Democratic Response to Bush Set to Cover Iraq and Economy

Yesterday, correspondents had placed President Bush's State of the Union address at 40 minutes. Beginning on major networks and CNN at 9:00 p.m. ET, the speech is now set to last for over 50 minutes.

Immediately following the Presidential Address to Congress, Senator Jim Webb of Virginia will give the Democratic response. His speech will last for approximately 8 minutes.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said today that one of the issues to be covered by the President is a program called 20/10. This program will work to lower American gas consumption by 20% in 10 years.

Perino mentioned American ingenuity and new technology as sources for new ideas on energy reform. There are hopes for Congress to work together on behalf on the American public to initiate the new programs President Bush will propose.

The President will also make mention to health care reform. A new proposal that would provide health care to those who do not receive it via employment has been questioned for negatively impacting those who currently have health care.

Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino also stated that President Bush is committed to upholding "his end of the bargain to rebuild New Orleans." Relating to this issue, we could be hearing about a new policy to rework monies already distributed by the federal government in order to allow local institutions to receive federally-allocated funding.

This will be President Bush's first address to a Democratic Congress, and Virginia Senator Jim Webb will be responding to his speech.

Senator Webb is a Republican-turned-Democrat who served in Vietnam. He currently has a son in combat as a Marine in Iraq. Webb has been against the war from the start, and in opposition to a large Democratic want to begin pulling troops out of combat, he has not mentioned this option.

In his speech, Webb intends to provide reasoning for why he is against the President's new plan for Iraq. CNN shared a clip of Webb saying that we "have to reach the point where American combat troops are no longer on the streets of Iraq."

Webb's rebuttal will also mention what the Democrats have termed economic disparity between the wealthy, middle, and working classes.

President Bush's approval rating has fallen from 84% to its current point of 34%. A large portion of the American public and Congress are anxiously awaiting to hear from the President about how he plans to improve the current state of the union.

CNN.com is offering free online service all day today. Sign on to their website to view interviews with Senator Webb and Deputy Press Secretary Perino, as well as the President's State of the Union Address tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET.