This would save 250 billion over 10 years

There is already a part of the content of the first speech on the State of the Union that Barack Obama will tonight before Congress. Creation of jobs, average class defence, attack Washington lobbies and budget deficit reduction. After the trauma as a result of the victory to a Republican as a Senator in the Democratic stronghold of Massachusetts - and at the headquarters of Ted Kennedy! -the President wants to show that he understood the priorities of its citizens. A zest of fiscal orthodoxy and a refocusing on the middle class are the order of the day.

The most important measure will be the announcement of a freeze on spending over three years to reduce the deficit, while the Senate has rejected the establishment of a commission on this reduction. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the budget deficit will be a little less heavy than expected and should be certificated billion at year-end in progress (closed September 30), instead of 1.380 billion previously estimated. But this is 9.2 of GDP, a level never reached since the second world war. Barack Obama is therefore proposing to limit spending on an envelope of $ 447 billion, or 17 of the federal budget. This would save 250 billion over 10 years. A few positions are untouchables: Defense, veterans, homeland security, International Affairs, pensions and care for the elderly. The first reactions were mixed: the effort is considered marginal by the experts as by the opposition. The President announced early in the week a series of measures dedicated to the middle class, from a group of work carried out by Vice President Joe Biden. Tax credits and grants for young children, aid to the repayment of student loans...

Give a clear vision

Tonight, Barack Obama will return no doubt on his fight against Wall Street, recalling his last projects: a tax on banks and the limitation of commercial banks risk activities. It will take to berate Washington and its lobbies. A year after his election, none of the major reforms desired by him was finalized. The loss of the qualified majority in the Senate really compromises the health insurance reform. Yesterday, the Democratic leader in the House, Steny Hoyer, raised the possibility that a law is not ultimately not passed, or a much smaller version.

After a year of power, the President is credited to have avoided an economic cataclysm changed the nature of the relationship of America with the rest of the world. But political observers believe that it must show more empathy with his fellow citizens. "Obama has the air of the Brookings Institution a"think tank"left, not the country", notes Jon Meachan, this week in "Newsweek". And be more presidential, said Fareed Zakaria, the pattern of the weekly. He pursued a policy at the centre, sought compromise with the opposition without ever find it, committed sweeping reforms... and lost the most faithful Democratic electorate. After Massachusetts, Republicans want to snatch the Illinois and former member of the Senate of the President. While the mid-term elections in November, will be much more dangerous for the Democratic majority, the consensus at the centre is that Barack Obama must get out of the "legislative kitchen" and give a clear vision to which Americans can join.