lamber45's Journal: President calls for tax reform, immigration and a balanced budget

Watched the State of the Union address yesterday for the first time in years. President Obama opened by listing his recent military accomplishments: approving the operation to assassinate `Usama bin Ladin, withdrawing "all American troops" from Iraq. He went on to touch a laundry-list of things he wants to improve in America, many of which require bills from Congress. He asked for fairer taxes in several places. He repeated his call for three-part immigration reform, in the middle of comments about jobs and education: the DREAM act, permanent visas for STEM college graduates or potential entrepreneurs, and a better-funded Border Patrol (although he pointed out that illegal crossings from the south already appear to be down). He did not set a specific target date for no deficit spending, but talked about the need to borrow less in several places. In the end he called on Congress to think of themselves as soldiers and public servants, not as an elite group that had a right to pay lower taxes.

The speech is also reported on the White House website and, of course, in the minutes of the House.