President Barack Obama will warn that he will bypass congress if it thwarts his battle against inequality, in a State of the Union address meant to lift US spirits and his own political fortunes.
Obama was to step up in the House of Representatives in US television's primetime seeking new momentum for a presidency that stumbled through a disastrous first year of his second term.
"What I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class, and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class," Obama was to say, according to advance excerpts of his speech released by the White House.
"Some require congressional action, and I'm eager to work with all of you," Obama planned to tell mass ranks of politicians, dignitaries and honoured guests in the annual televised speech.
"But America does not stand still - and neither will I.
"So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that's what I'm going to do."
Obama planned to argue that the fundamental American idea that anyone has a chance to better their lot had taken some "serious blows".
"Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled."
"And too many still aren't working at all," Obama was to say, according to the excerpts.
White House aides say Obama will be "ambitious" in the speech.
But beyond the spin - and despite signs of faster growth in a still wounded economy - the president has little to cheer going into his sixth year in office.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll pegged Obama's approval rating at 43 per cent, the worst level for any president apart from George W. Bush.
Sixty-eight per cent said the country was either stagnant or worse off since Obama moved into the White House in 2009.
His reputation was scarred last year by a botched roll out of his signature health-care law, budget clashes with Republicans and perceived missteps abroad.
But he will seize a chance to chart the early going for mid-term elections in November, in which his Democrats are in danger of losing the Senate.
Obama will for instance call on congress on Tuesday to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour - a proposal that he has raised before and never seen enacted.
He is also expected to call on congress to extend expired benefits for the long-term unemployed and to improve access to pre-school and college education as a way to pave the way to the middle class for future generations.
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