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Defiant Obama challenges Congress on sticky issues
By Dan Lothian, Jessica Yellin and Tom Cohen
January 25, 2012 -- Updated 1542 GMT (2342 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama launches a three-day swing through key election states Wednesday after declaring in what could be his final State of the Union address that the nation was strengthening but must confront the defining issue of preserving the American dream.
In the speech Tuesday night to a joint sitting of Congress, Obama offered both his administration's priorities for the coming year and his campaign messaging for his re-election bid in November.
Read the president's speech
He defended a long list of his trademark policies -- tax increases on the wealthy, Wall Street reform, health care reform, government stimulus spending -- to applause from fellow Democrats while also offering proposals of interest to Republicans, such as corporate tax breaks and expanded oil and gas development.
Declaring "the state of our union is getting stronger," Obama said America had come too far in its still sluggish recover from economic recession "to turn back now."
With unemployment still above 8% and economic uncertainty lingering, Obama framed the challenges facing the country as a choice between opportunity for some or giving everyone a chance to prosper.
"The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive," the president said. "No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules."
He continued by saying, "What's at stake aren't Democratic values or Republican values, but American values, and we have to reclaim them."
The Republican response chided Obama for not addressing the nation's $15 trillion debt more forcefully, presenting a stark contrast in policy proposals and outlook to the president's more optimistic assessment of what has been accomplished and what is needed.
"It was irresponsible for him not to recognize the dire circumstances our country is in because of our debt," conservative Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina said. "He spent his speech making some more promises from government."
CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen described it as a "politically shrewd speech" likely to satisfy Obama's Democratic base while winning over some independents.
The annual evening of political pageantry, with senators and representatives joining Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, military leaders and others in the packed House chamber, included a poignant touch with Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in attendance the night before she will resign due to her brain injury from last year's shooting attack in her native Arizona.
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