Watch it online or on TV. Talk about it here. (Jim Young/Reuters)
6:39 PM PT: $10,000 bet: Republicans attack Obama for saying he wants to create "new American jobs." The "old" ones are just fine, they'll say!
6:41 PM PT: Obama mentions the word "America" 88 times in tonight's SOTU. Bush mentioned it 65 times in 2004. Last year, Obama mentioned it 58 times.
6:45 PM PT:
The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. But there’s no reason why Congress shouldn’t at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation. So far, you haven’t acted. Well tonight, I will. I’m directing my Administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power three million homes. And I’m proud to announce that the Department of Defense, the world’s largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history – with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year.
6:46 PM PT:
In the next few weeks, I will sign an Executive Order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many construction projects. But you need to fund these projects. Take the money we’re no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home.
6:49 PM PT: Another shot against Mitt Romney:
And while Government can’t fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn’t have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief.
That’s why I’m sending this Congress a plan that gives every responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage, by refinancing at historically low interest rates. No more red tape. No more runaround from the banks. A small fee on the largest financial institutions will ensure that it won’t add to the deficit, and will give banks that were rescued by taxpayers a chance to repay a deficit of trust.
"Hit bottom" of course is a reference to Romney's foreclosure plan as formulated last October. Obama's gonna' need a whole new set of things to attack if Newt gets the nomination. Not that it will be any problem finding them.
6:52 PM PT (Kaili Joy Gray): The liveblogging continues in the next thread.