Tweet
25 January 2011
Last updated at 20:12 ET
US President Barack Obama is set to say the challenges facing the US are a "Sputnik moment" in a State of the Union speech referring to the 1957 Soviet satellite launch that sparked a wave of US innovation.
"The challenges we face are... bigger than politics," Mr Obama is set to say.
In the president's yearly address to Congress, Mr Obama will outline his strategy for creating jobs in the US.
Republicans have warned they will reject calls for added spending.
The president is expected to say that after investing in research and education after the Soviets beat the US into space with the Sputnik satellite in 1957, the US "unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs".
"This is our generation's Sputnik moment," according to excerpts from the speech released ahead of the State of the Union address.
The president is also set to say that whether new industries and jobs will take root inside US borders is the most important matter facing the nation.
"We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back," the president is expected to say.
Republican lawmakers are expected to criticise the president on his plans for new public spending and investments in education, research and infrastructure.
"A few years ago, reducing spending was important," Wisconsin Republican Representative Paul Ryan was to say in the Republican response to Mr Obama. "Today, it's imperative. Here's why - we face a crushing burden of debt."
BBC North America editor Mark Mardell says the extracts show that as expected the president is making a pitch for unity and progress, portraying what is for him a political necessity as a virtue.
But he is also trying to put the depressing wreckage of the recession behind him and conjure a message of aspiration and optimism, our correspondent says.
'Shared responsibility' Referring to conservative wins in November's mid-term elections, the president will say that Americans voted to make governing a shared responsibility between Democrats and Republicans.
"We will move forward together, or not at all - for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics," an excerpt of the upcoming speech said.
The president is also expected to hail US progress two years after the "worst recession most of us have ever known".
"The stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again," the president will say.
In his second State of the Union address to the nation, he will also call for a five-year freeze in non-security US government spending and a ban on so-called earmarks - government grants that legislators direct to favoured projects in their constituencies.
Mr Obama is also expected to back a plan put forth by Defence Secretary Robert Gates to trim $78bn in from the military budget, the Associated Press reported, quoting an anonymous administration official.
The president is expected to frame himself as a centrist moderate keen to co-operate where possible with the US business community and with the Republican Party, analysts say.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
Mr Obama's job approval numbers have been on the rise in recent weeks, seen in part as the result of his success in pushing a series of new laws through the so-called lame duck Congress at the end of last year.
The State of the Union speech is nationally televised and is historically one of the most watched political events in the US.
The speech comes less than two weeks after a mass shooting in Tucson in the US state of Arizona that killed six people and left 13 wounded, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
A seat in Congress was to remain empty in honour of Ms Giffords and family members of some of the victims were to sit with First Lady Michelle Obama.
'Pumping up government' The Republican Party has already pledged to oppose the president's plans, and a large, prominent group of the most conservative House Republicans has proposed slashing $2.5 trillion (£1.57 trillion) from the federal non-defence budget over the next 10 years.
The Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives and enough strength in the US Senate to block unilateral Democratic action on economic policy, but are unable to dictate their own agenda.
"We'll take a look at his recommendations," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on Sunday. "We always do. But this is not a time to be looking at pumping up government spending in very many areas."
Powered By WizardRSS
"The challenges we face are... bigger than politics," Mr Obama is set to say.
In the president's yearly address to Congress, Mr Obama will outline his strategy for creating jobs in the US.
Republicans have warned they will reject calls for added spending.
The president is expected to say that after investing in research and education after the Soviets beat the US into space with the Sputnik satellite in 1957, the US "unleashed a wave of innovation that created new industries and millions of new jobs".
"This is our generation's Sputnik moment," according to excerpts from the speech released ahead of the State of the Union address.
The president is also set to say that whether new industries and jobs will take root inside US borders is the most important matter facing the nation.
"We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back," the president is expected to say.
Republican lawmakers are expected to criticise the president on his plans for new public spending and investments in education, research and infrastructure.
"A few years ago, reducing spending was important," Wisconsin Republican Representative Paul Ryan was to say in the Republican response to Mr Obama. "Today, it's imperative. Here's why - we face a crushing burden of debt."
BBC North America editor Mark Mardell says the extracts show that as expected the president is making a pitch for unity and progress, portraying what is for him a political necessity as a virtue.
But he is also trying to put the depressing wreckage of the recession behind him and conjure a message of aspiration and optimism, our correspondent says.
'Shared responsibility' Referring to conservative wins in November's mid-term elections, the president will say that Americans voted to make governing a shared responsibility between Democrats and Republicans.
"We will move forward together, or not at all - for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics," an excerpt of the upcoming speech said.
The president is also expected to hail US progress two years after the "worst recession most of us have ever known".
"The stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again," the president will say.
In his second State of the Union address to the nation, he will also call for a five-year freeze in non-security US government spending and a ban on so-called earmarks - government grants that legislators direct to favoured projects in their constituencies.
Mr Obama is also expected to back a plan put forth by Defence Secretary Robert Gates to trim $78bn in from the military budget, the Associated Press reported, quoting an anonymous administration official.
The president is expected to frame himself as a centrist moderate keen to co-operate where possible with the US business community and with the Republican Party, analysts say.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
We'll take a look at his recommendations. We always do. But this is not a time to be looking at pumping up government spending in very many areas”
End Quote
Mitch McConnell
Senate Minority Leader
Mr Obama's job approval numbers have been on the rise in recent weeks, seen in part as the result of his success in pushing a series of new laws through the so-called lame duck Congress at the end of last year.
The State of the Union speech is nationally televised and is historically one of the most watched political events in the US.
The speech comes less than two weeks after a mass shooting in Tucson in the US state of Arizona that killed six people and left 13 wounded, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
A seat in Congress was to remain empty in honour of Ms Giffords and family members of some of the victims were to sit with First Lady Michelle Obama.
'Pumping up government' The Republican Party has already pledged to oppose the president's plans, and a large, prominent group of the most conservative House Republicans has proposed slashing $2.5 trillion (£1.57 trillion) from the federal non-defence budget over the next 10 years.
The Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives and enough strength in the US Senate to block unilateral Democratic action on economic policy, but are unable to dictate their own agenda.
"We'll take a look at his recommendations," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on Sunday. "We always do. But this is not a time to be looking at pumping up government spending in very many areas."
Powered By WizardRSS