“State of the Union” on The Daily Caller

Fearing a political backlash over his rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline, President Barack Obama tried to use his State of the Union address to appease critics of his war on fossil fuels. (more)

Much has been made of the fact that according to the Flesch-Kincaid scale, President Obama’s latest State of the Union address peaked at an eighth-grade reading level. Additionally, according to the article that first reported the story, Obama’s addresses have consistently scored in this range. In the past 70 years, only one address, George H.W. Bush’s 1992 offering, has scored lower than any of Obama’s. This led syndicated talk-show host and founding generation proponent Mike Church to publish a brief article comparing Obama’s address with Thomas Jefferson’s first annual message in 1801. The results — and they are not pretty or surprising — are found here. This brilliant work led me to think about how other presidents before 1934 would score, most importantly those from the founding generation and those considered to be unintelligent buffoons by both their contemporaries and the historical establishment. (more)

In his speech Tuesday night, President Obama managed to carry on his habit of advocating for bigger federal programs. Yet, at the same time he was the first president to deliver a State of the Union that technically included more savings than spending. How is this possible? (more)

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Barack Obama took China to task for giving its manufacturers a “leg up” through government subsidies. The implication was that such trade practices are unfair and should be discouraged, or even legally prevented through the use of trade cases against offenders. (more)

More than 10 years after the attacks of September 11, 2001 quashed quaint notions about the end of the Cold War bringing “an end to history,” President Barack Obama all but declared history over once again in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. This time, at least, history ended with clapping. (more)

Why wasn’t D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray at the State of the Union address Tuesday night? (more)

President Barack Obama has been taking the credit for the worldwide boon of cheap natural-gas, and declining to give credit to the entrepreneurial energy industry. (more)

In his 2010 State of the Union address, President Obama promoted a high-speed rail project as part of his stimulus spending plans. After Tuesday night’s address, however, the administration’s devotion to the idea has apparently jumped the tracks. (more)

While the president spoke about the economic frustrations of average Americans in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, his wife, Michelle Obama appeared at the event in a sapphire blue dress from designer Barbara Tfank’s 2012 Resort collection, estimated to cost over $2k. (more)

In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said the following about the role of government: “I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more.” (more)

When the camera panned to Sen. John Kerry during the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, we noticed that the Massachusetts Democrat was looking a little worse for wear. (more)

After President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, the Republican National Committee went up with a new video suggesting that if the address sounded familiar, it’s because Obama delivered large parts of it before. (more)

Herman Cain told The Daily Caller on Tuesday that he believes that the accusations of infidelity against him and Newt Gingrich have made Americans wake up and learn about dirty politics. (more)

1.) End the Fed? Let’s start with the SOTU — If you thought Monday night’s GOP primary debate was enthralling, you probably loved President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. Fulfilling a presidential tradition of boring Congress into submission once a year with an interminably long speech, President Obama performed marvelously. TheDC’s Neil Munro gives the details: (more)

The White House quietly stored up a package of populist political proposals for Tuesday’s State of the Union speech, including several proposals that would reverse policies held by President Barack Obama since 2009. (more)

President Obama’s State of the Union speech included a statistical hat-tip to teachers unions — an estimate of the added earning potential of children who have “good” teachers. But the giant number the president cited doesn’t amount to much on a per-student basis. (more)

President Barack Obama announced during the State of the Union address Tuesday evening the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit to address trade problems, including the online piracy of intellectual property. (more)

Sources: State of the Union address, as prepared for delivery (White House, Office of the Press Secretary), Wordle.net
Read the full address here.  (more)

Want to ask President Obama a question about the State of the Union? Quora, a website founded by former Facebook engineers, is giving users the opportunity to post a question to its website, which will later be delivered to the White House for an answer. (more)

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
January 24, 2012 (more)