I've heard it been said that a great leader leads but also gets others to do some leading. During the State of the Union address last night, President Obama, I hope, made it clear that if we are going to get this country back on track, it is going to take all of us.

He took the Republicans to task for being obstructionist on most bills in the Congress. "Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership." But also reminded the Democrats to use their majority: "I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve problems, not run for the hills." He also took blame for not selling the health insurance reform bill better to the American people.

President Obama proposed a lot of things, some progressive like a cap on student loan repayments and forgiveness after 20 years (which I have no idea how that would be paid) but also some not so much like new offshore drilling (Drill, Baby, Drill?).

Even the most progressive ideas sometimes are implemented in a way that doesn't fulfill the intent. Top universities are giving more aid to wealthier families. Mortgage modifications aren't addressing the fact that homes are underwater and include balloon payments.

And that is where we come in.

I truly believe that President Obama has a progressive streak, but that is all it is, a streak. He also has conservative bend. President Obama said that the Congress and he were voted in to serve the people and the people need to remind them all of what we want. We need to remind them of what that is by pushing them on health care, education funding, jobs and anything else we hold dear.

Do we really want failing schools to be closed and communities disrupted in order to ship students around like cogs in some machine?

Will we really read the earmarks online before the vote in order to voice our opinion?

Will "Don't Ask Don't Tell" really be repealed?

One year after the Lily Ledbetter Act, will we finally push the Senate to pass its partner bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act?

Which way will you push them?