In a somewhat subdued State of the Union address last night, President Obama delivered a sobering assessment of the nation's economic status. "The worst of the storm has passed but the devastation remains," he said of the recession and double digit unemployment rate. He called 2009 "one of the most difficult years in our history."

The president marched through a litany of pressing fiscal problems including the federal deficit and bank bailouts, exhorting Congress that it's "time to get serious about fixing the problems that hamper our growth."

On his to-do list are shoring up the banks in a fiscally accountable manner and encouraging innovation in research including energy and medicine. Specifically, the president gave a nod to oncology research.
"Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history, an investment that could lead to the world's cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched."

He urged investment in nuclear power and clean energy, increasing exports, improving education, and pursuing health care reform.

The president spoke about health care in the second half of his address, putting the issue squarely in the context of meeting the needs of average Americans.

"It is precisely to relieve the burden on middle class families that we still need health insurance reform," he said. He continues to refer to the issue as "health insurance reform," a phrase he began using last July (DM 9741).

In a self-effacing moment he noted that taking on healthcare was obviously not done for political gain, an acknowledgment of the loss last week of the Massachusetts Senate seat held by Senator Edward Kennedy, which was won by a little known Republican Scott Brown, who ran in part on opposition to federal health reform. Brown's election leaves the Democrats without an iron-clad 60-seat majority, but the President noted that the party still holds the most significant sway that either party has enjoyed in decades. The President cautioned his colleagues that people expect action from them as a result.

He vowed to pursue health care reform but stopped short of insisting that a bill reach his desk. He called it a "complex issue...the more it's debated, the more skeptical people become."

Referring to the millions of people likely to lose their health insurance this year the president urged Congress, "I will not walk away from these Americans and neither should the people in this chamber."

He suggested that if anyone had better legislative ideas than those already proposed in the Senate and House health bills, that they should "let me know."

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