[h=3]By JARED A. FAVOLE[/h]
Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesPresident Barack Obama at the White House on Monday.
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama plans to say the country has the "unfinished task" of reviving economic prospects for the middle class, in a State of the Union address Tuesday night that is also set to include immigration, gun control, climate change and Afghanistan as key themes.
Mr. Obama will prod Congress to take fresh steps to spur the economy, according to brief excerpts of the speech released by the White House, but said that none of his proposals will increase the country's towering fiscal deficit.
"It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country—the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or who you love," Mr. Obama will say, according to the excerpts. "[N]othing I'm proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime. It's not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth."
Reflecting the night's themes, First Lady Michelle Obama invited the son of immigrants from Mexico, several business people including Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook, and victims of gun violence to sit with her during her husband's address.
Mr. Obama's speech Tuesday before a joint session of Congress—scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET—comes as unemployment remains stubbornly high and as deep divides in Washington over government spending, debts and deficits threaten to pull the fragile economy back into a recession.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will give the Republican response immediately after Mr. Obama's speech—and will deliver it in English and Spanish, a first. He plans to portray the president as a leader who looks to government, and not free enterprise, to stir economic growth, according to excerpts released ahead of his remarks.
"Presidents in both parties, from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan, have known that our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity," Mr. Rubio will say, according to advance excerpts of his speech. "But President Obama? He believes it's the cause of our problems."
WSJ's Jerry Seib discusses the four key items he will be watching for from President Obama in Tuesday's State of the Union speech.
Although the president is expected to focus more on domestic than foreign policy, the subject of international relations is likely to figure in his talk, coming amid condemnation Tuesday by the U.S., China and other nations of North Korea's explosion of a nuclear device.
Mr. Obama also was expected to announce that he is cutting the size of the U.S. force in Afghanistan by half over the next year, said administration and defense officials.
Mr. Obama will order a reduction in the troop levels by 34,000, from the 66,000 American troops now in the country. Officials said a decision has yet to be made on the size of a post-2014 U.S. troops presence.
The State of the Union speech is seen as a continuation of Mr. Obama's second inaugural address, in which the president, fresh off of a convincing re-election win, pushed a series of social policies favored mostly by Democrats and laid out an economic vision that includes trying to overhaul the tax code, rebuild the nation's infrastructure and revive American manufacturing.
Richard Norton Smith, presidential historian at George Mason University, joins The News Hub to preview of Tuesday night's State of the Union speech from President Barack Obama. Photo: AP.
Mr. Obama's chief spokesman, Jay Carney, said Monday the core emphasis in the president's big speeches remains the same: "The need to make the economy work for the middle class, because the middle class is the engine that drives this country forward and which will, if it's given the right tools and the right opportunities, will drive us forward in the 21st century."
Asked Tuesday about how the speech was going as he walked through the Rose Garden, Mr. Obama said: "We'll find out everything I've got to say tonight."
Republicans welcome the president's expected focus on the economy, but also say he hasn't done enough.
"The White House says they're talking about jobs and the economy. I welcome that engagement," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) said in an interview Sunday. "It seems as if the president is constantly trying to pivot back to jobs and the economy. The reason you see that happening is he's never pursued it."
Mr. Obama will also address a series of automatic spending cuts set to kick in March 1—the so-called sequester—which could threaten economic growth, national-security preparation and the jobs of thousands of federal employees. Mr. Obama has called on Congress to pass a temporary measure of spending reductions and new taxes to replace the across-the-board cuts.
Republicans have said they don't want to consider new taxes, and want Mr. Obama and Democrats instead to make significant changes to entitlement programs including Social Security and Medicare to reduce their mounting costs, something they are reluctant to do.
While the economy and the budget battle are expected to take starring roles, Mr. Obama will also address a series of social issues that have gained momentum in recent months, including guns and immigration.
Calls for overhauling the immigration system have grown since the election. Mr. Obama and a bipartisan group of senators have separately offered proposals to provide a path to citizenship to the roughly 11 million immigrants in the country illegally. Sen. Rubio, who is offering the GOP response, is among the group of senators.
On guns, Mr. Obama has called for expanding background checks, placing restrictions on high-capacity clips and banning certain types of military-like weapons to reduce gun violence. Gun groups, such as the National Rifle Association, have said they will aggressively lobby against his proposals.
The push on guns grew out of the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., in December that left 20 children and six adults dead.
While Mr. Obama speaks, some of those touched by gun violence will be in the audience. A fourth-grader from the elementary school will be a guest of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and first lady Michelle Obama will be accompanied by the parents of a teenager who was shot to death last month.
Other issues expected to be in the spotlight include climate change and what are expected to be new efforts to curb power-plant emissions, as well as a focus on the "bookends" of education—early childhood schooling and college.
Following the speech, Mr. Obama will hit the road to sell his ideas to audiences in North Carolina, Georgia and Illinois.
—Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes contributed to this article.Write to Jared A. Favole at [email protected]
Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesPresident Barack Obama at the White House on Monday.
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama plans to say the country has the "unfinished task" of reviving economic prospects for the middle class, in a State of the Union address Tuesday night that is also set to include immigration, gun control, climate change and Afghanistan as key themes.
Mr. Obama will prod Congress to take fresh steps to spur the economy, according to brief excerpts of the speech released by the White House, but said that none of his proposals will increase the country's towering fiscal deficit.
"It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country—the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or who you love," Mr. Obama will say, according to the excerpts. "[N]othing I'm proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime. It's not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth."
Reflecting the night's themes, First Lady Michelle Obama invited the son of immigrants from Mexico, several business people including Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook, and victims of gun violence to sit with her during her husband's address.
Mr. Obama's speech Tuesday before a joint session of Congress—scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET—comes as unemployment remains stubbornly high and as deep divides in Washington over government spending, debts and deficits threaten to pull the fragile economy back into a recession.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will give the Republican response immediately after Mr. Obama's speech—and will deliver it in English and Spanish, a first. He plans to portray the president as a leader who looks to government, and not free enterprise, to stir economic growth, according to excerpts released ahead of his remarks.
"Presidents in both parties, from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan, have known that our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity," Mr. Rubio will say, according to advance excerpts of his speech. "But President Obama? He believes it's the cause of our problems."
WSJ's Jerry Seib discusses the four key items he will be watching for from President Obama in Tuesday's State of the Union speech.
Although the president is expected to focus more on domestic than foreign policy, the subject of international relations is likely to figure in his talk, coming amid condemnation Tuesday by the U.S., China and other nations of North Korea's explosion of a nuclear device.
Mr. Obama also was expected to announce that he is cutting the size of the U.S. force in Afghanistan by half over the next year, said administration and defense officials.
Mr. Obama will order a reduction in the troop levels by 34,000, from the 66,000 American troops now in the country. Officials said a decision has yet to be made on the size of a post-2014 U.S. troops presence.
The State of the Union speech is seen as a continuation of Mr. Obama's second inaugural address, in which the president, fresh off of a convincing re-election win, pushed a series of social policies favored mostly by Democrats and laid out an economic vision that includes trying to overhaul the tax code, rebuild the nation's infrastructure and revive American manufacturing.
Richard Norton Smith, presidential historian at George Mason University, joins The News Hub to preview of Tuesday night's State of the Union speech from President Barack Obama. Photo: AP.
Mr. Obama's chief spokesman, Jay Carney, said Monday the core emphasis in the president's big speeches remains the same: "The need to make the economy work for the middle class, because the middle class is the engine that drives this country forward and which will, if it's given the right tools and the right opportunities, will drive us forward in the 21st century."
Asked Tuesday about how the speech was going as he walked through the Rose Garden, Mr. Obama said: "We'll find out everything I've got to say tonight."
Republicans welcome the president's expected focus on the economy, but also say he hasn't done enough.
"The White House says they're talking about jobs and the economy. I welcome that engagement," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., Va.) said in an interview Sunday. "It seems as if the president is constantly trying to pivot back to jobs and the economy. The reason you see that happening is he's never pursued it."
Mr. Obama will also address a series of automatic spending cuts set to kick in March 1—the so-called sequester—which could threaten economic growth, national-security preparation and the jobs of thousands of federal employees. Mr. Obama has called on Congress to pass a temporary measure of spending reductions and new taxes to replace the across-the-board cuts.
Republicans have said they don't want to consider new taxes, and want Mr. Obama and Democrats instead to make significant changes to entitlement programs including Social Security and Medicare to reduce their mounting costs, something they are reluctant to do.
While the economy and the budget battle are expected to take starring roles, Mr. Obama will also address a series of social issues that have gained momentum in recent months, including guns and immigration.
Calls for overhauling the immigration system have grown since the election. Mr. Obama and a bipartisan group of senators have separately offered proposals to provide a path to citizenship to the roughly 11 million immigrants in the country illegally. Sen. Rubio, who is offering the GOP response, is among the group of senators.
On guns, Mr. Obama has called for expanding background checks, placing restrictions on high-capacity clips and banning certain types of military-like weapons to reduce gun violence. Gun groups, such as the National Rifle Association, have said they will aggressively lobby against his proposals.
The push on guns grew out of the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., in December that left 20 children and six adults dead.
While Mr. Obama speaks, some of those touched by gun violence will be in the audience. A fourth-grader from the elementary school will be a guest of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and first lady Michelle Obama will be accompanied by the parents of a teenager who was shot to death last month.
Other issues expected to be in the spotlight include climate change and what are expected to be new efforts to curb power-plant emissions, as well as a focus on the "bookends" of education—early childhood schooling and college.
Following the speech, Mr. Obama will hit the road to sell his ideas to audiences in North Carolina, Georgia and Illinois.
—Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes contributed to this article.Write to Jared A. Favole at [email protected]