they are giving the
president, either in public or in private. Here ’s a
sampling of their responses:
Mark McKinnon, No Labels: “President Obama,
you have an opportunity in your State of the
Union Address to bookend the great speech you
delivered in Tucson. We are at a potential
inflection point in our politics where we have an
opportunity to tone down heated hyper-partisan
rhetoric and recognize that our opponents are not
“enemies” but people of pure motive who just
have a different approach and ideas. Your speech
next week can help heal the partisan breach by
compelling us all to work together to achieve
consensus on the pressing issues facing the
country. ”
Damon Silvers, policy director for the AFL-
CIO : “We need to have an economic recovery
that creates jobs and rebuilds the middle class
because if we are reduced to competing to cut
spending instead of deciding how to compete in
the world economy then we are having the
wrong conversation. … We also hope that the
president will protect and defend Social Security
and Medicare, which are crucial lifelines for
working families, seniors and the disabled.”
Terry O’Neill, president of the National
Organization for Women: “I am writing to you
with a heartfelt plea to take a stand against Social
Security benefit cuts or any other weakening of
the program that may be attempted in the new
Congress. Will you speak out against any
undermining of Social Security in your State of
the Union message ?”
Edward F. Coyle, executive director of the
Alliance for Retired Americans : “Retirees will
be watching the State of the Union address on
Tuesday, and they will support President
Obama ’s call to lower federal spending. But they
know that Social Security did not create these
deficits and that we cannot balance the budget on
the backs of current and future retirees. ”
Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin,
national coordinators of Tea Party Patriots:
“Based on his newfound understanding and
respect for the views of the majority of
Americans, Tea Party Patriots hopes that he will
encourage repeal of Obamacare in the Senate,
and then sign the bill and begin to engage in true
bipartisan negotiations to solve the nation ’s health
care problems.”
Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring:
“If he fails to address the need to rein in the
excessive and economically ineffective deficit
spending of his administration ’s first two years,
anything that he says about raising the debt
ceiling should be disregarded. ”
Paul Helmke, the president of the Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: “We’re
hoping he’s going to say something about gun
violence. Here’s a chance for some leadership and
some eloquence. He should call for a presidential
commission on guns and support for the
legislation limiting the size of ammo clips. ”
Fred Sainz, spokesman for Human Rights
Campaign : “This past year Americans were
confronted with the epidemic of bullying against
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young
people that goes on in our schools. The State of
the Union address would be an appropriate time
for the president to assert leadership on this
moral issue and call on all schools to address the
problem head on.”
Jim Kessler, vice president for Third Way:
“The president ought to make long term
economic growth the theme of his State of the
Union. He should declare that with the passage of
health care reform, America’s 85-year quest to
weave a strong safety net is now complete. From
there he would describe a clear, tangible, and
compelling destination for the nation – that of
American excellence. It is a destination where
America has the strongest, most vibrant, and
most advanced economy on earth. ”
Ralph Benko, senior adviser on Economics
for American Principles Project : “President
Obama must make the case that public funds for
essential government services not be used up in
paying exorbitant retirement benefits, a trillion
dollar problem that news reports show is
threatening more than 100 American
municipalities with bankruptcy and up to 20
states with insolvency.”
Former Senator Pete Domenici, a senior
fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center : “First,
he must carefully explain the severe nature of the
nation ’s debt and deficit problem, showing why it
is unlike any other fiscal problem we have ever
faced. Next, he should discuss the consequences
that may occur if we simply continue to delay
facing the problem with concrete proposals.
Finally, I hope that he will outline a
comprehensive plan of what must be contained
in a real debt stabilization initiative.”
Adam Green, co-founder, Progressive
Change Campaign Committee : “He should
use the State of the Union to draw a firm line in
the sand against any reduction of the Social
Security benefits that American workers earned,
paid for, and do not want to see cut. Then he
should offer a progressive vision for creating jobs
and fighting for middle class families over big
corporations.”
Grover Norquist, president of Americans
for Tax Reform : “You should say you recognize
that spending $800 billion on stimulus didn’t
create jobs. You should say you will bring
corporate tax rates down, extend the expensing
of business investment, and allow repatriation of
overseas assets. These are tax cuts that you and
Democrats have endorsed that would have
bipartisan support. ”
Richard Socarides, president of Equality
Matters : “In order to be the kind of
transformational leader he can be, he should
show the country the way forth on dismantling
the so-called Defense of Marriage Act so that the
law no longer robs the states of their right to
decide the question of marriage, nor deprives
lawfully married gay Americans of their federal
benefits. That’s the advice I’m giving to all the
people I know who might actually influence the
speech. If you want to be a leader, this is the
speech in which to do it. ”

Source: Http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/mr-president-say-this-on-tuesday-night/?partner=rss&emc=rss