EVEN primary school children in the remotest parts of our country are aware of the importance of a strong, prosperous United States to the well-being of Jamaica.
As our most important trading partner, the greatest source of remittances sent from the large number of Jamaicans living there, and our biggest tourist market, we have a vested interest in the progress and advancement made by the US.
For all these reasons and more, we were extremely heartened by the content of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address last night in which he confidently declared: “The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong.”
“At this moment — with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production — we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth. It’s now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next fifteen years, and for decades to come,” he said.
Mr Obama reported some astounding achievements which, if sustained, should mean good news for Jamaicans at home and in the US. Among them are:
* The US economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. Over the past five years, US businesses have created more than 11 million new jobs
* Unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the financial crisis.
* America is number one in oil and gas.
* America is number one in wind power.
* Every three weeks, the US brings online as much solar power as it did in all of 2008.
* Every three weeks, the US brings online as much solar power as it did in all of 2008. With lower gas prices and higher fuel standards, the typical American family this year should save US$750 at the pump.
* Young American students have earned the highest math and reading scores on record.
* America’s high school graduation rate has hit an all-time high.
* More Americans are finishing college than ever before.
* In the past year alone, about 10 million uninsured Americans gained the security of health coverage.
The US president also outlined several initiatives that are designed to sustain the progress already made and make Americans even more prosperous. These include Jamaicans who have made the US home but have not forgotten their relatives back home.
Said Mr Obama: “In two weeks, I will send this Congress a budget filled with ideas that are practical, not partisan. And in the months ahead, I’ll criss-cross the country making a case for those ideas.”
As the president reeled off his achievements, we had the sense that Americans are better off today than they were in 2008 when he first took office. In the end, it is their decision as to whether enough was done.