Obama Delivers Fourth State Of The Union

President Obama's fourth State of the Union presented a concrete attempt to implement a vision of liberal ideas that he presented in his Inaugural Address last month.

Two of the biggest eye catchers? Education reform and raising the minimum wage. He framed all of it as a broader effort to lift those in the middle class and bring more into the middle class. Perhaps most striking from his education proposals came a call to ensure children have access to high quality pre-schools and efforts to make colleges more affordable and accountable for tuition increases.

Many are calling his speech "Act Two" of a two-part synopsis on his vision for America. The first act came during the Inauguration Address. The tone from Obama came in the form of one more mindful and humbled by what he can and cannot do without the assistance of Congress. His push came strong against the American people and Congress for helping achieve his goals.

With the sequester coming in just two weeks' time Obama took the opportunity to make the case against the deep spending cuts that are set to come into affect. He warned the cuts would be damaging, no...devastating, and encouraged Republicans and Democrats alike to reach a compromise.

"These sudden harsh military cuts would jeopardize our military readiness. They'd devastate priorities like education, energy, and medical research. They would certainly slow our economy, and cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs."

On gun control Obama repeated many of his earlier calls for action. An assault weapons ban, universal background checks, and a ban on high capacity magazines He also  told Congress he expects them to bring these proposals up for a vote, mentioning the recent shooting of Hadiya Pendleton, who participated in the Inaugural ceremonies last month.

"Hadiya's parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. They deserve a vote."

 At times lawmakers interrupted his speech by chanting the refrain:

"Gabby Giffords deserves a vote. The families of Newtown deserve a vote. The families of Aurora deserve a vote."

 When it came to immigration reform Obama largely was hands-off. He kept his promise to let Congress continue to work on a bipartisan agreement that he could sign into law.

The speech lasted an hour and consisted of more than 6,400 words. The president repeated his call for infrastructure spending to promote job creation, calling for $40 billion to repair structurally deficient bridges and $15 billion for demolition and rebuilding in blighted communities.

Senior administration officials did not say how he would pay for his proposals, saying they would fall within the federal budget caps set in the 2011 Budget Control Act. They also added that specifics would come with the president's budget due in late March.

The Full White House Fact Sheet On Obama's Proposals:

SOTU Fact Sheet by Zeke Miller