We already know the big news from tonight’s State of the Union speech. Barack Obama will propose to modestly tax the rich in order to modestly cut taxes for the middle class and the working poor. With Republicans running Congress, John Cassidy writes, the proposal obviously won’t go anywhere – not now. But Cassidy says that since income inequality is likely to a critical part of the 2016 race, Obama’s plan may just be the starting point in a campaign that doubles as a bidding war on tax cuts. Via the New Yorker.
Some liberals are worried that Obama will be too willing to trade in his State of the Union. Via the National Journal.
According to the polls, it is the economy. And in the latest Washington Post-ABC poll, Obama finally gets back to 50 percent.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar writes at Time that Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy is most threatened by those who admire him.
Bill Moyers talking about ‘Selma’ says it’s a powerful but flawed film. He said it underlines the “obscenity of the Republican Party as it has piously but insidiously taken up voter suppression as a priority.” And Moyers recalls that Pres. Johnson “never suggested Selma as the venue for a march but he’s on record as urging King to do something to arouse the sleeping white conscience, and when violence met the marchers on that bridge, he knew the moment had come: He told me to alert the speechwriters to get ready and within days he made his own famous ‘We Shall Overcome’ address that transformed the political environment.”
Rep. John Lewis, a participant of the Selma protests, on the movie. Via the LA Times.
Not everyone loves the low gas prices. If you want a look, take a trip to Midland, Tex., where they’re moving on to Plan B. Via the New York Times.
It turns out Republicans do have various plans to replace Obamacare. Philip Klein wrote a whole book about them, called Overcoming Obamacare. But Ezra Klein — no relation — writes in Vox that the real question is whether conservatives care enough about health care to take on the pain of trying to change it.
Speculation about George Brauchler’s political future raise questions about the Arapahoe County DA’s prosecution of Aurora movie killer James Holmes. Via ABC News.
Christopher Dickey asks in the Daily Beast whether Iran has gone back into the international assassination business in the death of an Argentine prosecutor.
You’ve seen the protests, but polling says cops are still incredibly popular. Via the Atlantic.
