Obama expected to address income inequality, paid leave in SOTU speech

World Today

President Barack Obama plans to use his second-to-last State of the Union address to Congress to maintain his influence in American politics, as the unofficial campaign to choose his successor has already begun.

Obama will be utilizing one of his biggest platforms, a speech that will be nationally televised to tens of millions of Americans on Tuesday evening. He will outline a plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans while offering broad economic benefits to the middle class. By highlighting the issue of economic inequality, Obama aims to drive a debate over middle-class economics that could be critical for the 2016 presidential campaign.

The president came out of his party’s bruising November election losses with a surprising burst of activity and a bump in approval ratings, but there are big questions about whether he will be able to sustain that momentum in the face of opposition from the new Republican-controlled Congress.

The White House has no hope of the tax proposal becoming law, but Obama’s proposal could put tax-averse congressional Republicans in the unappealing spot of blocking measures that would offer broad economic benefits to the middle class.

Potential Republican candidates Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney have been talking openly about income inequality and the need to give lower-earning Americans more opportunities.

Cuba is sure to be on the agenda for the State of the Union address.

Story in compiled with information from The Associated Press.


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