--- title: State of the Union 2016: Wonks and Advocates Weigh In description: Policy wonks respond to the president's final state of the union address canonical: https://time.com/4178398/state-of-the-union-2016-wonks-obama/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-13T04:49:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:42.722Z article:section: Politics og:title: State of the Union 2016: Wonks and Advocates Weigh In og:description: Policy wonks respond to the president's final state of the union address og:url: https://time.com/4178398/state-of-the-union-2016-wonks-obama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7fbcde80d058ba92/698878e98e060136bf4641b1/president-barack-obama-state-of-the-union-9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2792 og:image:height: 1571 og:image:alt: President Obama Delivers His Last State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: State of the Union 2016: Wonks and Advocates Weigh In twitter:description: Policy wonks respond to the president's final state of the union address twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7fbcde80d058ba92/698878e98e060136bf4641b1/president-barack-obama-state-of-the-union-9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Policy Wonks and Advocates Critique Obama's State of the Union > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6398e3b5-c9c6-4b68-af80-1e041e6d0ec7&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IYWlSLur.m3u8) (3:59)  _Published 2016-01-13. State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 13, 2016 4:49 AM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 13, 2016 4:49 AM UTC As the world tuned in to the President’s final State of the Union address, policy wonks and advocates parsed Obama’s words to see what he did (or did not) say about their specific cause. As usual, it provided a great opportunity for Obama’s friends to commit to supporting him as his presidency winds down, and gave his foes plenty to critique. Here’s a roundup of what they had to say: Gene Karpinski, President of the League of Conservation Voters --- > “” --- Danielle Pletka, Senior Vice President of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute --- > “” --- Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress --- > “” --- Liz Shuler, Secretary-Treasurer of AFL-CIO --- > “” --- Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council --- > “” --- The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials --- > “” --- Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund --- > “” --- David McIntosh, President of the Club for Growth --- > “” --- Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence --- > “” --- Sherrilyn Ifill, President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund --- > “” --- Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter --- > “” --- Presidents speak so much about safety in terms of the foreign policy, but fail to candidly speak about safety re: domestic policy. [#SOTU](https://twitter.com/hashtag/SOTU?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) — deray (@deray) [January 13, 2016](https://twitter.com/deray/status/687122634941804544?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) ## Transcript Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, My Fellow Americans. Tonight marks the eighth year that I've come here to report on the State of the Union. And for this final one, I'm gonna try to make it a little shorter. I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa. I've been there. [ LAUGH ] I'll be shaking hands afterwards if you want some tips. But for my final address to this chamber, I wanna focus on the next five years, the next ten years. And four big questions That I believe we as a country have to answer. First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy? How do we make technology work for us and not against us? How do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman? How can we make our politics reflect What's best in us and not what's worst. The United States of America right now has the strongest, most durable economy in the world. We're in the middle of the longest streak of private sector job creation in history. More than 14 million new jobs, the strongest two years of job growth since the 1990s, Our unemployment rate cut in half. Priority number one is protecting the American people and going after terrorist networks. [ APPLAUSE ] The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. [ APPLAUSE ] When you come after Americans, we go after you and it may take time but we have long memories and our reach has no limits Our foreign policies to be focussed on threat from ISIS and Al- Qaeda but it can't stop there. The world will look to us to help solve these problems and our answer needs to be more than tough talk. War calls to corporate bombs [ INAUDIBLE ]. We also can't Try to take over and rebuild every country that falls into crisis. But on issues of global concern, we will mobilize the world to work with us. And make sure other countries pull their weight. Leadership means a wise application of military power. And rallying the world behind causes that are right. The future we want. Opportunity and security for our families, a rising standard of living, a sustainable peaceful planet for our kids. But I can't do these things on my own. So my fellow Americans, whatever you may believe, Whether you prefer one party or no party, whether you supported my agenda or fought as hard as you could against it, our collected futures depends on your willingness to uphold your duties as a citizen. To vote. But I can promise that a little over a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I will be right there with you as a citizen. Inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that helped America travel so far. That's the America I know. that's the country we love. Clear eyed, big hearted, undaunted by challenge. Optimistic, that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. [ APPLAUSE ] That's what makes me so hopeful about our future. I believe in change because I believe in you, the American people. And that's why I stand here as confident as I have ever been that the state of our union [ APPLAUSE ] Is strong. [ APPLAUSE ] Thank you. God bless. [ APPLAUSE ] God bless the United States of America. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4178398/state-of-the-union-2016-wonks-obama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4178398/state-of-the-union-2016-wonks-obama/"},"headline":"Policy Wonks and Advocates Critique Obama's State of the Union","datePublished":"2016-01-13T04:49:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:40:42.722Z","description":"Looking for their favored issue in the President's speech","url":"https://time.com/4178398/state-of-the-union-2016-wonks-obama/","keywords":["state of the union","Barack Obama","White House","policy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7fbcde80d058ba92/698878e98e060136bf4641b1/president-barack-obama-state-of-the-union-9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7fbcde80d058ba92/698878e98e060136bf4641b1/president-barack-obama-state-of-the-union-9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Delivers His Last State Of The Union Address To Joint Session Of Congress","caption":"President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill Jan. 12, 2016, in Washington.","creditText":"Evan Vucci—Press Pool","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/state-of-the-union/","name":"state of the union"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4178398/state-of-the-union-2016-wonks-obama/","name":"Policy Wonks and Advocates Critique Obama's State of the Union"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes","description":"State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IYWlSLur/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-13T04:30:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IYWlSLur.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4178398/state-of-the-union-2016-wonks-obama/","duration":"PT3M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4178398/state-of-the-union-2016-wonks-obama/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```