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President Bush spoke at the beginning of his speech that America has added jobs for 52 straight months. True, but what kind of jobs? Most of them have been low-paying service jobs with little or no room for advancement. Many people have to take two or more of these jobs to make ends meet. Many of these jobs are part-time as well.
To his credit, President Bush spoke forcefully last night about earmarks. This is additional pork-barrel spending by members of Congress attached and unrelated to the bill. Unfortunately, it's done by both parties in both houses of Congress which increases deficits and spending. My question is this: Why didn't President Bush clamp down on this practice when the Republicans were in control of the Congress from 2001-06. The president was strangely silent during that time period and didn't veto any budget bills.
President Bush specifically stated in his speech:
''And tomorrow I will issue an executive order that directs federal agencies to ignore any future earmark that is not voted on by Congress.''
It was a good move by President Bush to end the bias in the tax code against people who don't receive health insurance from their employer.
Regarding the No Child Left Behind Act, he didn't mention the fact that it's underfunded. How can school districts comply with it if it's underfunded?
I think that he is finally hearing the calls from frustrated school districts and governors. Bush asked Congress during the speech to support a new $300 million program called Pell Grants for Kids that is supposed to help children in inner city schools to reach their full potential. As with earmarks, too little too late.
He spoke about our need to pass more trade agreements. Again, the rhetoric belies the facts. These trade agreements help American multinational corporations, bankers and investors from both countries of the trade agreement but it doesn't help ordinary workers from both nations. It's a race to the bottom. Bush says:
''We will embolden the purveyors of false populism in our hemisphere.'' Why are these people agitating the citizenry? Because many workers in Latin America haven't achieved a better economic life. Free trade doesn't benefit the average worker.
I do agree with him concerning energy. An international energy agreement will only work unless all nations participate. It can't be done exclusively by the United States.
President Bush hasn't abandoned his conservative base by urging Congress to ban human cloning. Bush has been consistent on this issue. I also believe that these are his true moral convictions and that he would abide by them irrespective of politics.
Another issue that he has been consistent on is the nomination of conservative, constitutionalist judges to the Supreme Court as well as district courts.
He only spent a few minutes talking about Social Security and Medicare. Bush wants bipartisan solutions to these problems but he should've spent much more time in his speech explaining his proposals to solve these problems.
I remember him getting a large and loud round of applause when he said this regarding the treatment of illegal immigrants:
''We must also find a sensible and humane way to deal with people here illegally. Illegal immigration is complicated, but it can be resolved, and it must be resolved in a way that upholds both our laws and our highest ideals.'' This is one issue where the majority of American citizens are ahead of the curve compared to Congress and the presidency. What part of ''illegal'' don't they understand? Lawbreakers shouldn't be rewarded with amnesty.
Regarding Afghanistan, he said that we are adding 3,200 Marines to our troops in that troubled country. What he didn't acknowledge is that our attention was diverted from that area to Iraq. We didn't finish the job in Afghanistan. Henceforth, the need for more Marines. Unfortunately, the Taliban has reemerged and gained strength.
He praised the Iraqi surge. It's true that it has worked but will progress continue to be made when we reduce the troop levels? No one knows for certain but things weren't improving in Iraq until the surge was implemented. If a sufficient number of American troops were sent when we invaded in March 2003, we wouldn't have had problems in the first place.
It's going to take a long time before the Iraqi security forces will be fully trained to secure their own country. Also, Bush fails to mention that there wasn't an ''Al Qaida in Iraq'' until we invaded the country on false pretenses.
Although I disagree with Bush's philosophy as naive and unattainable, he truly believes that the Arab world can engage in democracy. I believe it has to do with his religious faith. It's no doubt that a truly free and democratic Iraq would help our interests in the Middle East.
Regarding Iran, President Bush demands that the Tehran regime stop funding and training militias in Iraq as well as supporting Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Holy Land. An attack against Iran will never be completely off the table as long as Bush is president.
Regarding terrorist attacks against our homeland, Bush had this to say concerning combating them successfully:
''To protect America, we need to know who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying and what they're planning.'' Bush clearly believes that we have to do this even if we engage in warrantless eavesdropping against terrorist cells. This is and continues to remain a major foreign policy difference between the Republicans and Democrats concerning fighting terrorism.
Toward the conclusion of his final State of the Union address, Bush reiterated his strong support of foreign aid to fight global poverty and disease.
He said that we have increased funding for veterans by more than 95 percent. Tell that to the wounded at Walter Reed Medical Center. As with foreign aid, where is the accountability? Why isn't this funding getting to the people that we are supposed to be helping?
''And so long as we continue to trust the people, our nation will prosper, our liberty will be secure and the state of our union will remain strong.'' My final comment is this: Instead of listening to the lobbyists and their corporate benefactors, why don't we listen and trust regular American citizens? If only that final declaration by President Bush were true.
