By all accounts, President Obama’s State of the Union address will include a little something for everybody. A call for a partial temporary spending freeze to ameliorate conservatives. A call to renew investment in infrastructure and education for Democrats, and maybe even some Republicans.
But through selective leaks and hints to the press the White House has already introduced the themes they hope stick. Out of nowhere, legislators began debating the merits of “investment,” some reversed course on infrastructure spending, and Republicans pre-emptively nixed Obama’s expected call to cap domestic discretionary spending.
In that way, we’ve already experienced the bulk of the impact of the State of the Union. And the legislative terrain on Capitol Hill may be largely unchanged.
When it’s over, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) will give the Republicans official response, but many of his prepared remarks have already been publicized.
“Whether sold as ‘stimulus’ or repackaged as ‘investment,’ their actions show they want a federal government that controls too much; taxes too much; and spends too much in order to do too much,” Ryan will say.
His excerpts are organized by issue area: spending; budget; fiscal responsibility; stimulus; health care; debt limit; limited government. In each case, his remarks reflect significant differences between both parties.
That division will be reflected not just by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who’s giving an alternative televised response, but by the entire Republican Party, many of whose members will stream out of the House chamber after the speech and echo similar criticisms to waiting reporters.
The GOP has already signaled that they won’t alter the agenda on the Hill in the wake of the speech. The question is how ably they reject the vision Obama lays out. Will it be more of this? Or this?
