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The Economic Message of Last Night's State of the Union, in Three Images:

Summary: 
A couple hours before the President heads to the Capitol, we print out a "pocket card" for Members of Congress so that they can get all the key facts in one easy-to-read place. Here's your version of that card:

Here's a piece of the State of the Union process you might not have known about:

A couple hours before the President heads to the Capitol, we print out a "pocket card" for Members of Congress so they can get all the facts in one easy-to-read place. Staffers print out a big stack of the cards in the basement of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and send them over to Congress in a van.

Staffers head up to the main floor of the Capitol, where they stack the pocket cards in the cloakrooms adjacent to the chamber. Fun fact: That's also where Members' advance copies of the speech are printed, before they're passed out in the Chamber itself, about ten minutes before the speech.

Even-more-fun fact: This year, the American people got their own advance copy of the speech, too. We posted it on Medium, complete with helpful charts and graphics to help drill down on the President's points. Take a look -- and leave notes about your favorite parts.

You can take a look at the actual pocket card that Members received last night here -- but it's a little dense.

So here are the main points, broken down in three images from our enhanced speech last night. Consider it your digital pocket card:

Let's make the paychecks of working families go further.

Working families in America should be able to afford childcare, college for their kids, a home, and a secure retirement. But that's simply not the case right now. The President's budget will address those issues, and propose lowering the taxes of working families to put thousands back in their pockets each year.

Let's make sure hardworking Americans have the skills and education they need for higher-wage jobs.

By the end of the 2020s, two in three job openings will require some kind of higher education. And there's more we can do to help Americans upgrade their skills without breaking the bank. How would we do that? The President's proposing a plan that would make two years of community college free for responsible students. And we're working to connect local employers with community college to help train workers to fill high-paying jobs in fields like coding, nursing, and robotics.

Let's keep those higher-wage jobs right here at home.

If we want to make sure the jobs created by future industries we can't even imagine yet are American jobs, we've got to make sure we build the most competitive economy in the world -- one where businesses continue to want to relocate and hire in America. A key piece of that has got to be upgrading our infrastructure at home: our ports, our bridges, our trains, and our internet. We'll thank ourselves decades down the road.


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