Obama Is Hopeful About This Part Of American Life

President Obama got a little bit radical in his State of the Union address, and the two places he really went for it were climate change and the economy. Recent college graduates, young parents, and people struggling to get higher education in the face of economic challenges are still worried about how to make it in the next 8, 10 12 years. Here’s what Obama had to say about what he wants the next administration to think about: “…Working families won’t get more opportunity or bigger paychecks by letting big banks or big oil or hedge funds make their own rules at the expense of everyone else; or by allowing attacks on collective bargaining to go unanswered. Food Stamp recipients didn’t cause the financial crisis; recklessness on Wall Street did. "Immigrants aren’t the reason wages haven’t gone up enough; those decisions are made in the boardrooms that too often put quarterly earnings over long-term returns. It’s sure not the average family watching tonight that avoids paying taxes through offshore accounts. In this new economy, workers and start-ups and small businesses need more of a voice, not less.” It’s not a radical set of ideas, but it’s a set that always deserves attention and respect, especially in the face of rising student debt, changing technology, and economic upheaval.