State of the Union address, Newt's plans for the moon

The fact that no more Americans are left fighting in Iraq was the point that President Barack Obama began with in his State of the Union address last week.

After discussing achievements in the Middle East, Obama addressed foreign trade, the housing market, clean energy and tax reforms.

Reaching out to student audiences, Obama talked about higher education. He addressed the issue of the rising cost of college, saying that states need to make higher education a higher priority.

"When kids do graduate, the most daunting challenge can be the cost of college. At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July," Obama said in his State of the Union address. "Extend the tuition tax credit we started that saves millions of middle-class families thousands of dollars, and give more young people the chance to earn their way through college by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years. It's not enough for us to increase student aid. We can't just keep subsidizing skyrocketing tuition; we'll run out of money. States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets. And colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down.  The point is, it's possible. So let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down."

Friday, Obama called for an overhaul of the higher education financial aid system. He said that if colleges and universities don't control tuition costs they will lose federal funding.

Ever thought about colonizing the moon?

Republican candidate Newt Gingrich says he wants to make that a reality.

In his speech last week on space policy in Cocoa, Florida, Gingrich talked about American pioneers like the Wright brothers, and how as president, he would be a space pioneer.

"By the end of my second term we will have the first permanent base on the Moon, and it will be American," Gingrich said.

Gringrich continued to explain his moon plans and went into detail about the methods and technology he would use to make it happen. 

"We need to learn how to do five or eight launches a day, not one. We need to get in the habit of saying: You know, this is going to be like an airport," Gingrich said. "We are going to be so busy – you know, if we are going to be getting to the moon permanently and be starting to get to Mars and build this near-Earth capability, and do it all within eight years, we better start thinking more like airports than like space systems."

Gringrich ended his speech campaigning for votes for today's Florida primary.