State of the Union Speech, why bother?

Why even bother with a televised State of the Union Speech from George W. Bush? By the time Bush steps up to the microphone tonight, the entire world will already know everything that is contained in his speech. Americans who are interested will already have read the important parts of the speech on the internet or heard pundits pick them apart on 24 hour news channels. Supporters and detractors alike have already written their articles either praising or berating the contents of the speech.

Many Americans never watch the State of the Union Speech and would prefer to see the latest episode of some brainless reality show. I remember a time when Americans yearned to sit down and listen to words from our President. What's changed?

Bush will 'urge that gasoline consumption be slashed by 20 percent by 2017.'

Bush will say that the fuel-use goal of slashing consumption by 20 percent by 2017 can be achieved primarily through a sharp escalation in the amount of ethanol and other alternative fuels the federal government mandates must be produced. The rest of the reduction is to come from raising fuel economy standards for passenger cars, said Joel Kaplan, White House deputy chief of staff.

Also in the energy arena, the president is asking Congress to double the current capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (ABC)

He will ask Congress to give his Iraq plan, and increase in troops, a chance to work and for Congress to support our troops.

Three GOP senators and one moderate Democrat unveiled nonbinding legislation on Monday expressing disagreement with Bush's plan and urging him to consider "all options and alternatives."

In the House, members of the GOP leadership drafted a series of what they called "strategic benchmarks" and said the White House should submit monthly reports to Congress measuring the Iraqi government's progress in meeting them.

Meanwhile, majority Democrats intend to hold votes within days in the House and Senate on tougher bills declaring that the troop increase is "not in the national interest."

President Bush will introduce a tax deduction of '$7,500 for individuals and $15,000 for families regardless of whether they buy their own health insurance or receive medical coverage at work.'

Bush is proposing to change how the tax code treats health insurance, an attempt to introduce increased market forces to the health care industry and make coverage more affordable for the uninsured. Aides estimated the plan would represent a tax increase for only about 20 percent of employer-covered workers.

But Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., chairman of a key health subcommittee in the House, said he would not even consider holding hearings on the proposal. He dismissed it as a dead-on-arrival attempt to encourage employers to stop offering health insurance.

On education, Bush will push for Congress to renew his education accountability law, No Child Left Behind, which expires this year.

Read more on the speech here, here, here

UPDATE: The Democrats have decided, in their infinite wisdom, to give their reaction to the president’s State of the Union address this evening in both English and Spanish. Read it all at
Common Sense America " Don’t Look Now But Your Racial Discrimination Is Showing"

Comments

[Debbie]

We watched the speech from beginning to end, including the commentary afterward. Nothing we didn't already know.

If that sounds unpatriotic, it's not. It's just a fact.

Ron, I'm not crazy about the No Child Left Behind either. Throwing money at schools doesn't make better teachers or better educated children. And anything that holds back the best and brightest is just wrong.

[Ron Williams]

Personally, bush's education accountability law should be retitled "education equality law" meaning "everyone learns at the same pace. the gifted ones get screwed over having to sit in classes to learn the same stuff year after year to meet the hsa requirements, and the non-gifted ones get to sit in the classes with the gifted ones and make ignorant remakes and statements and also engage im moronic behavior causing the gifted ones to not learn. all in all, the non-gifted ones move up, and the gifted ones move down."

Check out http://www.ronsnexus.com/node/161 if you care for my additional justifications.

As you can tell, I don't like NCLB.

[Layla]

Sigh...same old, same old...yada-yada. I really could have done without it. I did not even bother blogging about it - worthless - just a bunch of worthless talk.

[kc]

*Yawn* I will be in bed.....Hopefully Sleeping!

I dont feel we have a government worth respecting since they care little for us, or the law!

[Night Rider]

State of the Union Speech, why bother?

That really sounds patriotic?
I plan on watching it online at http://www.c-span.org
That way I won't have to listen to the dumb punditry after wards.
President George W. Bush
ON CAPITOL HILL
State of the Union Address
TUES., C-SPAN, 9PM ET

[Christi]

What's changed? Politicians changed. That's my opinion anyway. There was a time when we respected them because they respected us. Sigh...