US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
    World / US and Canada

    Obama to focus on middle class in State of Union address

    (Agencies) Updated: 2015-01-20 23:48

    WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama will challenge the Republican-led Congress with tax-raising ideas for helping middle-class Americans in a State of the Union speech on Tuesday that will set up a tough debate and may impact the 2016 campaign to replace him.

    Obama will push a plan in his speech to increase middle class benefits by hiking taxes by $320 billion over 10 years for the wealthy and financial firms.

    Obama and Republicans had signaled after the November midterm election that they saw tax reform as a potential area for compromise. But Republicans who control of both houses of Congress are in no mood to raise taxes on anyone and were quick to pan Obama's proposal.

    "This plan that we'll hear about tonight appears to be more about redistribution, with added complexity, and class warfare, directed at job-creating small businesses, than about tax reform," said Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, the Senate's top tax law writer, in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

    Obama's aim is to help those left behind by an economic revival taking hold six years into his tenure, which began with the Democrat facing a crippling financial crisis.

    Looking to burnish his legacy with two years left in office, Obama will appear before a joint session of Congress at 9 p.m. (0200 GMT Wednesday). The speech will be his best opportunity of the year to command the attention of millions of Americans watching on television.

    "Now that we have fought our way through the crisis, how do we make sure that everybody in this country, how do we make sure that they are sharing in this growing economy?" Obama said in a YouTube video preview of his speech, part of an elaborate White House social media strategy to amplify the themes of the speech.

    Recent polling shows Obama's popularity ratings have rebounded off their lows. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted last week found 49 percent of Americans approve of Obama's handling of the economy, the highest since his first year in office.

    White House officials are betting that Republicans, also under pressure to help the middle class and needing to prove they can govern, will be willing to compromise on some aspects of the plan.

    "If the Republicans have other ideas to focus on the middle class, let's do that. So far, we haven't heard that, but we welcome that debate," said Denis McDonough, Obama's chief of staff, on NBC's "Today" on Tuesday.

    The proposals are also likely to be the subject of a debate among potential candidates to replace him in 2016, a campaign that is just now getting started.

    Obama will take his proposals on the road the next day, traveling to Idaho and Kansas to promote them.

    He has already spent the past two weeks rolling out themes he plans to highlight, like the need to beef up cybersecurity and invest in infrastructure.

    The speech will also allow Obama to update Americans on the struggle against Islamic extremists, two weeks after 17 people were killed in Paris attacks.

    He will defend his decision to seek to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. Alan Gross, the U.S. aid worker whose release from a Cuban prison helped pave the way toward restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba, will be among first lady Michelle Obama's guests for the speech.

    Trudeau visits Sina Weibo
    May gets little gasp as EU extends deadline for sufficient progress in Brexit talks
    Ethiopian FM urges strengthened Ethiopia-China ties
    Yemen's ex-president Saleh, relatives killed by Houthis
    Most Popular
    Hot Topics

    ...
    久久久久av无码免费网| 中文字幕av在线| 最近中文字幕电影大全免费版 | 色综合久久久久无码专区| 天堂资源中文最新版在线一区 | 国产在线无码不卡影视影院| 在线天堂中文新版www| 亚洲中文字幕AV在天堂| 人妻精品久久无码区| 在线精品无码字幕无码AV| 久久精品中文字幕一区| 办公室丝袜激情无码播放| 亚洲国产精品无码久久一线| 中文字幕亚洲一区二区va在线| 亚洲AV中文无码乱人伦下载| 精品无码人妻一区二区三区不卡| 无码人妻一区二区三区免费n鬼沢| 无码人妻丰满熟妇啪啪网站| а天堂中文在线官网| 无码人妻精品中文字幕免费东京热| 国产精品无码一区二区三级| 亚洲av日韩av无码| 亚洲AV无码一区二区三区性色| 成人麻豆日韩在无码视频| 亚洲天堂中文字幕在线| 亚洲中文字幕视频国产| 中文字幕欧美日本亚洲| 最好看的电影2019中文字幕 | 亚洲AV无码一区东京热久久| 亚洲国产精品成人精品无码区| 99精品人妻无码专区在线视频区 | 日韩精品真人荷官无码| 日韩免费无码一区二区三区| 无码人妻AV免费一区二区三区 | 成人性生交大片免费看中文| 中文毛片无遮挡高潮免费| 中文字幕热久久久久久久| 人妻精品久久久久中文字幕69| 亚洲欧美日韩中文字幕在线不卡 | 亚洲日韩乱码中文无码蜜桃臀网站 | 亚洲AV日韩AV高潮无码专区|