On Tuesday night, POTUS Barack Obama delivered his State Of The Union to a joint sitting of Congress, offering both his administration’s priorities for the coming year and his campaign messaging for his re-election bid in November. President Obama stood by his trademark policies that have come to define his time in office, issues such as tax increases on the wealthy, Wall Street reform, health care reform, government stimulus spending.

The president wasted no time in highlighting the problems facing the country, telling the audience he is trying to build an America that will give everyone a fair shot at success, saying “No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”

He continued by saying, “What’s at stake aren’t Democratic values or Republican values, but American values, and we have to reclaim them.” Republicans were not moved by the speech, saying the President should have spoke more about what he plans to do with the country’s 15 Trillion dollar debt. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina said ”It was irresponsible for him not to recognize the dire circumstances our country is in because of our debt.” He went on to say ”He spent his speech making some more promises from government.”

Obama also made sure he praised the military, telling listeners that the U.S. troops unity and teamwork can serve as a model for facing the country’s problems. He called for lowering corporate taxes and providing incentives for U.S. manufacturers to bring overseas jobs back to America, while ending tax breaks for businesses that continue to outsource. At the same time, Obama said, every multinational company should pay a basic minimum tax, while giving American manufacturers a tax cut.

On income taxes, Obama repeated his longstanding call for the wealth to pay more in taxes, including a specific proposal for millionaires to have a tax rate of 30%. Earlier Tuesday, millionaire Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney revealed his actual tax rate was lower than 15%.

Obama also offered his view of a better America, saying ”Think about the America within our reach: A country that leads the world in educating its people,” Obama said. “An America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs. A future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t so tied to unstable parts of the world. An economy built to last, where hard work pays off, and responsibility is rewarded.”

The GOP was quick to offer a rebuttal to the speech, using conservative Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to say ”No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others,” Daniels said. “As in previous moments of national danger, we Americans are all in the same boat. If we drift, quarreling and paralyzed, over a Niagara of debt, we will all suffer, regardless of income, race, gender, or other category. If we fail to shift to a pro-jobs, pro-growth economic policy, there will never be enough public revenue to pay for our safety net, national security, or whatever size government we decide to have.”

I say the President knocked it out the park.

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Signed, Isidori Mtabo