Obama, Nixon push similar themes in major speeches

(Reuters photo via DayLife)

—  Tax reform, encouraging manufacturing and auto jobs, addressing the costs of college education, and pushing for bipartisanship were key pillars of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night.

Those same issues were also key points in Gov. Jay Nixon’s State of the State address from just a week before.

Both Obama and Nixon face a challenge in getting their agenda accomplished with politically opposite legislatures during an election year.

Mindful of that, the two focused on reforming tax credits for businesses. Cleaning the tax code, coupled with lowering tax rates, is something that Republicans in Congress and the General Assembly have hinted they would be willing to support, and could provide the two executives a potential win, even during an election year.

The two also stressed successes in the manufacturing and auto industries.

“On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse,” Obama said. “Today, General Motors is back on top as the world’s number-one automaker.  Chrysler has grown faster in the U.S. than any major car company.  Ford is investing billions in U.S. plants and factories.  And together, the entire industry added nearly 160,000 jobs.”

Nixon, too, praised the auto industry during his speech. The industry has invested significantly in facilities in St. Louis and Kansas City. Nixon called on the General Assembly to encourage the industry to invest more in the state.

On education issues, both executives encouraged their legislatures to increase training opportunities, and both called on colleges to keep tuition low. But the two split on college funding cuts at the state level.

“States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets,” Obama said.

While Nixon called on state lawmakers to make scholarship programs a priority, his own budget proposal called for slashing higher education funds by 12.5 percent.

The biggest similarity between Obama’s “Blueprint for an America Built to Last” and Nixon’s “Missouri Works” initiative: In this election year, none of their proposals are likely to be fully implemented, if they are even voted on at all.

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