Live Updates: State of the Union

President Obama’s remark about winning both campaigns was the moment that spurred the most conversation during the State of the Union, according to Twitter data.

The most tweeted topics were community college, equal pay, climate change, tax reform, and healthcare.

President Obama’s speech, as delivered. (Wordle)

The above word cloud shows the relative frequency with which the president used various words in his speech, as delivered on Tuesday night.

100 applause breaks in @washingtonpost's Obama transcript: http://t.co/5ymj3SZlhF

— Michael Gold (@migold) January 21, 2015

Here are the complete remarks of Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who is delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union.

A few of the politicians who may wind up running to succeed Obama in office issued responses to his speech:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who lost to Obama in 2012 and is considering a third presidential campaign in 2016, called the speech “disappointing” in a Facebook post.

“True to form, the President in his State of the Union speech is more interested in politics than in leadership,” he wrote. “More intent on winning elections than on winning progress, he ignores the fact that the country has elected a Congress that favors smaller government and lower taxes.”

Rick Santorum, a former presidential candidate and U.S. senator, issued a statement that was critical of what he called Obama’s “only passing reference to national security.”

“He failed to pay any meaningful attention to the threat of radical Islamic terrorists,” Santorum (R) said. “President Obama calls for a broader, smarter strategy, but that is not possible if he refuses to articulate who our enemies are. We need someone in the White House with the experience to navigate our national security challenges and the fortitude to be straight with the American people on how to tackle them. Inauguration Day 2017 cannot come soon enough.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) posted a video response on Facebook:

Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, praised the official Republican response given by Sen. Joni Ernst.

“It’s unfortunate President Obama wants to use the tax code to divide us – instead of proposing reforms to create economic opportunity for every American,” Bush (R) posted on Facebook. “We can do better. My friend Joni Ernst offered a great contrast, outlining a positive, conservative vision for reform. I hope President Obama will be mindful of the strong message American voters sent in November and will work with our new Congressional majority on achieving solutions we know have broad-based appeal.”

Other possible candidates, like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), criticized the speech before it had occurred.

The shift in recent years away from blockbuster drugs aimed at millions of patients toward more specialized treatments aimed at an individual’s genetic makeup has been rapid and profound. On Tuesday evening, the approach known as personalized, or precision, medicine got a boost from President Obama.

“I want the country that eliminated polio and mapped the human genome to lead a new era of medicine — one that delivers the right treatment at the right time,” Obama said in a prepared copy of his State of the Union address. He said he intends to launch a new Precision Medicine Initiative “to bring us closer to curing diseases like cancer and diabetes — and to give all of us access to the personalized information we need to keep ourselves and our families healthier.”

The brief mention was short on details about the goals of such an initiative, how it would be funded and who would benefit. But the push comes at a time when the biotech industry is soaring, largely because of recent success in using genetic research to target promising new treatments to very specific disease populations.

Of the 41 new drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration last year, nearly half were aimed at rare diseases that affect 200,000 or fewer Americans. The push toward more personalized medicines in recent years has led to breakthroughs in treatments for a growing range of diseases, including hepatitis C and specific types of cancer.

“In some patients with cystic fibrosis, this approach has reversed a disease once thought unstoppable,” Obama said.

One of those patients, 27-year-old medical student William Elder, Jr. , was a guest of Michelle Obama’s guests in the House chamber on Tuesday evening. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis nearly two decades ago, Elder once might have been expected to survive only into early adulthood. But he has benefitted from a much-heralded drug known as Kalydeco, approved by the FDA in 2012, that targets the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis for a subset of patients with a specific genetic mutation. Like many new targeted medicines, the price tag of the drug has caused concern among patients and insurers – it runs about $300,000 per year. But for patients who can reap its benefits, the drug has been nothing short of a miracle.

“For most of medicine’s history, and with notable exceptions like blood transfusion, physicians have been forced to approach prevention and treatment of disease based on the expected response of an average patient because that was the best that could be done,” Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, wrote recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “However, a more precise, personalized approach to medicine is becoming possible. One major reason is that the cost of sequencing a human genome has declined substantially and is approaching $1000—an astounding figure considering that it cost about $400 million to produce the first sequence of the human genome a little more than a decade ago.”

The Washington Blade reports on an alleged State of the Union first.

Indeed, a review of archived addresses since shows no mention of either term since at least 1990.

President Obama had lunch with Rebekah Erler, the woman he mentioned in the speech, last year in Minneapolis. Our colleague David Nakamura wrote about it in June.

Left to right: Anthony Mendez, First Lady Michelle Obama, Rebekah Erler and Jill Biden. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

“Obama’s State of the Union speech is one, giant hug for Elon Musk,” writes Brian Fung over on The Switch.

To be sure, Obama has a particular obsession with solar. But it’s hard to avoid noticing the considerable overlap here with SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity.

In Obama’s eyes, Musk may as well change his name to Midas.

During a section on improving politics and moving forward, Obama made a departure from his prepared remarks. “I have no more campaigns to run,” he said, remarks that drew some applause from those in attendance. He followed that by adding a line that was not in the address released by the White House: “I know, because I won both of them.”

“I have no more campaigns to run,” Obama said. “I know because I won both of them.”

The White House quickly tweeted this line, and the response was what you might expect:

“We may have different takes on the events of Ferguson and New York. But surely we can understand a father who fears his son can’t walk home without being harassed. Surely we can understand the wife who won’t rest until the police officer she married walks through the front door at the end of his shift. Surely we can agree it’s a good thing that for the first time in 40 years, the crime rate and the incarceration rate have come down together, and use that as a starting point for Democrats and Republicans, community leaders and law enforcement, to reform America’s criminal justice system so that it protects and serves us all.”

After a year in which a series of high profile deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police officers reignited debate about law enforcement and justice in minority communities, President Obama invoked the unrest in Ferguson, Mo and New York City in tonight’s State of the Union address.

“That’s a better politics. That’s how we start rebuilding trust. That’s how we move this country forward. That’s what the American people want,” Obama said. “That’s what they deserve.”

Protests and, at times, violent riots, broke out last August in Ferguson, Mo following the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a white police officer. After months of national spotlight, a grand jury declined to charge the officer, Darren Wilson, prompting new riots and renewed protests across the country. Weeks later, a grand jury in New York declined to charge the NYPD officer who choked and killed Eric Garner whose final words “I can’t breathe” became a protest rallying cry.

Many have questioned how, as the first minority president of a nation whose domestic issues are often belied by race and ethnicity, Obama should best handle the tension in Ferguson and protests across the country. The president has publicly addressed Ferguson and the current tension between protesters and law enforcement at least half a dozen times. During those remarks, he has stuck to a similar script: avoiding remarks about the specifics of any individual cases, stressing that law enforcement officers make tremendous sacrifices, but insisting that the distrust between many communities and police is real and must be undone.

The comments tonight were the first time since 2010 that Obama directly referred to issues of racial civil rights during his State of the Union speech.

In that speech, his first State of the Union address, Obama invoked the 1965 Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama that was a major turning point in the Civil Rights Movement’s push for voting rights legislation. That march, during which police officers attacked protesters leaving many injured, was recently recreated in the movie “Selma,” and the White House announced earlier in the day Tuesday that Obama will visit Selma in March to mark the 50th anniversary.

“It’s tempting to look back on these moments and assume that our progress was inevitable, that America was always destined to succeed. But when the Union was turned back at Bull Run and the Allies first landed at Omaha Beach, victory was very much in doubt. When the market crashed on Black Tuesday and civil rights marchers were beaten on Bloody Sunday, the future was anything but certain,” Obama said near the beginning of the 2010 speech. “These were the times that tested the courage of our convictions and the strength of our union. And despite all our divisions and disagreements, our hesitations and our fears, America prevailed because we chose to move forward as one nation, as one people.”

Obama again addressed Selma in tonight’s speech, invoking the march led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders in calling for Congress to work to expand ballot access — which has been a major legislative focus for some Democrats since the Supreme Court gutted parts of the Voting Rights Act two years ago.

“We may go at it in campaign season, but surely we can agree that the right to vote is sacred; that it’s being denied to too many; and that, on this 50th anniversary of the great march from Selma to Montgomery and the passage of the Voting Rights Act, we can come together, Democrats and Republicans, to make voting easier for every single American,” Obama said tonight.

Editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes is live-sketching the State of the Union address. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram or here, with us.

The different reactions to equal pay during #SOTU

A photo posted by Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes) on Jan 20, 2015 at 6:59pm PST

Obama said he has seen same-sex marriage go from a “wedge issue used to drive us apart to a story of freedom across our country, a civil right now legal in states that seven in ten Americans call home.”

“Over the past six years, the pundits have pointed out more than once that my presidency hasn’t delivered on this vision.  How ironic, they say, that our politics seems more divided than ever.  It’s held up as proof not just of my own flaws – of which there are many – but also as proof that the vision itself is misguided, and naïve, and that there are too many people in this town who actually benefit from partisanship and gridlock for us to ever do anything about it. I know how tempting such cynicism may be.  But I still think the cynics are wrong. I still believe that we are one people.  I still believe that together, we can do great things, even when the odds are long.”

“You know, just over a decade ago, I gave a speech in Boston where I said there wasn’t a liberal America, or a conservative America; a black America or a white America – but a United States of America.  I said this because I had seen it in my own life, in a nation that gave someone like me a chance,” Obama said, reflecting on the 2004 Democratic National Convention speech that vaulted him to national fame.

As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I’ve prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained.  It’s why we speak out against the deplorable anti-Semitism that has resurfaced in certain parts of the world.  It’s why we continue to reject offensive stereotypes of Muslims – the vast majority of whom share our commitment to peace,” he said, which is why the U.S. defends free speech and condemns “the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.”

“As Americans, we have a profound commitment to justice – so it makes no sense to spend three million dollars per prisoner to keep open a prison that the world condemns and terrorists use to recruit.  Since I’ve been President, we’ve worked responsibly to cut the population of GTMO in half.  Now it’s time to finish the job.  And I will not relent in my determination to shut it down.  It’s not who we are.”

“I will not let this Congress endanger the health of our children by turning back the clock on our efforts” on climate change, Obama said.

In two graphs:

“I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they’re not scientists; that we don’t have enough information to act.  Well, I’m not a scientist, either,” Obama said. “But you know what – I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and NOAA, and at our major universities.  The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe.”

“No challenge – poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change,” Obama said.

“No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids,” Obama said, urging Congress to pass cybersecurity legislation. “If we don’t act, we’ll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable.  If we do, we can continue to protect the technologies that have unleashed untold opportunities for people around the globe.”

Obama warned Congress last week that he would veto proposed bipartisan legislation to impose additional sanctions on Iran, and did so again in the speech.

“I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress.  The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.”

“President Obama is tossing out a few tech tidbits in his State of the Union speech. There aren’t many surprises, but in one part of his address he mentions the Internet in the same breath as other forms of U.S. infrastructure. This is a bigger deal than you might think,” writes Brian Fung on The Switch, explaining that the rhetorical move lays a kind of governmental claim over Internet onramps.

Former Cuban prisoner Alan Gross. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

“In Cuba, we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date.  When what you’re doing doesn’t work for fifty years, it’s time to try something new,” Obama said to applause. He called for Congress to end the embargo and quoted Pope Francis, who said diplomacy is done in small steps. “These small steps have added up to new hope for the future in Cuba.  And after years in prison, we’re overjoyed that Alan Gross is back where he belongs.  Welcome home, Alan.”

Gross and his wife are seated in First Lady  Michelle Obama’s box.

“First, we stand united with people around the world who’ve been targeted by terrorists – from a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris.  We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks, and we reserve the right to act unilaterally, as we’ve done relentlessly since I took office to take out terrorists who pose a direct threat to us and our allies.”

“In Iraq and Syria, American leadership – including our military power – is stopping ISIL’s advance.”

The president can certainly make a case that progress is being made against the Islamic State militants in Iraq, but he goes too far when he lumps Syria into the same sentence. Just last week, the Wall Street Journal documented that three months of U.S. airstrikes in Syria had failed to prevent the group from expanding its territory in the country. The article quoted a senior defense office as saying that “certainly ISIS has been able to expand in Syria, but that’s not our main objective.”

Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, told the newspaper that airstrikes weren’t intended to prevent Islamic State fighters from gaining ground in most of Syria. “Gaining territorial control in Syria has never been our mission,” he said. “That wasn’t the objective of our airstrikes.”

U.S. military officials have been more forthright about saying they have made progress against Islamic State in Iraq. “We’re starting to see what they’re doing is they’re trying to protect the areas they are in control of now, which I might add is some 700 square kilometers less than it was about six months ago,” Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon Press Secretary, told reporters in January. He said he was not able to provide a breakdown as to how much was in Iraq and how much was in Syria. In another news briefing, Kirby said that Syria opposition fighters would be trained “to eventually go on the offensive against ISIL inside Syria.”

Astronaut Scott Kelly will start a year-long stay in space. He’s in the First Lady’s box and the president had a request for him. “Good luck, Captain – and make sure to Instagram it.”

“Scott Kelly will begin a year-long stay in space. So Good luck, Captain Kelly. Make sure to @Instagram it.” —President Obama #SOTU

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 21, 2015

Alan Gross, left, talks with Astronaut Scott Kelly in the U.S. Capitol before President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

President Obama’s address was expected to contain references to cybersecurity and other technology issues, but the first tech moment came before he even stepped up to the mikes.

Andrea Peterson at The Switch writes about how the White House released the State of the Union address on the blogging platform Medium in advance of its delivery to Congress.

The White House promised tonight’s speech would focus heavily on strengthening the middle class. President Obama repeated those two words seven times, according to the official transcript:

1. So the verdict is clear. Middle-class economics works.

2. That’s what middle-class economics is – the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.

3. So what does middle-class economics require in our time?

4. First – middle-class economics means helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change.
5. And that’s why my plan will make quality childcare more available, and more affordable, for every middle-class and low-income family with young children in America – by creating more slots and a new tax cut of up to $3,000 per child, per year.

6. That’s why the third part of middle-class economics is about building the most competitive economy anywhere, the place where businesses want to locate and hire.

7. But for far too long, lobbyists have rigged the tax code with loopholes that let some corporations pay nothing while others pay full freight.  They’ve riddled it with giveaways the super rich don’t need, denying a break to middle class families who do.

Shocking no one, House Speaker John Boehner disagrees:

#SOTU FACT: The president’s policies have failed the middle class. http://t.co/Lm5h8OA486

— Speaker John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) January 21, 2015

“Our deficits cut by two-thirds”

The improvement in the economy, coupled with the spending cuts in the sequester, has yielded a significantly lower deficit than just a few years ago. The deficit for the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30 was $483 billion, a decline of nearly $200 billion from the year before.

For economists, raw numbers mean less than the percentage of the gross domestic product, and here too, there has been an improvement.  As a percentage of the GDP, the deficit in fiscal year 2014 was 2.8 percent, the lowest level since 2007.

Interestingly, Obama’s 2010 budget, introduced in 2009 when deficits were soaring, predicted that the deficit in 2014 would be $535 billion and 2.9 percent of GDP–meaning the administration beat its deficit targets.

“So to every CEO in America, let me repeat:  If you want somebody who’s going to get the job done, hire a veteran.”

Editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes is live-sketching the State of the Union address. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram or here, with us.

Read more about King’s tweet here.

The twit Rep. Steve King uses "deportable" in a tweet about Michelle Obama's "DREAMer" guest to #SOTU

A photo posted by Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes) on Jan 20, 2015 at 6:21pm PST

“Our manufacturers have added almost 800,000 new jobs.”

The low point for manufacturing jobs was reached in January 2010, and there has been a gain of 786,000 jobs since then. But Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that the number of manufacturing jobs is still more than 300,000 fewer than when Obama took office in the depths of the recession — and 1.5 million fewer than when the recession began in December 2007.

“Since 2010, America has put more people back to work than Europe, Japan, and all advanced economies combined.”

Once again, the president relies on a data point from 2010; after all, in 2009, United States was shedding hundreds of thousands a month in the early days of his presidency. He also uses a somewhat unusual phrase—“advanced economies”—because he is relying on an International Monetary Fund listing of “advanced economies” which includes some entities, such as Hong Kong, that are not considered independent countries. But it does not include such fast-growing countries such as China.

But under that specific data set, Obama is right. From the first quarter of 2010 through the second quarter of 2014, the United States created 7.5 million new jobs—compared to 7.4 million in the other advanced economies.

Obama gives a shoutout to CVS – whose President and CEO, Larry J. Merlo, is watching from the First Lady’s box.

“I want to spread that idea all across America, so that two years of college becomes as free and universal in America as high school is today.”

“Understand, you’ve got to earn it – you’ve got to keep your grades up and graduate on time.” 

Obama’s proposal for “free community college” has gained national attention since the teaser announcement was posted on Facebook. It became the most viewed Facebook post by the White House.

Obama’s America’s College Promise proposal is quite specific. Since his initial announcement, Obama has said the free community college proposal is contingent on whether the student works for it (i.e., meets requirements). The proposal would make two years of community college free for “responsible students,” according to the White House. This includes an array of requirements for the students, including maintaining a 2.5 GPA and “make steady progress” toward graduation. He emphasized this point again during the State of the Union.

An important context here is that states must buy into the program. Some states already have programs that provide free community college, or have plans to do so, but many others do not have either.

The White House was specific in its requirement: “If all states participate, an estimated 9 million students could benefit.” States that decide to participate need to contribute matching funds to complement federal funding, to ensure the eligible students do, in fact, receive education for free. The colleges themselves also must take certain steps, such as offering certain educational and training programs, in order for the students to be eligible.

President Obama’s State of the Union proposal to make community college free for all is based in part on a program created under a Republican governor.

That program, called Tennessee Promise and signed into law last year by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R), provides graduating high school seniors with two years of community or technical college.

Haslam last year said he hopes the program, whose first beneficiaries are members of the class of 2015, will boost the state’s “college-going rate” by more than 15 percent over the next five years.

Obama’s plan, first announced at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, could be “a game-changer,” some education leaders say, according to The Post’s Nick Johnson. The administration estimates that 9 million students would benefit annually if all states participated, which would require that they cover a fourth of the as-yet undisclosed or unknown cost.

Unlike Tennessee’s program, the White House’s proposal is a so-called “first dollars” initiative, meaning other financial aid would augment the plan. Tennessee’s is a cheaper “last-dollar” program, meaning the aid kicks in only after other grants and scholarships students get are applied.

The First Lady’s guests for the address include Chelsey Davis, a student at Pellissippi State Community College.

Read more:

Obama’s free community college tuition plan: Four questions

“The idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.  We don’t just want everyone to share in America’s success – we want everyone to contribute to our success.”

More than half the states now have minimum wages above the federal floor of $7.25, which Obama once again called on Congress to raise in his State of the Union address.

Nearly two dozen states raised their minimum wages at the start of the year. At $9.47, the minimum wage in Washington is highest among states. Vermont, Connecticut and Oregon each has a minimum wage above $9, too. The chart of state minimum wages below was taken from the Department of Labor.

A Pew poll last year showed that nearly 3 in 4 Americans back raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10. Even a majority of Republicans support the idea.

Minimum wage by state. (DOL)

“Send me a bill that gives every worker in America the opportunity to earn seven days of paid sick leave.  It’s the right thing to do.”

“This is good news, people,” an ad lib from Obama in the State of the Union. It wasn’t in his prepared remarks. 

Where paid sick leave is already required. (National Partnership for Women and Families)

President Obama’s proposal for a paid sick leave requirement was first tested in San Francisco and is currently the law in just one state, Connecticut.

The City by the Bay became the first local government in the country to require paid sick leave in 2006, while Connecticut became the first state to pass a requirement in 2011, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families, which advocates for the policy. California joined last year, while voters in Massachusetts approved it on the ballot in November, but it won’t go into effect until July in either state.

In Washington, D.C., paid sick leave has been required since May 2008. And, in June 2013, city auditors reported that after asking 800 businesses whether the provision would force them to leave the city, 87.5 percent said it would not.

A 2013 survey of more than 200 businesses in Connecticut, conducted by the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research, found that nearly half—47 percent—reported no change in costs due to the law. Another 19 percent reported an increase in costs of less than 2 percent. The remaining third reported costs at various increments above that level.

The president also proposed requiring paid family leave, which is currently in place in California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

“Over the past five years, our businesses have created more than 11 million new jobs.”

The low point in jobs was reached in February 2010, and there has indeed been a gain of more than 11 million private-sector jobs since then, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Note that the president carefully referred to “businesses,” as in the same period the number of federal, state and local government jobs has actually declined by more than 500,000. So adding in government jobs slightly reduces the total number of new nonfarm jobs to 10.7 million jobs.

While Obama has touted what he calls the“longest stretch of uninterrupted private sector job growth” in U.S. history, the average number of jobs created in this period is significantly lower than in under either Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan. (When you exclude a single month of decline, in fact, Clinton and Reagan had streaks of 85 and 71 months, respectively.)

Still, the president finally has some bragging rights about the state of the economy. With the rate of job creation averaging almost 250,000 jobs a month in 2014, this is the first State of the Union address given by Obama in which the number of jobs in the United States is actually higher than when the recession began in December 2007. Even with the massive jobs losses at the start of his presidency, Obama can claim that nearly 6.4 million jobs were added since he took office. At this point in George W. Bush’s presidency, the comparable number was 4.5 million –and for Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, the figure was 18 million and 9.4 million, respectively.

(AFP/Mandel Ngan)

The famous line:

“The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong,” Obama says. #sotu #sotu2015

— Ed O’Keefe (@edatpost) January 21, 2015

Leading Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Tom Fitzgerald to ponder:

Has a president ever said, “the state of the union is…meh”?

— tomfitzgerald (@tomfitzgerald) January 21, 2015

The speech is starting in just a little while, so we thought it would be useful to take a look at some things you may have missed in the lead-up to the actual State of the Union:

• This year’s “designated survivor” is Anthony Foxx, the Secretary of Transportation.
• You can read the full text of President Obama’s prepared remarks here. (The White House also posted them on Medium about 10 minutes before the speech was scheduled to begin.)
• Obama will focus on the middle class during his speech, highlighting his proposal to increase taxes on wealthy people and financial institutions.
• In her response, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) will call for a plan to fight terrorism and argue for eliminating tax loopholes.
• Lawmakers plan to honor Charlie Hedbo victims by holding up yellow pencils.
• Meet the guests invited by Obama and lawmakers.

You can read President Obama’s prepared remarks here.

In an unusual departure, the White House posted Obama’s full speech on Medium before he spoke Tuesday night.

The White House had taken an unusual strategy leading up to this particular address. Instead of trying to maintain an air of secrecy, the administration has revealed its proposals in advance. Posting the entire speech online before Obama begins speaking — rather than giving it to news outlets on an embargoed basis before posting the entire thing — is simply the latest in a series of carefully orchestrated moves meant to earn attention for the policy proposals on their own, rather than twisted up with the larger responses to the speech.

Check out the shoes Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst is wearing tonight for her State of the Union rebuttal. #sotu pic.twitter.com/rMCzcg4mxO

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 21, 2015

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), one of the most outspoken opponents of immigration reform, drew attention after criticizing Obama for inviting a so-called “DREAMer” to sit in first lady Michelle Obama’s box.

#Obama perverts “prosecutorial discretion” by inviting a deportable to sit in place of honor at #SOTU w/1st Lady. I should sit with Alito.

— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) January 20, 2015

Asked Steve King if “deportable” cld hurt potential #GOP POTUS candidates “I don’t think so.”

— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) January 21, 2015

President Obama’s suiting up for the big speech. Watch at 9pm ET → http://t.co/NKU3ndKHOu #YesWeTan pic.twitter.com/l7EJZYVk9s

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 21, 2015

For the uninitiated: The president lit up social media in August when he showed up to the White House Briefing Room wearing a tan suit. He spoke to reporters about the Islamic State and tensions in Ukraine but his remarks were overshadowed outside of the briefing room by his sartorial choice du jour.

As The Post’s Alexandra Petri wrote: “It was no one’s strong suit. It was tan. Or beige. It swallowed the conversation around President Obama’s press conference whole.”

Tuesday’s social media blast was clearly intended to generate attentioin from political operatives and reporters on twitter, most of whom panned the president’s suit back in August. And it seems to have worked.

#yeswetan is now trending in #DC http://t.co/yYQDgrOaFt — Trendsmap DC (@TrendsDC) January 21, 2015

Michael Steel, House Speaker John Boehner’s spokesperson, chimed in as well.

.@pfeiffer44 In related news, you can buy one suit and get three free at Joseph A. Bank right now. http://t.co/iqsH6QJJV5 — Michael Steel (@michael_steel) January 21, 2015

Within minutes a parody account appeared mocking the suit (or maybe just those paying attention to the suit) because this is the world we live in.

This is exactly what Romney tried to warn us about pic.twitter.com/Zm6ftXR49K — Tan Suit (@ItsTheTanSuit) January 21, 2015

Anthony Foxx, U.S. transportation secretary, speaks at the the Transportation Research Board annual meeting. (Pete Marovich/Bloomberg)

The White House has confirmed that the Cabinet member to be kept safe in an undisclosed location to lead this nation in the absolute worst case scenario (everyone attending the State of the Union perishes) is… Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

Since 1984, only one other DOT head has been the night’s “designated survivor” – Bill Clinton’s DOT Secretary Federico Pena in 1995, according to a list kept by The American Presidency Project. The last two years the Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu in 2013 and Ernest Moniz in 2014, were the chosen ones.

Where Foxx will be tonight is kept a secret. Even his press secretary claimed not to know. A Q&A Foxx did for the In the Loop column in May suggests he’s probably somewhere enjoying gumbo and catching up on “Homeland.”

But President Obama will certainly address the nation’s aging infrastructure needs tonight, so Foxx should probably tune in.

What’s happening now as President Obama and members of Congress prepare for the State of the Union? The Post’s Ed O’Keefe gives a quick primer on the pomp and circumstance of the night.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a 2016 presidential hopeful, tweeted a State of the Union spoiler, but his dig at Obama was immediately overshadowed by the Twitter grammar police:

I’ll save you 45 mins. Obama will decry Republicans, beat up on private business and argue for more “free stuff”. Your welcome. #SOTU2015”

— Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) January 21, 2015

I mean, try to imagine a president who mistakes “your” for “you’re.” Or who puts periods outside quotation marks. Sigh.

— Evan Dawson (@evandawson) January 21, 2015

President Obama plans to call on Congress to pass “a resolution to authorize the use of force” against the Islamic State.

“We are fifteen years into this new century. Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores; that unfolded with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. It has been, and still is, a hard time for many,” Obama plans to say, according to excerpts of his speech released by the White House.

@PaulBegala @BarackObama turn the page was more poetic, than tonight we click “Next”

— Dan Pfeiffer (@pfeiffer44) January 20, 2015

Editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes is live-sketching the State of the Union address. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram or here, with us.

(Here’s which justices are and aren’t attending.)

Justice Scalia has more pressing issues than attending #SOTU

A photo posted by Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes) on Jan 20, 2015 at 4:06pm PST

Matt McClain/Post

National Statuary Hall before the State of the Union address.

White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer has put out a State of the Union watch guide on Medium. He writes that the speech is tailored to four types of watchers: people who watch it live on television, those who live stream, the “two-screener,” or someone who watches it on TV while using a tablet or smartphone and people who don’t watch but get updates over social media.

What does Pfeiffer think we should look out for? In his post he expounds on these points, which he wrote:

1. Middle class economics

2. Six years of progress

3. A story, not a laundry list

4. Write a letter, attend the State of the Union

5. An enhanced viewing experience

Outgoing Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) will attend the address as a guest of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

O’Malley, who is term-limited, is in his final full day as governor. Republican Gov.-elect Larry Hogan (R) will be sworn in Wednesday.

Pelosi’s other guests: Her husband Paul and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Chair Roslyn Brock.

President Obama will be interviewed by three YouTube personalities this week who will ask questions from social media about the State of the Union. Obama’s 2014 State of the Union was watched by 33.3 million viewers on television. Here’s how many views these YouTube stars have racked up on their biggest videos:

42 million views: “The Cinnamon Challenge … by GloZell and her Big Behind Earrings” by GloZell Green

16 million views: “Giraffe Love and Other Questions ANSWERED” by vlogbrothers

7.7 million views: “Morning Routine: Summer 2014!” by Bethany Mota

Andrew Harnik/For The Post

Members of the media set up cameras inside Statuary Hall on Tuesday.

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) rehearses the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address on Jan. 20, 2015. (Reuters/Joshua Roberts)

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) will deliver the Republican address after the State of the Union. Here are some excerpts from her speech.

“I’d like to have a conversation about the new Republican Congress you just elected, and how we plan to make Washington focus on your concerns again. We heard the message you sent in November — loud and clear. And now we’re getting to work to change the direction Washington has been taking our country.”

—

“We see our neighbors agonize over stagnant wages and lost jobs. We see the hurt caused by canceled healthcare plans and higher monthly insurance bills. We see too many moms and dads put their own dreams on hold while growing more fearful about the kind of future they’ll be able to leave to their children.  Americans have been hurting, but when we demanded solutions, too often Washington responded with the same stale mindset that led to failed policies like Obamacare. It’s a mindset that gave us political talking points, not serious solutions.”

—

“There’s a lot we can achieve if we work together. Let’s tear down trade barriers in places like Europe and the Pacific. Let’s sell more of what we make and grow in America over there so we can boost manufacturing, wages, and jobs right here, at home. Let’s simplify America’s outdated and loophole-ridden tax code. Republicans think tax filing should be easier for you, not just the well-connected. So let’s iron out loopholes to lower rates — and create jobs, not pay for more government spending. The President has already expressed some support for these kinds of ideas. We’re calling on him now to cooperate to pass them.”

—

“We’ve been reminded of terrorism’s reach both at home and abroad; most recently in France and Nigeria, but also in places like Canada and Australia. Our hearts go out to all the innocent victims of terrorism and their loved ones. We can only imagine the depth of their grief. … The forces of violence and oppression don’t care about the innocent. We need a comprehensive plan to defeat them.”

—

“Congress is back to work on your behalf, ready to make Washington focus on your concerns again. We know America faces big challenges. But history has shown there’s nothing our nation, and our people, can’t accomplish.”

New WaPo-ABC poll: 42% say Obama has made economy better 27% say he has made it worse http://t.co/qyYV2HNwG8 pic.twitter.com/guBszIsVPU

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlakeWP) January 20, 2015

From Aaron Blake over at The Fix:

“President Obama will deliver his sixth State of the Union address Tuesday night. And arguably for the first time, he can pitch his economic record as a success. But he must do so cautiously. … That’s because, while it appears to be a net-positive for the president right now, it’s hardly a positive overall. Despite the momentum, Americans say by 44 to 38 that Republicans have better ideas on economic development.”

Read the full post here.

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

This photo shows President Obama meeting with four people invited to attend tonight’s address who had written him letters. They’ll be seated with first lady Michelle Obama and are, from left, health-care worker Victor Fugate, working wife and mother Rebekah Erler, sub-shop owner Carolyn Reed and teacher Katrice Mubiru.

President Obama has been spoiling the State of the Union for most of January, and it continues. Here are some excerpts from his speech. It airs at 9 p.m. Eastern.

…

“At this moment – with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production – we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth.  It’s now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next fifteen years, and for decades to come.

Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well?  Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?”

…

“So the verdict is clear.  Middle-class economics works.  Expanding opportunity works.  And these policies will continue to work, as long as politics don’t get in the way.”

…

“In fact, at every moment of economic change throughout our history, this country has taken bold action to adapt to new circumstances, and to make sure everyone gets a fair shot. We set up worker protections, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to protect ourselves from the harshest adversity.  We gave our citizens schools and colleges, infrastructure and the internet – tools they needed to go as far as their effort will take them.

That’s what middle-class economics is – the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”

…

“I believe in a smarter kind of American leadership.  We lead best when we combine military power with strong diplomacy; when we leverage our power with coalition building; when we don’t let our fears blind us to the opportunities that this new century presents.  That’s exactly what we’re doing right now – and around the globe, it is making a difference.”

…

“In Iraq and Syria, American leadership – including our military power – is stopping ISIL’s advance.  Instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the Middle East, we are leading a broad coalition, including Arab nations, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group.  We’re also supporting a moderate opposition in Syria that can help us in this effort, and assisting people everywhere who stand up to the bankrupt ideology of violent extremism.  This effort will take time.  It will require focus.  But we will succeed.  And tonight, I call on this Congress to show the world that we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL.”

…

“No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids.  We are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats, just as we have done to combat terrorism.  And tonight, I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information.  If we don’t act, we’ll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable.  If we do, we can continue to protect the technologies that have unleashed untold opportunities for people around the globe.”

Okay!

Oh come on. Like you have something better to do right now.

• Biden Arrives Early To Set Up State Of The Union Fog Machine (Jan 20, 2015)

(Usual warnings about expletives apply.)

Or, you know, you could play around with the Joe Biden random compliment generator some more. Either way.

The Fact Checker’s Glenn Kessler has a status check on proposals and initiatives from Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address and what became of them:

In general, Obama’s success rate on legislation has been relatively poor since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 2011. Still, in 2014 — his purported “year of action” — the president did follow through on many executive actions he had promised.

PostTV examined four of the proposals in the video above, ad the Fact Checker did the same accounting in previous years. See: 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010.

The White House YouTube page has posted multiple videos ahead of tonight’s State of the Union address. They use dubstep music in the intro.

The State of the Union marks President Obama’s first address to Congress since his party took a beating in the mid-term elections, losing the Senate majority and watching the GOP grow their House majority.

It’s a tough task, but at least Obama’s got experience: he faced similar circumstances back in 2010, after Democrats lost the House. Here’s how Presidents Eisenhower, Reagan, Bush and Clinton urged bipartisan cooperation in the State of the Union after heavy losses for their party:

Read more on PostPolitics.

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) has planned a tribute during the State of the Union to those killed in the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack: She and other lawmakers intend to hold up yellow pencils to honor the victims of the shooting at the French magazine.

President Obama is expected to reference the attack in his speech. Moore’s plan is for the lawmakers to hold up the pencils (reportedly unsharpened, for safety reasons) during an applause. The large yellow pencils have become a symbol of support for the magazine and freedom of the press.

A giant pencil is held up at a vigil outside The French Institute in London for the 12 victims of the attack on the Paris offices of satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo. (AFP/Justin Tallis/Getty Images)

House Speaker John Boehner gives a ceremonial re-enactment of the oath of office to Rep. Curt Clawson on Jan. 6. (Cliff Owen/AP)

Add Florida Republican Rep. Curt Clawson’s name to the list of responders to President Obama’s State of the Union speech.

Clawson will give the tea party response to Obama’s speech, he said Tuesday afternoon.

“I am looking forward to this opportunity to articulate an inclusive message that focuses on providing economic liberty and individual opportunity for every American,” he said in an e-mail to supporters.

Previous tea party responders include Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and then-Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).

The tea party group Tea Party Express plans to show Clawson’s speech on its Web site.

Newly minted Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa) is giving the official GOP response. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.), who was also sworn in just this month, will give the Spanish-language response.

Paul, meanwhile, will offer his own response.

TONIGHT: I will respond to President Obama’s State of the Union address at 10pm ET HERE: https://t.co/EIfncT3aG8 #SOTU

— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) January 20, 2015

Expect the usual suspects from the Supreme Court to cross First Street Tuesday night to attend the State of the Union address — and the rest of the high court to, as usual, take a pass.

The number sometime fluctuates, but in recent years six of the nine justices have shown up to sit silently amid the de rigeur standing ovations. The regulars are Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Sotomayor skipped last year’s festivities because she was out of the country.

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas haven’t gone for years — yes, they skipped the address even when a Republican president was delivering it — and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. has been a no-show since 2010. You’ll remember that was when President Obama criticized the court for its just-released decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and television cameras showed Alito mouthing the words, “not true.”

Left to right: U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts applauds as Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan look on prior to the 2013 State of the Union speech. (Reuters/Charles Dharapak)

Most justices grumble about what a partisan show the address has become — and in the past, sometimes only Breyer has shown up to represent the court.

Ginsburg has been strategic about her appearances: she made sure to attend one year after she had been treated for cancer, to show up a senator who had said she might not be around much longer. She is also a favorite for the cameras because she has a tendency to, well…rest her eyes during the speech. She has joked she depends on the elbows of those on either side of her to keep her alert.

But she also told the Post in 2013 it was neither fatigue nor boredom that tired her that year. There was a big dinner beforehand, she said, with “a very good California wine that Tony Kennedy brought.”

Editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes is live-sketching the State of the Union address. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram or here, with us.

Speaker John Boehner #SOTU drinking games

A photo posted by Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes) on Jan 20, 2015 at 2:05pm PST

Author Cheryl Strayed, left, and actress Reese Witherspoon at the Golden Globes this month. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

It’s not just the First Lady who gets to invite guests to view the State of the Union live. Members of Congress also bring guests to watch the speech. (Remember Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson last year?)

Here are a few of the people chosen to sit in the House gallery as personal guests of lawmakers:

• Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio, who has recently taken to lobbying on food labeling issues. Invited by: Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine)
• Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who was asked because of his various charity efforts. Invited by: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)
• Former New Orleans Saints player Steve Gleason, who has ALS and is an advocate for the cause. Invited by: Sen. David Vitter (R-La.)
• Jim Downing, the oldest living survivor of Pearl Harbor, and his daughter. Invited by: Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)
• Cheryl Strayed, whose best-selling memoir “Wild” was adapted to the silver screen by Reese Witherspoon. Invited by: Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.).
• Emma Sulkowicz, who has gained national attention for her efforts to raise awareness of sexual assault on campus. Invited by: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
• Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve, who was sworn into office in November. Invited by: Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
• Jeff Detrick, who served as a combat-medic in the U.S. Army. Invited by: Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
• Blanca Gamez, a DREAMer who benefited from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Invited by: Sen. Harry Reid. (D-Nev.)
• Cuban activist Rosa María Paya, whose pro-democracy father was allegedly killed by the Cuban government. Invited by: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)
• Cuban dissidents Jorge Luis García Pérez and Yris Tamara Pérez Aguilera. Invited by: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)
• Amelia Boynton Robinson, 103, voting rights activist who was beaten during the Selma march in 1964. Invited by: Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.)
• Dr. Philip Smith, led a team that treated three Ebola patients in Nebraska. Invited by: Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.)

Editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes is live-sketching the State of the Union address. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram or here, with us.

VP Biden gets ready for #SOTU (1 of 4)

A photo posted by Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes) on Jan 20, 2015 at 12:59pm PST

VP Biden gets ready for #SOTU (2 of 4) A photo posted by Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes) on Jan 20, 2015 at 1:00pm PST

VP Biden gets ready for #SOTU (3 of 4)

A photo posted by Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes) on Jan 20, 2015 at 1:02pm PST

VP Biden gets ready for #SOTU (4 of 4) A photo posted by Ann Telnaes (@anntelnaes) on Jan 20, 2015 at 1:04pm PST

A student ✓ A teacher ✓ A veteran ✓ An astronaut ✓ Meet the First Lady’s guests for the State of the Union: http://t.co/amKnW4ZmF6 #SOTU

— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) January 20, 2015

For the past few months, President Obama has been spending a lot of time with people who write him letters. Tuesday four of them came to the Oval Office.

Obama invited eight people who have written him letters to the State of the Union. They are among the 23 guests who will sit in a box with First Lady Michelle Obama.

Obama reads 10 letters each night as a way to check in with the fears, hopes and problems of ordinary Americans. This summer he criss-crossed the country, taking many of these people out for a meal or coffee.

Obama has met with the four people he invited into his office. Carolyn Reed was among a group of people who went out for pizza with Obama in Denver in July; she thanked the president for the chance to expand her sandwich shop chain by using Small Business Association loans. Rebekah Erler ate a “Juicy Lucy,” which is a hamburger stuffed with cheese, in Minneapolis. The construction company that Erler’s husband owned went under and she was frustrated that her day care bills were more than her mortgage. Victor Fugate had barbecue with Obama in Kansas City and introduced him at a speech. Katrice Mubiru also introduced Obama, when he spoke in Los Angeles in July.

Pres Obama meets in Oval Office with four letter writers invited to attend SOTU as guests of @FLOTUS. pic.twitter.com/fBB1oBbLXP

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) January 20, 2015

Who will fall asleep in the State of the Union tonight? http://t.co/Mp0T4VihYf pic.twitter.com/jkrqCr577t

— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) January 20, 2015

Two political science researchers track how many State of the Union policy ideas actually are achieved through legislation each year.

President Obama had his worst year after he won his second term.

In Obama’s first two years, with Democrats fully in control of Congress, he achieved about half of what he said he wanted in his speech. Even in 2011, when Republicans won the House, Congress passed 41 percent of the Obama-suggested policies, at least in part. That fell to 21 percent in 2012 when he was running for reelection.

But the biggest drop came the next year, after Obama had won reelection to a second term and all sides claimed they’d find a way to work together. (House Speaker John Boehner said then, “If there is a mandate, it is a mandate for both parties to find common ground …”)

Of all the things Obama said he wanted in the afterglow of his landslide re-election, he only got 4.9 percent of them – the lowest of any years that were tracked. Last year, it was better, but not great, at 17 percent.

Read more about presidential policy successes here.

Why the State of the Union response is always so bad http://t.co/dTWLWnGWPr

— Nia-Malika Henderson (@NiaWaPo) January 20, 2015

The GOP’s message to Obama: Don’t talk about divisive stuff tonight. pic.twitter.com/9jIVCSrpmm

— Sean Sullivan (@WaPoSean) January 20, 2015

Hours before President Obama’s speech, Senate Republicans said they wanted to hear an address that focuses on areas where the two parties can compromise, not the issues that divide them.

“What to hope to hear tonight is an emphasis on things we can agree on,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). He called for a speech “that brings us together and doesn’t push us apart.”

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said: “I hope he is listening to the results of the 2014 election. It wasn’t just about electing a Republican majority. It was also about the American people saying we want you guys to get together and get some things done.”

Republicans mentioned trade and energy as possible areas where consensus can be reached.

Democrats said Republicans have been disingenuous about bipartisanship.

“Republicans have put forth five proposals they clearly knew the president would veto,” House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told The Washington Post. “It’s difficult to say they are looking for bipartisanship.”

McConnell criticized Obama’s proposal to impose new taxes on wealthiest Americans, which he will unveil in his speech.

“Another income redistribution effort, another tax increase is not what we had in mind,” he said.

President Obama will enter the House chamber tonight bearing improved public approval ratings. He also walks into a different chamber than he addressed last year, one altered by the recent midterm election and pivoting toward the 2016 presidential race.

David Nakamura has more here about the mood heading into the speech.