State of the Union Address 2014 Live Stream: What to Expect From President Obama's Speech [Watch]
On Tuesday night, millions of Americans will tune in as President Obama stands before Congress to deliver his sixth annual State of the Union address.
According to political experts, viewers can expect the president to highlight a tougher stance on Congress and talk about new executive initiatives. It is also safe to bet that he will underscore the need for immigration legislation, expanding economic opportunities for the middle and working class and mention that as president he has stop two wars.
Pundits at CNN predict that President Obama will begin by giving a positive assessment of where America stands today.
According to NPR, President Obama will be sure to underline the growth of income inequality between the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans and the rest of the country, an issue that he has made a primary focus in his second term. He will call for an increase in the federal minimum wage and extensions on unemployment benefits for long-term jobless Americans as solutions to bridge the income gap.
Expect the president to mention immigration reform, which will provide him with the opportunity to bring up the bipartisan legislation that may be passed in 2014. House Speaker John Boehner has raised the idea using a piecemeal approach to fix the nation's broken immigration system rather than the comprehensive bill that the Senate passed last summer. Despite their differences, both Democrats and many Republicans seem eager to do something on immigration this year, which means that this point may garner applause from both sides of the aisle.
Although Obama has never mentioned the "Affordable Care Act" by name in past SOTU speeches, he will more than likely stress the need for young people to sign up for coverage.
And lastly, while foreign policy and national security issues typically get less time than domestic affairs in the SOTU, expect the president to note that U.S. troops will end the nation's 13-year war in Afghanistan this year.
To watch the SOTU speech on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 9:00 p.m. EST via livestream, click here.