OBAMA CHALLENGES CONGRESS ON INEQUALITY
President Barack Obama vowed to reverse a tide of economic inequality threatening the American dream Tuesday, seeking to outflank Republicans and revive a second term blighted by self-inflicted wounds and partisan warfare.
In his annual State of the Union address, Obama promised to wield his executive powers in a “year of action” to lift up workers, improve education and clean the environment if his foes in Congress balk at more sweeping action.
“Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled and too many still aren't working at all.
“Our job is to reverse these trends,” Obama said, pounding out his points with a punchy, optimistic delivery, apparently keen to suggest that despite five grueling years he still has energy and purpose for his task.
While focusing squarely on a do-
America does not stand still -- and neither will I
mestic audience, Obama strayed into foreign policy only briefly during the one hour, 16-minute speech, as his cabinet and military brass looked on.
He vowed to support democracy in Ukraine, warned Al-Qaeda's threat had evolved and yet again urged Congress to let him close the war on terror camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
But mostly Obama mined a political seam that has proven rich in the past, billing himself as the champion of middle class families fighting to overcome the worst recession since the Great Depression.