Points for effort

28 January 2010 By James Pethokoukis

Politicos love comparing Barack Obama to Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, presidential predecessors who won second terms after early stumbles. But Obama is squeezed by far worse economic and fiscal pincers. The plans offered in the State of the Union speech can’t get him out.

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President Barack Obama pushed job creation to the top of his agenda during the annual State of the Union speech and promised not to abandon his struggling healthcare overhaul.

Obama also pledged to slap tough new regulations on Wall Street. He said he would work to dig the country out a "massive fiscal hole" and was willing to use his presidential veto power to enforce budgetary discipline.

Obama proposed a threeyear freeze on some domestic spending programs to take aim at soaring budget deficits.

He called for the creation of a bipartisan commission to tackle longterm budget challenges, such as the Social Security retirement program and Medicare health insurance program for older Americans.

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