- 04.07.14
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[Photo: Reinhard Hunger for Fast Company]
Join Us During Tonight's State Of The Union Address
Join Fast Company reporter Ainsley O'Connell and Single Stop CEO Elisabeth Mason for live commentary with Fast Company editors and expert guests during President Obama's State of the Union address. The event starts at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, January 20.
Watch the State of the Union address live here.
Join Fast Company reporter Ainsley O'Connell and Single Stop CEO Elisabeth Mason as they weigh in on President Obama's speech and its implications. They'll be joined by other Fast Company editors and writers throughout the night, as well.
In an unusual move, Obama has been criss-crossing the country in the weeks leading up the this year's address, laying out a series of policy proposals built around the interests and concerns of America's still-struggling middle class. Thanks to that preview strategy we know we can expect to hear about granting new mothers paid-leave, making community college free, and levying new taxes on wealthy Americans.
According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released yesterday, exactly half of you approve of Obama's job performance--a nine point increase since last month. Will you change your view after hearing the speech? Let's find out.
We'll kick off tonight's live chat at 8pm for some pre-game conversation before the big event starts at 9pm. You can join in, too, using the "Make a comment" box below.
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by Anjali Mullany via YouTube 1/20/2015 11:17:23 PM
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Great post from The Upshot on the actual State of the Union (via Noah Robischon): "The state of union, while far stronger than when Mr. Obama took office, remains troubled." A good read before tonight's speech.
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In an attempt to ensure that his State of the Union speech resonates with young Americans, President Obama is going straight to one of young Americans' most beloved online platforms: YouTube. Two days after his address on Tuesday, January 20th, the President will sit down with YouTube creators such as Bethany Mota (who graced our cover in September), Hank Green, and GloZell Green, for interviews that will be streamed live on YouTube.
It's not the first time the White House has used YouTube to connect with young people. Last March he met with top YouTube influencers to advance the administration's new health care plan. And after past State of the Union speeches, Obama has answered questions submitted via YouTube and Google+ Hangouts. This time, the White House presumably hopes to talk about the newly announced plan to make the first two years of community college free for students who maintain a 2.5 GPA. The idea has been met with skepticism in some quarters and calls for an estimated $60 million in new spending over 10 years.
The move shows how essential YouTube has become when it comes to engaging with young people, and how things have changed: Back in 1992, Governor Bill Clinton sat down for a 90-minute interview on MTV during the presidential campaign, which at the time seemed radical and forward-thinking. Today, the notion of anyone trying to reach young people via cable TV seems quaint.
It also shows how people like Mota, who gives beauty and fashion tips to her 8 million fans, are rapidly becoming much more than just niche personalities. As we noted in our cover story, Mota has an Aeropostale fashion line and was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars last year.
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Our special guest tonight is Single Stop CEO Elisabeth Mason. You can learn more about Single Stop here.
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Thanks so much for inviting us! Excited for historic announcements addressing opportunity in America.
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I'd like to extend a special welcome to our guest, Elisabeth Mason. As the CEO of Single Stop USA, a nonprofit that helps low-income Americans access the sometimes byzantine systems that govern public resources, she is in a unique position to comment on President Obama's plans to reduce inequality and improve middle class lives. Glad to have you with us!
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Here's how paid family leave would make a difference in the economy (ahead of Obama's #SOTU paid leave proposals): nytimes.com/2014/07/29/ups…by clairecm via twitter 1/21/2015 1:03:32 AM -
Listen up for the president's higher education proposals. Free community college and major reforms of tax credits.
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This is the biggest single policy from the lens of opportunity. Half of all Americans start their college journey at two years, but half of those drop out because they can't afford to pay for school. These efforts will make the promise of education a reality, unlocking Americans' potential and spurring entrepreneurship.
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Elisabeth, critics are already picking apart Obama's community college proposal. Is there anything about it you'd recommend that he change?
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Lots of the proposal has been misunderstood. Some have said that community college tuition is already low. But consider the whole cost of college - tuition, books, transportation. Some would say that many students don't spend time in college well. If anything we'd agree with the critics on is that we need to have strong support and guidance services. We need to make sure that those getting #FreeCommunityCollege take smart courses and get good counseling. Sorry, not basket weaving.
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Let's talk about paid leave. This is something we should all be able to agree on. Too often at Single Stop our lawyers help people who had to quit jobs to take care of ill children or spouses. Think about what kind of innovation we can unleash if everyone can feel safe and secure in their jobs.
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It does seem like something that should be hard to argue with--around the world, the U.S. is increasingly the outlier on family policy. In fact, the U.S. is one of only two countries out of 185 in a recent study that does not offer paid maternity leave. The other? Papua New Guinea.
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Ha! Papua New Guinea. Key point is that responsible paid leave policies are good for 21st century business.
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The evidence does seem to back that up--women are apparently more likely to stay in their jobs and climb the corporate ladder when paid-leave policies exist, according to this report.
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Also curious to hear your thoughts on tax reform, which Obama has indicated that he will touch on. Recently, even outside of higher ed, it does seem like there's a conversation starting about better accounting for the real costs hitting lower-income Americans. An analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, for example, found that lower-wage workers are hit hardest by local taxes. Have you seen examples of similar imbalances in your work?
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A bit more detail from that analysis: "in 2015 the poorest fifth of Americans will pay on average 10.9 percent of their income in state and local taxes, the middle fifth will pay 9.4 percent and the top 1 percent will average 5.4 percent."
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I think this conversation is just starting. Charles Blow made a great contribution with a recent column. On top of sales taxes are high check cashing fees, and much more.
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Single Stop works to maximize federal tax credits for low income working families, which are an example of progressive taxes.
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I have to imagine that a lot of times families don't even realize that some of those credits exist.
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Only half of states have an earned income tax credit which incentivizes low income people to work and be less dependent on government programs.
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Up to a third of eligible individuals don't file for the earned income credit. We are really focused on using technology to simplify that process - turbo tax for all.
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I wonder where those states fall on this Politico ranking. By combining data on education, health, crime, and other indicators, Politico Magazine came up with a "states of the union" that places Minnesota first and Mississippi last--for the second year in a row.
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Hi everybody. Erin Schulte, senior editor at Fast Company, chiming in. The "designated survivor" was just announced: Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx (one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business). Only in the last few years have they made the designated survivor public.
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It's a pretty interesting list of people who have had that honor over the years !
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The President's suiting up for the big speech. Tune into WH.gov/SOTU at 9pm ET #YesWeTan -Dan
by The White House via Instagram 1/21/2015 1:46:36 AM -
On a lighter note (er, literally), it appears that our Commander in Chief will be wearing... tan.
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He's skinny enough to pull it off. Is that a historic first?
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I will be curious to see how much President Obama will try to reclaim his mantle as the next generation tech president, by addressing net neutrality and better broadband. Not as much coverage as other ideas.
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.@WhiteHouse posts planned text of Obama's #SOTU on Medium: WhiteHouse/president-obamas-state-of-the-union-address-remarks-as-prepared-for-delivery-55f9825449b2">medium.com/@WhiteHouse/pr…by elanazak via twitter 1/21/2015 1:50:34 AM -
Agreed--as part of that I'd love to hear his plans for improving broadband in schools and libraries.
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FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has proposed increasing his budget to wire schools and libraries by $1.5 billion.
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Hi all. Neal Ungerleider, Fast Company writer here. One thing that'll be interesting from tonight's SOTU: Alongside the standard domestic and political issues, there's likely to be some announcements of direct relevance to the tech industry tonight. There are decent odds Obama will bring up net neutrality, and cybersecurity in the wake of the Sony hack.
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And one of the lesser known joys of being a journalist is that you are sent prepared statements about the State of the Union ahead of time. This one came from Michael Daly, CTO at the cybersecurity division of defense giant Raytheon: "As a member of our nation's defense industrial base and one of the Department of Homeland Security's first Enhanced Cybersecurity Services providers, Raytheon understands the importance of the president’s call for greater information sharing between the federal government and private companies. Like a neighborhood watch program, information sharing helps ensure that when a bad actor tries to go after one organization, similar businesses can learn from that and protect themselves. By including this important issue in his State of the Union, President Obama is indicating how important this issue is not only to government and industry but to us all."
Translation: A lot of companies are going to make a lot of money once Obama mentions cybersecurity, and what the federal government plans to do about intrusions into American corporations. -
From the speech: " the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules."
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The tech industry has been incredibly vocal on net neutrality and on immigration, with coalitions actively lobbying in Congress on those issues. But otherwise, Silicon Valley seems intent on circumventing regulation, rather than respecting it (Exhibit A: Uber). Neal, do you think the tech industry is undermining itself by choosing when and how it plays by the rules?
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That's a great question, Ainsley. A big part of it is that the tech world doesn't have one giant lobbying firm a la the NRA or AARP. Instead, there are a ton of smaller coalitions and trade groups. I think that the tech industry needs to improve their relationships with Washington, which is totally happening (See ex-rep Susan Molinari joining Google). It'll be fun to see the tech companies' relationships with the DNC and RNC in five years for sure.
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One last thought on taxes, before we get started: nothing is certain but death and taxes--unless you're comparing the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal... -
Depends on where you are sitting! But what's for sure is that the education tax credit simplification is loved on both sides of the aisle.
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And here we go! Black suit, blue tie after all :)
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Maybe he's saving it for the post-party.
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Press is all over proposals on inequality, but really all about job creation and the middle class.
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If you're wondering who's sitting with First Lady Michelle Obama in the peanut gallery, here's the rundown--everyone from an Ebola-fighting doctor to an astronaut.
