Record Number of Households on Food Stamps

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Barack Obama will deliver his 2013 State of the Union speech to Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time  /  7 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time  /  6 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.   The 2013 State of the Union is scheduled to last for 90 minutes.  

The Republican Response, delivered by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, will follow live online immediately after the President's speech.  U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) will deliver the 2013 Tea Party Rebuttal online.  This will be the third year that a Tea Party Rebuttal has been delivered to both the State of the Union and Republican Response.






Viewers can comment below as the night unfolds about what they think of President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech, the Republican Response, and the Tea Party Rebuttal.  

The President's State of the Union speech will also air on PBS, NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN, and C-SPAN on television. Viewers can also watch the State of the Union 2013 speech live online on Google+, Hulu, Facebook, Ustream, YouTube, AOL, major network, and some network affiliate websites from 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time.  

Some of the common Twitter hash tags used for tonight's speech are #POTUS (President of the United States) and #SOTU (State of the Union), and #SOTU2013 (State of the Union 2013).

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE PRESIDENT'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS 

THE ECONOMY:

Look for the President to tout his achievements in the U.S. economic recovery after the Great Recession by citing over a million jobs created since he took office and the stabilization of the U.S. housing market.  As in past State of the Union addresses, the President may call for continued funding for U.S. infrastructure projects, green jobs, and education from pre-school through college.

THE BUDGET:

The President may have given a clue during his radio address last Saturday as to what he may say tonight when he called on Republicans and Democrats in Congress to compromise with "a balanced mix of spending cuts and higher tax rates for the wealthiest Americans" to avoid sequestration and other automatic budget cuts.

 

GUN CONTROL:

Expect the President to once again reaffirm his belief in an American's right to bear arms while also pushing for his gun control measures.  When the President announced his gun control plan in January, he called on Congress to enact an Assault Weapons Ban with a 10-round magazine limit along with Universal Background Checks. 

   

REPUBLICAN RESPONSE:

Florida Senator Marco Rubio's remarks during the Fiscal Cliff could shed some light on what to expect from the Republican Response to the State of the Union address tonight:

"Of course, many Americans will be relieved in the short term that their taxes won't go up. However in the long run, they will be hurt when employers pass on to them one of the largest tax hikes in decades.  Furthermore, this deal just postpones the inevitable, the need to solve our growing debt crisis and help the 23 million Americans who can't find the work they need,” Rubio said.  "And to make matters worse, it does nothing to bring our dangerous debt under control."

TEA PARTY REBUTTAL:

It may seem odd that a Tea Party Rebuttal would be delivered when Rubio was a Tea Party favorite during his election to the U.S. Senate.   But Rubio's relationship with the Tea Party has become strained over some issues such as Rubio's call for intervention in Libya, his endorsement of Mitt Romney, and his position on the National Defense Authorization Act.

Paul on the other hand, is known for his stance against intervention and foreign aid to Libya, as well as his outspoken criticism of the NDAA.


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Record Number of Households on Food Stamps