President Bush Gives State of the Union Address

Tuesday, January 23, President George Bush gave his sixth State of the Union Address, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. When the President gives a SOUA, his main objectives are to inform the American citizens of the major issues that affect our nation at the present time. In addition, he discusses reforms, laws, policies, and initiatives that will be presented in the future. This was a very important State of the Union for Bush; His approval rating is at an all-time low (35%), the Democrats control both chambers of Congress, and the Iraqi War is declining day by day. Below is a synopsis of Bush's speech, included in his speech were the issues of economy, domestic policy, energy supply, Iraq, and foreign policy.

ECONOMY
Bush discusses four economic proposals for the future. He informs of attempts to balance the federal budget without raising taxes; this has been a big issue for Republicans, ever since Bush himself was in diapers. He will also submit a budget to Congress that will diminish the federal deficit in five years. He also pushed forward for the ending of "earmarking"; "earmarking" is when Congress takes leftover money from the treasury and places them in specific programs of their choosing.

DOMESTIC POLICY
Bush pushes for the re authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. Discusses affordable health care and private health insurance. Proposes tax-cuts for health insurance occupants, and, federal funding for states that provide private policies for their citizens. He proposes a medical reliability reform that will stop unnecessary medical lawsuits. A domestic policy that has caused a lot of controversy is immigration reform; Bush believes that doubling our border control, and a temporary worker's program for non U.S citizens will alleviate some of our immigration problems.

ENERGY SUPPLY
Bush believes that in order to improve on energy supplies, and to depend less on oil, we must diversify our energy supplies. His list of new energy resources include: clean coal technology, solar/wind energy, battery research, bio diesal energy and fuel, new ethanol production, and the reduction of gasoline usage.

IRAQ
As everyone expected, Iraq and the war on terror was the key issue of the night. To improve the horrible conditions in Iraq, Bush will present to Congress a plan that will include an extra ninety two thousand Marine Corps over a time span of five years. He also wants to set up a Volunteer Civilian Corps that will allow civilians to serve only for a minimal time frame.

FOREIGN POLICY
To ease terror concerns, Bush discussed our efforts to work with other nations in order to halt the threats of terror and nuclear danger. To bring democracy in Palestine we are working with the countries of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The U.S has worked with Russia, S. Korea and Japan in order to create a nuclear free environment on the Korean peninsula. Africa was mentioned by Bush also, he brought up the genocides in Sudan, in addition, he touched on such areas as poverty, malaria, and HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Bush's speech was neither good nor bad. He seemed less confident then in previous State of the Union Addresses. His plans for immigration and energy supply may have shocked some, due to his earlier lack of interest for these issues. It seems like a better attempt to reach a Democratic controlled Congress. Other than the response to health care, his economic agenda remains the same as when he first entered the white house. He should have elaborated more on the conditions and issues of the Middle East and Africa. All in all, the address went smoothly, and a majority of what Bush said has been said before.
Did you watch the State of the Union Address ? What did you think of it ?