Obama flexes executive power in measured State of Union address  —  In a State of the Union address less partisan and pointed than many expected, President Obama on Tuesday said he was eager to work with Congress but willing to go it alone.  —  Obama promised to unleash a torrent …

Good Speech, Modest Agenda, Diminished Leader  —  Americans may have already tuned out Barack Obama.  —  Is that all there is?  —  In what may be his last, best chance to revive a presidency that has fallen far short of its promise, Barack Obama unveiled his 2014 agenda Tuesday night …

Less speech, more competence: Column  —  We need better government, not more promises.  —  The simple purpose the State of the Union (SOTU) address fulfills is the constitutional requirement that the president update Congress “from time to time” and “recommend to their consideration” what the executive suggests needs to be done.

Mike Lee tea party response: Barack Obama at fault for inequality  —  Sen. Mike Lee tried to challenge the Democrats on their own turf by discussing an “inequality crisis” in his official tea party rebuttal to the State of the Union on Tuesday, while fellow tea party darling Sen. Rand Paul struck …

State of the Union GOP response: Cathy McMorris Rodgers (text, video)  —  Following is the full text of the Republican Address to the Nation by House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), as prepared for delivery:  —  What an honor it is for me to be with you after the President's State of the Union.

In State of the Union 2014, President Obama Pushes for Year of Action on Economic Opportunity … Facing a still sharply divided Congress, President Obama pledged to charge forward on his own to push a second-term agenda focused on rising worries about economic inequality and opportunity in his State of the Union address tonight.

The State of the Union: Make it stop  —  Blame Woodrow Wilson, who broke a century-old presidential tradition of delivering the State of the Union message only in writing.  Blame Harry Truman, the first chief executive to make the address on television, or Lyndon Johnson, the first to do so in prime time.

Obama to put women's issues ‘front and center’ in address  —  (CNN) - Working women and their struggles will form a major part of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, CNN has learned, underscoring the important role women play both in Obama's domestic agenda …