THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama will attempt to transform his presidency in a State of the Union address focusing on jobs, the economy and controlling mounting national debt.
The president will take the podium in the House of Representatives with grim forecasts in his wake. This year's deficit is set to be $1.35 trillion, only marginally lower than last year's. Unemployment is predicted to stay at 10 per cent throughout 2010 while the housing market remains stagnant.
"We're going to talk about how we can first of all, focus on job creation and growth," the president said in an interview with ABC.
"There are going to be a set of proposals that we put forward that help to stabilise the situation and deal with the growing insecurity and anxiety of people who, even if they haven't lost their job, are still feeling squeezed by their incomes shrinking and their costs going up."
Though he said there were no "magic solutions" to reducing the deficit, the president will outline a three-year freeze on domestic spending, excluding the military and homeland security, in his 2011 budget that would save $250 billion by 2020. State of the Union: Barack Obama to announce spending freeze >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Tuesday, January 26, 2010
