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Forecasting Tuesday’s State of the Union address

Kai Ryssdal Jan 20, 2015
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Forecasting Tuesday’s State of the Union address

Kai Ryssdal Jan 20, 2015
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President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver his sixth State of the Union address Tuesday night at the Capitol. It will be the first time he has delivered the address before a Republican-led Congress.

“What he can be proudest of, and what he’s probably going to point to tonight is the job market,” says Marketplace’s David Gura. “Last month, the economy added 252,000 jobs. The unemployment rate is at 5.6 percent, these are good metrics – metrics that the American people like.”

In the past few weeks, Obama has previewed some of the main ideas that he will present, including tax reform, income inequality and paid parental leave.

“I was struck as he gave these speeches by how much he’s focused on what the administration has done already,” says Gura. “His hands have been tied over these last few years, he has not done a lot with Congress. So a lot of what we’ve heard are things he’s talked about a lot. I don’t expect he’s going to stop talking about them. I think he’s hoping that American’s appetites for things like that will grow now.”

It will be Obama’s second-to-the last annual presidential address to Congress.

 

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