State Of The Union And The State Of The Obama Presidency

We’ll dive into President Obama’s State of the Union Address. Analysis — and where the President stands — with Riehan Salam, Kristen Welker and Amy Davidson.

The state of the union is strong, the President said last night, but he gave the credit not to Washington but to the nation.  Our work.  Our effort.  And essentially told Congress he’s tired of being bottled up, bogged down, embattled.  This year, it's executive action wherever he can push it.  On jobs.  On the minimum wage.  On savings.  On skills.  But the issues are big and executive action only goes so far.  The president has three years to go.  Where are we headed?  This hour On Point:  the State of the Union, and the state of the Obama presidency.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Amy Davidson, senior editor at The New Yorker. (@tnycloseread)

Reihan Salam, writer for National Review and Reuters Opinion. Co-author of "Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream." (@reihan)

Kristen Welker, NBC News White House correspondent. (@kwelkerNBC)

Wall Street Journal: Obama to Press for 'Year of Action' -- "The speech repackages many of the policy proposals Mr. Obama has so far failed to achieve, including infrastructure projects, early childhood education programs and plans for making college more affordable. He's also renewing calls on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, covering all U.S. workers, and pass an overhaul of the immigration system."

New York Times: Obama Taking Up Economic Issues on His Authority -- "Promising 'a year of action' as he tries to rejuvenate a presidency mired in low approval ratings and stymied by partisan stalemates, Mr. Obama used his annual State of the Union address to chart a new path forward relying on his own executive authority. But the defiant, go-it-alone approach was more assertive than any of the individual policies he advanced."

Washington Post: Obama prepared to avoid Congress, go it alone on carrying out modest initiatives -- "For the first time since taking office, Obama spoke to Congress on Tuesday evening from a clear position of confrontation. The areas he identified for possible cooperation with a divided Congress have shrunk, leaving an agenda filled out by a growing number of modest initiatives that he intends to carry out alone."