President Barack Obama
President Barack Obama called on Wednesday for an expanded homeowner refinance program that would lift restrictions for more borrowers, representing another government effort to aid the ailing housing market. Reuters

Watch the State of the Union 2012 Live Stream at the bottom of this page

Tonight, President Barack Obama will give his State of the Union 2012 address, his last before this year's presidential election, and perhaps the last of his presidency.

The speech will be heavily analyzed, and pundits will debate its finer points in coming weeks as the GOP presidential primary candidates continue to duke it out.

Here is your essential guide to watching the State of the Union 2012 address via live stream and TV and how to track the action on Twitter.

Watch Online:

President Obama's State of the Union 2012 address can be watched via live stream starting at 9 p.m. at WhiteHouse.gov. Administration officials will then host an online panel discussion at that link after the State of the Union concludes.

State of the Union 2012 can also be watched via live stream starting at 9 p.m. via a special YouTube.com page set up for the occasion.

A number of other sites, including MSNBC and CNN will host the State of the Union 2012 address via live stream tonight.

Watch on TV:

The State of the Union 2012 speech and the Republican rebuttal by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels will also be broadcast live on a number of national TV channels:

- CSPAN and MSNBC begin live coverage of the State of the Union 2012 address with previews of the speech at 8 p.m.

- Bret Baier begins live coverage of State of the Union 2012 for Fox News Channel at 8:55 p.m.

- ABC News, CBS News, FOX, CNN and NBC News will broadcast the speech and full coverage live at 9 p.m.

Channel information for Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Dish and Comcast is available on their web sites.

Follow on Twitter:

The White House's official Twitter feed is one place to be sure to watch during the speech, but also be aware that the official State of the Union 2012 hashtags will be #SOTU and #WHTweetup. Use these tags to follow along with all the newest commentary from around the world.