Watch
The State of the Union address will be at 9 p.m.
Tonight will mark President Barack Obama's next-to-last address to the American people in what is called the State of the Union.
In this address, he is expected to propose tax reform in the form of tax increases for those who can best afford them -- the wealthiest Americans and corporations that for decades have been enjoying tax "loopholes."
That change would ease the financial burden on most Americans by raising about $320 billion in revenue over the next decade to be passed along to middle-class families in the form of increased tax credits and free two-year college opportunities, according to the administration.
The proposals already are drawing fire from Republicans, but continued GOP opposition will come with a distinct risk: The Republicans might appear to be defending the highest income workers over the country's struggling middle class.
Historically, both political parties have found it a challenge to find common ground on much of anything, let alone on taxes. Corporate tax reform, however, is one area this year that Obama and Republicans, who now control Congress, have identified as a point of possible agreement.
Time will tell. Frankly, we think the president will still likely get a fight from Republicans on some key parts of his proposal.
Tennessee is a good example. The Volunteer State already is proposing free community college for qualified students. Gov. Bill Haslam calls it Tennessee Promise. But already Republicans (even our own Sen. Bob Corker and Rep. Diane Black) are raining on the president's plan to do the same thing across the nation. Of course, they can't say they're against helping make higher education more affordable for middle-class families. Instead, Corker says leaders are better off letting states "mimic each other," and Black said, "any efforts to reboot Tennessee Promise as a one-size-fits-all nationwide approach" would be met "with heavy skepticism."
Ah. So, we guess, that means it's a state's rights issue?
This is where we, the people -- the 99 percent of us who are not among the top-earning 1 percenters -- come in. Senior Obama administration officials are counting on the public to get behind the plan and pressure Congress in a way that 1 percenter lobbying cannot.
These proposals can mark a turning point: We've recovered from the recession, but the middle class is not prospering -- in fact, the middle class incomes have been flat-lined for 40 years. The president has campaigned around the country in recent weeks calling for more spending on education, training and infrastructure -- all things that, like higher income, can bolster middle-class jobs.
The centerpiece of his proposal is an increase in the capital gains and dividends rate on couples making more than $500,000 a year to 28 percent, the same level as under President Ronald Reagan. The top capital gains rate already has been raised from 15 percent to 23.8 percent during Obama's presidency.
The president also wants to close the "Trust Fund Loophole," a change that would require estates to pay capital gains taxes on securities at the time they're inherited. Officials said the overwhelming impact of the change would be on the top 1 percent of income earners.
In turn, the middle class would receive a tax credit of up to $500 for families in which both spouses work in families with annual income up to $210,000 and expand the child care tax credit to up to $3,000 per child under 5 years old.
A proposal to require all companies to provide workers with a week's paid sick-leave if needed, adds to the tax credits and community college opportunities to help working families.
Some Republicans have made it clear they are not on the same page with the president: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., says, "Raising taxes on people that are successful is not going to make people that are struggling more successful."
So what is the answer, then? If the rest of Congress thinks and acts like Rubio, the answer will just be more no, no, no -- forcing Obama again to take what the GOP calls "unilateral" action. More gridlock. More stagnant or sinking middle-class Americans at a time when the country has thousands of new jobs and an economic recovery from recession outstripping any other nation.
Tax reform, free community college, paid sick leave, affordable high-speed Internet (another Tennessee connection with Chattanooga's gig highlighted just last week) all can be real progress to finally help rank-and-file Americans -- not just those rich enough to lobby Congress.
Americans and politicians need to listen tonight with their hearts and minds -- not their political campaign buttons.