The address will outline Obama’s 2012 budget. White House officials said that it will be much like the budget he offered last year: an overall discretionary spending freeze but with big exceptions for maritime and road infrastructure, for broadband wiring, and for job-training and retention programs. He’ll ask Congress to spend more money for scientific research, for more patent examiners, and for tax credits for businesses that invest in the U.S.
Obama will devote significantly less time to matters of national security. In the wake of the shootings that left six dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., seriously injured, officials say he will call again for civility while allowing that vigorous debate is vital to a free society. Several Republican and Democratic senators, including Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk of Illinois and Pat Toomey and Robert Casey of Pennsylvania, will sit together during the speech.
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