Take a look back at President Obama's four State of the Union Addresses in this video mash-up of the president's speeches to Congress. VPC
President Obama at the White House on Tuesday.(Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)
Story Highlights
- President Obama delivers State of the Union Address tonight
- He is expected to stress executive orders, while pledging to work with Congress
- He will talk about income inequality, job training, health law
WASHINGTON — President Obama told Congress during tonight's State of the Union Address that he wants to work with them on plans to improve the nation's economy -- but he also vowed to take executive action if necessary.
While asking Congress for legislation on an immigration bill and a minimum wage hike, Obama also announced a variety of executive orders, including one to increase the minimum wage for some federal contract workers from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.
"America does not stand still, and neither will I," Obama plans to say according to speech excerpts released by the White House. "So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that's what I'm going to do."
One theme of the speech: Income inequality. Obama promoted the idea that the federal government can help create economic opportunity through job training and college education programs. And he defended his embattled health care law.
"Opportunity is who we are," Obama plans to say, according to excerpts. "And the defining project of our generation is to restore that promise."
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After Obama's speech, the formal Republican Party response will be delivered by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., who plans to say that "too many people are falling further and further behind because, right now, the president's policies are making people's lives harder."
Rodgers will also say that the "Republican vision" is "one that empowers you, not the government," according to excerpts released by the party.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Obama should use his speech to promote issues like free trade, the Keystone oil pipeline, and House GOP jobs bills that are pending in the Democratic-run Senate.
Boehner also warned Obama against executive overreach, saying that "we're just not going to sit here and let the president trample all over us."
In pledging to work with Congress, Obama called for a "year of action" and again urged House Republicans to fashion their own overhaul of the nation's immigration system. The Democratic-run Senate passed an immigration bill last year.
Another request of Congress: an extension of unemployment insurance that lapsed at the turn of the year.
Before vowing to assert executive authority, Obama plans to say: "What I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. Some require Congressional action, and I'm eager to work with all of you."
Obama cited the rancorous politics of recent times. He said it has prevented the government from carrying out its most basic functions, alluding to the October government shutdown and disputes over raising the debt ceiling.
Touching on concerns that the gap between the rich and everyone else is growing, Obama also plans to say that "corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher," but the wages of average workers "have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled."
The State of the Union also gives Obama a chance to outline his foreign policy agenda. He is expected to discuss the winding down of combat operations in Afghanistan that end late this year, and ongoing negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
Hanging over this particular State of the Union speech: congressional and state elections coming in less than 10 months.
Over the past year, Obama has seen his approval ratings fall to percentages in the low 40s in the wake of problems with health care and an uneven economic recovery.
As with previous State of the Union addresses, this one features guests invited to illustrate some of the president's polices, such as health care, immigration, gay rights and responses to national tragedies.
Obama's guests today include two survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings, openly gay basketball player Jason Collins, General Motors CEO Mary Barra, the governor of Kentucky and an immigrant brought illegally to the United States as a child.
Congressional Republicans will also have guests, including some who say they have lost coverage or been forced to pay more because of the new health care law.
In the days ahead, Obama will follow up his speech with traditional post-State of the Union trips to try to sell the ideas he discusses.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the president will speak at a Costco store in Lanham, Md., near Washington, D.C.; a steel plant in West Mifflin, Pa., near Pittsburgh; a General Electric gas engine facility in Waukesha, Wis., near Milwaukee; and McGavock High School in Nashville.
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