GRITtv: Jan. 27, 2010

Obama's preparing for his first State of the Union speech, and we're wondering if once again he's going to try to be all things to all people. After all, on the campaign trail he dismissed talk of a spending freeze, only to adopt that language a year into his administration, and with the economic team he's still using, he's starting to remind us of the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton--who may have slashed the deficit, but did so on the back of his "welfare reform. We talk about Obama's choices for the economy and the path we hope he'll take now with Kai Wright of The Nation and The Root, Jeff Madrick, author of "The Case for Big Government," and Lynn Parramore of the New Deal 2.0. Cornel West, Princeton professor and author of "Democracy Matters," recorded a video message for President Obama on the eve of his first State of the Union address, asking him to recommit to concern for poor and working people. Some of the students from the Ciné Institute, who shot footage we've been airing from Haiti over the last couple of weeks, tell their personal stories from the earthquake. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders has been an outspoken leader in the Senate on everything from the fight for single-payer health care reform to blocking Fed chair Ben Bernanke's reappointment.