In  a speech bookended by his foreign policy strength and success,  President Barack Obama tonight outlined the direction he will take as he  seeks re-lection in November.

Having  the international stage which the annual Sate of the Union address to a  joint-session of Congress presents, Obama was able to plot out a  populist and mostly moderate course of action for the next 10 months.  The speech was typical Obama and delivered well.

He  deflected the issue of the overwhelming debt the nation is facing to  talking of expanding energy exploration that would include both fossil  and green technologies. Obama skirted past and did not allude to the  recent Keystone XL pipeline project his Administration rejected.

He  spoke of improvements and changes in education. The plan outlined  indicated more oversight from Washington. He urged states to cut the  dropout rate by not allowing anyone to leave high school until the  student graduates or turns 18.

Obama  returned to the issue of tax rates, but did not differentiate between  earned income and capital gains in referring to the "Buffet Rule" named  after mogul Warren Buffet who's secretary pays a higher effective tax  rate than he does. Buffet pays on investments with a maximum 15% rate  and his secretary pays the graduated rate for earned income.

Again  and again, Obama used the term fair or fairness without ever defining  his definition of fair. However, he made it clear he still wanted to  increase the amount of taxes paid by those making over $1 million. He  did also say that he wanted to lower taxes on those making under  $250,000 per year. He spoke of looking at the tax code and closing  loopholes.

Early in the speech he talked of bringing jobs back from overseas and offering a tax break to those companies.

The  President announced a project coordinated by the military to provide  energy by utilizing public lands. He did not, however, explain if the  energy was to be created by wind, solar or water.

Overall  the President gave an excellent stump speech. But he offered nothing  that would inspire or win over Republicans or independents.

From  the Cornfield, while I give the President kudos for his closing and  mentioning Seal Team 6 and the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden, there  was very little new and nothing to breathe life into our sagging ecomony  or to stymie the ruptured artery of debt siphoning the life from the  nation.