In a televised speech to the nation, President Obama delivered his annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. The President laid out his top priorities, focusing much of the speech on the economy, job creation, proposals to improve education, reforming government and reducing the nation's federal debt. "At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country, or somewhere else," Obama said. "To win the future, we'll need to take on challenges that have been decades in the making." Also adding, “We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world,”
He was followed by House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who delivered the Republican response. Rep. Ryan discussed the President’s approach to the central issues of spending and the economy. “All of this new government spending was sold as "investment." Yet after two years, the unemployment rate remains above 9 percent and government has added over $3 trillion to our debt,” he said.