Feb 12, 2013 5:40pm
Tonight President Obama will gives his annual assessment to the nation of the State of the Union at 9 p.m., followed by a Republican response from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Tea Party response from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. The president has said he will focus on the economy, and there are seven things we’re pretty certain he will say.
Refresh here for updates and fact checks throughout the night.
Tune in to ABCNews.com for livestreaming coverage of the 2013 State of the Union Address. ABC State of the Union coverage starts at 8:50 p.m.
All times are in Eastern Standard Time.
9:55 p.m. – American Troops in Afghanistan
President Obama announced tonight that he will withdraw another 34,000 troops from Afghanistan.
Yesterday, ABC’s Jon Karl predicted that announcement and reported a U.S. official had confirmed that the White House discussion centered on leaving fewer than 10,000 troops behind in Afghanistan after 2014 and then phasing them down gradually the next few years.
Read more from Jon Karl here.
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9:53 p.m. – What Would It Mean to Increase the Minimum Wage?
ABC’s Shushannah Walshe and Sarah Parnass report:
President Obama called for an increase of the federal minimum wage in his address tonight from $7.25 an hour to $9.00 an hour by 2015. It’s the first time as president Obama has proposed raising the minimum wage, but as a candidate in 2008 he promised to raise it to $9.50 by 2011. The last time it was raised was in 2009 when it increased from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour where it has stayed since.
It was the last step of a three part increase approved by Congress in 2007 and it translates to $15,080 a year for a full time worker. Before 2007, the minimum wage remained at $5.15 per hour for ten years. There have been calls consistently for the minimum wage to be raised and currently there are campaigns in New York, Maryland, Connecticut, New Mexico amongst others to lobby at the state level for an increase in the state minimum wage.
Washington is the only state with a minimum wage of $9 or more. Seven other states and the District of Columbia have a minimum wage of $8 or more. So for most states it would mean at least a $1 increase per hour for all workers at the lowest level of the pay scale.
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9:49 p.m. – Obama Urges House to Pass Violence Against Women Act
In his address, President Obama praised Vice President Joe Biden for his role in putting together the original Violence Against Woman Act and urged the House to pass the bill.
That legislation was approved in the Senate earlier today.
Univision’s Emily DeRuy reports on why this act – once considered relatively uncontroversial – is by no means guaranteed to pass. Read more from DeRuy here.
9:45 p.m. – Obama Wants Pre-K for All
ABC’s Shushannah Walshe reports:
Obama called for a new program to support state efforts to increase access for all four-year-olds to quality preschool education. The National Institute for Early Education Research’s most recent report in 2011 on the State of Preschool said funding for pre-K “decreased by almost $60 million in 2010-2011 when adjusted for inflation, despite the use of $127 million in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).”
The report said it was the “second year of decline” and “in some states, the declines in 2010-2011 have been compounded by cuts in 2011-2012—and further cuts loom for 2012-2013. This threatens to undo much of the progress some states have made.”
The report says these cuts compounded with demand for high-quality pre-K means “the nation is experiencing a crisis in quality.”
While 28 percent of 4-year-olds were enrolled in early childhood education programs in 2011, up from 27 percent in 2010 average state spending per child enrolled was $4,151 in 2011, a more than $700 drop from 2002, the report states.
Opponents of universal pre-K see it as just another example of wasteful government spending while the national deficit continues to swell.
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9:40 p.m. – Obama Repeats Infrastructure Pitch
ABC’s Sarah Parnass reports:
If it feels like you’ve heard Obama’s call for infrastructure jobs before, that’s probably because you have.
Tonight, President Obama proposed a program he called “Fix-It-First” “to put people to work as soon as possible on our most urgent repairs, like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country.”
“And to make sure taxpayers don’t shoulder the whole burden, I’m also proposing a Partnership to Rebuild America that attracts private capital to upgrade what our businesses need most: modern ports to move our goods; modern pipelines to withstand a storm; modern schools worthy of our children,” Obama said. “Let’s prove that there is no better place to do business than the United States of America. And let’s start right away.”
In September of 2011, Obama told a crowd in Detroit, Mich. there were roads and bridges in the U.S. “that need rebuilding.”
“We’ve got private companies with the equipment and the manpower to do the building,” Obama said that Labor Day. “We’ve got more than 1 million unemployed construction workers ready to get dirty right now.”
Even then it was a tired refrain.
At that time ABC’s Devin Dwyer reported the president first presented a similar plan for jobs in infrastructure in 2010.
Read more on that $50-billion proposal here.
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9:36 p.m. – Palin Punts
While President Obama discussed his plans for wind energy and slowing climate change, former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin asked his supporters if they had “#OBuyersRemorse?”
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9:33 p.m. – A Lack of Enthusiasm for SOTU
ABC’s Chris Good reports:
Not everyone likes State of the Union addresses. Count newly minted GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., among the less enthused.
“I don’t like them when Republicans give them,” the former congressman told ABC on his way into the chamber.
Asked how many times he expected to clap tonight, Flake wouldn’t say.
“The first time I attended one with President Bush, [former GOP congressman and current Indiana Gov.] Mike Pence and I were sitting next to each other, and [Bush] was talking about No Child Left Behind or something, and he leaned over and said, ‘Just cause I’m a-clappin for it doesn’t mean I’m a-votin for it,’” Flake recounted.
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9:29 p.m. – Obama Fights Back on Budget
“Deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan,” President Obama said tonight shortly before 9:30 p.m.
In the past few weeks, conservatives have been urging the president to put forward a plan for a balanced budget.
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9:28 p.m. – Secretary of State ‘Having a Great Time’
ABC’s Chris Good reports:
John Kerry seems to be having a grand old time at the State Department.
“It’s great–I’m having a great time,” Kerry said of his new job, pausing _very_ briefly on his way into an ante-room outside the House chamber before President Obama’s State of the Union address.
“I’m having fun,” he said.
Kerry quickly disappeared into the room with his wife.
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9:09 p.m. – Vice President Four-Eyes>
ABC’s Arlette Saenz reports:
Did you notice the new look on VP Joe Biden tonight? The vice president is wearing glasses because he scratched his eye with a contact lens, a White House aide says.
He wore the glasses yesterday at the roundtable on gun safety in Philadelphia. Biden does not wear his glasses at major events very often.
9:05 p.m. – State of the Union: Who’s On the Sidelines?
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8:38 p.m. – Scalia Calls SOTU a ‘Rather Silly Affair’
ABC’s Ariane de Vogue reports Justice Scalia didn’t hold back tonight when asked during a speaking engagement why he hasn’t attended a State of the Union address for some 16 years.
“It has turned into a childish spectacle,” he said. “I do not want to be there to lend dignity to it.”
Scalia said the event “has become a very political event” that is filled with applause lines. He said it’s a “rather silly affair”.
It is not the first time Scalia has expressed his doubts about the State of the Union.
He added he was unaware when he agreed to speak that tonight’s event would conflict with President Obama’s speech.
“I didn’t set this up just to upstage the president,” he joked.
Scalia spoke to an audience at George Washington University in an event sponsored by The Smithsonian Associates. He was interviewed by NPR’s Nina Totenberg.
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8:27 p.m. – 45 Gun Violence Victims to Attend
ABC’s John Parkinson reports Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer is bringing two guests, pushing the total to 45 guests who are victims or related to victims of gun violence.
Congressman Hoyer invited Patricia Bell and Sabrina Worthington, the mother and sister of Maryland State Trooper Wesley Brown, a young officer who was tragically shot and killed while working an off-duty security detail at a restaurant in Forestville, Md., in 2010.
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8:20 p.m. – Sec. Chu to Be Designated Survivor
ABC’s Devin Dwyer reports Energy Secretary Steven Chu has been designated to not attend the State of the Union address at the Capitol this evening, per the White House.
He is the “designated survivor” in the event of a catastrophic occurrence tonight. He will watch the speech from an undisclosed location.
Earlier this month Chu announced that he would step down from his cabinet post and return to California.
He then proved that politicians can take a joke, ABC’s Zach Wolf reports, when he responded to an Onion parody in which he was portrayed as waking up hung over, next to a solar panel.
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7:50 p.m. – What to Watch Tonight
ABC’s Rick Klein ticks off the five things to look out for during Obama’s address tonight.
From gun violence to Obama’s bread and butter; and from marching orders for members of Congress to a sneak-peek of 2016.
Read the rest from Rick here.
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7:37 p.m. – Americans for Prosperity Prez Gives SOTU Pre-buttal
Tim Phillips, president of the Koch Brothers-funded conservative group, Americans For Prosperity, went after Obama this evening for excerpts of his remarks released ahead of the State of the Union address that promised not to increase the deficit.
“Much has changed in the last four years; the President has apparently abandoned his original promise of cutting the deficit in half, and is now promising to not raise the deficit. This is hardly reassuring given the past four years of trillion dollar deficits, and certainly doesn’t even hint at actually reducing runaway government spending,” Phillips said in a statement e-mailed to ABC News. “If we ever hope to get the economy going again, we need serious spending cuts to end these job-killing deficits. Promises to not make the problem worse just aren’t going to cut it.”
A popular Tea Party tweeter also wasn’t buying it.
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7:11 p.m.: – Ted Nugent: ‘Gun Control is What Every Murderer Loves’
(Image Credit: Randy Snyder/Getty Images)
ABC Radio’s Steve Portnoy reports:
Donning a camouflage cowboy hat and jeans, Nugent comes to the Capitol tonight at the invitation of Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas.
“[Stockman] knew that the State of the Union would be stacked with pawns, with friends of the president, and a lot of props to further the president’s anti-American agenda,” Nugent told ABC News in Stockman’s office Tuesday, explaining he accepted the invitation “to counter the stacked deck.”
Nugent said he sympathizes with the victims of gun violence who he’ll be joining in the House visitor’s gallery, some of whom earlier Tuesday tearfully urged congress to act.
“Our hearts are broken every time there’s a victim of violent crime in this country,” Nugent said. But, he argues, the overwhelming majority of violent crimes in the US “are committed by violent criminals let out of their cages.”
He excoriated the president and other administration officials for suggesting that they have a solution to the country’s gun violence problem, accusing them of incompetence.
“Somehow the gun-running attorney general and the Chicago ACORN community organizer come from an area where it’s the murder capital. Their dream of a ‘gun-free zone’ already exists, and there’s more murders in those gun-free zones than in any of the gun-infested territories that I hang out in.”
Nugent says further measures to curb the sale of certain types of guns, or high capacity magazines, simply won’t work.
“It is a lie, it is a scam, it is counterproductive. Gun control is what every murderer loves, because then he can murder without anyone shooting back. How dare you want more Chicagoes when you can have more Wacos?”
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6:58 p.m.: – Rubio Records Spanish State of the Union Rebuttal
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6:40 p.m. – The Right Thing to Do
Back in June, ABC’s Jilian Fama took a look at one of President Obama’s favorite phrases: “Do the right thing.”
Doing the right thing seems to be hard for everyone, except President Obama. He always seems to know the “right thing to do.” Indeed, he uses his presidential remarks to instruct the American people on the right thing to do over and over again.
At the NALEO conference June 22, Obama touted that passing health care legislation was the “right thing to do.” He issued a statement claiming “after a century of trying, we finally passed reform that will make health care affordable and available for every American. “Then, as if once weren’t enough, he joyously declared three times, “That was the right thing to do. That was the right thing to do. That was the right thing to do.”
Read more from Fama here.
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6:30 p.m. – 8 State of the Union Promises Obama Made
ABC’s Chris Good takes a look at past State of the Union speeches and makes note of whether Obama kept the vows he made to the nation.
1. Cut the Deficit in Half. Obama in 2009: “Yesterday, I held a fiscal summit where I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office.”
Did it happen?
No. In 2009, the Office of Management and Budget estimated a deficit of $1.4 trillion. In 2013, it projects a deficit of $900 billion.
Read the rest from Good here.
6:01 p.m. – Rand Paul to Tell Dems and GOP to Stop ‘Protecting Their Sacred Cows’
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., previewed his response to the president’s speech hours before Obama was scheduled to take the podium with two excerpts on Facebook.
His first focused on immigration reform:
“We are the party that embraces hard work and ingenuity, therefore we must be the party that embraces the immigrant who wants to come to America for a better future. We must be the party who sees immigrants as assets, not liabilities. We must be the party that says, ‘If you want to work, if you want to become an American, we welcome you.”
His second attacked his colleagues’ spending habits:
“Both parties have been guilty of spending too much, of protecting their sacred cows, of backroom deals in which everyone up here wins, but every taxpayer loses. It is time for a new bipartisan consensus. It is time Democrats admit that not every dollar spent on domestic programs is sacred. And it is time Republicans realize that military spending is not immune to waste and fraud.”
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5:08 p.m. – Victims of Gun Violence Wear Ribbon with Newtown Colors
(Image Credit: John Parkinson/ABC News)
ABC’s John Parkinson reports at least 40 victims of gun violence plan to attend tonight’s speech in Washington. They won’t likely be sitting together, but they will be distinguishable by the green and silver ribbons handed out to them by Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., staff. Green and silver are the colors of Newtown High School.
Read more about Rep. Langevin’s SOTU plan here.
At 5:45 p.m. Parkinson reports there are three more victims of gun violence now expected to attend, bringing the total number to 43.
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5:01 p.m. - Tune in to ABCNews.com/live at 9 p.m. for the 2013 State of the Union Address.
And in the meantime, brush up on what to watch for below:
Obama Will Hasten Afghanistan Drawdown – Halve American Troops in One Year -
A faster pace than expected – http://abcn.ws/VdqQTW (Karl and Martinez)
7 Things Obama Always Says at #SOTU -
1. Education: Let’s improve it!
2. ’Clean Energy.’
3. Some Kind of Tax Credit.
4. Shrink Our ‘Deficit of Trust.’
5. America, and Specific Americans, Are the Best.
6. Investment.
7. China, India, and Germany.
More on that, with citations and explanations from Chris Good – http://abcn.ws/VSE8lU
Jon Karl’s Preview -
In contrast to his inaugural address, President Obama’s State of the Union speech will focus primarily on jobs and the economy, outlining new initiatives on manufacturing, education, clean energy and infrastructure. http://abcn.ws/XHH1rb
Boehner – Obama Lacks ‘The Guts’ to Make Tough Choices -
A feisty House Speaker John Boehner (who will sit behind President Obama tonight) said this morning that he doesn’t believe President Obama “has the guts” to make the tough choices to address the government’s mounting deficit problem. http://abcn.ws/WiwHGI (Jon Karl)
The Audience – Gun Rights Advocates vs. Ted Nugent -
Keep an eye out for gun control advocates wearing green ribbons and, wearing a goatee and maybe a cowboy hat, gun rights advocate Ted Nugent, who will be in attendance – http://bit.ly/XyWRT9
Marco Rubio SOTU Response: Latin Symbol for GOP -
Delivering the GOP response to the president’s State of the Union address tonight, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., becomes the face of the Republican Party. http://abcn.ws/12JAt0V (Jim Avila)
More on “The Rubio Factor” from Fusion’s Jordan Fabian – http://abcn.ws/X5V5tt
Rubio’s Competition -
Cliff’s Notes on the last 4 Republican responders – Bobby Jindal, Bob McDonnell, Mitch Daniels and Paul Ryan – http://abcn.ws/Y77YTm
The Senate Passed the Violence Against Women Act Today -
Will the House follow suit? – From Fusion’s Emily DeRuy – A bill aimed at preventing domestic violence might sound reasonably uncontroversial, but House Republicans have voiced their opposition to some of the provisions, including one that would allow American Indian authorities to prosecute non-American Indians in tribal courts. The original 1994 act expired in 2011 and a divided Congress failed to reauthorize it last year. Republicans, reeling from a poor performance with women and minorities during the November election, have been more receptive this time around. The bill would grant more than $650 million over five years to states and local governments to provide things like transitional housing and legal assistance to victims. The hang-up is in the details of the bill. http://abcn.ws/Wj2CXw
The State of the Union is…
“…second opportunity for the president to … talk to the 48 or 9 percent of the people that didn’t support him.” http://abcn.ws/VdUGaP (Tom Cole)
“…going to have to focus on public education http://abcn.ws/YcNsRL (Michelle Rhee)
“…in a difficult state for working class families…” – http://abcn.ws/XHcvh3 (Keith Ellison)
“…still pretty bad.” – http://abcn.ws/TKC42w (Paul Krugman)
“mixed.” http://abcn.ws/XHcvh3
How’s the Speech? ‘We’ll Find Out Tonight,’ Obama Says -
Taking a break from speech prep this afternoon, President Obama sounded confident about his State of the Union address but offered reporters little in the way of a preview. http://abcn.ws/VRbAhO (Mary Bruce)
#SOTU Pulse Check – ABC Poll Shows Americans Unhappy With System Overall, But Obama’s Policies Beat Out GOP’s -
As politicians ponder the state of the union, the union’s looking back at the state of politics. And it’s none too thrilled. http://abcn.ws/WYGW2Y (Greg Holyk poll)
Obama to Announce 34,000 Troop Afghanistan Drawdown This Year -
President Obama will announce at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address that 34,000 troops – more than half of those currently serving in the combat region – will be back from Afghanistan a year from tonight, according to a source familiar with the speech. http://abcn.ws/VdqQTX
Gun Violence Victims Offer Opposing Views on Solutions in Senate Hearing-
Two people who lost family members to gun violence offered a Senate Judiciary subcommittee opposite positions today on the best way to solve the problem, one saying if she’d been able to carry a gun legally she could have stopped the shooter while the other said more restrictions are needed to keep guns out of criminals’ hands.http://abcn.ws/VSSsuJ (Arlette Saenz)
Proposed Constitutional Amendment Claims Money Is Not Speech -
Corporations, like people, have a constitutional right to spend money on U.S. elections. That’s what the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010.http://abcn.ws/WHaTXb (Jilian Fama)
Changes In the Constitution Experts Would Like to Make -
The Constitution has held the United States government together for more than 200 years with remarkably few changes – there have been only 27 ratified amendments in part because it is such a difficult process. http://abcn.ws/X52BET (Alisa Wiersema)
State Of The Union: Guns, Jobs, #SOTU (The Note): The State of the Union is…
… all over the map. http://abcn.ws/Y6EwNc (Michael Falcone)
‘The State of the Union is…’ According to Rep. Tom Cole & Nicolle Wallace -
“The state of the union is the second opportunity for the president to do what he didn’t do in the inaugural address – that’s talk to the 48 or 9 percent of the people that didn’t support him.” http://abcn.ws/12b95Jn (Arlette Saenz)
Paralyzed Rep. to Showcase Gun Victims at State of the Union -
Rep. Jim Langevin smiles in his congressional office as he confidently demonstrates the robotics of his wheelchair, popping upright on the front two wheels of his iBOT 4000 to bring himself eye-to-eye with ABC News’ chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl. http://abcn.ws/U9JUmN (John Parkinson)
Anti-’Amnesty’ Activists Prepared for Immigration Fight -
The forces that helped to bring down a proposed sweeping overhaul of the U.S. immigration system in 2007 are quietly mobilizing to do the same again. http://abcn.ws/XFKYg9 (Devin Dwyer)
2013 State of the Union: What Has Changed Since 2012?
In these new circumstances his rhetoric is likely to change but the topics won’t. http://abcn.ws/11DEN2C (Sarah Parnass)
David Walker SOTU OpEd -
The current state of the union is mixed. While we are a great country, the largest economy, and the world’s leading democracy, we face serious challenges that threaten our collective future. http://abcn.ws/X5299I (David Walker)
Curated by ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf and Sarah Parnass
