The State of the Union

Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution requires that "He (the President) shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient..." Last night, President Bush presented his annual "State of the Union" speech; today, as you might expect, I have my own comments to add to those of the professional talking heads.

In general, I thought the President did a workmanlike job of putting the best face on a bad situation while presenting a meager laundry list of proposals for the future. I didn't find myself inspired by his rhetoric or stirred to action by any of his proposals. I thought the speech was more significant for what it didn't say than for what it did. Here are specific comments on a few of the topics he addressed:

Economics. Mr Bush said he will submit a budget that will eliminate the federal deficit within five years, balancing the budget without raising taxes. That will be a miraculous feat if he can pull it off...but as long as we keep paying for a high-intensity war with emergency appropriations and keep it off the federal books, he might just be able to pull it off.

Education. Mr Bush urged renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act, claiming it has been successful in improving our schools and helping minority students. That's a matter of opinion. If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know the importance I attach to education. I wanted to see more proposals for federally subsidized student loans and other aid to our education system at every level.

Health Care. If there is anything as important as education, it's quality, affordable health care. Mr Bush put forward some proposals which seek to make health care insurance more affordable through changes in tax policy. While that would help, it's not enough. Health care is not provided by tax attorneys and CPAs and insurance company adjusters - it's provided by well-educated doctors working in well-staffed, equipped and funded hospitals, and by programs that emphasize staying well rather than recovering from illness. I have ideas of my own, and we'll talk about them in future posts.

Iraq. The President acknowledged that the situation in Iraq is not good, and encouraged us to give his new plan a chance. I'm willing to give it that chance. But as I've written here before, I don't think we are capable of the utter ruthlessness that will be necessary to crush the insurgency and make the Iraqis take responsibility for their own future.

"The War on Terror." I still think this is a stupid concept. We are not at war with "terror" as an enemy that can be killed, captured, or otherwise eliminated. We are at war with focused, ruthless religious extremists and drug lords who use acts of "terrorism" as a tactic to achieve their ends. Mr Bush did, in fact, acknowledge that the danger we face is that of radical Islam, both Shia and Sunni. But to label our enemies "terrorists" as if that were a useful defining category ignores the complexity of the danger we face. I think the President understands this, but I also think he is conditioned to thinking in oversimplifications that define our enemies as "terrorists" who "hate freedom."

Okay, that's enough. I was not terribly impressed by the State of the Union speech, but I would probably have been disappointed in any case. Presidential leadership needs to be exercised every day, not once a year in a formal address to a joint session of Congress. I'm still waiting for the calm, focused, energetic leadership that will inspire Americans to work together for a better future.

And, as always, I'm not holding my breath.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo