Posted by
on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 10:20:59 PM
I will be live-blogging the president's State of the Union speech tonight. I know that Thomas wanted to be a part of this, but as our readers saw first thing this morning, he was dealing with his restlessness last night, and did not get much sleep. He will be listening to it (four ears are better than two), and he will be taking notes that I can refer to later, but he is mentally spent right now.
I will not touch on every little issue, but I will take note, below, of the big topics that he touches on. A little historical note here: George Washington gave the first State of the Union address in the provincial Capitol of New York City in 1790. Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice of actually addressing the Congres; choosing rather to write them a letter because he believed the practice to be too similar to England's, and comparable to the monarchy there.
In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson reestablished the formal address to Congress, and many presidents (the bulk of them in the latter 20th Century) sent a written copy to Congress ahead of time, in addition to addressing Congress, and the nation (with the advent of television) directly.
This is President Bush's sixth State of the Union address, and it is slated to run approximately one hour, starting at 7 p.m. Arizona Time. And that is where I will begin. I will be watching the opening moments, and preparing the first update at that time. In addition, this marks the first time that President Bush will have a Democrat sitting directly behin him in Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Jim Webb has been chosen to give the Democrat response to the president's address.
Lead-Up--First Lady Laura Bush has arrived, in red. Attorney General Gonzales is the man with the short straw--for security purposes--who is not present amongst his cabinet.
7:00--Members of the Supreme Court and the Cabinet arrive, prompting punditry in the foreground. The speech was slated at 40 mins. without applause.
7:09 --"Madame Speaker, the President of the United States."
The president arrives to a traditional, standing ovation. He is wearing his signature blue tie; one that we have seen before for other SOTU speeches.
7:12--Pelosi strikes the gavel, and introduces President Bush. (I wonder how hard that was for her!) The president has acknowledged history by noting that this is the first time that the Speaker is female. And he adds fuel to the fire by being humble, and honoring Speaker Pelosi. (That had to hurt.) The president brings up Sen. Johnson, and Rep. Norwood, encourgaing the body to pray for their safe recovery and return to Congress.
7:15--He opens with a congratulatory greeting to the incoming Democrats.
"We're not the first to come here with a government divided." In short, time to put aside the differences, and work together. We have heard this before. And the economy is up first. 7.2 million new jobs. 41st month of straight prosperity.
Keep things moving forward "not with more government, but with more enterprise."
"Balance the federal budget."
"We can do so without raising taxes."
"We need spending discipline in Wasington, DC."
"I will submit a budget that reduces the deficit in half in the next 5 years."
"Cut the number of earmarks, at least in half, by the end of this session."
"Fix Medicare and Medicaid, and save Social Security."
7:21--Education; "Minority students are closing the gap."
"Give local leaders the chance to help failing schools."
"We must increase fuinds for students who struggle."
"I urge congress to reauthoorize this good law."
7:23--Health Care; "A standard tax deduction for health care."
"Changing the tax code is a vital step for making health care more affordable to Americans."
Federal help for state-sponsored health care initiatives. Need to expand healh savings accounts. Protect good doctors from junk lawsuits with medical lawsuit reform (read: tort reform).
7:27--Immigration; (This, next to Iraq will be a biggie in the speech) Pushing the guest worker program, AGAIN. Enforce immigration laws at the worksite; no excuse for violating the law with the tools provided. Need to emphasize "melting pot," and encourages assimilation.
"Without Amnesty."
Pass comprehensive immigration reform.
7:29--Energy; Stating we need to find a way around oil, and pushing alternative sources. Invest in new methods of producing ethanol. Proposes a reduction in energy consumption (gasoline) 20% in the next 10 years. It will cut our oil imports by 75% from the Middle East.
7:33--Justice; Pushing the judicial issue again, and he is calling the Senate out on their obstruction.
"Give them a prompt up-or-down vote on the senate floor."
7:34--National Security; "The horrors of that September morning was just a glimpse."
"To win the war on terror, we must take the fight to the enemy."
We have stayed on the offense. No sanctuary, easy movement, and free-flowing money is over. We don't know the extents of our efforts, but we know a bit, and he is listing off what we DID thwart.
7:37--"America's still a nation at war."
This war won't end until THEIR vision is fulfilled. (He knoes the people fighting us--Sunnis--which Silvestre Reyes did not.)
"They want to overthrow moderate governments." They are trying to force our retreat. Quotes al-Zarqawi to emphasize his point.
"These men are not given idle words." He also notes the Shias, and he focuses on Iran and their interference.
"I wish I could report to you that they have given up; they have not." Vowing to protect the American people with any and all means at his disposal.
7:40--"This war is more than a clash of arms." He is focusing on the ideology of our enemy, and again, making the case. Unfortunately, it has a bit of a PC-mindset.
"For the sake of our own security, we must" help those in the Middle East. A desire for liberty in the broader Middle East.
7:42--He is talking about Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq--all choosing democratically, their leaders and constitutions. He cites the Iraq votes, and there is applause.
"The enemy watched these scenes, adjusted their tactics, and struck back."
He cites the Syrian involvement in Lebanon, cites the retaliation from the Taliban, and touches on the Al-Askari mosque bombing.
"It is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is a war we must win."
"The Iraqi government must stop the sectarian violence in their capital." Our troops surge will help the Iraqis secure the citiies, and work with the Iraqi military in training.
"People in Iraq want to live in peace." Iraq pledging to go after the radicals.
7:47--Iraq placing benchmarks for us to leave, and giving oil revenues to the people.
"For all this to happen, Baghdad must be secure."
"We have weighed all the options...This porvides the best chance for success." He cited Iran again, in our retreat, and Iraq's defeat.
"For America, this is a nightmare scenario; for the enemy, this is the objective."
"Nothing is more important in our history than victory in the Middle East ..."
7:49--"This is where matters stand tonight in the here and now."
"You did not vote for failure." We are pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and he urges EVERYONE to give it a chance.
"The war on terror is a generational struggle." He is proposing a special advisory council on the war, made up of leaders from Congress. He is proposing an uptick in the military numbers by 92,000 in the next fove years.
"Design and establish a civilian volunteer reserve corps."
7:52--Citing UN multinational force in Iraq, and other worldwide coalition members. He has tossed down the gauntlet on Iran--No nuclear weapons. Now he is bringing up the possible Palestinian state. NATO is working against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"Pursuing intensive diplomacy" against North Korea. Wants to awaken the world to the plight of Darfur.
7:54--Hunger, poverty, and disease in the world; fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. And now we lapse into recognizing a variety of people in the gallery that have had success in the United States. (Not that this is a bad thing to do, but it is noted in every SOTU address President Bush has given.)
I do apologize to readers that read this. There are likely some typos (sorry, he was talking pretty fast), and all of the quotes may not be precise, but they are close. With one half of my brain in one ear, and the other attached to the radio listening to the address, this was not easy. Thomas will probably follow this up tomorrow with a post breaking down this address.
Marcie