In State of the Union Speech, Obama Is to Urge Congress to Address Income Inequality

WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to use Tuesday night’s State of the Union address to call on Congress to pivot from an era of terror, war and recession to one of expanding economic opportunity, outlining a wide-ranging agenda intended to address income inequality and help working Americans.

“Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well, or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?” Mr. Obama will say, according to excerpts from the speech distributed in advance.

Meeting a skeptical Congress on its own turf, Mr. Obama will press to capitalize on the economic recovery to achieve some of his long-held goals. He is expected to call on Republicans to work with him on potential areas of consensus, including a new push to approve far-reaching trade deals in Europe and Asia.But the president will also use the annual prime-time address to sketch an activist vision for his final two years in office and to set the terms of a debate that will sharpen the distinctions between the two parties in advance of the 2016 elections.

He will argue for a new focus on the middle class, arguing that, “this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.”

The president will also use the speech to urge Congress to pass legislation granting him authorization for the five-month-old military operation against the Sunni militant group the Islamic State.

“I call on this Congress to show the world that we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against” the group, he will say, according to the excerpts.

The plan, unveiled by the White House over the weekend, indicates that the president — bracing for a season of conflict and compromise with Republicans on Capitol Hill — is determined to have a loud voice in defining the choices at hand.

On the domestic front, Mr. Obama will call on Congress to join him in enacting new initiatives to make community college free and to enhance tax credits for education and child care, financed by new taxes and fees on high-income earners and large financial institutions.

Republicans, who tapped Joni Ernst, the newly elected senator from Iowa, to give their official response to the speech, are grappling to have their say as well.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said he hoped the president would use the speech to change the dynamic and “turn the page” on a season of confrontation and gridlock.

“The American people aren’t demanding talking-point proposals designed to excite the base but not designed to pass,” Mr. McConnell said in a statement before the speech. “They said they’re ready to see more constructive cooperation, especially on bipartisan jobs initiatives.”

Even as Mr. Obama addresses a newly empowered Republican majority, his standing in the country is improving in the wake of several aggressive moves he has made in the wake of the 2014 midterm elections, including executive action on immigration and a move to normalize relations with Cuba. After spending nearly a year hovering at about 40 percent approval, the president’s popularity has improved markedly since the contests.

On average, the president’s approval rating stands at about 46 percent, and a Washington Post/ABC News poll released Monday shows it at 50 percent for the first time since just after the 2012 presidential election. The survey reflects a nine-point increase in the last month, though other polls have shown smaller gains.

The bump in popular support comes as the economy continues to improve, with unemployment sinking to 5.6 percent and the pace of job growth accelerating.

Mr. Obama has said he wants to work with Republicans on a business tax overhaul, trade liberalization and bolstered cybersecurity protections. He also promised Republican leaders in a closed-door meeting at the White House last week that he would soon send the text of a new authorization for the use of military force against the Islamic State, and would work with them to ensure both parties could accept the language.

The White House took the unusual step of previewing many of the new initiatives to be discussed in the speech in the two weeks leading to it, working to maximize public attention on Mr. Obama’s agenda and prevent the address from devolving into a laundry list of policy proposals.

Also among the initiatives Mr. Obama has unveiled this month are efforts to widen the availability and affordability of broadband Internet access, and legislation to allow employees to earn up to seven days of paid sick leave.

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