HIGHLIGHTS-President Obama's State of the Union speech, Posted by Meosha Eaton

WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Following are highlights
from prepared remarks for U.S. President Barack Obama's State
of the Union speech, released by the White House. Obama was to
speak to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening.

    HEALTH CARE
    I've heard rumors that a few of you have some concerns
about the new health care law. So let me be the first to say
that anything can be improved. If you have ideas about how to
improve this law by making care better or more affordable, I am
eager to work with you. We can start right now by correcting a
flaw in the legislation that has placed an unnecessary
bookkeeping burden on small businesses.
    FREEZE ON SPENDING
    I am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual
domestic spending for the next five years. This would reduce
the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, and
will bring discretionary spending to the lowest share of our
economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president.
    ENDING LOOPHOLES, LOWERING TAXES
    So tonight, I'm asking Democrats and Republicans to
simplify the system. Get rid of the loopholes. Level the
playing field. And use the savings to lower the corporate tax
rate for the first time in 25 years -- without adding to our
deficit.
    ON BIPARTISAN DEFICIT COMMISSION   Most of the cuts and savings I've proposed only address
annual domestic spending, which represents a little more than
12 percent of our budget. To make further progress, we have to
stop pretending that cutting this kind of spending alone will
be enough. It won't.
   The bipartisan Fiscal Commission I created last year made
this crystal clear. I don't agree with all their proposals, but
they made important progress. And their conclusion is that the
only way to tackle our deficit is to cut excessive spending
wherever we find it - in domestic spending, defense spending,
health care spending, and spending through tax breaks and
loopholes.
    CLEAN ENERGY PUSH
    Now, clean energy breakthroughs will only translate into
clean energy jobs if businesses know there will be a market for
what they're selling. So tonight, I challenge you to join me in
setting a new goal: by 2035, 80 percent of America's
electricity will come from clean energy sources. Some folks
want wind and solar. Others want nuclear, clean coal, and
natural gas. To meet this goal, we will need them all - and I
urge Democrats and Republicans to work together to make it
happen.
    IRAN, NORTH KOREA
    Because of a diplomatic effort to insist that Iran meet its
obligations, the Iranian government now faces tougher and
tighter sanctions than ever before. And on the Korean
peninsula, we stand with our ally South Korea, and insist that
North Korea keeps its commitment to abandon nuclear weapons.
    TURMOIL IN TUNISIA
    We saw that same desire to be free in Tunisia, where the
will of the people proved more powerful than the writ of a
dictator. And tonight, let us be clear: the United States of
America stands with the people of Tunisia, and supports the
democratic aspirations of all people.
    BRAZIL TRIP, FOREIGN RELATIONS
    We have reset our relationship with Russia, strengthened
Asian alliances, and built new partnerships with nations like
India. This March, I will travel to Brazil, Chile, and El
Salvador to forge new alliances for progress in the Americas.
    WIRELESS POLICY
    Within the next five years, we will make it possible for
business to deploy the next generation of high-speed wireless
coverage to 98 percent of all Americans. This isn't just about
a faster internet and fewer dropped calls. It's about
connecting every part of America to the digital age.
    END TO OIL COMPANY TAX SUBSIDIES
    With more research and incentives, we can break our
dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country
to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
    We need to get behind this innovation. And to help pay for
it, I'm asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer
dollars we currently give to oil companies. I don't know if
you've noticed, but they're doing just fine on their own. So
instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy, let's invest in
tomorrow's.
   TRADE DEALS WITH PANAMA, COLOMBIA, KOREA
   Before I took office, I made it clear that we would enforce
our trade agreements, and that I would only sign deals that
keep faith with American workers, and promote American jobs.
 That's what we did with Korea, and that's what I intend to do
as we pursue agreements with Panama and Colombia, and continue
our Asia Pacific and global trade talks.
    EARMARKS AND LOBBYISTS
    Because you deserve to know when your elected officials are
meeting with lobbyists, I ask Congress to do what the White
House has already done: put that information online.  And
because the American people deserve to know that special
interests aren't larding up legislation with pet projects, both
parties in Congress should know this: if a bill comes to my
desk with earmarks inside, I will veto it.
    POISED FOR PROGRESS
    We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst
recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come
roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing
again.
    ON BIPARTISAN SPIRIT
    New laws will only pass with support from Democrats and
Republicans. We will move forward together, or not at all - for
the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than
politics.
    (Editing by Eric Walsh)