Posted on 01/28/2008 12:39:52 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - President Bush, in his last State of the Union message Monday night, will call anew for patience on Iraq, propose a $300 million initiative for children trapped in struggling inner-city schools and suggest termination of scores of federal programs.
Previewing some highlights of Bush's primetime speech to Congress, a high-ranking White House official also said the president will announce plans to have the United States host the next hemispheric summit in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. The administration earlier Monday said that Bush was to use his nationally broadcast address to attack the so-called "earmarks," special projects lawmakers often insert into Congress's spending bills.
White House counselor Ed Gillespie, describing Bush's plans for a new school initiative, said Monday afternoon that Bush "has some concerns about the declining number of faith-based and parochial schools in inner cities around the country and low-income neighborhoods." Because of this, Gillespie said, Bush is ready to "urge Congress to enact a program he calls `Pell Grants for Kids.' "
The money would "provide alternatives for children now trapped in struggling public schools," Gillespie told reporters.
Also, Bush was announcing that an annual meeting involving the leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico will be held in New Orleans — a move designed, according to Gillespie, to "demonstrate how this great American city of New Orleans is rebounding."
On spending, Bush plans to announce his desire to reduce or eliminate some 150 federal programs that Gillespie deemed "wasteful or bloated." Bush's final budget proposal to Congress is due shortly, and lawmakers for the most part decide which programs are trimmed or scrapped.
On Iraq, Bush will seek to remind the country that the battle-scarred nation is the "central front on the war on terror," Gillespie said.
The president planned to press Congress — particularly the Senate, where he senses trouble — to finish an economic stimulus package fast.
And he will pledge to veto any spending bill that does not cut earmarks in half from levels spelled out in the current budget. The White House said that Bush planned to sign an executive order on Tuesday directing agencies to ignore any future earmarks that are not actually written into law, but rather tucked into obscure "report" language. The White House also said such a move will force Congress to make its spending more transparent. However, that plan leaves untouched the more than 11,700 earmarks totaling $16.9 billion that Congress approved last year.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush decided to restrict earmarks going forward — not backward — because Congress first deserved "a very clear indication of what he was going to do."
The final State of the Union of the Bush presidency will be roughly split between domestic and foreign matters. Expect few surprises and no big initiatives. To the degree the speech favors the pragmatic over the bold, the White House offers a two-word explanation: Blame Congress.
Bush's efforts to overhaul Social Security and immigration died on Capitol Hill, but not just because of Democratic opposition. He also ran into walls put up by members of his own party. Heading into the speech, White House press secretary Dana Perino said it is unrealistic to expect Congress to take on big problems.
The White House strategy now is to go after what's left of that elusive common ground; Bush has 12 months remaining, and an even shorter window for legislation this election year. So he will push Congress to pass some short-term economic aid and make permanent his first-term tax cuts, which are due to expire in 2010.
He also will call for housing reform, better health care and veterans' care, alternative energy development and renewal of the No Child Left Behind education law.
The domestic section of Bush's speech will also remind the nation of his ideas on climate change, faith-based programs and stem cell research. When he pivots to foreign matters, Bush will emphasize progress in Iraq, and repeat that troop withdrawals will happen when they won't undermine Iraq's success.
Bush also does not plan to turn the speech into a retrospective look at his time in office.
"I can understand how many people, especially those that cover the president in the press, could see that the president would approach this as his legacy speech," Perino said. "But no, not at all. This is a very forward-looking speech."
A pervasive current of the address will be trusting and empowering Americans. It is a theme Bush has wanted to emphasize in a speech for months.
Of course, the buzz about town concerns the next presidency, not this one.
As long as he commands the military and retains veto power, Bush remains relevant. Yet his clout is slipping. That is the political reality given his approval ratings, which are near the worst of his presidency, and his outsider role in the campaign for the 2008 presidential nominations.
The top Democratic contenders, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, will be on hand. Those two alone will draw most of the reaction shots shown on television. A leading Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain, is staying in Florida, where Tuesday's Republican primary will shorten Bush's news cycle.
Ahead of the speech, top Democrats sought to frame expectations for it.
"As we await President Bush's final State of the Union address Monday night we know one thing for sure: that cherished faith in America has been greatly diminished, and with it, our ability to respond to the critical challenges that threaten our security," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Bush's language is expected to be tougher when it comes to something else he wants from Congress: the extension of a law that allows surveillance of suspected terrorists. The current eavesdropping law, which allows government surveillance of phone calls and e-mails involving people in the United States, expires Friday. Bush is clashing with the Senate leadership over safeguards as well as legal immunity for telecommunications companies that helped the government spy on American citizens.
The Senate is expected to take a key vote on the bill just hours before Bush speaks, so the White House may adjust the speech on the fly. Otherwise, the address is essentially locked down at roughly 40 minutes long, not counting interruptions for applause.
I’ll be in the shower. Keep me posted.
A better and more effective course of action would be to bring back the “board” of education. Under that threat, we never had problems in the classroom and everyone was able to learn.
Shut down the Dept of Education. Shut down Pell Grants and all other Federal assistance to students and educators. No more Federal standards, tests or no child left behind. None. Cut taxes for the difference. The new rule for education should be that parents pay for what they get and get what they pay for. I.e. competition.
“As we await President Bush’s final State of the Union address Monday night we know one thing for sure: that cherished faith in America has been greatly diminished, and with it, our ability to respond to the critical challenges that threaten our security,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Thanks primarily to the Democrats who back stab our President at war and paleo conservatives who hold the President to a higher standard on border issues than any other Republican President.
Does this mean “American Gladiators” won’t be on?
This is the key. Get the gov’t out of education. We should STOP doing things out of fear. You cannot force learning onto ANYONE. Let people go to school if they WANT TO, and let them pay for it. There would then be cheaper schools in poorer areas, and more expensive schools in wealthier areas, and everything else in between. Don’t force truants and gangbangers into the schools. Bad behavior = you are OUT. Not you are in a continuation school. Just throw them out. Period. We can’t live in fear of these kids. Leave schools to those who want to learn or those who have parents who MAKE them attend.
“Babylon 5” on DVD.
I will bet that anything he proposes tonight will do no good at all for the mass of students in the DC public school system.
The Dept. of Education should be taken out and shot; no more standardized tests for these kids - they’re a joke.
The more money we hurl at these problems, the more determined the problems become.
Big government is not the answer.
Please, no.
Stop the insanity!
That's a sweet dream, to be sure.
I’d like to think its more than a dream. Not the Jorge will go there. But us conservatives should.
Bush has himself to thank for his dismal approval ratings. He was liked by conservatives and hated by liberals. As a result, he stabbed his supporters in the back and tried to appeal to those that hate him.
Need examples:
-Out of control spending
-McCain-Feingold which he signed even though he knew it was unconstitutional
-Harriet Miers (and implying conservatives were sexist when they objected)
-Amnesty (and calling conservatives racist, when they objected) (btw, no other Republican president had 20+ million illegals in the country.)
-Lack of pardon of Ramos & Compean
-Letting Haditha Marines be treated worse that Guantanamo prisoners.
Incredible.
You can’t fight a WOT with a Open Border.
So it will be over in about 41 minutes.
I don’t think we will be very happy with this SOTUnion; IMO it will a very expensive 40 minutes of the most pandering Compassionate Conservatism in history...hold on to your wallets and look for another $30B for Aids + few Billion $$ for our PLO friends and then the rest of the list of giveaways of FREE Guvernment $$s...total may be $100B.
Maybe I completely misread it, but it looks to me as if “Pell Grants for kids” is just another name for vouchers, to enable poor inner city kids to get out of the public schools and attend a parochial school or other “faith based” school—hopefully not a madrassah!
I guess we have.
I am rather annoyed that Reagan who signed amnesty and provided Kennedy and O Connor to the Court gets rave reveiws from Paleos and all the
“cry me a river” crowd that laments where is Reagan.
Reagan < George W. Bush
I like Reagan but I am deeply disturbed at the unfair criticism directed at President Bush.
For these reasons and more, good riddance to Jorge Bush, the Republican Jimmy Carter.
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