State of the Union 2006

Reading a State of the Union speech feels more productive than actually watching it. Rarely do these speeches lay out a big idea. Most of the time they're lists of items put together by policy wonks and politicos then massaged into respectible prose by speechwriters. Most of the items don't even become laws or policy. Some are immediately ignored as soon as they pass through the President's mouth. And the best part is I can ignore all the applause.

President Bush's second State of the Union speech had nothing startling. There was no new philosophy put forward. Bush attempted to advance many of the same ideas from previous years: entitlement reform; tax cuts; and staying the course in the Islamist War. One thing that was different from last year's speech was Bush went back to donning a blue tie.

On controversial NSA eavesdropping that included American citizens President Bush did move away from the defense he uttered when the NY Times broke the story:

So to prevent another attack -- based on authority given to me by the Constitution and by statute -- I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected al Qaeda operatives and affiliates to and from America. Previous Presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have, and federal courts have approved the use of that authority. Appropriate members of Congress have been kept informed. The terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America. If there are people inside our country who are talking with al Qaeda, we want to know about it, because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.

After failing last year to get anything done on Social Security reform the President again talked about entitlements:

So tonight, I ask you to join me in creating a commission to examine the full impact of baby boom retirements on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. This commission should include members of Congress of both parties, and offer bipartisan solutions. We need to put aside partisan politics and work together and get this problem solved.

Great, another commission that will publish a report no one will read and will only be discussed on News Hour.

Democrats showed a lack of class when they applauded not acting on any proposal to salvage Social Security. David J. at ResurrectionSong wrote,

Here’s the fact: Social Security (and all of our big, scary entitlement programs) are a serious growing threat to the long-term well being of our country. There should be no celebrating the fact that we couldn’t find the right solution to the problem, there should be a renewed interest in finding the right solution and a disappointment that we couldn’t create the right framework for attacking the problem. Seriously, folks, our growing entitlement spending is as big a problem (and, arguably, it qualifies as a national security issue) as radical Islamic terrorists. It doesn’t have the immediate sense of threat, I admit, but the problem grows more and more difficult to handle with each passing year.

Unchecked, the bill that comes due over the next few decades could bring this country to its knees more surely than another terrorist attack of 9/11 proportions. It could make us into a younger version of Germany or France and reduce us to standing on the sidelines as even younger, more vigorous economies and political powers shape the future of the globe. Unemployment will rise along with inflation while our political influence plummets. Now is the time to find solutions.

So, yeah, that celebration of failure is a little disconcerting.

Illegal immigration concerns much of the populace. The President delivered an entire paragraph on the subject:

Keeping America competitive requires an immigration system that upholds our laws, reflects our values, and serves the interests of our economy. Our nation needs orderly and secure borders. To meet this goal, we must have stronger immigration enforcement and border protection. And we must have a rational, humane guest worker program that rejects amnesty, allows temporary jobs for people who seek them legally, and reduces smuggling and crime at the border.

Like the botched Miers nomination Bush is listening to his conservative base--not always a good thing. We now see the full effect of the Minutemen Project.

On energy the President spat out conventional wisdom. He said, "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology." Actually, the best way to change people's behavior is to change their incentives. Gas at over $2 a gallon is driving buyers to look for more fuel-efficent vehicles and encouraging car manufactuers to develop gas-electric hybrids and hydrogen-powered products. Prices in a free market will do more to ease America's "addiction" than Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative. At least he mentioned nukes. The time has come to drive out the nation's irrational fear of that cleaner, bountiful energy source.

On taxes, the President called Congress to make his tax cuts permanent. If it doesn't taxpayers will be hit hard with big tax increases. On the flipside unless this President is willing to veto bloated spending bills than go beyond the government's constitutional authority then we'll sink into more and more debt.

In his laundry list there was only one item of significence to pro-lifers. President Bush wants Congress to "to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research: human cloning in all its forms, creating or implanting embryos for experiments, creating human-animal hybrids, and buying, selling, or patenting human embryos." Despite his truth when he declared, "Human life is a gift from our Creator -- and that gift should never be discarded, devalued or put up for sale," the feds should only regulate the interstate commerce aspects of human cloning. Like abortion, these decisions should be left to the individual states.

No mention of China. Interesting. Beijing mustn't have been pleased.

Someone needs to shake up the State of the Union speech. The laundry list is cliche, the applause are cliche, and the required mention of someone in the gallery is cliche. Given the audience watching the State of the Union Presidents should either advance a grand vision or flesh out new ideas; or else just do like President Jefferson did and send a written statement to Congress and let the talking heads save their breath.

"President Bush Delivers State of the Union Address"