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10:38 AM PT: As Fox ignores the speech in favor of talking about the prospect of Mayor Weiner, these lines by President Obama bring the crowd to their feet:
I will lay out my ideas for how we build on the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in America, and what it takes to work your way into the middle class in America. Job security, with good wages and durable industries. A good education. A home to call your own. Affordable health care when you get sick. A secure retirement even if you’re not rich. Reducing poverty and inequality. Growing prosperity and opportunity.
10:38 AM PT: CNN and MSNBC are covering the speech. Apparently they think when the president talks about the most important issue facing American families, it's newsworthy.
10:43 AM PT: Obama: "I'm going to push new initiatives to help more manufacturers bring more jobs back to America." And with those words, I'm sure Republicans turned to one another and said: "See, we told you he was a socialist!"
10:45 AM PT: Good line:
Tomorrow, I’ll also visit the port of Jacksonville, Florida to offer new ideas for doing what America has always done best: building things. We’ve got ports that aren’t ready for the new supertankers that will begin passing through the new Panama Canal in two years’ time. We’ve got more than 100,000 bridges that are old enough to qualify for Medicare. Businesses depend on our transportation systems, our power grids, our communications networks – and rebuilding them creates good-paying jobs that can’t be outsourced.
10:43 AM PT: Obama doing a good job pointing out that with interest rates being as low as they are, now is a great time to borrow and invest in our future. The longer we wait, he says, the more expensive it will be. This is good stuff—he needs to sustain it, though, and not fall back into the trap of competing with Republicans to slash spending.
10:49 AM PT: President Obama is a bit more than halfway through the speech. He's now turning to education, and will also address retirement and homeownership.
10:53 AM PT:
Except with a bunch of childish mockery RT @ByronYork: Sends clear message: Dems care more about middle class. Largely unanswered by GOP.
— @ThePlumLineGS
10:51 AM PT:
folks acting like obama's speech is all about more stimulus aren't actually listening to the speech
— @samsteinhp
10:57 AM PT:
No, answered w/ calls for tax cuts for rich RT @ByronYork Sends clear message: Dems care more about middle class. Largely unanswered by GOP.
— @JoshDorner
10:59 AM PT: Good answer to a question that a lot of people might be asking:
There's going to be a fight over the budget, then the debt ceiling, and soon. RT @stefanjbecket: Why is Obama giving this speech?
— @BenjySarlin
11:09 AM PT: I'm sure Republicans will poke fun at the length of this speech, because it's long. Probably too long. But really, who cares? At least he's saying something about an issue that matters. The only thing congressional Republicans can do is talk about cutting taxes on the rich, repealing Obamacare, and threatening to shut down government if they don't get their way on the debt limit and fiscal policy.
11:09 AM PT: "Repealing Obamacare and cutting spending is not an economic plan," the president says. "It's not!" Crowd chuckles.
11:18 AM PT: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor announces afternoon vote in the House to repeal President Obama's speech from the historical record.
11:25 AM PT: And the speech is over. As Benjy Sarlin pointed out, this is in many ways the opening act to debates this fall over federal spending priorities and the debt limit. The president's real leverage is the veto pen, his influence in the senate, and his ability to force Republicans to take responsibility for shutting down the government, if they choose to go down that road. But to exercise that leverage he will have to give meaning to his words by insisting on fiscal policy that turns back from austerity during the debate this fall. If he does, we will certainly be headed towards a major confrontation between the White House and House Republicans. And if history is a guide, it's a battle the White House will win—but the president has to be willing to fight it. How that plays out will be the first big real world test of this speech.