Washington: January 28, 2010 – IR Summary/NYT –

President Obama in his first State of the Union address emphatically said on in his nationally televised speech on Wednesday that it’s the right time now to end “tired old battles” which have divided the country, however, he focused on the issues of most immediate concern of the nation like jobs and other priority matters including health care. 

Congressional leaders have had mixed reactions to President first State of the Union speech. President Obama got the most applause from opposition Republicans when he said that the number-one focus in the coming year would be on creating jobs and giving a boost to small businesses. At the same time Presidentg Obama got more applause from the Democratic side when he called for Congress to pass a jobs creation bill and get it to his desk as quickly as possible. 

Pointing out towards Democrats, President Obama said that we are still hold large majority and the people, therefore, expect us to solve their problems and not run for the hills.   

The speech, Mr. Obama’s third to a joint session of Congress, comes at a particularly rocky point in his presidency, with many Americans — including some fellow Democrats — complaining that the president has lost sight of the priorities of ordinary people. And Mr. Obama acknowledged their doubts, conceding that some of his political setbacks “were deserved,” a striking admission for any president.
His tone was colloquial, even relaxed; at one point he joked that the bank bailout was “about as popular as root canal.” But at the same time Mr. Obama struck a defensive note, reminding the nation yet again that he inherited a mountain of problems and insisting that, one year after he took office, “the worst of the storm has passed.”

At a time when many Americans are concerned, even angry, about the economy and about the performance of government more generally, Mr. Obama sought to restore public confidence in his administration and to persuade Americans that he is directing his attention more fully to the economy. While he did not offer any sweeping new agenda or far-reaching legislative program, he put forth a handful of new initiatives, including plans to provide small businesses with tax breaks and better access to bank loans.

After refusing to set a timetable for the repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military’s policy barring openly gay men and lesbians from serving, he vowed to work with Congress this year to repeal it. He called for the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, his predecessor’s signature education law. In a nod to the growing political and economic pressure to begin reining in the budget deficit, he proposed a freeze on a portion of the domestic budget.

Mr. Obama campaigned on a promise to change the culture of Washington and to make government transparent. But on Wednesday night, he suggested that he believed he had not done enough, and spoke of a “credibility gap” that must be closed by curbing the outsized influence of lobbyists. “We have to recognize that we face more than a deficit of dollars right now,” he said.

Reprising a line he used in last year’s address to Congress, he said, “We face a deficit of trust — deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years.”

He called for new rules requiring lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with Congress or with his administration. And, in a rare flash of open confrontation between the White House and the Supreme Court, Mr. Obama declared that a recent court ruling would “open the floodgates for special interests,” and perhaps foreign companies, to exert more influence in political campaigns. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., breaking with decorum at such events, shook his head and appeared to mouth the words, “No, it’s not true.”

Republicans said they welcomed the president’s partial freeze on domestic spending. But they warned against what they regard as the president’s big government agenda. In delivering his party’s response, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia, a newly elected Republican, declared, “The circumstances of our time demand that we reconsider and restore the proper, limited role of government at every level.”
But rather than retreat from his ambitious agenda, Mr. Obama sought Wednesday to repackage it, by explaining how his top priorities — the health measure, tough new regulations on banks, energy legislation — fit into his broader initiative to put the economy on sounder footing for the long run. 

On health care, Mr. Obama did not chart a specific path forward for Congress. Rather, he appealed to lawmakers to “take another look at the plan we’ve proposed” once temperatures cool after the Republican win in the Massachusetts Senate race. He added, “Do not walk away from reform. Not now. Not when we are so close. Let’s find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people.”  More