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Speech Reflects Divisions In State Of The Union

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 30, 2008

Let's Make Some Deals

From the Chicago Tribune:

The president at the microphone Monday night for his final State of the Union address? Last month, 32 percent of the Americans surveyed told Gallup pollsters they approve of his performance. Those who disapprove: 65 percent. And the members of Congress arrayed before him? Their approval rating is 23 percent. That's better than the Ebola virus, but when their disapproval rating is 71 percent, you're nobody's heroes.

So we were struck Monday night by several rich possibilities to give a lame-duck president and a do-little Congress some quality time before they part in 2009. Maybe we're channeling more than Bush or Congress wants. But consider the long wish list Bush suggested - and what Democrats with little to show for their first year running Congress might extract from him in return. Consider:

The president pleaded Monday night for renewal of No Child Left Behind. That accountability law challenges an education industry that Bush famously derided for its soft bigotry of low expectations.

"Members of Congress: The No Child Left Behind Act is a bipartisan achievement," Bush said in his speech. "It is succeeding. And we owe it to America's children, their parents and their teachers to strengthen this good law." And if Congress reauthorizes NCLB, makes it better and avoids eviscerating it? Maybe Bush would agree to sign the child health coverage legislation that would help Democrats in re-election campaigns.

With neither Bush nor Iraq as easy targets this November, the Democrats would be smart to get past their tepid applause Monday night and send a constructive message to the White House: George W. Bush has a long list of wishes to cap his career. We have wishes too. Let's make some deals.

A State of Reminders

From the Seattle Times:

President George Bush's last State of the Union address was an exhaustive, almost glib list of work to be done and hallmarks to achieve in twelve months. Mostly, it sounded like missions not accomplished:

A flamboyant request for $300 million to help inner-city kids pay for private-school tuition; more attention to global warming in 60 minutes than in the past seven years; the economy is a worry; terrorists are bad; stay the course. Days ahead of the speech, congressional scholar Thomas Mann said out loud what many are thinking: "No one's really listening any more."

Bush enters the final year of his presidency with a dubious record: the longest sustained low-job-approval rating. Harsh assessments of his competence, credibility and judgment trail him into the history books.

The president labored mightily and at length to put a rosy glow on the Iraq war, pointing to reductions in violence. His troop surge - after a surge of troop deaths last May - is a bleak reminder that military professionals were rebuffed five years ago when they recommended a larger initial military presence. Iraq has a woefully weak central government, and the current lull is attributed to letting disparate tribes and fiefdoms control their areas. No Iraqi security force is ready to replace U.S. soldiers.

The president's speech was neither a satisfying review of achievement nor an authentic to-do list. In too many categories, it was a reminder of what might have been.

Too Little, Too Late

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Predictably, President Bush's last State of the Union address Monday night did not contain grand initiatives, though he urged Congress to pass a much-needed economic stimulus package already negotiated with the House.

Given that his other grand initiatives included remaking Social Security and invading a country without weapons of mass destruction and no involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks, the case could be made that the nation should be thankful.

But this absence of big ideas really had to do with the weakened condition of the presidency.

Yes, virtually no president in the last year of his last term is in a position to push through much of anything. However, a president who had delivered on a promise to unite rather than divide would be in a better position to persuade on matters still on any credible national priority list.

Bush Needs Bipartisanship

From the Orlando Sentinel:

It was inspiring - but frustrating - to hear President George W. Bush call in his last State of the Union address for Republicans and Democrats to "cooperate for results" even as they "compete for votes." Throughout his time in the White House, Mr. Bush has preached better on bipartisanship than he has practiced.

Now, with the race to succeed him heating up, the sun has probably set on hopes for results under Bush on some of the country's most pressing problems. It's hard to imagine Congress fixing the broken immigration system or slowing the runaway growth of entitlement programs this year, as the president urged in Monday's speech. Yet Bush cited some less ambitious "unfinished business" that could get done.

Last week's deal between the president and congressional leaders on an economic-stimulus package shows what's possible when the two parties put the national interest first. We agree with Bush's call for Congress to pass the package - not because it's ideal, but because picking it apart could delay it past the point where it could do any good.

The conciliatory tone of the official Democratic response Monday to Bush's speech suggests he can salvage some goals in his last year. But he needs to follow through on his fine words about bipartisanship.

A Low-Impact Finale

From the Fresno (Calif.) Bee:

With the nation preparing to pick his successor, President George W. Bush delivered his final State of the Union speech Monday night. This is not a time when outgoing presidents historically have been effective, and Bush's speech didn't offer major initiatives.

He pushed his $150 billion economic stimulus package and warned the Senate not to fatten up the package he and House leaders recently agreed on. We support the stimulus plan, and believe Americans will be impatient with politicians holding up their rebate checks.

Bush touted his troop buildup in Iraq during his speech, and said success is at hand. The troop surge is working, he said, and the terrorists know it, even if U.S. critics don't. "Al-Qaida is on the run in Iraq and this enemy will be defeated."

But that mission is hardly accomplished after almost five years of war and the deaths of nearly 4,000 members of the U.S. military. It's time for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The Bush policy was ill-conceived from the start.

One thing is clear after this State of the Union speech: Bush will leave major problems to his successor. Iraq, immigration reform and a Social Security fix are but a few.

Familiar Notes

From Newsday:

An unpopular war, a bad economy and a presidential race already at full throttle are not the best backdrop for a State of the Union speech. But that's the hand President George W. Bush was dealt last night as he delivered his seventh and final ritual address to Congress and the public. The speech lived up to expectations, which were low.

Bush bowed to political reality by eschewing any ambitious new initiatives of the magnitude of Social Security reform and immigration overhaul, failed initiatives from previous years.

So Bush urged Washington to trust the American people, made a belated bid for bipartisanship and pushed small-bore proposals - for instance, passage of his economic stimulus plan and curbing pork-barrel spending.

He claimed great progress in Iraq, where the number of troops is up and violence is down. But there has been little progress toward a united Iraq. And there's a lingering sense that this war of choice should never have been waged.

The economy is swooning. And with little progress to report in reducing the ranks of the uninsured, or on climate change, or in meeting the mounting obligations of Medicare and Social Security, Bush is left with few bragging rights.

In this final year of the Bush presidency, the union is strong but its state is troubled.

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