WASHINGTON, Jan 20: President Barack Obama will challenge the Republican-led Congress to back his tax-raising ideas for helping middle-class Americans in a State of the Union speech today that will set up a tough debate and may impact the 2016 campaign to replace him. Looking to burnish his legacy with two years left in office, Obama will appear before a joint session of Congress in the well of the House of Representatives at 9 pm (0730 IST tomorrow). The speech will be his best opportunity of the year to command the attention of millions of Americans watching on television.
Obama will push a plan to increase taxes by 320 billion dollar over 10 years on the wealthy by closing tax loopholes and imposing a fee on big financial firms. The money would be used to pay for an increase in benefits for the middle class.
Obama’s aim is to help those left behind by an economic revival taking hold six years into his tenure, which began with the Democrat facing a crippling financial crisis. ‘Now that we have fought our way through the crisis, how do we make sure that everybody in this country, how do we make sure that they are sharing in this growing economy?’ Obama said in a White House-produced YouTube video preview of his speech.
Obama’s proposals are already being viewed skeptically by Republicans who control both houses of Congress and who are in no mood to raise taxes on anyone. ‘More Washington tax hikes and spending is the same, old top-down approach we’ve come to expect from President Obama that hasn’t worked,’ said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, the top US Republican. (AGENCIES)
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