The president is expected to say that Congress must move forward with concrete ideas. Obama calls for 'year of action'

President Barack Obama outlined plans Tuesday to make 2014 his year of action — using his executive authorities wherever possible while encouraging Congress to go even further.

Obama took on a more pragmatic tone than in previous State of the Union addresses, acknowledging that getting his agenda past House Republicans was unlikely and therefore he would use his power to do what he can on his own.


While most of the language was not partisan, the implication was clear — the president is tired of engaging in futile battles with the GOP. Striking a contrast to congressional inaction, Obama highlighted a dozen executive actions, including an executive order announced earlier Tuesday to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 for federal contract workers and plans to speed up ConnectEd, which aims to bring high-speed Internet access to 99 percent of schools within five years.

( Full coverage of the 2014 State of the Union)

Obama didn’t entirely ignore Congress — the White House believes immigration reform is a real possibility this year and the president reached out to the GOP on that front. He discussed immigration reform in broad terms, in hopes of leaving space for House Republicans to continue their work on legislation, while still calling for action.

“In the coming months, let’s see where else we can make progress together,” he said. “Let’s make this a year of action. That’s what most Americans want — for all of us in this chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes, their aspirations.”

With 2014 midterm elections approaching and pressure especially high on many moderate Democrats, Obama offered a defense of the Affordable Care Act, encouraging Americans to sign up for coverage and pushing back on Republican efforts to roll back the law, but did not mention the problems that plagued the rollout of HealthCare.gov.

Rather than dwelling on economic inequality — which has by some measures gotten worse since Obama took office just over five years ago — the president focused on expanding opportunity for all. “What I believe unites the people of this nation, regardless of race or region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all — the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead,” he said.

( Full text: President Obama's State of the Union address)

But that sense of opportunity “has suffered some serious blows” as technology and outsourcing have made many middle class jobs obsolete, damaging the foundations upon which families and the U.S. economy have relied for decades.

“Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better,” he said. “But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled. The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by — let alone get ahead. And too many still aren’t working at all.”

Rather than threatening to act where Congress won’t — as he did in his 2011 State of the Union address — Obama will outline plans to take action where he can while encouraging Congress to go even further. He plans to take unilateral action because “America does not stand still,” he said. “Wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”

The president also pointed to action he’s already taken — including pushing ahead with his health care law — and encouraged Republicans to find ways to improve the system rather than yet again attempting to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

( Also on POLITICO: State of the Union speech excerpts)

“I don’t expect to convince my Republican friends on the merits of this law,” he said. “But I know that the American people aren’t interested in refighting old battles. So again, if you have specific plans to cut costs, cover more people, and increase choice — tell America what you’d do differently. Let’s see if the numbers add up. But let’s not have another forty-something votes to repeal a law that’s already helping millions of Americans …. The first 40 were plenty. We got it. We all owe it to the American people to say what we’re for, not just what we’re against.”

Obama pointed to the ways in which the law is already helping Americans, telling the story of Amanda Shelley, a single mom in Arizona, who got coverage on Jan. 1 under Obamacare and experienced sharp pain two days later. She had emergency surgery on Jan. 6, but just a week earlier she would’ve faced bankruptcy to pay the medical bills that her new insurance will cover. “That’s what health insurance reform is all about — the peace of mind that if misfortune strikes, you don’t have to lose everything,” he said.

More than 9 million Americans have signed up for private health insurance or Medicaid, Obama said, and more than 3 million people under the age of 26 have been able to stay on their parents’ plans because of the law.

( Also on POLITICO: McMorris Rodgers promotes hope)

The president’s discussion of immigration reform was limited to a paragraph, as he urged action this year in the interest of economic growth. “If we are serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders and law enforcement — and fix our broken immigration system,” he said to cheers in the chamber, though House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) did not stand as Democrats and even some Republicans did.

“Let’s get immigration reform done this year,” he added.

Obama also used his speech to call for the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, something that had been missing from his addresses to Congress after his initial speech to lawmakers in February 2009. With the war in Afghanistan coming to a close, he said, “this needs to be the year Congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.”

Less than two weeks removed from his major speech on the National Security Agency’s surveillance practices, Obama kept his comments limited, noting that he intends to work with Congress to reform the programs because the vital work of our intelligence community depends on public confidence, here and abroad, that the privacy of ordinary people is not being violated.”

( On POLITICO Magazine: The State of the Union curse)

As he has in prior State of the Union addresses, Obama again called for tax reform and patent reform, and suggested that the savings reaped from tax reform be reinvested into improving infrastructure.

Obama heralded increases in energy production and heightened fuel efficiency standards, but said that the United States must respond to climate change with more “urgency.”

“The shift to a cleaner energy economy won’t happen overnight, and it will require tough choices along the way. But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact. And when our children’s children look us in the eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them a safer, more stable world, with new sources of energy, I want us to be able to say, yes we did,” he said, looking ahead to his legacy.

But with a key State Department report on the Keystone XL pipeline expected in the coming weeks, he didn’t mention the proposed pipeline between the United States and Canada.

The president did indicate a willingness to work with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) however, on a plan to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to single workers who don’t have children. And, on Wednesday, he will direct the Treasury Department to create MyRA, a retirement savings bond that “guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in.”

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) delivered the official GOP response and offered what she intended “a more hopeful, Republican vision — one that empowers you, not the government.”

Like Obama, she discussed economic opportunity, though with different language than the president. “Our mission … not only as Republicans, but as Americans, is to once again to ensure that we are not bound by where we come from, but empowered by what we can become. That is the gap Republicans are working to close. It’s the gap we all face: between where you are and where you want to be,” she said.

McMorris Rodgers also attacked the Affordable Care Act, arguing “the president’s health care law is not working.”

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