There are likely many serious issues and topics to be addressed this evening – and we’ll have time to properly digest it all as we watch and listen to political pundits pull apart every word of both the State of the Union and the GOP response over the next few days.  The White House website also will feature a series of live online chats with President Obama and senior Administration officials beginning immediately after the State of the Union and continuing through Thursday. So, if you don’t get your fill tonight, there will be plenty more opportunities to do so.  After all, the coming days will be full of analysis and interpretation.

And if you find that you just need a little bit of a breather from the politics, you may want to get a little State of the Union trivia fix.  You’ll find 15 fun facts about the State of the Union on The White House website to test your knowledge and impress those around you at your next social gathering.

Yes, good nutritional habits as well as the PE class push-ups and sprints known to more than a generation of Americans is part of the new mission under the rebranded President’s Council on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition.

The expansion comes as Mrs. Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign attempts to tackle ending childhood obesity within a generation.  Across the country, she is encouraging active lifestyles and healthy eating habits that emphasize balance and moderation – something we can really get behind.

The council’s push for physical activity – started  back in the 1950s by President Eisenhower – carries on as demonstrated in the presidential challenge of 30 minutes per day for adults and 60 minutes for children at least five days a week.

We in the beverage industry are committed to being part of the solution in reversing childhood obesity.  In support of the First Lady’s “Let’s Move!” campaign, our industry has committed to a Clear on Calories labeling initiative.

And earlier this year, America’s leading beverage companies delivered on a commitment to remove full-calorie soft drinks from schools, replacing them with lower-calorie, smaller-portion options like juices, teas and waters.  The result:  Our national School Beverage Guidelines have slashed beverage calories in schools by 88 percent.

To learn more about beverage industry initiatives, check in with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Soliciting submissions from federal agencies, parents, teachers, doctors and nurses, among other individuals, the Task Force developed “70 recommendations for public and private sector action” that serve as an outline for developing a healthier generation by 2030.

The “Let’s Move!” campaign blog provides a broad overview of the report’s recommendations – from food options, to food affordability and access, to physical fitness programs and education, to resources for parents. By looking at obesity as a multi-factorial issue, the report properly reflects the need for comprehensive solutions.

The beverage industry is committed to being part of the solution to help reduce childhood obesity, and that commitment is shown through our actions.  In fact, our industry has committed to a Clear on Calories labeling initiative in support of the First Lady’s campaign, not to mention our successful implementation of the national School Beverage Guidelines and our commitment to a global policy on marketing to children.

Our industry will continue to do its part to support comprehensive and meaningful efforts to reduce childhood obesity.

Political forecasters argue that President Obama will be doing more to put forth a more populist message in an effort to regain some popularity, particularly since the future of a major administration initiative is in questionable standing on Capitol Hill.

As the President makes his appeals to a Joint Session of Congress tonight, we at Sip & Savor bet that he might need to stay hydrated by sipping some water (hm, bottled or tap?) stashed behind the podium. Be sure to tune in with us to check it out.

Thus, it was a welcome next step that Mrs. Obama addressed the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Wednesday and challenged our nation’s mayors to help in the battle against childhood obesity. Calling it “one of the biggest threats to the American economy,” Mrs. Obama spoke to the current childhood obesity challenge and what mayors can do on-the-ground in their local communities to engage their citizens to live healthier lives. In fact, she pointed out some stellar examples from across the country. The First Lady acknowledged that childhood obesity will not be solved in one year, nor in one Administration. But we agree with her: it can be solved. And it must take a pragmatic, unified approach from all sectors of society.

The beverage industry has been – and continues to be – engaged in doing its part to help reduce childhood obesity. In fact, our member companies recognize that eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise are the keys to living a balanced lifestyle. And this is something that our industry supports and encourages by helping consumers make appropriate choices by providing easy access to calorie and nutrition information and promoting physical activity.

And when it comes to our nation’s schoolchildren, our industry has been the industry leader on health and wellness. Recognizing that schools are unique environments that play a meaningful role in shaping our children’s health, in 2006 the beverage industry developed School Beverage Guidelines that remove full-calorie soft drinks from all schools and provide for more lower-calorie, nutritious, smaller-portion beverage choices. It’s all part of a broader effort to teach children the importance of a balanced diet and exercise. And we’re delivering results. After just two years of a three-year implementation period, we’ve already reduced beverage calories shipped to schools by 58 percent – and shipments of full-calorie soft drinks are down by 65 percent. Our final report on implementation, which will be available in the coming months, will further demonstrate this transition. This has been no easy feat for our industry, but it demonstrates our commitment to America’s youth – for today and for generations to come – in changing the school beverage landscape.

So Sip & Savor, and the beverage industry at-large, applauds the First Lady in shining a spotlight on this issue and calling for common sense solutions that will actually make a difference. Mrs. Obama can rest assured that our industry is one that will continue to step up to the plate and do our part to address the complex issue of childhood obesity.

He and his team have reiterated that campaign promise easily more than a half dozen times in the past six months or so. And that’s great. Yet, the prospect of raising taxes still seems to linger out there.

We just want to give a friendly reminder that a tax on soft drinks is a tax on the middle class. And it’s a tax on lower-income workers. It’s a discriminatory and highly regressive tax, as the Congressional Research Service pointed out in a study it conducted. And this discriminatory, regressive tax would be placed on hard-working individuals already struggling through a recession. Not good timing. Not that there’s ever a good time for a tax hike on families.

We encourage lawmakers to keep the President’s pledge and these facts in mind as they move forward with the admittedly difficult challenge of passing a meaningful health care reform package.

A message worth heeding as the Congress comes back to work today. And the President is ready to give a big speech on health reform tonight.

If our leaders learned anything over the August recess we hope it’s that taxpayers are leery of any reform that costs them more money without giving them something they don’t already have or need or want. Regular, hard-working folks aren’t in a position to pay more for much right now – especially if there’s no value, benefit or priority in it for them.

Well, while there are some good, sound ideas for improving health care out there by lawmakers in both parties (ideas that get to lowering costs, for example), the activists have been busy with a singular focus on pushing for a tax on soft drinks and other beverages to pay for health care reform. So, heading into the next phase of this important debate, it might behoove lawmakers to keep a few facts in mind when it comes to this idea.

1.) A soft drink tax simply won’t work. There’s a book of evidence supporting this point. Just a few highlights. A.) West Virginia and Arkansas are two states with excise taxes on soda like the one being talked about in Washington. Those states have the fifth- and sixth-highest obesity rates in America, according to the CDC. B.) This week, University of Chicago researchers concluded: “Current state-level tax rates are not found to be significantly associated with adolescent weight outcomes.” C.) A George Mason University study showed that a 15-cent tax per can of soda would reduce a person’s Body Mass Index by just .02 (40 to 39.98). That’s not even measurable on a bathroom scale! D.) Even the leader of an American Heart Association panel that issued a study last week on childhood obesity conceded that there is “limited evidence” that a soft drink tax would work. We appreciate that piece of candor, which many activists lack, but as one can see, there’s actually a great deal of real-world evidence showing that a soft drink tax won’t work. Bottom line: We can’t tax our way to better health. These taxes are just a façade for a money grab, pure and simple.

2.) A soft drink tax further squeezes the middle class struggling through a recession. The tax is discriminatory and regressive. The Congressional Research Service did a study showing that the tax burden would by far be borne most by those who can least afford to pay it. Furthermore, 96 percent of the tax would be paid by low-income and middle-class families – in all, those earning less than $250,000 a year. It doesn’t seem wise to be taxing people’s groceries in the middle of a recession. Bottom line: Didn’t leaders promise not to tax the middle class in this last election?

3.) Government shouldn’t tell people what to eat. The strong majority of Americans believe it is an over-reach by government to use the tax code to tell them what to eat or drink. They don’t view it as government’s role. It’s an uninvited intrusion into basic elements of people’s lives. Bottom line: Lawmakers cross this line at their own risk. Just ask leaders in New York and Maine, whose beverage tax ideas were overwhelmingly rejected by the public.

4.) A complex health system needs comprehensive solutions. You’re not going to solve the complexities of health reform with a tax on soda pop. In fact, you’re not even going to make a dent in the problem. Bottom line: This country’s got much bigger problems if its leaders are building a new health system on such a shaky foundation as a tax on food. Seriously!

5.) It’s soda pop, for Pete’s sake. Like most foods, regular soft drinks have calories. Soda pop is a fun, refreshing beverage meant to be enjoyed. It’s nothing more, nothing less. So the money-seeking, agenda-toting, self-proclaimed we-know-what’s-best-for-everyone-busybodies should stop making soda out to be more than what it is. Our industry certainly doesn’t. The compendium of science says all calories count, regardless of the food source, when it comes to maintaining one’s weight. That’s irrefutable. And it drives the advocates crazy. Bottom line: You can be a healthy person and drink regular soda. Tens of millions of Americans are proof.

In summary, it’s not hard to let your imagination go if Congress and the President pursue a tax on soda, juice drinks, sports drinks and other beverages as some propose. (That’s right – this tax isn’t just on soda but on any beverage with even a little bit of sugar in it, including teas and juices.)

If government starts taxing simple pleasures like soda, where does its long arm stop once it realizes that didn’t work? Tax cheeseburgers? Fries? Shakes? All products with sugar? Any products with any taste? Evidence shows it still won’t change people’s behaviors; just burden them with more taxes.

Let’s focus on improving the health care system with meaningful and sustainable solutions — not with distracting one-offs like taxing people’s food. People have enough burdens right now. Leave them alone.

As the wise man said: “In an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class.”

On the one hand, President Obama was promising a stimulus package that would give a tax cut to 95 percent of Americans and help protect jobs and create new ones. But on the other hand, Gov. Paterson was proposing 137 new tax hikes totaling more than $4 billion – a move that threatened to cost New Yorkers more money at the store and thousands of them their jobs.

The bottom line for New Yorkers looked bleak: no matter what relief President Obama might have provided at the time, it would be overwhelmed by Gov. Paterson’s tax hikes. But now the governor seems to be teaming up his plan with the President’s plan – namely by using stimulus money to scrap numerous tax hikes to the benefit of New Yorkers and their jobs.

Since it is baseball season, we’ll use a stretched baseball analogy. If Gov. Paterson is the set-up man who walked the bases loaded, then President Obama emerged as Mariano Rivera (or, we should say Bobby Jenks as the president is a devoted White Sox fan) to provide the governor with a potentially big save.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – better known as the “stimulus package” – delivered to states billions of dollars to directly help their citizens weather the recession. Putting aside for the moment the merits of the stimulus’ sizeable use of taxpayer dollars — the top priority set out by President Obama for use of the money was to create or save 3.5 million jobs in America in the next two years. Well, just by scrapping the proposed 18 percent tax on regular soft drinks and juice drinks, Gov. Paterson protected more than 6,000 jobs in his state alone.

The next priority was to provide direct relief to working and middle-class families. According to the Obama administration, this includes money to states for use in fiscal relief and investments that benefit working families. Thus, by eliminating $1.3 billion of his proposed taxes on everyday products such as clothes, shoes, soda, haircuts, cable and satellite service, movie and theater tickets, home improvements and music downloads, Gov. Paterson used the stimulus money to provide important financial relief for hard-working families.

In an economy like this, the last thing government should be doing is raising taxes on the middle-class: especially on their everyday goods and services.

So kudos to Gov. Paterson for listening to New Yorkers and for using the stimulus package the way it was intended: to protect jobs and keep costs low for people so they can begin climbing out of this recession.

Now, there’s still $2.8 billion in new taxes on consumer goods and services remaining in the governor’s budget, but Newsday said he’s open to eliminating those as well. This will certainly help ensure that the modest tax cuts President Obama is providing Americans end up as a net positive in New Yorkers wallets.

To stick with our baseball analogy: Gov. Paterson and New York government got into a jam. President Obama got them out of it, for now. Next, we’ll see if leaders can finish the job and save a total victory. If so, New Yorkers – from its hard-working families to its job providers – will truly be on the road to economic recovery and brighter days ahead.

There’s a crucial lesson in New York for policy-makers across America; we’ll get into that next week.

Look, President Obama and our leaders have a tough challenge. They need to create jobs and prevent further job losses. At the same time, the president is trying to put a face on his vision of the jobs of the future – the “green jobs” created and supported by environmentally sustainable activities.

Right now, the most common faces he’s putting on these new jobs are alternative energy and weatherization jobs. It’s not working so well. People aren’t feeling it, so they can’t envision it. (Remember the face the administration chose for the stimulus package? The president signed that $787 billion piece of legislation at a solar panel company that, as a result of the stimulus, would be able to hire 10 more people.)

Our friends at the blog Shopfloor, written by the manufacturing industry’s trade association, posed this question this week: What is the right model for green jobs?

Shopfloor was puzzled by a White House blog post highlighting an energy auditor job with a non-profit organization in Philadelphia as “exactly the type of job” the stimulus package would create. Shopfloor writes:

“Are jobs with non-profits really the model on which to build a strong, resilient economy? How much stimulus does one get if “home energy auditor” is “exactly the kind of job AARA will create?”

Precisely the right question we need to be asking. Because unemployed Americans need a job right now. And they’re struggling to grasp how the current vision for green jobs is going to help them right now.

Might we suggest that a better place to begin putting a face on green jobs is in the traditional manufacturing sector. There are industries across America that are creating or supporting green jobs right now – and have been for some time already.

Let’s take an example from the beverage industry. Our companies are buying hybrid trucks for their delivery fleets. As a result, our companies and their drivers will now be doing their work in a more environmentally sustainable manner. A green job, one would argue.

But what is clearly green is the multiplier effect spawned from our industry moving to hybrid trucks. The move supports green jobs to make the environmentally friendly vehicle, to design the vehicle, to deliver the vehicle, to supply the parts for the vehicle and to maintain or repair that vehicle. Just like with building a regular car or truck, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of jobs that go into supporting and sustaining that manufacturing process as well as the aftermarket. That string of jobs is something people understand. Furthermore, they know these are good-paying jobs (often union) with good health benefits that touch towns large and small as well as businesses large and small.

This is just one example of the green jobs that our industry has been creating and supporting, just as many other traditional industries are doing. But taxing and over-regulating industries or their products is only going to kills jobs and stymie growth – including good-paying, tangible green jobs.

Yesterday, ADP reported the loss of just under 700,000 jobs in February alone. Coupled with the more than 600,000 jobs lost in January, America has now lost 1.3 million jobs in just the first two months of 2009.

This economy is indeed a tough one for any leader. But the creation of green jobs can start with traditional manufacturing industries that are already producing and supporting such jobs. Let’s build and grow these jobs, too. They have a multiplier effect. And they’re easier for people to relate to. Then, maybe, the solar vision is a little easier for folks to grasp. (By the way, our companies are buying those solar panels, too, to energize their facilities.)

Since this might have been the case for many Americans, as a friendly public service, Sip & Savor is providing links to replays: the transcript of the speeches as well as video footage courtesy of CNN.com. In these times, these speeches are certainly a must read or watch for all of us.

The challenges are indeed serious. And it’s important to deal with reality without smashing any sense of hope that better days lie ahead. It’s that hope that helps folks get through the tough times. Clearly, striking this balance was a goal of President Obama and Governor Jindal with their remarks last night.

If they need some models for finding that middle ground, might we suggest they take a look at our industry. Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper, just to name a few, are out there with optimism and happiness, while dealing with very challenging times themselves. Sometimes we just need to take a break and look for the bright side – the good in life – to help us take on the tough times we’re facing and move toward better days.