Health care reform got a mention...


Health care reform got a mention, but President Obama spent the bulk of his first State of the Union address laying out his plans for boosting the economy.  While it is clear that he wants Congress to continue work on health care reform, saying that he will not quit and offering for anyone with ideas on how to fix health care come forward, he cozied up to the middle class, talking about upping tax credits for child care, reducing the cost of college, and creating clean-energy jobs. He railed at banks (he "hated" the bailout, which was "as popular as a root canal") and lobbyists ("We cannot let them win this fight"). Going forward, he promised federal fiscal responsibility ("like any cash-strapped family, we will work within a budget") and an emphasis on jobs creation ("I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay"). After outlining the executive branch's priorities for the next year, Obama had a few words for the other branches of government. To the visible discomfort of the nation's Supreme Court justices, he slammed the recent decision that opened the floodgates of corporate campaign financing and urged Congress to pass a bill contravening the decision. He criticized Senate Republicans for practicing obstructionist politics and challenged them to try to actually get something done: "Saying no to everything may be good short-term politics but it's not leadership."