State of the Union Address

[Professor S]

President Barack Obama will toe a fine fiscal line in his State of the Union address Tuesday, proposing new infrastructure and education spending to spur job growth – along with enough spending cuts and tax reform measures to blunt criticism that he’s ignoring the deficit.

Congressional Republicans aren’t waiting to see the details, arguing that any “investments” at a time of record-breaking deficits are simply code language for a second economic stimulus package, which they have cast as a fiscal disaster that worsened the $14 trillion national debt.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories...#ixzz1BzMJQ46H


This will be very interesting. When I first heard that healthcare and economic policy were going to be the main topics of Pres. Obama's speech, my first reaction as a fiscal conservative was: "They better dust off Paul Ryan for the response."

And wouldn't you know it...

In the Republican response to Obama’s speech, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin will speak from the Budget Committee offices in an attempt to symbolize the GOP’s pledge to cut spending, according to GOP sources.

It will be interesting to see how Pres. Obama presents his talking points knowing Rep. Ryan is waiting to answer him. Paul Ryan is without question the most knowledgeable and substantive Republican when it comes to fiscal policy. After Ryan's performance in the healthcare summit, Pres. Obama will have to word his speech carefully.