After a decade of grinding war, our brave men and women in uniform are coming home.President Obama, starting off his speech with a list of accomp;lishments, headlined by the impending end of the Afghanistan war. He also cited a rebound in the homeowner’s market, and economic perseverance.
And so, the President’s long crawl to the podium continues. Undoubtedly the most daunting rope-line drill in American politics.
All right everyone, this thing is about to kick off. We’ll be providing updates, quotes, and commentary here under the tag SOTU 2013, by all means, watch the address along with us! It’s the first of President Obama’s second term, which gives it that certain, momentus feel.
Are you watching the President’s address tonight? We’ve pulled together key Pew Research findings across 10 topics that Obama is likely to discuss. Get the data so you can follow along. Here are the highlights:
The Economy
The economy and jobs remain the public’s top two priorities for the White House and Congress.
57% of Americans (and 74% of Republicans) say that President Obama won the battle over the “fiscal cliff.”
Americans took a dim view of the fiscal cliff deal, saying it would hurt: the economy (46%), people like themselves (52%), efforts to curb the deficit (44%).
Read more about Pew Research findings on the economy
Debt and Deficit
72% of Americans now say reducing the deficit is a top priority, up from 53% in Jan. 2009, including 84% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats and 71% of independents.
Majorities of Americans oppose most deficit reduction measures, including reducing funding for education (77% disapprove), reducing transportation funding (67%) and reducing funding to help low-income people (58%).
There are wide partisan gaps on many debt reduction proposals, including reducing military defense spending (+35 points Democrats) and reducing funding to help low-income people (+29 points Republicans).
74% say a combination of program cuts and tax increases is the best way to reduce the deficit.
Read more about Pew Research findings on the debt and deficit
The Middle Class
The median income for a middle-income, three-person household fell to $69,487 in 2010 from $72,956 in 2000 (in 2011 dollars.) Median net worth among the middle-income tier fell 28% to $93,150 in 2010 from $129,582 in 2000.
85% of those in the middle class say it is more difficult today than a decade ago to maintain their standard of living.
The middle class blamed their difficulties on: Congress (62%), banks and financial institutions (54%) and large corporations (47%).
Middle-class adults say they are: Democrats (34%), Republicans (25%) and independents (35%); conservative (39%), moderate (35%) and liberal (22%).
Read more about Pew Research findings on the middle class
Gun Control
51% of Americans say it is more important to control gun ownership, while 45% say it is more important to protect gun rights.
47% say mass shootings reflect broader societal problems, 44% call them isolated acts of troubled individuals.
There is broad public support for background checks for private and gun show sales (85%) and laws preventing the mentally ill from purchasing guns (80%).
There are large partisan divides on creating a federal database to track gun sales (35-point gap, Democrats favor), implementing a ban on assault-style weapons (25-point gap, Democrats favor) or having more teachers and school officials with guns in schools (33-point gap, Republicans favor).
Read more about Pew Research findings on gun control
U.S. Foreign Policy
83% of Americans say that “we should pay less attention to problems overseas and concentrate on problems here at home,” up 10 points since 2002.
40% say the U.S. relies on military strength too much to achieve its foreign policy goals, 44% say about the right amount and 10% say too little.
63% say the U.S. should be less involved in Middle East leadership changes.
Americans largely approve of the use of drones to target extremists, unlike most other nations surveyed.
71% say defending the nation from terrorism is a top priority.
60% support withdrawing troops from Afghanistan “as soon as possible.”
Read more about Pew Research findings on foreign policy
U.S.-China Relations
Americans now favor getting tougher with China (49%) over strengthening relations (42%) when it comes to economic policy.
A median of 42% of countries now say China is the world’s leading economic power; 36% named the United States.
Americans are more concerned about China’s economic strength (59%) than about its military strength (28%).
68% of Americans distrust China and 66% see it as a competitor.
Chinese views of the U.S. have also turned negative (48% unfavorable, 43% favorable).
Read more about Pew Research findings on U.S.-China relations
U.S.-Middle East Relations
57% of Americans do not believe the changes in the Middle East will lead to lasting improvements for people living in the affected countries.
63% of Americans say they want the U.S. less involved in Middle East leadership changes.
63% of Americans say the U.S. does not have a responsibility to do something about the fighting in Syria.
50% of the public sympathizes more with Israel, 10% sympathize more with the Palestinians, 13% say neither side and 4% say both.
Read more about Pew Research findings on U.S.-Middle East relations
Immigration
39% of Americans say “dealing with illegal immigration” should be a top priority, ranking the issue 17th out of 21 issues.
42% of Americans prioritize both enhanced border security and a path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants.
The total immigrant population has grown to 40.4 million in 2011, while unauthorized immigration declined to 11.1 million.
36% of eligible Mexican immigrants have become natural U.S. citizens, half the rate of of legal immigrants from all other countries combined.
Net migration to the U.S. from Mexico fell to zero in 2011 and may have reversed.
Read more about Pew Research findings on immigration
Climate Change
28% of Americans say global warming is a top priority, ranking the issue last on this year’s list of 21 policy priorities.
67% of Americans believe there is solid evidence of global warming, including 91% of liberal Democrats and 43% of conservative Republicans.
42% of Americans attribute global warming mostly to human activity, while 19% say it is mostly due to natural patterns.
Read more about Pew Research findings on climate change
Gay Marriage
48% of Americans favor gay marriage and 43% oppose it.
Younger generations express higher levels of support (Millennials, 63%; Generation X, 52%), compared with older ones (Baby Boomers, 41%; Silent Generation, 33%).
The religiously unaffiliated express the highest levels of support (73%), while white evangelical Protestants express the lowest (19%).
Support varies widely by region and is strongest in New England (62%) and weakest in the South Central (35%).
Read more about Pew Research findings on gay marriage
Browse all of our State of the Union tip sheets:
Economy | Middle Class | Gun Control | U.S.-China Relations | U.S.-Middle East Relations | Immigration | Climate Change | Gay Marriage | Debt and Deficit | U.S. Foreign Policy
Relevant info.
A growing economy that creates good, middle-class jobs – that must be the North Star that guides our efforts. Every day, we should ask ourselves three questions as a nation: How do we attract more jobs to our shores? How do we equip our people with the skills needed to do those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living?One of the excerpts from tonight’s State of the Union address released to the press by the Obama administration. Read a couple others over this way.
White House releases dubstep trailer for State of the Union
The White House is dropping more than the State of the Union on the American people tonight, it’s also dropping the bass. The official White House YouTube account on Tuesday afternoon published a short trailer for the President’s big speech and the soundtrack contains the unmistakable sounds of dubstep, the popular electronic dance music subgenre that includes Skrillex among its most famous practitioners.
The dark side of our first memetic president.
You’d like to think the shelf life wasn’t so short. I go back to the Oval Office and I start watching the cable news networks and it’s like we didn’t pray.President Barack Obama • Making a pitch for cooperation, rather than angry, frustrated discourse, at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning. That should last about 20 minutes. He kept away from more controversial issues in his speech, choosing to focus on the faith of noted leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr.
We conduct those strikes because they are necessary to mitigate ongoing actual threats, to stop plots, prevent future attacks and, again, save American lives. These strikes are legal, they are ethical and they are wise.White House Press Secretary Jay Carney • Speaking on a recent Justice Department memo made public, asserting the government’s right to target citizens for drone strikes if it’s deemed they’ve been involved in attacks against the United States, circumventing the due process of law that Americans are traditionally Constitutionally entitled to. The memo itself seems to strive for a standard under which the U.S. drone killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, for example, a U.S. citizen suspected of terrorist activity when he was slain in Yemen, would be considered legal. This is an interesting policy area for the odd political bedfellows it draws together, as both left and right wing criticisms of the targeted killing program are prevalent, and President Obama’s nominee to head the CIA, his 1st term counterterrorism chief John Brennan, has a Senate confirmation ahead of him. Brennan in his old job was a central figure in the U.S. drone program, and as such we’d anticipate even some bipartisan congressional grilling on this topic during his hearing. source
AP: In a pre-Super Bowl interview on CBS, US President Barack Obama said the Boy Scouts of America should open its membership to gays and lesbians when its national executive board discusses the issue this week.
During the interview, Obama praised the scouts as a ‘great institution’ that provides young people with lifelong leadership training and opportunities. He said “no one should be barred from that.”
What direction do you think the Scouts will ultimately go?
Recently, President Obama was quoted as saying, in response to a question as to whether or not he has ever shot a gun, “Yes, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time.” So as to allay the controversy and curiosity the comment drew, the White House has released an image of the president skeet-shooting. So, there you go internet.
Look, if we had a [Hillary] Clinton presidency, if we had Erskine Bowles as Chief of Staff of the White House or President of the United States, I think we would have fixed this fiscal mess by now. That’s not the kind of presidency we’re dealing with right now.Rep. Paul Ryan • Offering (on this morning’s Meet the Press) an interesting take on what he thinks of the Obama administration … essentially, Obama is no Hillary Clinton.
The ruling was a blow to the administration and a victory for Mr. Obama’s Republican critics – and a handful of liberal ones – who had accused Mr. Obama of improperly claiming that he could make the appointments under his executive powers. The administration had argued that the president could decide that senators were really on a lengthy recess even though the Senate considered itself to be meeting in “pro forma” sessions.
But the court went beyond the narrow dispute over pro forma sessions and issued a far more sweeping ruling than expected. Legal specialists said its reasoning would virtually eliminate the recess appointment power for all future presidents when it has become increasingly difficult for presidents to win Senate confirmation for their nominees. In recent years, senators have more frequently balked at consenting to executive appointments. President George W. Bush made about 170 such appointments, including John R. Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations and two appeals court judges, William H. Pryor Jr. and Charles W. Pickering Sr.
“If this opinion stands, I think it will fundamentally alter the balance between the Senate and the president by limiting the president’s ability to keep offices filled,” said John P. Elwood, who handled recess appointment issues for the Justice Department during the Bush administration. “This is certainly a red-letter day in presidential appointment power.”
Think Obama has a hard enough time appointing people now? Imagine how hard it’ll be if the ruling stands. FWIW, it cuts back a loophole in the current law that allows the president to appoint politicians without Senate approval, by scaling back the definition of the word “recess” in regards to executive power.
Three days into President Barack Obama’s second term, and it’s clear he’s not the man he was in his first term. Just ask the fly.
A pesky Musca domestica (per pooler Brian Beutler of Talking Points Memo) landed on the president’s face during a press conference to announce his picks to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Obama swatted at the fly a couple of times, and the official White House transcript records, “This guy is bothering me here—(swatting at a fly.)” The insect eventually left the commander in chief alone.
But the Obama of just a few years ago—of June 2009, to be precise—might not be impressed. That’s because that Obama successfully killed a fly during an interview with CNBC, boasting “I got the sucker.”
Oh, that’s just a new mole.
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