What You Want in President Obama's State of the Union

This evening President Obama will deliver his fifth State of the Union address. A White House spokesperson indicated that President Obama wants 2014 to be a “year of action.”

By e-mail and social media, we asked you to weigh in about what you think the president should cover during his speech – about what actions he should take in the coming year. Here's what you said:

  • Deal with climate change by making real investments in green technology and renewable energy research and development
  • Extend unemployment coverage for those who need it and as a mechanism of economic stimulus
  • Commit to greater data transparency, and thus greater accountability
  • Increase investment in our nation’s schools
  • Raise the payroll tax cap with the goal of strengthening Social Security
  • Push for meaningful tax reform as right now the top 1 percent of Americans disproportionately benefit from tax breaks
  • Help overturn Citizens United with the goal of getting big money out of politics
  • Address the difficulties of the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement
  • Explain why fiscal 2014 Overseas Contingency Operations (the war budget) received $5 billion more than the Pentagon even asked for
  • Raise the federal minimum wage and work to level the playing field for more Americans thwarted by overwhelming inequality

These hopes and priorities that you articulated track closely with the findings of a recent Pew Research Center poll which found that the majority of Americans want to strength our nation’s economy and improve the job situation. Sixty-nine percent want to improve our nation’s educational system and 66 percent want to make Social Security sound.

There are a lot of ways to engage with this evening’s State of the Union via Facebook, Twitter, and the web, as well as during the ensuing virtual road trip around the country using Google+ Hangouts. NPP’s team will also be tweeting. Follow @natpriorities tonight and in the days ahead as we crack open federal spending and revenue so that you can make your voice heard.