By JULIE PACE
AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) - Uncompromising and politically
emboldened, President Barack Obama urged a deeply divided Congress
Tuesday night to embrace his plans to use government money to create
jobs and strengthen the nation's middle class. He declared Republican
ideas for reducing the deficit "even worse" than the unpalatable deals
Washington had to stomach during his first term.
In his first State of the Union address since
winning re-election, Obama conceded economic revival is an "unfinished
task," but he claimed clear progress and said he was seeking to build on
it as he embarks on four more years in office.
"We have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and we
can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is strong,"
Obama said, speaking before a joint session of Congress and a television
audience of millions.
In specific proposals for his second term, an
assertive Obama called for increased federal spending to fix the
nation's roads and bridges, the first increase in the minimum wage in
six years and expansion of early education to every American 4-year-old.
Seeking to appeal for support from Republicans, he promised that none
of his proposals would increase the deficit "by a single dime."
In the Republican response to Obama's address,
rising GOP star Marco Rubio of Florida came right back at the president,
saying his solution "to virtually every problem we face is for
Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more."
Sen. Rubio, in prepared remarks, said presidents of
both parties have recognized that the free enterprise system brings
middle-class prosperity.
"But President Obama?" Rubio said. "He believes it's the cause of our problems."
Obama also announced new steps to reduce the U.S.
military footprint abroad, with 34,000 American troops withdrawing from
Afghanistan within a year. And he had a sharp rebuke for North Korea,
which launched a nuclear test just hours before his remarks, saying,
"Provocations of the sort we saw last night will only isolate them
further."
Despite the pressing foreign policy concerns, jobs
and growth dominated Obama's prime-time address, underscoring the degree
to which the economy remains a vulnerability for the president and
could disrupt his plans for pursuing a broader agenda, including
immigration overhaul, stricter gun laws and climate change legislation.
Standing in Obama's way is a Congress that remains
nearly as divided as it was during the final years of his first term,
when Washington lurched from one crisis to another.
The president implored lawmakers to break through
partisan logjams, asserting that "the greatest nation on Earth cannot
keep conducting its business by drifting from one manufactured crisis to
the next."
"Americans don't expect government to solve every
problem," he said. "They do expect us to forge reasonable compromise
where we can."
Yet Obama offered few signs of being willing to
compromise himself, instead doubling down on his calls to create jobs by
spending more government money and insisting that lawmakers pay down
the deficit through a combination of targeted spending cuts and tax
increases. But he offered few specifics on what he wanted to see cut,
focusing instead on the need to protect programs that help the middle
class, elderly and poor.
He did reiterate his willingness to tackle
entitlement changes, particularly on Medicare, though he has ruled out
increasing the eligibility age for the popular benefit program for
seniors.
Republicans are ardently opposed to Obama's calls
for legislating more tax revenue to reduce the deficit and offset broad
the automatic spending cuts - known as the sequester - that are to take
effect March 1.
Obama broke little new ground on two agenda items
he has pushed vigorously since winning re-election: overhauling the
nation's fractured immigration laws and enacting tougher gun control
measures in the wake of the horrific massacre of school children in
Newtown, Conn. Yet he pressed for urgency on both, calling on Congress
to send him an immigration bill "in the next few months" and insisting
lawmakers hold votes on his gun proposals.
"Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress," he said. "If you want to vote no, that's your choice."
Numerous lawmakers wore green lapel ribbons in
memory of those killed in the December shootings in Connecticut. Among
those watching in the House gallery: the parents of 15-year-old Hadiya
Pendleton, shot and killed recently in a park just a mile from the
president's home in Chicago, as well as other victims of gun violence.
On the economy, Obama called for raising the
federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 by 2015. The minimum wage has been
stagnant since 2007, and administration officials said the increase
would strengthen purchasing power. The president also wants Congress to
approve automatic increases in the wage to keep pace with inflation.
Looking for common ground anywhere he could find
it, Obama framed his proposal to boost the minimum wage by pointing out
that even his GOP presidential rival liked the idea. He said, "Here's an
idea that Gov. Romney and I actually agreed on last year: Let's tie the
minimum wage to the cost of living, so that it finally becomes a wage
you can live on."
Obama also renewed his calls for infrastructure
spending, investments he sought repeatedly during his first term with
little support from Republicans. He pressed lawmakers to approve a $50
billion "fix it first" program that would address the most urgent
infrastructure needs.
Education also figures in Obama's plans to boost
American competitiveness in the global economy. Under his proposal, the
federal government would help states provide pre-school for all
4-year-olds. Officials did not provide a cost for the pre-school
programs but said the government would provide financial incentives to
help states.
Among the other initiatives Obama is proposing:
- A $1 billion plan to create 15 "manufacturing
institutes" that would bring together businesses, universities and the
government. If Congress opposes the initiative, Obama plans to use his
presidential powers to create three institutes on his own.
- Creation of an "energy security trust" that would
use revenue from federal oil and gas leases to support development of
clean energy technologies such as biofuels and natural gas
- Doubling of renewable energy in the U.S. from wind, solar and geothermal sources by 2020.
7/8Tuesday night's address marked Obama's most
expansive remarks on the economy since the November election. Since
securing a second term, the president has focused more heavily on new
domestic policy proposals, including immigration changes and preventing
gun violence following the horrific shooting of schoolchildren in
Newtown, Conn.
Obama also called on Congress to tackle the threat
of climate change, another issue that eluded him in his first term. The
president pledged to work with lawmakers to seek bipartisan solutions
but said if Capitol Hill doesn't act, he'll order his Cabinet to seek
steps he can take using his presidential powers.
Taking a swipe at those who question the threat of
global warming, Obama said, "We can choose to believe that Superstorm
Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires
some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can
choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science - and act
before it's too late."
