Obama in State of the Union: 'Middle class economics works'

In his sixth State of the Union Tuesday, President Obama offered a vigorous case for "middle class economics" while saying the nation was ready to "turn the page" on the past 15 years of crisis and hardship.

"The verdict is clear: Middle-class economics works," Obama said, pointing to the economy's rapid improvement of late. "Expanding opportunity works."

Sticking with the income inequality message Democrats have made their central theme over the past year, Obama said the country works best when "everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules." And facing for the first time in his presidency a fully GOP-controlled Congress, Obama warned against attempts to roll back the gains of the past six years, saying his policies "will continue to work, as long as politics don’t get in the way."

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"At every step, we were told our goals were misguided or too ambitious; that we would crush jobs and explode deficits," Obama said. "Instead, we’ve seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health care inflation at its lowest rate in fifty years."