Obama puts jobs on top of agenda

WASHINGTON: U.S. President Barack Obama, fighting to recharge his embattled presidency, used his first State of the Union address to promise that he would get millions of Americans back to work even as he tackles the soaring U.S. deficit.

Mr. Obama also urged Congress in his speech on Wednesday to press ahead with his health care overhaul, his top domestic priority, despite an electoral setback that seemed to derail his plans.

While declaring that “our union is strong,” Mr. Obama warned the U.S. would struggle to keep up with other countries if it postpones fixes to health care, energy, education and more.

Mr. Obama’s speech on Wednesday was especially critical, coming one week after Republicans won the Massachusetts Senate seat long held by Democrat stalwart Edward M. Kennedy. Democrats were seen as losing the support of voters troubled by high unemployment, the huge federal deficit and the acrimony and behind-the-scenes deal-making in Washington politics.

Mr. Obama acknowledged the problems. “I campaigned on the promise of change, change we can believe in, the slogan went,” he said. “And right now, I know there are many Americans who aren’t sure if they still believe we can change or at least, that I can deliver it.”

The biggest change Mr. Obama has sought has been his health care plan, aimed at extending coverage to the tens of millions Americans now lacking insurance. Democrats appeared poised to pass a sweeping overhaul before the Massachusetts election denied them the supermajority needed to overcome Republican procedural hurdles. Worries about health care were seen as contributing to the loss. Mr. Obama urged lawmakers to take another look at his plan. “Do not walk away from reform,” he said. “Not now. Not when we are so close.”

Mr. Obama was at times conciliatory, other times defiant. He revived his campaign theme of bipartisanship, bemoaning a divided Washington “where every day is Election Day.” Yet he also attacked Republican leaders.

“Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership,” he said.

Republicans applauded Mr. Obama when he entered the chamber and craned to welcome Michelle Obama. But bipartisanship disappeared early, with Republicans sitting stone-faced through several rounds of emphatic Democratic cheering.

In the Republican response, Virginia’s Governor Bob McDonnell said Democratic policies were resulting in an unsustainable level of debt. He said Americans wanted affordable health care, but they do not want the government to run it.

“Top-down, one-size-fits-all decision-making should not replace the personal choices of free people in a free market,” said Mr. McDonnell.

In a shift from addresses by previous Presidents, foreign policy took a back seat. Mr. Obama made no mention of three of the toughest challenges he faced in his first year: failing to close the terrorist prison compound at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, failing to get Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations, and struggling with the Al-Qaeda havens in Pakistan that are at the core of the terrorist threat to America. — AP