Leading up to tomorrow night's State of the Union address, the White House has made at least one thing abundantly clear: the President has both a pen and a phone at his disposal.
While those instruments will probably get plenty of use during the speechwriting process, the Administration has been using the line to emphasize that if Congress doesn't act on certain agenda items, the President will -- either through executive orders or other unilateral actions.
- The focus of this year's SOTU speech, according to White House advisor Dan Pfeiffer, will supposedly be on creating middle-class job security, with proposals to strengthen retirement safety nets and offer more jobs and skills training programs.
- Income inequality will likely be a major talking point for the President this year, especially in the wake of recent public debate over minimum wage hikes.
- As far as "big-ticket" proposals are concerned, it's possible that the President will use the speech to reiterate his support for expanded early childhood education and comprehensive immigration reform, as the Washington Post reports.
- Don't expect to hear much about the deficit or looming debt ceiling debate, a subject that's caused plenty of political controversy over the past few months.
The price tag accompanying the President's proposals will depend on how specific he'll be in describing his goals for this so-called "year of action." You can follow along with NTU and NTUF staff tomorrow night for real-time analysis during the speech, as well as in the days after as we break down the President's agenda and what it means for taxpayers.
Be sure to let us know ahead of time what you think the agenda will cost!