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It's still a question whether voters will buy it when it comes election time and unemployment is still disappointingly high, but at least he finally took the tone and stance - not just rhetoric - of being the "adult in the room" who puts bipartisan solutions on the table.

But perhaps that's the real rub. Republicans only like tax cuts for the super rich. Tax reform and investments that make America work for everyone? No Republican applause for that.

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is associate editor of the American Spectator

"I reject the idea that we have to strip away collective bargaining rights to compete in a global economy. We shouldn't be in a race to the bottom."

Similarly, singling out veterans for special attention is unlikely to cause resentment. The president's mention of vets brought applause from the entire joint session.

is professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Obama's "plan" is largely a repeat of the stimulus spending legislation of 2009. The theory was, and evidently remains, that if the government takes money in debt or taxes from people who earned it and gives it to the politically targeted, there is more money in the economy.

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While it may be politically expedient for politicians to blame the jobs crisis on hardworking immigrants rather than Wall Street, the country is plagued by a historical amnesia about the country's identity as a nation built by immigrants and organised labour. The railroads and the bridges the president spoke of were built by immigrants or

is east coast organiser for the National Day Laborer Organising Network