Obama’s SOTU: He Feels Your Pain?

A first peek at the policy outlines to be featured in President Obama’s State of the Union address this coming Wednesday gleans a back to basics approach from a president who is habitually majestic in his legislative visions, and a message to an American public souring on his presidency that he understands the “pain” of ordinary citizens and will introduce programs that could make an immediate impact for struggling families.The president’s address is currently expected to be devoid of any mention of health care legislation and will instead focus on a plethora of shockingly minimalist economic initiatives that are meant to balance a demand for action from voters with the somewhat oxymoronic desire for governmental restraint.

Presidential sources say the speech is not yet complete, but for now the main talking points from the president will be a call on Congress to approve tax credits aimed at families and the elderly when many are struggling to find a job and care for children or relatives. None of the proposals made public would involve significant federal spending or government expansion, and not one deals with health care reform.

And although there are no proposals specifically targeting job growth, the White House says overriding themes of Wednesday’s speech will be job creation and, after months of sinking poll numbers, making sure Americans understand the president’s compassion and willingness to “fight” for those hurting in the current economy.

President Obama will propose in his State of the Union address a package of modest initiatives intended to help middle-class families, including tax credits for child care, caps on some student loan payments and a requirement that companies let workers save automatically for retirement, senior administration officials said Sunday.

By focusing on what one White House official calls “the sandwich generation” — struggling families squeezed between sending their children to college and caring for elderly parents — Mr. Obama hopes to use his speech on Wednesday to demonstrate that he understands the economic pain of ordinary Americans. The proposals also include expanded tax credits for retirement savings and money for programs to help families care for elderly relatives.

The address is still being written, but one senior official, describing it on the condition of anonymity, said its main themes would include “creating good jobs, addressing the deficit, helping the middle class and changing Washington.”

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One advantage of the president’s proposals is that they might appeal to people who are struggling financially without looking like the kind of broad expansion of the federal government that is making many Americans uneasy. They also would add little to the federal deficit at a time when Mr. Obama is pledging to reduce it.

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