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Two-thirds of those who watched the President's speech reacted favorably, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted after the speech Tuesday night.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A new national poll indicates that two-thirds of those who watched President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress reacted favorably to his speech.

Sixty-eight percent of speech-watchers questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey Tuesday night had a very positive reaction to the president's address, with 24 percent suggesting they had a somewhat positive response and 8 percent indicating they had a negative reaction.

Since the president is a Democrat, the audience watching his speech is a bit out of line with the nation's breakdown by party. The speech audience questioned in the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll is about 8 to 10 points more Democratic than the general public.

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President Obama takes a page from Ronald Reagan's playbook in his speech to Congress.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama addressed Congress shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, but a casual viewer might have believed it was actually morning in America.

Watch: Obama lays out agenda

"Morning in America" was the theme of Ronald Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign, and it was front and center in Obama's most critical event since Inauguration Day.

The president who has pledged to reverse much of Reagan's economic revolution took a page from the 40th president's playbook in his 52-minute speech, striking a defiantly optimistic tone that belied the nation's sour mood and rebutted critics who have accused him of intentionally talking down the economy for short-term political gain.

"Though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before," Obama declared to a thunderous round of applause from a packed House chamber.

Delivered against a backdrop of dismal economic news and with polls showing overwhelming majorities of Americans believing the country is on the wrong track, Obama's first speech to Congress amounted to a political tour de force. He proposed what many claim is a complete overhaul of the country's economic foundation while ripping his conservative predecessors for transferring "wealth to the wealthy" and gutting regulations "for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market."

And he did it while employing some of Reagan's favorite rhetorical tools. Obama stuck to a fairly short list of priorities while invoking traditional American values of responsibility, hard work and thrift to pound home a back-to-basics message.

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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gives the GOP response to President Obama's address Tuesday.

(CNN) - Tapped by the Republican party to deliver the GOP's response to President Barack Obama's congressional address Tuesday night, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal took on the massive stimulus package and big government - and pledged that his party would regain the nation's trust.

Watch: Jindal responds to Obama

"In the end, it comes down to an honest and fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government," Jindal said. "We oppose the national Democratic view that says the way to strengthen our country is to increase dependence on government. We believe the way to strengthen our country is to restrain spending in Washington, to empower individuals and small businesses to grow our economy and create jobs.

"In recent years, these distinctions in philosophy became less clear - our party got away from its principles. Tonight, on behalf of our leaders in Congress and my fellow Republican governors, I say this: Our party is determined to regain your trust," Jindal said.

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South Carolina student Ty'Sheoma Bethea was invited to the speech after she wrote a letter to lawmakers.

(CNN) – Her school has become a symbol of the kind of crumbling infrastructure that President Obama hopes his stimulus bill will improve.

But on Tuesday, Ty'Sheoma Bethea became the face of the issue, when she joined first lady Michelle Obama as her guest for the president's first speech to a joint session of Congress.

The White House invited Ty'Sheoma, a student at the J.V. Martin Junior High School in Dillon, South Carolina, after a letter she sent lawmakers appealing for help rebuilding her school made its way to the president.

The eighth-grader reportedly boarded her first plane with her mother, Dina Leach, from South Carolina to Washington to attend the speech.

The eighth-grader was inspired to write the letter by Obama, who mentioned her school in his first presidential news conference on February 9. After visiting the school, he referenced J.V. Martin as evidence of educational institutions that would benefit from school construction funding in his $787 billion stimulus package.

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Leonard Abess Jr. was recognized by President Obama during Tuesday's State of the Nation speech.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - More than two dozen guests joined first lady Michelle Obama at the president's speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.

One person on the first lady's guest list was Leonard Abess Jr., a Miami banker who received a $60 million bonus from the proceeds from the sale of shares of City National Bank in Florida and gave it out to his 399 workers and 72 former workers.

During his speech, President Obama said Abess didn't tell anyone about his generosity, but when the local newspaper found out, Abess simply said, "I knew some of these people since I was 7 years old. I didn't feel right getting the money myself."

Abess demonstrates the kind of "responsibility" the president has called for from high-profile financial CEOs, the White House said.

Obama contrasted Abess' story with the greed that he said got the country into the problems it faces now.

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President Obama tells Congress Tuesday night: I have no illusions this will be an easy process.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama pledged Tuesday night to cure Americans from what he called "the crushing cost of health costs," saying the country could not afford to put health-care reform on hold.

"This is a cost that now causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds. By the end of the year, it could cause 1.5 million Americans to lose their homes," Obama said in his speech to a joint session of Congress.

Obama pointed to the increasing number of uninsured and rapidly rising health-care premiums, which he said was one reason small business closed their doors and corporations moved overseas.

Obama's prescription for health-care reform included making "the largest investment ever" in preventive care, rooting out Medicare fraud and investing in electronic health records and new technology in an effort to reduce errors, bring down costs, ensure privacy and save lives.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – A new national poll indicates that two-thirds of those who watched President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress reacted favorably to his speech.

Sixty-eight percent of speech-watchers questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey Tuesday night had a very positive reaction to the president's address, with 24 percent suggesting they had a somewhat positive response and 8 percent indicating they had a negative reaction.

Since the president is a Democrat, the audience watching his speech is a bit out of line with the nation's breakdown by party. The speech audience questioned in the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll is about 8 to 10 points more Democratic than the general public.

Read the rest of this entry »

(CNN) - For political impact, the President deserves a strong A for his speech tonight - it was inspiring, spoke to the chief concerns most Americans appear to have about his economic program, and explained the bailouts for banks and autos in terms that were very understandable.

It was also the most ambitious speech that we have heard from a President in decades - the first half sounded like FDR fighting for the New Deal, the second half, Lyndon Johnson fighting for the Great Society. Rhetorically, I thought the speech was a B - it had very little music. Clearly, as he himself said, he wanted to speak plainly and until near the end, he avoided soaring language. In short, I don't think it will find its way into an anthology of great speeches, but it will serve the President extremely well with the public.

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(CNN) - I give him an A. As flat as his inaugural address was, this speech was the opposite - positive, vigorous, and forward-looking. The language was bipartisan, even if many of his proposals were not. His best moment yet as President - except he needs to get a tie which doesn't vibrate on television.

(CNN) - I'd give the president's performance tonight a solid B: Substantive, not inspirational. Sober, more programs than hope. Lots of promises - details to come.

President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he'll soon be laying out specifics on how to win the war in Afghanistan and responsibly end the one in Iraq.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he'll soon be laying out specifics on how to win the war in Afghanistan and responsibly end the one in Iraq.

"We are now carefully reviewing our policies in both wars, and I will soon announce a way forward in Iraq that leaves Iraq to its people and responsibly ends this war," he told a joint session of Congress.

Meanwhile, he said, both Afghanistan and its border with Pakistan will remain a key focus.

"With our friends and allies, we will forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat al Qaeda and combat extremism," Obama said. "Because I will not allow terrorists to plot against the American people from safe havens half a world away."

He said his budget will pay for more soldiers and Marines, increase their pay and improve veterans' benefits.

President Obama said Tuesday that his administration has identified $2 trillion in government spending cuts that can be made over the next decade.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Obama said Tuesday that his administration has identified $2 trillion in government spending cuts that can be made over the next decade.

Speaking in his first address to a joint session of Congress, Obama said the cuts were identified as his staff has gone "line by line" over the federal budget, with a goal of cutting the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term.

"In this budget, we will end education programs that don't work and end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them," Obama said.

Watch: Obama lays out budget goals

"We'll eliminate the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq, and reform our defense budget so that we're not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don't use."

He also said he will target waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare system and "restore fairness and balance" to the tax code.

When President Obama said we have to do something about the deficit so we don’t pass it on to our children, the Republicans responded with their heartiest cheer yet.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Theater: when President Obama said we have to do something about the deficit so we don’t pass it on to our children, the Republicans responded with their heartiest cheer yet - so much so it made the president laugh. Next sentence, he talked about the debt “we inherited,” and all the Democrats lept to their feet to cheer with gusto.

(CNN) - President Obama has made his priorities very clear: health care, energy and education. The speech is more like a standard State of the Union address - with an added element of extreme urgency, given the fiscal crisis.

If it somehow seems that we have heard this before from Obama, it's because we have. Which raises the question: have we been seeing him too much?

My answer is no. We know where he stands and what he intends to do. Now voters can hold him to his promises.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for all Americans to commit to at least one year of higher education or career training.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for all Americans to commit to at least one year of higher education or career training.

"This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship," he said in his address to a joint session of Congress.

"But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma."

He touted the billions for education - from early childhood education expansion to college-loan programs - in his recently approved economic stimulus package and set a goal of having the highest college graduation rate in the world by 2020.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Saying the United States can no longer afford to put health-care reform on hold, President Barack Obama said his budget proposal will include a "historic commitment" to it.

Watch: "Health care cannot wait," says Obama

"I suffer no illusions that this will be an easy process. It will be hard," Obama said in his first address to a joint session of Congress. "But I also know that nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough."

Obama said he will be assembling representatives of business, labor, doctors and healthcare providers next week to begin discussing the reforms.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Interesting line, sounds like major aid for the auto industry is on the way: “…I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it."

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The speech is clearly aimed well beyond the House chamber. He is going step by step through why the banks need to be bailed out, and how it will help middle class families. Seems to me some of this is pushback against Americans grown weary of bailing out “big banks” or “Wall Street.” Thus the tough talk - “those days are over,” a likely reference to excessive spending of companies taking federal help - and the reassurances of his mission: “It’s not about helping banks - it’s about helping people.”

Making sure the nation's lending industry is strong is crucial to jumpstarting its economy, President Barack Obama said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Making sure the nation's lending industry is strong is crucial to jumpstarting its economy, President Barack Obama said Tuesday, even as he acknowledged anger over the government banking bailout Congress approved last year.

"I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions. I promise you - I get it," Obama said in his first address to a joint session of Congress. "But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment.

Watch: President Obama vows oversight

He said he plans a new lending fund to provide college, auto and small-business loans and a housing plan that will help struggling families refinance and pay smaller mortgages. He said he wants to continue propping up the nation's largest banks when they're in danger, but will hold them accountable for how the money is spent.

"This time, CEOs won't be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet," Obama said.

"Those days are over."

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday described the nation's financial woes as a "reckoning" for poor decisions made by both government and individuals.

"A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future," Obama said in his first speech to a joint session of Congress. "Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market.

"People bought homes they knew they couldn't afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway. And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day."

Watch: "We will recover," Obama says

He said his economic agenda - which includes money to jumpstart job-creation and invest in green energy, health care and education - is a first step to turn things around.

"Now is the time to act boldly and wisely - to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity," Obama said.