US President Barack Obama is expected to attack income inequality and set the tone for his re-election bid in his third state of the union speech.
Mr Obama will emphasise the importance of an economy that works for everyone, in his nationally televised address to Congress at 21:00 EST (02:00 GMT).
The speech could include plans for higher taxes on the wealthy, something Republicans strongly oppose.
The US economy is on the mend, but unemployment remains high at 8.5%.
The annual state of the union - one of the most closely watched moments in US politics - traditionally includes policy prescriptions from the White House for the upcoming year.
'Top to bottom' President Obama's speech on Tuesday in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives will be delivered with an eye on November's presidential election, when he will seek another four years in office.
Excerpts from Mr Obama's speech say: "We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by.
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What is the State of the Union?
- The US Constitution (Article II, Section 3) requires the president to "from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union"
- Making a speech to Congress is not required by the constitution
- The tradition of making a speech only took hold in the early 20th Century
- President Calvin Coolidge (1923) made the radio address, and Harry Truman (1947) the first televised one
- In 2002 President George W Bush made the first address to be streamed online
"Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.
"What's at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. We have to reclaim them."
He is expected to add: "Let's never forget: Millions of Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day deserve a government and a financial system that does the same. It's time to apply the same rules from top to bottom."
Mr Obama may also make a renewed call for his Buffett Rule - a principle that millionaires should not pay a lower tax rate than typical workers.
The idea is named after billionare investor Warren Buffett, who famously complained that his secretary pays a higher rate of tax than he does.
Mr Buffett's secretary, Debbie Bosanek, will watch the speech alongside First Lady Michelle Obama from the gallery.
Republicans have repeatedly rejected Mr Obama's call for higher taxes on the wealthy and accuse him of resorting to class warfare to get elected again.
The president is also expected to propose tax breaks to bring manufacturing jobs home from overseas, ideas to help the troubled home-mortgage market and incentives for alternative energy development, according to White House insiders.
There will be at least one non-partisan touch as Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot by a lone gunman in Arizona shortly before the last state of the union, attends during her last week serving as a congresswoman.
Republican response She announced on Sunday that she would resign to focus on her recovery.
Republican candidate Mitt Romney issued a "prebuttal" to President Obama's speech Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will deliver the Republican Party's response to Mr Obama's speech.
Earlier, multimillionaire Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney was forced by political pressure to release his tax returns.
The forms revealed the private equity tycoon earned nearly $22m in 2010 and paid an effective tax rate of about 14%, a lower rate than most other Americans pay.
On Tuesday morning, the former Massachusetts governor held his own "prebuttal" on the campaign trail in Tampa, Florida, saying that the "real state of our union" was high unemployment and record home foreclosures.
Mr Obama will promote the ideas outlined in his speech over the coming days in five states key to his re-election bid: Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan.
Opinion polls show his approval numbers languishing beneath 50%, with most Americans disapproving of how he has handled the economy.
More than 13 million people are out of work and government debt stands at a record high of $15.2 trillion (£9.7 trillion), up from $10.6 trillion when he took office.
However, surveys also show that Congress is far less popular than Mr Obama, with many blaming Republicans more for the gridlock in Washington.
Partisan warfare on Capitol Hill almost shut down the federal government three times last year.
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