President Obama and vice president Biden have teamed up to give a shot of life to middle classers struggling along the way. 

Among the lot of upcoming budget proposals are doubling the child care tax credit for families making less than 85,000 a year and adding 1.6 billion in federal funding to child care programs.  One of Obama’s main focuses at the State of the Union on Wednesday will be the middle class.   

NPR reports.

President Obama on Monday offered new ideas meant to help struggling people pay bills and care for their families, aiming to help a middle-class he says has been "under assault for a long time."

Obama and Vice President Joe Biden outlined a series of proposals that will be in Obama's budget next month.

The proposals, which the president will push in Wednesday night's State of the Union address, include nearly doubling the child care tax credit for families earning under $85,000; an increase in federal funding for child care programs of $1.6 billion; capping student loan payments to 10 percent of income above "a basic living allowance;" expanding tax credits to match retirement savings; and increasing aid for families taking care of elderly relatives.

The plan would also require all employers to provide the option of a workplace-based retirement savings plan.

The proposals are the result of the work of a middle class task force that Biden had headed. A White House official says they are aimed at the "sandwich generation" — Americans that are struggling to care for both their children and their parents. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the speech has not been finalized.

The official said that creating jobs, addressing the deficit, changing Washington and helping middle class families are the main themes of Obama's first State of the Union address. He'll also discuss his bid to take on the financial industry, energy, education and immigration — all issues the president has said fit into his plan to rebuild the economy.

Recalibrating The Message

White House advisers see the speech as a key opportunity for Obama to recalibrate his message to better connect with the public and reset his presidency after stinging setbacks.

Obama has promised a sharper focus on jobs and the economy as the dust settles from the punishing loss of the late Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts. Republican Scott Brown's victory put the seat in the hands of Republicans for the first time in decades and took away Democrats' 60-vote majority in the Senate.

Obama and fellow Democrats are trying to regroup to head off more populist anger and stem more losses of congressional, gubernatorial and legislative seats in the 2010 midterm elections. Obama's poll numbers are also off - primarily because of the slow economic recovery and double-digit unemployment. A majority of Americans also have turned against health care reform, the president's signature legislative effort now in jeopardy.

The initiatives being announced Monday were first reported by The New York Times.

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