Steve Benen

It’s only been about 12 hours since the State of the Union address wrapped up, so it’s too early to get a complete picture of how it resonated with the public. For that matter, not everyone watches these speeches — and those who do are likely more inclined to agree with what President Obama has […]

In his State of the Union address, President Obama noted an important observation that Americans may not be aware of: “In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than three million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005.” That’s true. America’s private sector has, in fact, created 3.13 million jobs over […]

When President Obama entered the House chamber last night to deliver the State of the Union, he stopped briefly to tell Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, “Leon. Good job tonight. Good job tonight.” Now we know why. In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held […]

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels delivered the Republican response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, to the delight of GOP insiders who still hope he might run for president. The national platform offered Daniels an opportunity to back up the hype — pundits routinely praise the former Bush budget director as a serious, thoughtful […]

If President Obama’s State of the Union address was intended as a bookend to the December speech he delivered in Osawatomie, Kansas, it was a success. It was in Osawatomie that the president presented a vision based on populism, characterizing economic opportunity and justice “the defining issue of our time,” and last night, Obama did […]

In about 20 minutes, President Obama will head to the floor of the House chamber to deliver his 2012 State of the Union address. I’ll have plenty of thoughts in the morning, but in the meantime let’s open the floor to some discussion. What are your impressions? Any surprises? What worked? What didn’t? By the […]

Today’s edition of quick hits: * Europe: “Euro zone finance ministers on Monday rejected as insufficient an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure Greece’s debts, sending negotiators back to the drawing board and raising the threat of Greek default.” * On a related note, the IMF is clearly concerned: “The International Monetary Fund […]

President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address tonight and will reportedly unveil a new slogan: “win the future” is out; “built to last” is in. One of the larger questions, of course, is whether the speech will matter. Can we expect Obama to get a bump in the polls? Probably not. The […]

As part of a symbolic gesture, more than 180 members of Congress have reportedly committed to having a seatmate from the other party at the State of the Union address. It’s apparently intended to be a move to demonstrate a degree of bipartisanship — lawmakers don’t really hate one another, the argument goes, if they’re […]

Over the weekend, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) described President Obama’s State of the Union address, which he had not heard, as “pathetic.” Today, Boehner pushed the rhetorical envelope a little further. House Speaker John Boehner Tuesday forcefully denounced the Democrats’ campaign theme that they are for the middle class and Republicans are for the […]