Obama: 'Tonight, we turn the page'
President Barack Obama made a feisty pitch for economic populism in his penultimate
State of the Union Tuesday night, touting the improving economy under his watch
and making the case that government has a role in ensuring equal opportunity
for all.
Obama began his speech at 9:10 p.m. in
front of a joint session of the House and Senate, declaring that "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," he said.
"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.
"Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well?
Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and
chances for everyone who makes the effort?"
Obama argued that a raft of new policy
proposals — which include an ambitious plan to raise taxes on wealthy
Americans and financial institutions to pay for progressive priorities
— favor the middle class, and that "middle-class economics
works."
And he laid down the gauntlet to
Republicans: They'll "continue to work, as long as politics don't get in
the way."
It's a defiant speech for the President,
now freed from the shackles of vulnerable red-state Democrats up for
re-election and looking to burnish his legacy in his final two years.
Instead of granting Republicans their wish
for a realistic compromiser-in-chief chastened by a midterm election drubbing,
Obama is attempting to set the terms of an economic debate that could continue
into the 2016 race to replace him in the Oval Office.
As he touted an improving stock market and
economy, a slow-down in the growth of health care costs and a reduction in the
U.S. deficit, Obama even broke from his script.
"This is good news, people," he
said -- following the remark with a wink.
Obama also jabbed at the GOP over its push
for a bill that would authorize the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline.
"Let's set our sights higher than a
single oil pipeline," he said. "Let's pass a bipartisan
infrastructure plan that could create more than thirty times as many jobs per
year, and make this country stronger for decades to come."
At the heart of his message is a Robin
Hood-style plan to raise taxes on wealthy Americans' investments and
financial institutions and use that money to foot the bill for free community college tuition and new tax credits for
child care and two-worker households.
That proposal stands next to no chance of
clearing Congress. But -- along with campaign-style events and interviews with
YouTube stars touting his initiatives both before and after the speech --
Democrats hope Obama's decision to play up the parties' philosophical
differences will remind Republicans who now control both the House and the
Senate of the political force they couldn't overcome in 2008 and 2012.
Obama also planned to say that
"American leadership, including our military power" has played a key
role in stopping ISIS, and called on Congress to authorize the use of military
force against the group in Iraq and Syria.
"Instead of getting dragged into
another ground war in the Middle East, we are leading a broad coalition,
including Arab nations, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group.
... This effort will take time. It will require focus. But we will succeed. And
tonight, I call on this Congress to show the world that we are united in this
mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against
ISIL."
Republicans, though, see a President in
denial -- one who hasn't learned anything from the shellacking that cost his
party the Senate in November; whose veto threats and tax-and-spend proposals
are a lame duck flailing as his influence fades.
The President's "proposals are so out
of touch you have to ask if there is any point to the speech," Republican
National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted.
But the White House is wagering that --
with free trade and cybersecurity,
two potential areas for deals, as the major exceptions -- there's little to be
gained in trying to bargain with a Congress already bent on forcing showdowns
with Obama on immigration, the Keystone XL pipeline, Cuba, health care and more.
They see an opening: The economy has
improved, the President's approval rating now tops 50% for the first time in
years, and, free of the constraints he felt ahead of the midterm elections, an
emboldened Obama is unfurling a series of executive actions to check item after
item off his long-stalled to-do list.
This could be his best shot at pivoting
from an unending series of fiscal crises and legislative battles toward an
economic debate that could set the tone for the last two years of his
presidency -- and for a 2016 race that had been about moving past him.
Taking top billing in Tuesday night's
speech is the tax-and-spend plan Obama has rolled out in recent days.
The benefits would largely go to students
and young families: The child care tax credit would triple to $3,000;
households in which both spouses work could qualify for a new $500 credit; and
college students and those repaying loans could get breaks thanks to Obama's
plan to make two-year community college degrees free.
Footing the bill are tax hikes on the rich: a total of $320 billion over 10
years by targeting wealthy individuals and banks. Paying most of the price
would be couples earning more than $500,000, who would see their capital gains
rate jump from 23.8% to 28%. More inherited assets would be subject to capital
gains taxes and top financial firms would face new fees.
Obama is also making his own moves to give
federal workers at least six weeks of paid maternity leave once their
children are born -- and he's lobbying lawmakers to pass a bill allowing
workers to earn up to seven paid sick days, and pushing local governments
to set up their own sick leave programs.
Before the speech, Republican congressional
leaders made clear that Obama's proposals are dead on arrival.
"It all looks like the same old tax
and spend that the president has been advocating for the last six years,"
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said.
He called Obama's tax plan "another income redistribution
effort" and said it won't help Congress work on a comprehensive tax
overhaul.
"Hopefully that's just rhetoric,"
McConnell said. "He knows we're not likely to pass these kinds of
measures. And we'll still look for things that we can actually agree on to try
and make some progress here."
Here are several other issues that have
dominated the news in recent weeks, and how Obama addressed them in the
prepared text of his speech:
CYBERSECURITY: The President asked Congress
to approve legislation that would allow government
and businesses to work together more closely to thwart online attacks
-- a proposal that could win the support of the GOP-led Congress.
"No foreign nation, no hacker, should
be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the
privacy of American families, especially our kids," Obama said. "We
are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats,
just as we have done to combat terrorism. And tonight, I urge this Congress to
finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of
cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children's
information."
CUBA: Perhaps the richest pageantry of the night is overObama's recent move to thaw the decades-old economic
and diplomatic freeze with the small island country. Obama hadinvited Alan Gross, the U.S. contractor whose release from a Cuban prison he had secured in
November. The President's top critic, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), had asked Cuban
activist Rosa María Payá to come as his guest. She's the daughter of Oswaldo
Payá, a pro-democracy activist who was killed in a 2012 crash in which the
car's driver has said it was deliberately targeted by Cuban government
officials.
"When what you're doing doesn't work
for fifty years, it's time to try something new," Obama said. "Our
shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our
hemisphere; removes a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba; stands up for
democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people. And
this year, Congress should begin the work of ending the embargo."
IRAN: The White House had extended the
deadline for its negotiations with Iran to end the country's nuclear program,
but lawmakers have said they've run out of patience with the Iranian regime and
want to impose new sanctions. Obama urged them to wait.
"There are no guarantees that
negotiations will succeed, and I keep all options on the table to prevent a
nuclear Iran. But new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in
time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails -- alienating America from
its allies; and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again,"
he said. "It doesn't make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions
bill that threatens to undo this progress."
FREE TRADE: Obama risked angering his own
base by asking lawmakers to hand him authority to fast-track Pacific Rim and
European Union trade deals through Congress with limited debate and no
amendments -- a power seen as crucial to finalizing those negotiations with
foreign leaders. He posited the trade deals as an opportunity to combat China's
growing influence in Asia.
"Why would we let that happen? We
should write those rules. We should level the playing field. That's why I'm
asking both parties to give me trade promotion authority to protect American
workers, with strong new trade deals from Asia to Europe that aren't just free,
but fair," he said.
And in a move to acknowledge liberal
criticism, Obama said: "Look, I'm the first one to admit that past trade
deals haven't always lived up to the hype, and that's why we've gone after
countries that break the rules at our expense. But 95% of the world's customers
live outside our borders, and we can't close ourselves off from those
opportunities. More than half of manufacturing executives have said they're
actively looking at bringing jobs back from China. Let's give them one more
reason to get it done."
INTERNET ACCESS: In an in-the-weeds
regulatory proposal that could result in much-faster Internet access for many
cities and states, Obama is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to override 19 states' laws against municipalities
setting up their own broadband infrastructure.
"I intend to protect a free and open
Internet, extend its reach to every classroom, and every community, and help
folks build the fastest networks, so that the next generation of digital
innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our
world," Obama said.
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