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.