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President Obama in his 2013 State of the Union laid out an expansive vision for government efforts to help boost the American middle class, called upon Congress to finally pass comprehensive immigration reform, announced that the US effort in Afghanistan will end next year, and made an emotional plea for greater restrictions on firearms that invoked the heartache bullets have wrought in Newtown, Conn.; Aurora, Colo.; Tucson, Ariz.; Blacksburg, Va.; and every other town in the nation touched by gun violence.

The speech was modest in the sense that it touched upon many of the president鈥檚 longstanding proposals, as opposed to new, sweeping initiatives.

As he did in the campaign, Mr. Obama offered some reductions in the nation鈥檚 big health-care entitlement programs in exchange for raising more revenues by closing tax 鈥渓oopholes.鈥� He repeated his push to raise the minimum wage, this time to $9 an hour, instead of the $9.50 per hour he asked for in 2008 as president-elect. The president called for preschool to be affordable for all US parents, and said the nation needed to revamp its high schools to better prepare students for jobs in the burgeoning high-tech economy.

鈥淚t is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country 鈥� the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or who you love,鈥� said Obama.

But the address was bold in another sense: a reelected chief executive did not appear in the mood to bow in the direction of the other party. While he refrained from criticizing Republicans by name and generally steered clear of obvious partisan shots, he outlined a government-centric approach to improving the US that could have been compiled from 2012 stump speeches.

That鈥檚 the theme Sen. Marco Rubio (R) of Florida hit in his GOP response.

鈥淢ore government isn鈥檛 going to help you get ahead. It鈥檚 going to hold you back. More government isn鈥檛 going to create more opportunities. It鈥檚 going to limit them,鈥� said Senator Rubio.

So what big questions did Obama鈥檚 outline of his 2013 agenda raise? Here are a few quick reactions.

WILL HE GET GUN VOTES? Perhaps the most emotional part of the president鈥檚 speech was his call for each of his major gun-control proposals to receive a vote in Congress. That would include a possible ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, expanded background checks, and more federal laws against the transfer of weapons to criminals, among other things.

鈥淓ach of those proposals deserves a vote in Congress. If you want to vote no, that鈥檚 your choice ... the families of Newtown deserve a vote. Gabby Giffords deserves a vote. The families of Aurora deserve a vote,鈥� said Obama.

WHAT DOES HE WANT ON CLIMATE CHANGE? The president cited the scientific consensus on climate change and noted that the weather seems to be notably changing around us. Then he urged Congress to act on a 鈥渂ipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on a few years ago.鈥�

If Congress doesn鈥檛 act, he said, he鈥檒l use executive authority to do what he can to limit greenhouse gas emissions and lower use of fossil fuels.

The 鈥渕arket-based solution鈥� he referred to was a so-called 鈥渃ap and trade鈥� approach to a private market in carbon emissions. Senator McCain (R) of Arizona is no longer in favor of working on that sort of approach and Senator Lieberman is now ex-Senator Lieberman. Change in this area almost certainly will have to come from the White House.

WILL OBAMA TELL CONGRESS MORE ABOUT DRONE STRIKES? To be clear, the president said nothing explicit about the use of unmanned aircraft to attack terror suspects. The word 鈥渄rone鈥� did not pass his lips. But he pledged to give lawmakers more insight into 鈥渄irect actions鈥� taken against the most dangerous terror suspects.

鈥淚n the months ahead, I will continue to engage with Congress to ensure not only that our targeting, detention, and prosecution of terrorists remains consistent with our laws and system of checks and balances, but that our efforts are even more transparent to the American people and to the world,鈥� said Obama.

Does this mean the administration might support a secret court of federal judges to oversee drone targets and operations? That鈥檚 an idea the some key members of Congress have floated in recent weeks and CIA director-designate John Brennan did not push back against the formation of such a court in his nomination hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week.