Laying Out Election-Year Agenda, Obama Pledges, 'America Is Back'

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

President delivers State of Union address, pitching 'blueprint' for economy's future, built on manufacturing, energy, skilled workers and American values—while all but daring Republicans to get in his way. Obama: 'Mission at hand' is to rebuild American dream...President Obama suggested Tuesday that Americans try to follow the lead of U.S. military forces and get past personal ambition and partisan obsession to "focus on the mission at hand" -- keeping alive the American dream by restoring a U.S. economy. In his annual State of the Union address, Obama said that the "defining issue of our time" is finding the means to uphold the promise that if people work hard, they will succeed. "No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same set of rules," he said. But the devil is in the details and Republicans are unlikely to agree to many of the proposals the president laid out. According to excerpts released ahead of time, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, who was to deliver the response, is to say that the president's rigid adherence to ideology was suffocating innovation. "The extremism that stifles the development of homegrown energy, or cancels a perfectly safe pipeline that would employ tens of thousands, or jacks up consumer utility bills for no improvement in either human health or world temperature, is a pro-poverty policy," Daniels will say. "We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have nots; we must always be a nation of haves and soon to haves," Daniels will say. Saying that the country can get its mojo back, the president said the "house of cards" collapsed in 2008 as a result of mortgages being sold to people "who couldn't afford or understand them," banks that bet using other people's money and profited either way and regulators who looked the other way or didn't have the authority to stop the bad behavior. Since then, he said, American manufacturers are hiring again and new rules have been put in place to hold Wall Street accountable. "The state of our union is getting stronger, and we've come to far to turn back now" Obama said. In a speech heavy in focus on manufacturing, job training and tax reform, the president said a new American economy must be "built to last" through government and financial systems that play by the rules and give everyone a fair shot. Borrowing the slogan from General Motors, the president called for restoring the economy and ending favoritism. "What's at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. We have to reclaim them," he said. Offering an array of suggestions for getting businesses to start hiring in the U.S. again, the president suggested incentivizing insourcing by doubling tax deductions for high-tech manufacturers that make products in the U.S., and extra help with financing for relocating in hard-hit communities. "Ask yourselves what you can do to bring back jobs to your country and your country will do everything it can to help you succeed," he said. The president added that companies that outsource jobs should not get a tax break while every "multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax." "And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay here and hire here," he said. The president challenged lawmakers to pass several proposals that are unlikely to get any pick-up this election year. Obama called for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration laws, make college education cheaper and "double-down" on clean energy. Recognizing that that differences in Congress are too deep to pass climate change legislation, Obama said he is directing the development of clean energy on public land and announced that the Navy will purchase enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes each year.. He called on Congress to fund "great projects" using half the money "we're no longer spending at war" and use the other half to pay down the debt. He also called for raising taxes on millionaires, saying anyone who makes more than $1 million a year should not pay less than 30 percent in federal taxes and should get no special subsidies or deductions. "Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? Or do we want to keep our investments in everything else ... Because if we're serious about paying down our debt, we can't do both," he said. Though he requested Congress grant him authority to take several action, the president, who rehearsed his presentation with a weekend video to supporters that was prepared by his re-election team, acknowledged that the cynicism for action is great. He said while he's willing to cooperate with Congress, he will not let Republicans hold up his plans. "I intend to fight obstruction with action," he said. "With or without this Congress, I will keep taking actions that help the economy grow. But I can do a whole lot more with your help." Source: foxnews.com Bookmark Email This Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.

 

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