A State of the Union address is always important. It’s the president’s opportunity to tell the nation what he or she plans to do in the coming year. But what the history books say about this year’s speech may also depend what we do in the weeks and months to come. In other words, this [...]

Florida Senator Marco Rubio gave a “Republican Response” to the President’s State of the Union address. He said that taxes cause employers to reduce hours or lay people off. Others say that raising the minimum wage will mean layoffs. Let’s take a closer look at that. In Wednesday’s post, What Do Republicans, Rubio And Rand [...]

As I discussed yesterday, David Leonhardt of the New York Times counseled President Obama to drop using green jobs as a selling point for address climate change. Thankfully, last night Obama did not listen. Obama made clear that tackling the climate crisis can be accomplished while growing the economy: We have doubled the distance our [...]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has ruled out Social Security cuts in any plan to replace the sequester. In the State of the Union address, President Obama can either stand with Harry Reid and Senate Democrats–or betray them.

Expectations are high for President Obama to get specific about his second-term plans to protect the climate, particularly regarding plans to bypass Congress and use the EPA’s authority to further reduce greenhouse gas pollution. The appeal is obvious: no need to wrangle with the climate change deniers that currently run the House. Still, there are [...]

Quick note about tonight’s State of the Union Address: I’m not expecting too much to be said about the budget, deficit or debt. This is not to say that the president won’t mention the budget, just that I expect he’ll do so in sweeping, grandiose terms rather than with specifics. He’ll likely call for a process that moves comprehensive tax and entitlement changes, for example. Stopping the constant warfare on the budget may also be an applause line.

President Obama demonstrated his gutsiness in recent months by speaking so many words that craven politicians contend cannot be spoken. These are hot-button words like same sex-marriage, immigration reform, gun control and climate change. Fighting words. The president even specifically addressed three of these in his second inaugural speech – the civil rights of gay [...]

“Reviving his populist re-election message,” says the Washington Post about tonight’s State of the Union speech, “President Barack Obama will press a politically-divided Congress to approve more tax increases and fewer spending cuts.” Messages like that are always welcome, although we think of them more as “common-sensical” than “populist.” But messages only go so far [...]

The previews of President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday promise that job creation will be a major focus – a welcome development in the face of Washington’s debilitating and wrong-headed obsession with deficit-cutting. But what’s really important is that the boldness of the president’s agenda match the severity of the jobs crisis. [...]

Before the election President Obama set a goal of doubling exports and creating one million new manufacturing jobs by the end of 2016. What has to happen for these goals to be met? In The State of the Union Stakes Bob Borosage points out the stakes and challenges that Obama must face, At question is [...]