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    January 24, 2012

Obama to Detail Economic Plan in State of the Union

   VOA News
   US President Barack Obama pauses as he talks to the 2011 National
   Hockey League Stanley Cup champions the Boston Bruins, in the East Room
   of the White House in Washington, January 23, 2012. Photo: Reuters
   US President Barack Obama pauses as he talks to the 2011 National
   Hockey League Stanley Cup champions the Boston Bruins, in the East Room
   of the White House in Washington, January 23, 2012.

   U.S. President Barack Obama will unveil a new economic blueprint during
   his State of the Union address Tuesday night, addressing a key issue as
   he faces a contentious re-election bid later this year.
   The president will deliver his third annual speech on the nations'
   progress before a joint session of the U.S. Congress, and on television
   to an American public weary of the slow economic recovery.
   In a video released ahead of his speech, Obama says he will present his
   vision for an economy that is "built to last," including new proposals
   for manufacturing, clean energy and education, all of which he says
   benefit the country's middle class.
   Obama is expected to highlight the differences between himself and
   opposition Republicans in a speech laced with 2012 election campaign
   themes and reasons he deserves a second term in the White House.
   The president said the U.S. is faced with two vastly different
   directions for the economy - "one toward less opportunity and less
   fairness," or an economy that "works for everyone, not just the wealthy
   few."
   The president delivers his speech between two critical U.S. Republican
   presidential primaries in the southeastern U.S. states of South
   Carolina last Saturday and Florida next week.
   The Republican National Committee released a new TV ad in time for the
   president's Tuesday speech, focusing on what Republicans say is the
   Obama administration's poor handling of the U.S. economy. The ad seeks
   to remind American voters that 13 million people are unemployed and
   that 49 million live in poverty.
   Political analysts will watch closely to see what effect this year's
   address will have on Obama's public approval ratings, which according
   to the Gallup polling organization have averaged about 44 percent this
   year.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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