STILL hampered by the vulnerable economy and after his punchy inaugural address, President Barack Obama used his State of the Union (SOTU) address to be uncompromising in his calls for lawmakers to offset across-the-board spending cuts.
Indeed, President Obama delivered his fourth State of the Union address on Tuesday night, a high-profile opportunity in which he laid out his plans, offered the public an outline for job creation and hopes for his second term though much of his blueprint included elements we have heard before. For the Republicans, SOTU 2013 "was less a presidential olive branch than a congressional cattle prod." While there is still enough of the second term left for him to get things done before Washington turns its attention to the 2014 elections, about a year from now, this was Obama's best and last chance to set the agenda for a divided Washington.
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