Obama Boasts About Economy, Makes New Proposals in State of Union Address

Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — In his sixth State of the Union address and the first before a Republican Congress, President Obama declared an economic resurgence Tuesday night, doubling down on improving wages for the middle class.

[READ THE FULL TEXT OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S 2015 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS HERE]

“The verdict is clear,” the president said. “Middle class economics works. Expanding opportunity works. And these policies will continue to work, as long as politics don’t get in the way.”

With his approval rating on the upswing, the president was clearly feeling his oats in a speech that was short on surprises since Obama had barnstormed the country for the past two weeks to lay out his agenda for the final two years of his second term.

For instance, the president made middle class tax cuts a centerpiece of his address, telling lawmakers and the nation, “This country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”

One way Obama hopes to achieve this is by raising the base capital gains on the nation’s highest earners as well as slapping new fees on financial firms. Both proposals are expected to get a thumbs down from the Republican-controlled House and Senate.

The president also advocates raising the minimum wage for all Americans, which was met with opposition even before last year’s mid-term elections.

However, Obama dared Republicans to ignore the plight of the lower-class workers, saying, “If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.”

Also on the domestic front, the president talked about free community college, paid leave for workers, cheaper and faster Internet access and stronger cyber-security, following a spate of high-profile breaches, including the infamous Sony hack.

In the wake of a global crackdown on terror, Obama also pushed back against the “bankrupt ideology of violent extremism.”

Saying the nation stood in solidarity with the rest word in fighting the scourge of terrorism that now threatens European security, Obama asked Congress to pass a resolution to authorize the use of force against the Islamic State.

Following the release of American contractor Alan Gross from a Cuban jail and the announcement that the U.S. and Cuba would work to restore diplomatic relations, the president also urged Congress to “begin the work of ending the embargo” against the island nation.

On another point that has turned into a hot-button issue, the president also exhorted Americans — and the international community — to protect our planet from further climate change.

“I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they’re not scientists,” Obama said. “But you know what? I know a lot of really good scientists.”

Meanwhile, as usual, the president called for bipartisan cooperation.

“I have no more campaigns to run,” the president said, adding coyly, “I know, because I won both of them,” a line that drew some big laughs from both sides of the aisle but probably for different reasons.

Alluding to his famous “there is not a black America or a white America” speech at the 2004 Democratic national convention, the president told the American people that today’s partisan bickering isn’t intractable.

“I think the cynics are wrong,” he said. “I still believe that together, we can do great things.”

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