President Bush Delivers State of the Union Address

WASHINGTON, DC - President George W. Bush delivered the State of the Union address to the nation, his first since an election that has changed the face of Congress and has served as a referendum on his policies. Indeed, the mere presence of Democrat Nancy Pelosi in the Speaker of the House's seat served as a constant visual reminder that times have changed. Still, "Congress has changed, but our responsibilities have not," was one of the President's opening lines, as he stressed a recommitment to the war on terror.

Bush began with promising news on the economy, highlighting low inflation and unemployment and forty-one straight months of job growth. He called for discipline in legislative spending to balance the federal budget without raising taxes, promising a plan that would cut the deficit entirely within five years. The audience was quite vocal in the support of these proposals.

In social issues, Bush stressed the value of education, exhorting the success of the No Child Left Behind act and calling on Congress to continue it. Proceeding to health care, historically a controversial area for this President, he suggested a tax deduction for those with health insurance, stronger allowances for states to provide health plans, and reform of medical liability policy. Like Social Security, Bush stressed that health care is an issue to solve, not merely a status quo to safeguard.

The issue of immigration is a touchy one, and Bush acknowledged the controversy, pushing for a temporary worker program allowing workers to enter legally-"they won't have to try to sneak in," in the President's famously no-nonsense way of putting things-and provide for themselves and for America.

Perhaps the most surprising portion of the speech was in Bush's call to reduce our dependence on oil, given his reputation as a Texas oilman, to say nothing of many other prominent Republicans. Citing the year 2017 as a target, Bush called for the diversification of fuel sources and reducing gasoline use in addition to furthering domestic oil production to bolster current resources.

But Iraq was the real subject of the night, taking up a good half of the speech. While the infamous phrase "stay the course" was nowhere in the script, Bush nonetheless stressed the importance of staying deployed and remaining vigilant: "I wish I could report to you that the dangers have ended. They have not." He called for 92,000 further troops in the Army and Marine Corps. The overriding theme of the message was that to fail in Iraq would prove disastrous not only for Iraq but for the Middle East: "the consequences of failure would be grievous and far-reaching."

Foreign affairs discussion was not limited to the war on terror; on Bush's agenda was to "continue to awaken the conscience of the world to save the people of Darfur", and a commitment of $1.2 billion to fight malaria in Africa.

Bush concluded with a few anecdotes of American success stories as diverse as basketball star Dikembe Mutombo (rather curiously occupying the seat right next to First Lady Laura Bush) and New York's 'subway superman' Wesley Autrey. While clearly optimistic, Bush understands he will need the support of both Republicans and Democrats to make these policies happen. As States of the Union usually are, tonight's speech was punctuated with raucous applause from both sides at nearly every statement. If, as Bush has said, "the State of our Union is strong," then the challenge is now in the government's hands to turn the drive into results.