Editorials on President Bush's State of the Union speech

The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday, Jan. 29:

LET'S MAKE SOME DEALS

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.

Similarly, Bush urged Congress to approve trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Suppose Democrats concur — in return for much more money to re-educate workers whose jobs have vanished.

The operative template here is the $150 billion stimulus package, the election-year compact that has united a Republican White House and a Democratic House. It's not sound economic policy. But the Indy 500 pace of negotiations among House Republicans and Democrats and the White House reflected (a) shared fear of angry voters, (b) shared desire to actually accomplish something, or © both.

The Democrats spent 2007 essentially running against Bush. They lost dozens of congressional votes in failed attempts to wage war policy. The resulting gridlock in Washington helped to earn them the unpopularity they face today. Now they refuse to recognize, much less applaud, the recent successes in Iraq.

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.

The following editorial appeared in the Seattle Times on Tuesday, Jan. 29:

A STATE OF REMINDERS

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.

A full 75 percent in a recent New York Times/CBS News poll believe the country is on the wrong track.

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.

Bush deserves credit for a signature accomplishment overseas. His efforts to reduce AIDS in Africa are genuine, successful and worthy of the money he seeks.

As Americans hold their breath over the economy, Bush elbowed Congress to pass a $150 million stimulus package, with rebate checks and temporary tax cuts. Democrats agreed, with swift passage in the House.

It's money drawn from thin air, amid crushing deficits.

Bush insisted Congress reauthorize a troubling domestic-surveillance law; the Senate favors a short extension until safeguards are affirmed. Lawmakers know they are virtually irrelevant. Bush ignored pieces of the law he did not like — no veto required.

Is Bush going to create an elusive Palestinian state in the next 12 months? If the parties would stop fighting long enough to talk peace, it might happen.

The president's speech was neither a satisfying review of achievement or an authentic to-do list. In too many categories, it was a reminder of what might have been.

The following editorial appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Tuesday, Jan. 29:

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

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.

On the economy, the president pitched a stimulus package that will put extra cash into the hands of people likely to spend it and that contains business tax breaks. But the package negotiated with the House lacks extension of unemployment benefits and more spending on food stamps, two items that will certainly stimulate the economy. The Senate must correct that.

On Iraq, the president defended the surge and cautioned against dramatic U.S. troop withdrawal, while noting that some 20,000 such troops would be home soon. But sadly, the surge has failed on its primary goal — political reconciliation. The president ought to be looking for a more certain exit.

The president vowed to veto spending bills unless they halve the amount of earmarks for pet projects. This is a worthy goal. However, he's talking about the 2009 fiscal year, which doesn't start until Oct. 1, 2008. The threat doesn't apply to recent legislation that contains earmarks totaling $16.9 billion.

Bush proposed that Congress create a $300 million program — described as "Pell Grants for kids" — so inner-city schoolchildren can transfer to better private or public schools. We call that school choice in Milwaukee and note that $300 million won't go very far. Milwaukee's program costs the state about $110 million. We await details.

The president, speaking against the backdrop of a national election to choose his replacement, called for reducing U.S. dependence on oil.

These and other items in the address are good calls, though not far-reaching enough and tardy by half. So, much as Americans could legitimately feel as Bill Clinton exited the presidency, we lament Bush's last year in this way: Oh, what might have been.

The following editorial appeared in the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday, Jan. 29:

BUSH NEEDS BIPARTISANSHIP

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 still 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 same spirit of compromise could help the president achieve another of his goals, renewing No Child Left Behind education law. It would stand a better chance of overcoming resistance from Democrats if paired with an expansion they've sought in the program that provides health insurance for low-income children.

Bush's call for Congress to pass pending trade agreements — especially one with Colombia — was especially compelling. "On trade, we must trust American workers to compete with anyone in the world and empower them by opening up new markets overseas," he said. Amen.

Bush made a far less compelling plea for Congress to make permanent his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Unless those cuts are accompanied by meaningful spending reductions — not superficial ones, such as eliminating obscure programs or cracking down on pork-barrel projects — the nation's fiscal health will keep deteriorating under Bush's successor.

On Iraq, a war still claiming American lives and costing more than $9 billion a month nearly five years after it began, we would have liked to hear Bush pledge to work with Democrats on "the next phase of our strategy." Surely the two parties can agree on the common goals of stabilizing Iraq as soon as possible and protecting U.S. interests in the region, instead of spending another year at odds. We also had hoped to hear the president unequivocally renounce torture — because it's both ineffective and immoral.

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.

The following editorial appeared in the Fresno (Calif.) Bee on Tuesday, Jan. 29:

BUSH DELIVERS A LOW-IMPACT FINALE

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. This plan should help the economy, but it will need more than $600 checks to solve its fundamental problems.

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-Qaeda 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. In this lame-duck year, the president will have little impact on Congress on these and other contentious issues.

That's why he didn't offer any new significant initiatives Monday night. Bush spoke on the eve of the Florida primary, and we're now only a week away from Super Tuesday when 22 states will be voting for the presidential nominees. The two terms of George W. Bush are no longer today's news. The fight for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations has moved the debate beyond the Bush presidency.

The White House valiantly called this final year "a sprint to the finish," but Bush's proposals Monday night did not suggest this is a race he will win. That's not unlike the final year of presidents who have come before him.

We agree with Bush's complaint over pork-barrel spending and cheer the executive order that he's supposed to issue today telling federal agencies to ignore "earmarks" not voted on by Congress.

We agree with him that Congress failed the nation by not enacting a comprehensive immigration reform plan. We agree with him that Congress should have had the guts to take on the reform of Social Security.

But those have become issues for the next president and the next Congress.

The following editorial appeared in Newsday on Tuesday, Jan. 29:

FAMILIAR NOTES IN BUSH'S LAST STATE OF THE UNION

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. He has neither the political capital nor the compliant Congress he would need to deliver anything big or controversial.

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.

The speech was billed as forward-looking, but Bush did make a pitch for cleaning up some unfinished business.

He once again exhorted Congress to make his debt-inducing tax cuts permanent, something the Democratic Congress is unlikely to do. He asked Congress to reauthorize a bill giving him a dangerously free hand to monitor e-mail and phone calls in the war on terror. And he pressed Congress to reauthorize his No Child Left Behind school reforms, an iffy proposition without significant changes.

Bush didn't talk specifically about his legacy. But that will hinge largely on the outcome of the war in Iraq and the health of the economy, two things he did talk about.

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, weighed down by housing woes, tight credit, stratospheric oil prices, a weak dollar, ballooning national debt, stagnant wages and stretched consumers. 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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