A Citizen's Reaction to the 2008 State of the Union Address

The 2008 State of Union address marks the beginning of the end of an era. Since President Bush took office, we have seen terror rise up, a tyrant fall, a war that seemingly has no end, the United States act as an Empire, felt the scorn of the world, witnessed the rotting away of the American economy and the disappearance of the middle class. And the President thinks it was all a job well done.

I admit that when I turned on the television, to listen to his speech to the 110^th Congress, I expected to be disappointed. President Bush is the man that has made me feel ashamed of being a Republican. And while he occasionally has done or said something that I agree with; for the most part, I find his Presidency to be lackluster affair, and more trouble than it is worth. Basically, I promised to be a hostile audience.

As one of the citizens that the President claims to serve, I found the President's speech to be another barb in my side. Quite simply, the President declared that he was going to remain as stubborn as ever, and that we are going to receive another year of the same type of antics that we have came to expect from him.

The President feels that we can be confident in the economy--in the long run. On the other hand, the short run, he admits that it is slowing down. Once again, he trotted out the idea of the stimulus package, asking for it not to be leaden down with extras that might delay or completely derail it.

Personally, I am not sure if the stimulus package is going to do any good. It seems like a matter of spitting in the wind; an attempt to scratch the economy out of the mouth of a rapidly approaching recession. The President is not worried about his legacy. Nor should he be; after all, I (like many others) will remember him forever as the man in office when my job got axed. A few hundred dollars will not change the minds of many people. (As it stands I will receive none of this economic stimulus; living on student loans and the meager income of a struggling freelance writer resulted in no taxes and hence no rebate check for myself.)

When President Bush asked Congress to trust people and leave their money alone, I feel that he is not talking about me or anyone that I know. The tax relief that he wants made permanent applies only to the rich.

As for the one hundred and fifty-one programs that he wants to see cut because they waste money, I could not help but wonder if my federal student loans are not part of that waste. I wonder exactly who is going to get hurt by the cut of these programs? I don't know, but I bet that the poor come out even worse off than before.

Many of his remarks were aimed at trying to slow down the democratic juggernaut. Instead of National Health Care, he said that we should allow people and doctors to have choices; give tax breaks to the privately insured and cut down on the number of law suits. While he didn't name Democrats like Hillary Clinton, I am positive that he was thinking of people like her that would like to see major changes occur in the way that health care is dealt with in this country. I felt that his opinion is that the current system is not completely broken. Maybe it is not, but heaven forbid that I get sick or hit by a bus considering that I haven't been covered by health insurance for years. National Health Care may not be the answer, but it is better than what I currently have.

And when he mentioned "No Child Left Behind," I expected his nose to grow. Calling it a good law, he ignored its actual effect (lowering standards so that more kids can pass). It would be a good law if it actually got funding; as it currently stands, states have to scrape together resources, and sometimes outright lie, to make it work. Of course, this is the man that once said, "Children do learn"; with that standard of excellence, it is definitely working.

As proof that No Child Left Behind is working, he cited that reading scores were at their highest level and that math scores were on the rise. But in a strange reversal, he said that he wanted to create a Pell Grant program to enable kids (K to 12) to attend private schools, so that they could escape failing public schools. Perhaps, I am wrong; but isn't No Child Left Behind supposed to improve our public schools? And again, I heard the little voice tell me that I am not one of the people that he is serving; even with a Children Pell Grant, how many poor families are going to be able to send their children to a decent private school?

Addressing the wider issues of the economy, he asked for help for displaced workers (those whose jobs had been outsourced or eliminated).

President Bush continued and asked for help to develop clean and renewable energy sources (another attempt to slow down the Democrats, in my opinion). He said that it is possible for us to slow down. stop, and even reverse the buildup of greenhouse gases. To do so, Bush admitted that an international agreement would be needed; with no free rides for any country.

When the President got to the war in Iraq and the war on terror, I must admit to agreeing with much that the man said. Liberty is the enemy of the religious zealot, especially those willing to blow themselves up in the name of intolerance. As much as I was originally against it, the figures do seem to indicate that the surge in Iraq is working. We do need to continue to fund the troops serving there, and conditions must be right before we bring all our troops home.

Turning his eyes to the rest of the Middle East, I agree with him that Iran may very well be an enemy. He said it is not the people in Iran that we mistrust, but rather their leadership. I also agree with him that peace between Israel and Palestine is something that we desire. I am not sure if he is completely right in his assumption that given a choice, people will choose liberty; I hope that he is right.

And I especially liked his idea of increasing the benefits to our veterans. Most appealing is his suggestion that soldiers be allowed to transfer their unused educational benefits to their spouse and children.

I also agreed with him on his stance on immigration. We do need to secure the borders, and create a way to allow foreign workers to come here legally.

The President is right that we are in a global economy, and we need to fight global poverty. And I wholeheartedly agreed that we need to engage in free trade; American workers can produce goods that will prove profitable in the global marketplace.

So what was the purpose of this speech? In part, I think it was an attempt to slow down the Democrats, who stand a good chance of gaining the White House in the upcoming election. I also think it was to tell Congress that he refuses to be a lame duck. But part of it, I think was an attempt to improve his image, and make sure that we knew what made him great (the war in Iraq).

There was even some sleight of hand in his speech. President Bush announced a goal to cut earmarks in half; something that has already been done. It is a fine example of a classic magician's technique; tell the audience you are about to do something that you have already accomplished and let them be amazed.

Some of the things he talked about, I will admit to having complete ignorance about, such as Charitable Choice. But overall, I feel that I understood what he was talking about.

There was even a moment when I considered liking the man, when he quipped that the IRS accepts both checks and money orders. But overall, I dislike the man, and distrust what he is up to. For a man who claims to be serving the people, I am not sure that he is. And I am certain that if he is serving the people, that I am not one of the people that he is serving. Call me paranoid, and a hater, but I am glad that this was President Bush's last State of the Union address.

Yet despite disliking the man, I must admit that I was not completely against everything that he said. Maybe history will prove that President Bush was right after all. Only time will tell.