Obama proposed much more policy, of course. You can see it all in Wonkblog’s policy-only edit of the speech. But the caveat to almost every idea he offered is the same: Most all of them require congressional cooperation. Cooperation the Obama administration is not likely to get. All tax bills, for instance, must originate in the House, and Speaker John Boehner is not known for his interest in raising taxes on the rich.
But what viewers of the State of the Union learned was that Obama has an agenda. An ambitious one, even. Whether they approve of it, and whether they approve of congressional Republican obstructing it, remains to be seen.
In terms of 2012 politics, the speech — and Mitt Romney’s tax returns — set up a contrast that will be made more explicit as the campaign wears on. When Obama was a candidate, he paid an almost 30 percent tax rate, and he believes folks as wealthy as him should pay even more. Romney, by contrast, is paying about half that rate, and he believes folks in his income bracket should pay even less. Quite a bit of the election, on the Democratic side at least, will be about making this contrast.
READ MORE:
via Wonkbook: Five policies to watch from Obama’s State of the Union – The Washington Post.