Bush delivers muscular message
President defends aggressive tactics overseas, stands by domestic policy initiatives.
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The president argued that, thanks to the tax cuts he pushed, "the economy is strong and growing stronger."
With unemployment a key concern in key industrial states, the president called on Congress to help jobless workers by providing training programs. "America's growing economy is also a changing economy," Bush said. "As technology transforms the way almost every job is done, America becomes more productive, and workers need new skills. We must respond by helping more Americans gain the skills to find good jobs in our new economy."
To boost his standing on domestic issues, the president announced in the weeks leading up to the speech a number of domestic proposals he talked about tonight. On January 7 he asked Congress to grant temporary legal status to the millions of undocumented workers in the United States. A week ago, he called for establishing a long-term presence on the moon to serve as a launching platform for manned missions to Mars and beyond.
Like all presidents, Bush outlined a variety of domestic programs targeted at various constituencies. Among the domestic programs mentioned in the address:
* Reviving a proposal to allow younger workers to invest some of their Social Security taxes in the stock market.
* Making permanent already-enacted tax cuts and eliminating inheritance taxes.
* Providing tax incentives to make high-deductible, low-premium health insurance policies more attractive.
* Limiting medical malpractice awards.
Proposing new programs is relatively easy. Getting them through Congress in an election year, when partisan differences are especially pronounced, will be challenging.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson (D), who has voted with the president on earlier tax cuts, said "there is not much support for making tax cuts permanent except on a partisan basis. It is gong to be a very difficult year."
Rep. Pelosi said last week that the war in Iraq has been marked by "confusion and uncertainty" over how to make a transition to a stable government. Sen. Daschle said that on the domestic front, "the president's policies have not worked as advertised" for most citizens.
Budget concerns are also likely to act as a brake on new programs. The normally supportive editorial page of The Wall Street Journal this morning referred to the Bush presidency as "the most profligate Administration since the 1960's."
The Journal noted that not all of the spending increase is war related. "At 18.6 percent, the increase in non-defense discretionary spending under the 107th Congress (2002-2003) is far and away the biggest in decades."
With a federal budget deficit expected to be in the $500 billion zone for the budget the president will send to Congress in a couple weeks, finances will make the adoption of new programs difficult even though the president's party controls both houses of Congress.
The President and Mrs. Bush made the six-minute trip up Independence Avenue amid tight security. Traffic was stopped at every intersection so their 20-vehicle motorcade could speed to the Capitol.
Every year, security for the event seems to grow tighter and more sophisticated. This year there were two decontamination tents nestled in a congressional parking lot. Men wearing 'hazmat' suits and oxygen tanks were standing by lest something go wrong. Nothing did.
(Correspondent Gail Chaddock contributed to this report. Material from the Associated Press and Reuters was used to prepare this story.)
