The wonderful speaker President Barack Obama mentioned many topics in his sixth State of the Union Address given on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015. Some things he mentioned include oil, job growth, minimum wage, and climate change.

Obama stated in his speech that “we are as free from the grip of foreign oil as we’ve been in over 30 years.” Gas prices surely are at an extreme low, so I have no reason not to believe him here.

Last time I was at the pump I paid $1.97 per gallon, and in a state like Illinois, that’s insanely low. My mother says it hasn’t been this low since the 80’s.

Obama also mentioned how Putin’s economy in Russia is suffering due to some oil market tactics.

So if you need to find something good Obama’s done recently, look at the oil. According to him, “America’s number one in oil and wind power.”

Obama covered the growth of the economy a lot, more specifically jobs.

He said, “our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999,” and “over the past five years our businesses have created over 11 million new jobs.” He also said, “since 2010, America has put more people back to work than Europe, Japan, and all advanced economies combined.”

This could be just because we have a lot of people, but according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and an article from CNN online, Obama was right: under his presidency, many people are finding jobs and going back to work.

The president and his administration are chomping at the bit to raise minimum wage, but the GOP doesn’t like that.

Still, Obama promises to raise it somehow so people can actually live off of it. Obama seems to sometimes live in his own little world, one that ignores reality.

If raising the wage was as simple as they think, it would’ve been done already. In his defense, however, raising it responsibly could be a step in the right direction, mostly because inflation has risen significantly since the wage was last raised and it’s about time we keep up with the system.

Last comes climate change- the wonderful euphemism for global warming.

Obama said, “And no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.”

I have a hard time believing this, but his trip to China wasn’t for nothing.

“In Beijing, we made a historic announcement: the United States will double the pace at which we cut carbon pollution, and China committed, for the first time, to limiting their emissions,” Obama said.

There’s no question climate change is not good, so if this administration wants to fight it to the death, it can only help us (assuming they can manage to be fiscally responsible, which they often aren’t).

These issues are very prevalent and I’m sure people tuned in to hear what their president had to say about them.

Overall, 2014 won’t put a damper on President Obama’s legacy.

Aside from the NSA scandal, Islamic terrorists cutting American’s heads off, and the Affordable Care Act existing as a joke, it was a better year than 2013.

His late efforts with Cuba served as the icing on the cake, and the numbers don’t lie- he had a good year.