FACE THE NATION: President Obama last night tells Congress and the nation of his plans to grow the economy and for “sensible” gun reform, deriding his Republican critics. (
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WASHINGTON — President Obama confronted Congress with his plan for a second term in last night’s State of the Union Address — demanding action on a laundry list of progressive policies that culminated with a fiery appeal for votes on tough gun-control laws.
Emboldened by his re-election, Obama showed little sign of compromise in pushing an ambitious agenda that called for new spending to boost the economy, while deriding Republican plans for cutting the deficit as “even worse” than the budget battles of his first term.
Obama told the nation that his proposals would restore American prosperity, making jobs and economic growth the focus of his presidency after four years of painfully slow recovery from recession.
Still, the president declared that the country had made great progress over the last four years.
“Together, we have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is stronger,” Obama said.
The president offered up wide-ranging proposals tailored to his Democratic base that will likely trigger more battles with the GOP, including:
* Raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 per hour.
* Helping states expand preschool programs.
* Creating a $40 billion “Fix-It-First” program to put people to work on urgent infrastructure repairs, including nearly 70,000 unsafe bridges.
* Combating climate change with a new Energy Security Trust to spearhead research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil.
* Enacting comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for illegals.
Obama also used the occasion to announce the pullout of 34,000 troops — about half the US force in Afghanistan — by 2014.
And he condemned North Korea’s test of a miniaturized nuclear bomb and called for reduced nuclear arsenals worldwide.
The emotional heart of a speech that touched on an array of issues from immigration to trade came near the end, when Obama spoke poignantly of Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old who marched in the inauguration and got shot “just a mile away from my house” just days afterward.
Obama mentioned Pendleton’s parents, who were seated with First Lady Michelle Obama, saying, “They deserve a vote.”
Obama summoned some of his stump-speech rhetoric to much applause, declaring: “Gabby Giffords deserves a vote. The families of Newtown deserve a vote.”
Substantively, Obama didn’t demand much — he called expanded background checks a “sensible reform” and noted that police chiefs “are asking our help” to get “weapons of war” off the streets.
Despite calling for more “investments” in education, infrastructure and scientific research, Obama promised that “nothing I’m proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime.”
“It’s not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth,” said Obama.
“It was unabashed liberalism,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a newly elected Tea Party favorite after sitting glumly through much of the speech.