president that indicates any difference in approach to a second term as compared to his first? he was very clear he would be more aggressive. he talked a lot about the executive action he would take. he would go around congress. i don t think we heard that as much in the first term. i think he was very specific in how he wanted to go several courses. what was billed as a rebuttal but never rebutted, because mr. rubio mentioned immigration, never said how the republicans wanted to have immigration. he says his parents were immigrants, and that was it. he said he went to school on government money but is against government. aside from the awkward drink of water, i think his real problem is that it was the wrong night, wrong city. tuesday night in washington, wednesday night in new york. there is a place called the apollo.
that came in january 2011 with that need that he knew he was chasing. that he was going to have to work together with the republicans. a somewhat toned down barack obama from the 2012 state of the union trying to talk to the voters, set the tone for the campaign. he wanted to deliver this. hey, guys, we have to do some of these votes. i wonder, they have a lot of what i would call very well pull tests. the issue that they hit on on education and the economy in particular, things like universal prepaid, raising the minimum wage, these are tangible items that average, middle-class families listening to this , speech. i have a feeling that could resonate very well. they accomplish what they wanted
and with everybody doing their fair share. that s the approach i offer tonight. i have two political analysts with me tonight. i want to start with governor rendell. the democrats believe government has to do something, infrastructure, has to build and get the economy to grow. unemployment is at 7.9. democrats are up against the republicans which the only purpose is to cut government spending. that seems to be the philosophy. they are at war with each other. that s the big clash. everyone sort of agrees, if you get them in a moment of truth, that we have to do long-term debt reduction.
the clean air act. there could be a cap and trade kind of regime. they would have to structure it differently, which means the executive and conservatives have been fighting tooth and nail to be sure it doesn t happen. if there is little political coverage in congress, it is the threat of uni rival action that has some republicans and lobbyists on the hill scurrying because they are worried about the president following through on that promise. i thought that was a big deal, the not so veiled threat. that explains about the president explaining it in speeches, so people understand it if he has to do it.
deficit alone is not a plan. a growing economy that creates good middle class jobs. that must be the north star that guides our efforts. the president took aim at republicans who think they can easily trim the deficit through cuts. we can t ask senior citizens and working families to shoulder the entire burden. we want to grow the middle class by shifting the tax care on to families struggling or forcing there to be more layoffs of teachers or cops. we have to understand we can t just cut our way to prosperity. broad-based economic growth requires a balanced approach with spending cuts and revenue