Obama says Boxer could lose if Dems don't work

LOS ANGELES – President Barack Obama delivered Democrat-friendly California a stark message Monday: Liberal Sen. Barbara Boxer might lose her re-election race if her supporters don't work hard.

The president's stern words in a state where he remains popular and Boxer won her last re-election race in a rout underscored the perilous political environment confronting all Democrats in this midterm election year — and showed Obama is all too aware of the dangers.

"I don't want anyone here taking this for granted," he said at a reception at the California Science Center, the first of a trio of fundraisers Monday night for Boxer and the Democratic National Committee.

"Unless she's got that support she might not win this thing, and I don't think that's an acceptable outcome. So I want everyone to work hard," the president said.

All incumbents face an uphill battle because of the economy, Obama said, though he insisted it's turning around.

At the second event Obama faced a handful of hecklers demanding to know what he was going to do to get rid of the "don't ask don't tell" policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the military. The heckling grew so insistent that Obama responded, saying that he and Boxer supported overturning the policy.

"So I don't know why you're hollering," Obama said, telling them to yell at people who oppose lifting the ban.

Their shouts were drowned out by cries of "Yes we can! Yes we can!" from others in the crowd.

Obama also used the fundraisers to make a pitch for the financial regulation overhaul legislation awaiting action in the Senate, saying it was necessary to rein in Wall Street and attacking Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell by name for opposing the bill. Obama plans a speech on the issue Thursday in New York.

Boxer herself, who's seeking a fourth term, referenced the perceived enthusiasm gap between the Democratic base and the revved-up tea party movement — which is supporting one of her Republican opponents, state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore — and said her supporters had to battle back.

"Are you ready to go toe to toe to them, cup by cup by cup? Because I am," Boxer said. "We're in a run for our life. We're all being tested now. The times are testing us."

The events were expected to raise between $3 million and $3.5 million for the senator and the DNC, with ticket prices ranging from $100 for a reception to $17,600 for dinner with the president. Two events were at the California Science Center and the dinner took place at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

They were among Obama's first appearances on behalf of a candidate since his health care overhaul passed Congress last month.

An independent Field Poll last month found Boxer running about even with the three Republicans who are competing for the nomination in the state's June 8 primary; she has only token primary opposition.

Even so, most analysts give Boxer the advantage, especially compared with some other Senate Democratic candidates or seriously endangered incumbents such as moderate Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas. But whereas Obama might not be welcome in conservative Arkansas, he was cheered in California, where he remains popular — far more popular, in fact, than Boxer.

His approval rating stood at 52 percent in a Field Poll last month. By contrast Boxer was viewed favorably by only 38 percent of California voters.

And unlike in other parts of the country, both Obama and Boxer could benefit from passage of the health care law. A Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll this month said California voters have a generally positive view of the health care bill. Forty-six percent said they would be more likely to vote for a lawmaker who supported the bill compared with 29 percent who said they would not be.

In addition to DeVore, Boxer's Republican rivals are businesswoman Carly Fiorina and former Rep. Tom Campbell.

In a conference call with reporters Monday, Fiorina said Obama is on a "rescue mission" to save Boxer when the state's troubled economy needs help.

Obamas earn $5.5 million in 2009

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama and his wife earned about $5.5 million in 2009 primarily from the proceeds of his best-selling books, and they paid $1.79 million in federal income taxes, the White House said on Thursday.

Obama's joint tax return with First Lady Michelle Obama show the couple has become wealthier since he became president, largely on the back of the success of his books.

Obama's two memoirs, "Dreams From My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream", were New York Times best-sellers. Both were published before he became president.

He reported annual adjusted gross income of $5,505,409 in 2009, which was an increase from $2,656,902 in 2008.

The couple also reported paying $163,303 in state income taxes in Illinois, which Obama represented as a senator before being elected president in 2008.

The Obamas donated $329,100 to 40 charities last year.

Their largest contributions were $50,000 to the international anti-poverty group CARE and $50,000 to the United Negro College Fund.

Obama also donated $1.4 million in award money from his Nobel Peace Prize to charity and did not count that as income or as a charitable deduction on his tax returns.

The White House released the Obamas' tax details on the April 15 U.S. deadline for filing taxes.

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, made considerably less money than the first family, according to the White House statement.

The Bidens reported adjusted gross income of $333,182 in 2009 and paid $71,147 in federal income taxes. They contributed $4,820 to charity "in both monetary and in-kind donations," the statement said.

The full tax returns, which were made public, included some interesting, if unsurprising, details. Under "your occupation," Obama's tax return says "US President" and under "spouse's occupation" it says "US First Lady."

The first couple used a Chicago-based firm to complete their tax returns.

As president, Obama earns a salary of $400,000 a year. As vice president, Biden earned a salary of $227,300 last year.

Obama pursues charm campaign at Americas summit

U.S.-Cuba Relationship Talk of Summit

PORT OF SPAIN (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Sunday pursued his diplomatic charm campaign in the Americas in the closing hours of a regional summit that has helped restore the United States' battered image in the hemisphere.

Obama met on Sunday with leaders from Central America, a corner of the continent that has experienced U.S. military interventions and where at least one country voted to return a former left-wing guerrilla to the presidency.

The U.S. leader's contacts during the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago have mended broken diplomatic fences in a region where America-bashing has long been accepted.

"I'm very pleased to have this opportunity to meet with the leaders of Central America. Obviously we have a long history of relations between the United States and Central America," Obama told reporters at Sunday's meeting.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a former leftist guerrilla leader and fierce critic of U.S. policies, sat next to Obama.

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya praised Obama's "listen and learn" approach at the summit. "The treatment that we're receiving is totally different in terms of more openness, more dialogue and more respect," he told reporters.

Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom said the Central American leaders held "cordial and frank" talks for about an hour with Obama on migration issues, deportations and drug trafficking.

Although Obama has had to field a chorus of calls to lift the U.S. trade embargo on communist-ruled Cuba, his cooperative diplomatic style appears to have gone down well with his Latin American and Caribbean peers.

He even appeared to have won over die-hard critics of U.S. policy, like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who often pilloried Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, as the diabolic epitome of "imperialism."

Chavez, a prolific Bush-basher, felt sufficiently reassured by Obama to propose naming a new ambassador to Washington. He expelled the U.S. ambassador in September and Washington responded by kicking out Venezuela's envoy.

A formal closing ceremony later on Sunday was due to set the seal on the two-day summit that introduced Obama to the region. The U.S. president and more than 30 other regional leaders brainstormed on the global economic crisis and energy and security challenges.

OBJECTIONS TO SUMMIT DOCUMENT

It was not clear whether there would be a formal signing ceremony of the lengthy draft summit declaration, because a group of mostly leftist presidents led by Chavez had previously rejected it as deficient.

The group, including Bolivia, Nicaragua and Honduras, said the document failed to address Cuba's exclusion from the summit and did not provide solutions to the global economic crisis that threatens to send millions in the region back to poverty.

"We don't know if everybody is going to sign, but we hope so ... We need consensus and we hope there will be no damper," Dennis McComie, a spokesman for the Trinidadian summit hosts told Reuters. He said Trinidad Prime Minister Patrick Manning was trying to persuade the recalcitrant group to sign.

Despite this, Latin American and Caribbean leaders were hailing the summit as a success.

In contrast to the previous 2005 summit in Argentina that ended in discord, the Port of Spain meeting was humming with good feelings projected by the young new U.S. president, who promised a cooperative partnership of equals with his peers.

"The presence of President Obama has certainly made a powerful contribution to the positive climate and success of the summit," Organization of American States Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza told reporters.

Insulza did not believe the summit was distracted by a debate over U.S.-Cuban ties that dominated its buildup.

Hopes for a rapprochement between Washington and Havana have risen after both Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro signaled they were ready to talk to try to end the long-standing ideological conflict between their countries.

Obama told the opening session of the summit on Friday he wanted a "new beginning" with Cuba and had made a gesture by easing some aspects of the U.S. embargo earlier in the week.

The U.S. leader also made clear he wanted Cuba to reciprocate by opening up political freedoms for its citizens.

In the past, Havana has rejected placing such conditions on an improvement in ties as meddling in its sovereignty.

Obama tempers optimism with reality on economy

WASHINGTON – Aiming to assert control over the nation's economic debate, President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned Americans eager for good news that "by no means are we out of the woods" and argued his broad domestic agenda is the path to recovery.

In a speech at Georgetown University, Obama aimed to juggle his recent glass-half-full takes on the economy with a determination to not be stamped as naive in the face lingering problems. He summarized actions his administration has taken to steady the limping economy and coupled that with a fresh overview of his domestic goals.

The speech, which key aides had signaled in advance would not contain any major announcements, came as Obama nears his symbolic 100-day mark in office, important because that has become a traditional marker by which to judge new administrations.

"There is no doubt that times are still tough," Obama said. "But from where we stand, for the very first time, we are beginning to see glimmers of hope. And beyond that, way off in the distance, we can see a vision of an America's future that is far different than our troubled economic past."

Obama's message came on a day of conflicting economic indicators and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's suggestion that the recession may at last be bottoming out.
It would have been difficult to make that case based on a report the government released earlier Tuesday showing that retail sales plummeted by 1.1 percent in March, a performance much poorer than experts had anticipated. At the same time, wholesale prices dropped sharply, a strong indication that inflation appears to pose little threat to the economy.

In a speech at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Bernanke talked of flickering signs of improvement, citing recent data on home and auto sales, home building and consumer spending.
But the government's broader message — that a full turnaround might be a long time coming — may not be welcome news for a weary U.S. public.

Obama, in fact, said in his speech that a complete recovery depends on building a new foundation for the U.S. economy and making changes in the political landscape. And he said anew that rules governing the financial system must be made compatible with Digital Age technology and innovation, telling Congress that "I expect a bill to arrive on my desk for signature before the year is out."

He also said the economy must be transformed from one less dependent on a risk-obsessed financial sector and more on clean energy, good education and health care costs brought under control.

"We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand," he said, invoking a Biblical reference to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. "We must build our house upon a rock. We must lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest, where we consume less at home and send more exports abroad."

Obama also said the problem is exacerbated by politicians with an outsized interest in scoring points and an impatient media.

"When a crisis hits," he said, "there is all too often a lurch from shock to trance, with everyone responding to the tempest of the moment until the furor has died down and the media coverage has moved on to something else, instead of confronting the major challenges that will shape our future in a sustained and focused way."
"This can't be one of those times," Obama said.

Obama put his fledgling presidency on the line when he advocated sweeping new government intervention and spending to right the troubled economic conditions. Shortly after taking office he signed a $787 billion package intended to boost the economy and his administration also has unveiled a slew of other programs aimed to right the troubled home, banking and auto sectors.
"Taken together, these actions are starting to generate signs of economic progress," he said, citing canceled government-sector layoffs, new clean-energy industry hires, a spate of refinancings, and signs of increased credit flows.

But, the president said, "2009 will continue to be a difficult year." He predicted more job losses, foreclosures, and gyrating stock markets.
The president devoted a significant portion of his speech to defending actions he has taken in the face of criticism he has heard mainly from Republicans — but also from some of the more conservative members of own Democratic Party — that he has "been spending with reckless abandon, pushing a liberal social agenda while mortgaging our children's future."
Not so, Obama said.

"The last thing a government should do in the middle of a recession is to cut back on spending," the president said.

As for the long-term, increasingly dire federal budget deficit picture, he said that investments in new industries and economic foundations is crucial to future success and even to reducing the deficit. "Chronically slow growth will not help our long-term budget situation," he said.

The president also defended the massive and unpopular government programs enacted under the Bush administration and expanded under Obama to bail out banks and other financial institutions. He acknowledged that sending money directly to taxpayers might be more palatable — but said it wouldn't be as effective.

"The truth is that a dollar of capital in a bank can actually result in eight or ten dollars of loans to families and businesses, a multiplier effect that can ultimately lead to a faster pace of economic growth," Obama said.

Obama to forecast $1.75tn deficit in budget proposal

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will forecast a 2009 deficit of $1.75 trillion in a budget proposal on Thursday that sets goals of overhauling the healthcare system and shoring up the US economy.

The huge deficit would represent 12.3 per cent of US gross domestic product — the largest share since World War II.

Two senior administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the release of the 2010 budget at 11 a.m. EST, said Obama's expensive policy goals would be offset by cuts to put the country in better fiscal shape.

Federal spending is skyrocketing as officials try to jolt the faltering economy with public-works spending and tax cuts and bail out the troubled financial industry.

Obama, a Democrat, has pledged to halve the more-than $1 trillion deficit he inherited from former Republican President George W. Bush in four years. The budget lays out spending cuts in agriculture subsidies and other areas to meet that goal.

But spending would increase to meet key objectives. The budget sets aside $250 billion as a "placeholder" if Obama decides to ask Congress for more money to help the troubled US financial system. No such decision has been made yet, officials said.

It also includes a 10-year, $634-billion reserve fund to help pay for the president's proposed healthcare reforms.

Another official said the budget included hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues, starting in 2012 and going over many years, from a greenhouse gas emissions trading system, one of Obama's key proposals to fight global warming.

Officials planned a high profile roll-out of the 134-page budget outline on Thursday. A more detailed version will come out in mid or late April.

The budget, for the fiscal year that begins on October 1, 2009, requires passage by Congress to take effect.

Obama's $1.75 trillion budget deficit forecast for this year reflects shortfalls accumulated under Bush as well as new spending proposals under the $787 economic stimulus package that the Democratic president recently signed.

His stimulus package and other efforts to revitalize the economy have done little to cheer Wall Street. US stocks prices hit 12-year lows this week.

The United States has experienced 14 months of recession triggered by a financial crisis that has spread across the world. Obama says a big increase in government spending is crucial to avoid economic catastrophe.

A big challenge for Obama will be selling the budget to lawmakers, some of whom may resist cuts to such programs as farm subsidies that are popular in Congress.

"There's no doubt that there are going to be things that we do that are going to create some political heartburn," one official said.

"But our fundamental mission is restore the health of the economy, put the budget on a better (footing) moving forward."

The budget reflects the delicate balance Obama must strike between making sure there is enough money to fix the economy while avoiding excessive pressure on long-term finances.

Some experts fear that if the record pace of government borrowing to finance debt continues, it could affect financial markets by raising interest rates for borrowers, which would slow economic growth.

Obama will aim to bring the deficit down by 2013 to $533 billion, or 3 percent of GDP.

Tax increases on wealthier Americans and a troop drawdown from Iraq will curb the shortfall, the budget will say.

The budget projects costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars totaling just over $140 billion this year and $130 billion in the 2010 fiscal year. Annual costs will drop after that to $50 billion annually.

Washington spent about $190 billion on the wars in 2008. Obama looks likely to order US combat troops to withdraw from Iraq over about 18 months, according to US officials. At the same time, he is ramping up the US military effort in Afghanistan.

Officials were eager to point out Obama's plans for cuts.

The budget would phase out government payments to crop producers making more than $500,000 — saving $9.8 billion over 10 years — and eliminate subsidies for cotton storage, saving an additional $570 million over the same period.

But the proposals do not lose sight of Obama's political and economic goals.

In a major address to Congress on Tuesday night, Obama signaled he has no intention of delaying his campaign promise of expanding healthcare to the 46 million people who are uninsured in the United States, a goal that may prove tough amid eye-popping deficits.

The United States spends more on healthcare than any other country, but its system is widely considered inefficient and it lags many other nations in key quality measures. Past efforts to make major healthcare changes have died in Congress.

Obama, who is eager to show he is mindful of the need to tackle the burgeoning deficits, held a "Fiscal Responsibility Summit" on Monday bringing together lawmakers and budget experts to discuss the long-term budget challenges.

In an open letter to Obama, experts at the Brookings Institution, the Washington think tank, warned that a soaring national debt would have consequences.

"We will have to borrow money in domestic and international capital markets to finance this debt, and without a serious commitment to long-term fiscal restraint, lenders will eventually question the nation's fiscal credibility," they wrote.

Obama budget moves toward universal health care

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is sending Congress a "hard choices" budget that would boost taxes on the wealthy and curtail Medicare payments to insurance companies and hospitals to make way for a $634 billion down payment on universal health care.

Obama's first budget, which will top $3 trillion, predicts the deficit for this year will soar to a whopping $1.75 trillion, according to administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity before the public unveiling of the budget Thursday. The huge deficit reflects the massive spending being undertaken to battle a severe recession and the worst financial crisis in seven decades.

As part of the effort to end the financial crisis, the administration will propose boosting the deficit by an additional $250 billion this year, enough to support as much as $750 billion in increased spending under the government's financial rescue program. That would more than double the $700 billion bailout effort passed by Congress last October.

Obama, in a morning briefing, spoke of "hard choices that lie ahead." He called his budget "an honest accounting of where we are and where we intend to go."

One administration official called the request for additional bailout resources a "placeholder" in advance of a determination by the Treasury Department of what will actually be needed.

The spending blueprint Obama is sending Congress is a 140-page outline, with the complete details scheduled to come in mid to late April, when the new administration sends up the massive budget books that will flesh out the plan.

However, the submission of the bare budget outline was certain to set off fierce debate in Congress over Obama's spending and tax priorities. The document includes additional requests for the current year and Obama's proposals for the 2010 budget year, which begins Oct. 1.

The budget balances efforts to fulfill Obama's campaign pledges to deliver tax cuts to the middle class, expand health care coverage and combat the economic crisis with an effort to keep an exploding deficit over the next few years from becoming a permanent drag on the economy. However, Republicans assailed the budget for the tax increases and some Democrats worried that Obama was not doing enough to get the deficit under control.

"I would give him good marks as a beginning, but we have to do a lot more to take on this long-term debt buildup," said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D.

Republicans zeroed in on the tax increases to fund half of Obama's health care expansion.

"Everyone agrees that all Americans deserve access to affordable health care, but is increasing taxes during an economic recession, especially on small businesses, the right way to accomplish that goal?" asked House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.

The $634 billion down payment on expanding health care coverage would come from a $318 billion increase over 10 years in taxes on the wealthy, defined as couples making more than $250,000 per year and individuals making more than $200,000. The tax increase would occur by reducing the benefit the wealthy get on tax deductions. As one example, taxpayers in the current top tax bracket of 35 percent would see their tax deduction for every $1 given to charity drop from 35 cents to 28 cents.

The other half of the down payment on Obama's drive toward universal health care — $318 billion — would come from curtailing payments to hospitals and insurance companies under Medicare and drug payments under Medicaid.

To meet his pledge of tax cuts for the middle class, the president wants to make permanent the $400 annual tax cut due to start showing up in workers' paychecks in April as part of the $787 billion stimulus package just passed by Congress. Obama's budget also extends the middle class tax cuts passed by the Bush administration in 2001 and 2003. Those cuts were due to expire at the end of 2010. If Congress approves Obama's recommendations, the Bush tax cuts would expire only for couples making more than $250,000 per year.

The cost of the stimulus bill and the increased bailout support would push the deficit for this year to $1.75 trillion, nearly four times last year's record $455 billion and a percentage of the economy — just over 12 percent — not seen since World War II. The deficit is expected to remain around $1 trillion for the next two years before starting to decline to $533 billion in 2013, according to budget projections.

Obama's plan proposes achieving $634 billion in savings on projected health care spending and diverting those resources to expanding coverage for uninsured Americans. The $634 billion represents a little more than half the money that would be needed to extend health insurance to all of the 48 million Americans now uninsured.

Americans now spend a total of $2.4 trillion a year on health care.

Obama also will ask for an additional $75 billion to cover the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September, the end of the current budget year. That would be on top of the $40 billion already appropriated by Congress.

The administration will also ask for $130 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan in 2010 and will budget the costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan at $50 billion annually over the next several years.

Obama's budget proposal would effectively raise income taxes and curb tax deductions on couples making more than $250,000 a year, beginning in 2011. By not extending former President George W. Bush's tax cuts for such wealthier filers, Obama would allow the marginal rate on household incomes above $250,000 to rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent.

The plan also contains a contentious proposal to raise hundreds of billions of dollars by auctioning off permits to exceed carbon emissions caps, which Obama wants to impose on users of fossil fuels to address global warming.

Some of the revenues from the pollution permits would be used to extend the "Making Work Pay" tax credit of $400 for individuals and $800 for couples beyond 2010, as provided in the just-passed economic stimulus bill.

About half of what officials characterized as a $634 billion "down payment" toward health care coverage for every American would come from cuts in Medicare. That is sure to incite battles with doctors, hospitals, health insurance companies and drug manufacturers.

Some of the Medicare savings would come from scaling back payments to private insurance plans that serve older Americans, which many analysts believe to be inflated. Other proposals include charging upper-income beneficiaries a higher premium for Medicare's prescription drug coverage.

To raise the other half, Obama wants to reduce the rate by which wealthier people can cut their taxes through deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, local taxes and other expenses to 28 cents on the dollar, rather than the 35 cents they can claim now. Even more money would be raised if the top rate reverts to 39.6 percent, as Obama wants.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, called Obama's proposal to tax the wealthy to finance health care reform a starting point. But he wants to also examine taxing some of health insurance benefits provided by employers — an idea rejected by Obama in last year's presidential campaign.

Obama's promise to phase out direct payments to farming operations with revenues above $500,000 a year is sure to cause concerns among rural Democrats.

Even after all those difficult choices, cutting about $2 trillion from the budget over 10 years, Obama's budget still would feature huge deficits.

The $1.75 trillion deficit projected for this year would represent 12.3 percent of the gross domestic product, double the previous post-war record of 6 percent in 1983, when Ronald Reagan was president, and the highest level since the deficit totaled 21.5 percent of GDP in 1945, at the end of World War II.

At $533 billion, the deficit in 2013 would be about 3 percent of the size of the economy.

Obama to address Congress, nation on economy

WASHINGTON – Barreling ahead on a mammoth agenda, Barack Obama is ready to offer a detailed sketch of the first year of his presidency, casting the nation's bleeding economy as a tangle of tough, neglected problems.

In a prime-time speech to Congress and millions watching at home, Obama will make his case Tuesday that much more has to be done to turn around the economy — a message he knows he must explain.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama will provide more details about his financial stability plan and measures to help the economy while delivering "a sober assessment about where we are and the challenges we face."

"He'll say we're on the right path to meeting these challenges, and there are better days ahead," Gibbs said.

Obama approaches this moment riding a strong, upbeat sentiment among the public. Overall, 68 percent of people approve of his job performance, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. A New York Times/CBS News polls finds that more than three-quarters of those surveyed were optimistic about the next four years with Obama in charge, and similar majorities said they were confident in his ability to make the right decisions about the economy.

Still, the president faces steep challenges. The nation is nearly dizzy keeping up with what's emerged from Washington during Obama's first weeks as president, from a staggering $787 billion stimulus plan to a revamped bailout for the financial sector to a rescue plan for struggling homeowners.

And investors are dour. Wall Street took another pounding Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling to its lowest close since 1997.

Although Obama is too new in office to be delivering a State of the Union address, his speech will have all the same trappings. It comes two days before he delivers a budget blueprint to Congress. Unlike that detail-driven document, his address will be broad, spelling out what he wants and how he will do it.

The economy, in its worst tailspin in decades, will dominate. Obama will touch on foreign policy, but that will largely be left for other upcoming speeches. This will not be a rollout of one policy initiative after another.

Obama will make clear that the trillion-dollar-plus deficit is one he "inherited." In other words, he wants to remind people that President George W. Bush and the previous Congress left him a big hole, forcing him to pursue the costly stimulus package.

The president will push for movement on ensuring health coverage for all Americans. He will seek to expand educational opportunities, and diversify the country's energy sources, and contain sacred entitlements like Social Security, and halve the soaring budget deficit in four years.

His rhetorical mission is to show not only how all those pieces connect to the health of the economy, but why they must be pursued simultaneously.

Gunning for so much at once is complicated, both in terms of the issues themselves and the politics. Senior presidential adviser David Axelrod acknowledged Monday there is a risk in taking on too much.

"I think the bigger concern," he said, "is to not be aggressive at a time when a tepid approach could really consign us to a long-term economic catastrophe. We believe the times demand vigor and aggressive action, and so we're having to do a lot of things at once."

Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said Obama's speech amounts to a coming-out party.

"You never know what a salesman's going to sell you until he shows up at your door," Issa said of his expectations. "If he gives us a narrow set of priorities that can be executed, and they don't just involve more spending, then I think it will be refreshing. If he gives us a long laundry list, which most presidents do, then although it will set the agenda ... it won't be as meaningful."

In many ways, though, Obama will be speaking directly to the American people. Daily followers of Obama's rhetoric are not likely to be surprised by Obama's words, some of which will be repeats. He is trying to reach millions of people who don't get to hear him every day.

So Obama will say that the crises facing the nation are so large they can only be solved in bipartisan ways. He will be blunt about the country's woes but try to balance that talk with optimism. He will talk about his travels as president so he can focus on the stories of communities outside Washington.

Asked in an MSNBC interview how the president plans to make good on his pledge to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term, Gibbs said, "The biggest thing we're going to do is cut the amount of money we spend each year in Iraq."

He said Obama also planned to talk about necessary investments and about taxes.

"I think the president believes very clearly that we have to be honest about where we are," Gibbs said. "Tonight, he will tell the country that we've faced greater challenges than we face now and we've always met those challenges."

There is sure to be ceremony as Obama arrives in the well of the House. His speech is tentatively at 45 minutes, accounting for applause time.