In his final State of the Union address Monday, President Bush tried to assure a nervous nation teetering on the brink of recession and still mired in war that Americans could be confident in the economy.
With a mortgage crisis simmering, housing prices dipping and the jobs market slowing, Bush urged Congress to approve the $150 billion economic stimulus package that would give tax relief to many Americans in the form of a check this spring.
The money, if Congress agrees to put it into the hands of the working people most apt to spend it, might kick-start a sluggish economy that depends on consumer spending.
But Bush did little to assuage fears over the country’s long-term economic stability, considering the ballooning national debt.
We’re still waiting for word on how this short-term stimulus package might be married to long-range fiscal responsibility.
Bush, failed to mentioned who will pick up the tab for this country’s spending spree over the past seven years. Instead, he urged Congress in his hour-long speech to make his tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 permanent. Go figure. He also vowed to veto any bill from Congress that raises taxes.
Members from both parties stood to applaud when the president said the government needed to balance its budget, just like American families have to balance theirs. He spoke of a surplus by 2012, but forgive us if we’re skeptical.
He talked tough on government spending, vowing to veto excessive spending bills. He also told Congress he would no longer tolerate future earmarks — those often secret stashes of cash that lawmakers line up for their pet projects — unless they are listed in legislation that members vote upon. For too long, earmarks have been buried in the reports that accompany legislation.
It’s a fine idea, even if Bush is late to the party.
On Iraq, Bush said the troop surge he announced last January had “achieved results few of us could have imagined.” He also spoke of some of the “grass-roots” compromises taking place there.
“The Iraqi people are taking control of their future,” Bush said.
We can only hope.
Clearly, Bush will pass along the struggles and heartaches of this war to the next president.
Bush scored a few points, in our eyes, by proposing a $300 million “Pell Grants for Kids” program that would help “liberate poor children trapped in failing public schools.” We have long supported that type of a voucher program.
This was Bush’s final State of the Union address. He was a little grayer this time, his rhetoric less soaring than previous addresses. Watching him, we couldn’t help but think how much the country has changed in these seven years, and how he hasn’t been the “uniter” he promised to be.
Now, faced with a Congress controlled by Democrats, Bush can only threaten vetoes. He has promised a sprint to the finish line. Perhaps he’ll find a little unity along the way, too.
