4 #SOTUgov must reads – Plus 7 stories that matter to gov

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• In the past year, feds have been furloughed, sequestered and had their pay frozen, and yet when the shutdown shuttered government offices for much of the month of October, most feds, caught in partisan politics, just wanted to return to work. It is that single minded determination that is often overlooked by the media and the public at large. Last night’s State of the Union was no exception. We talk about what was missing.

You can find all of our programs online: DorobekINSIDER.com and GovLoop Insights at http://insights.govloop.com.

But up front: The State of the Union reader

Despite Steve Ressler’s hope that there might be some mention of IT procurement changes, there was little in Tuesday’s State of the Union for feds. Certainly none of my recommendations made the speech.

• Politico’s Todd Purdum: The State of the Union: Make it stop: The State of the Union — as political event, public theater, real-time town hall or self-help reality show — has jumped the shark. President Barack Obama acquitted himself with the requisite dignity on Tuesday night, speaking in mostly upbeat — if none too ambitious — terms, despite the divisions that bedevil him. But his assessment that “this can be a breakthrough year for America” belied the reality he faces: partisan stalemate on all the biggest issues. Most of the time, one half his audience applauded or stood up, while the other sat on its hands, as usual. So the power of the State the Union — however much it’s hyped — feels overblown. Maybe it’s time to rethink the whole drill.
  • Related: The New York Times: With Social Media’s Rise, the Pulpit Isn’t Just the President’s Anymore: The State of the Union address spawned a bipartisan embrace of photo- and video-sharing platforms, and a rush to create tweetable graphics and hashtags to amplify party messages.
• The Washington Post: 5 takeaways from President Obama’s State of the Union address
• The Washington Post: Here are 7 policies Obama just said he’d pursue without Congress: The one with government implications: Boost the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10 per hour
• President and Soldier: 3 Meetings, and a Lesson in Resilience The profile of Sergeant Remsburg, the veteran featured in last night’s speech: “In more than four years in office, Mr. Obama has met privately with nearly 1,000 men and women injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet his repeated encounters with Sergeant Remsburg stand out for bringing a president face to face with the resilience of the wounded and the brutal costs of the wars…Aides could not name any other wounded service member whom Mr. Obama has met three times, nor any other who first stood before the commander in chief in battle-ready prime.”

The SEVEN stories that impact your life

1. Politico: GOP Ready to Yield on Debt Ceiling: “The most senior figures in the House Republican Conference are privately acknowledging that they will almost certainly have to pass what’s called a clean debt ceiling increase in the next few months, abandoning the central fight that has defined their three-year majority.”
2. FCW: FedRAMP: Keeping up with changing cloud security standards. “Just as agencies and vendors are starting to get the knack of complying with the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, the General Services Administration is preparing to revise FedRAMP’s baseline standards.”
3. Federal Times: OPM seeks to improve government morale. “Joseph Kennedy, the associate director at OPM, said in a Jan. 24 memo that pay freezes, budget cuts and sequestration had contributed to falling morale, but that OPM can work with agencies to help improve employee satisfaction.”
4. Federal News Radio: Latest Postal Reform. “The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee debated an updated version of postal reform legislation Wednesday that would allow the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service to restructure its health benefits program.”
5. Government Executive: Don’t Be Fooled: Military Benefits Are on the Chopping Block. “Score one for the veterans groups who demanded Congress go back on its plan to cut $6 billion out of military pensions.”
6. NextGov: BORDER DRONE DROPS FROM THE SKY AS IMMIGRATION TAKES CENTER STAGE. “While President Obama was preparing Tuesday to call for an overhaul of the immigration system a border surveillance drone went down off the California coast. The incident comes at a time when Customs and Border Protection officials are striving to improve operations and maintenance of domestic remotely-piloted aircraft.”.
7. Washington Post: GSA Head of Public Buildings Service Steps Down: “Dorothy Robyn, head of the General Services Administration’s public-buildings division, will leave her post after 16 months on the job, which included leading the search for a new FBI headquarters and securing a deal with Donald Trump for a luxury hotel at the Old Post Office Pavillion.”

DorobekINSIDER water-cooler fodder… yes, we’re trying to help you make your water-cooler time better too…

The Washington Post: History through the president’s State of the Union words:

Since 1900, there have been 116 State of the Union addresses, given by 20 presidents, with some presidents giving two addresses a year. Studying their choice of words, over time, provides glimpses of change in American politics—“communism” fades, “terrorism” increases—and evidence that some things never change (“America” comes up steadily, of course. As does “I.”). Wayne Fields, a professor of English and American Culture Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, and Mark Liberman, a linguist at the University of Pennsylvania, offered their analysis of the meaning behind the words the presidents used.

The State of the Twitter Union

• 1.7M total #SOTU-related Tweets during the speech
• Top topics discussed in #SOTU-related Tweets:
  1. Minimum Wage
  2. Immigration
  3. Gun Control
  4. Military
  5. Education
• Most-mentioned accounts in #SOTU-related Tweets:
  1. @BarackObama
  2. @WhiteHouse
  3. @HuffingtonPost

The most tweeted moments of the State of the Union address, according to Twitter:

1. Mad Men
2. Min Wage
3. Healthcare
4. Climate Change
5. @SpeakerBoehner “barkeeper”

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