Obama insight: Being realistic on economy maintains credibility

When the waiter reached for the plate, President Obama shook his head and smiled as he asked for a few more minutes. He had been talking to his guests, and had barely taken a bite of his lunch. The new president was keeping with a longstanding tradition on days when the commander in chief delivers an address to a joint session of Congress: Around the table Tuesday sat television anchors and the Sunday morning interview program hosts and two senior aides

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The ‘day of reckoning has arrived,’ Obama will say

President Obama will tell the country the "day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here" in his first speech to a joint session of Congress, according to excerpts of his address. “Now is the time to act boldly and wisely — to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity,” Obama will say. Obama’s address comes two days before he will submit his budget summary to Congress.

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Japan’s Aso becomes Obama’s first guest

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso met with President Barack Obama on Tuesday making him the first head of state to be hosted by the new administration. It was a long trip — 6,800 miles (11,000 km) — for a short meeting — one hour — and happened as Obama was preparing his first address to a joint session of Congress. Sitting next to Aso in the White House, Obama said: “The friendship between the United States and Japan is extraordinarily important.

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Obama to lay out ‘game plan’ on fixing economy

In his first speech to a joint session of Congress, President Obama is planning to strike a more optimistic tone than he has in recent days by laying out a "game plan" to beat the financial crisis, according to a senior White House official.

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Brazilian revelers celebrate Rio Carnival

Aides say the president is expected to focus on the economy when he addresses a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening, but will also touch lightly on foreign policy issues. After much talk of engaging America’s adversaries, chief among them Iran, the Obama administration has made no move so far, pending a policy review.

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Poll: Expectations high for Obama’s speech

A national poll indicates most Americans think President Obama will give a good speech Tuesday night in his address to a joint session of Congress, but expectations are not as high as they were for his inaugural address. Twenty-eight percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp.

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