National Pulse

It's time to get smart, Obama tells lawmakers

Biden, Obama, Boehner/Reuters

President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address to call for an end to the politics of austerity -- and to pitch a plan for implementing an aggressively liberal agenda without breaking the bank. The president called for key policies to be funded using public-private partnerships and state-federal cost-sharing, or by establishing creative tax credits to spur private investment. "It's not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth," Obama said. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (2/13), The Wall Street Journal (2/13)
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Rubio, Paul offer scathing SOTU rebuttals

Rubio/Reuters

Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky gave scathing responses to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night. Paul, speaking for the tea party, called on Democrats and Republicans to compromise in order to fix the nation's finances, while Rubio, giving the official Republican response, accused Obama of failing to protect the middle classes. "As you heard tonight, his solution to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more," Rubio said. McClatchy Washington Bureau (2/12)
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Agenda Items

Obama wants to bring back big government, GOP lawmakers say

Collins/Reuters

President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech was a confrontational display of big-government boosterism that offered little space for Republicans and Democrats to find common ground, GOP leaders said. The speech stood in sharp contrast to Bill Clinton's assertion, during the mid-1990s, that the era of big government was over, lawmakers said. "I could have summed up Obama's speech in two words: It's back," said Rep. Matt Salmon of Arizona. The Wall Street Journal (2/13), The Hill (2/13)
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Data Points

Parallel programs bleed Pentagon billions

Source: Face the Facts USA

In this era of deficit debates and possible automatic budget cuts, a federal watchdog agency has identified billions of Pentagon dollars wasted through overlapping programs. Face the Facts USA (2/13)
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Interactive map plots SOTU buzz in real time

ESRI

An online map plots the social media reaction to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. The tool also lets users contrast the online buzz with state-level results from the 2012 presidential election. Esri (2/13)
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The Conversation

Daily Chuckle

Rubio lights up Twitter with "watergate" moment
Sen. Marco Rubio delivered the GOP rebuttal to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address -- but Twitter users were more interested in a bizarre moment during which the Florida lawmaker stopped talking and ducked and weaved out of sight, only to re-emerge with a bottle of water. "Marco Rubio, the man you want to have a desperate gulp of water with," tweeted Democratic strategist Paul Begala. USA Today (2/13)
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SmartQuote

Public service must be more than doing a job efficiently and honestly. It must be a complete dedication to the people and to the nation." -- Margaret Chase Smith, former U.S. senator Share: