State of the Union Address LIVE THREAD 9:01pm EST.

White House .gov ^

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

President Bush will deliver the annual State of the Union this evening at 9:01pm (Eastern Time). The speech will be webcast live on the White House web site. The President will discuss the extraordinary challenges our country has faced and the historic achievements we have made. Yet he will also stress that there.s much more for our country to do: "America this evening is a Nation called to great responsibilities. And we are rising to meet them…" "We have not come all this way – through tragedy, and trial, and war – only to falter and leave our work unfinished. Americans are rising to the tasks of history, and they expect the same of us." He will also remind the American people that we are a Nation still at war, and our government is meeting its responsibility to protect the American people: "Our greatest responsibility is the active defense of the American people. Twenty-eight months have passed since September 11, 2001 – over two years without an attack on American soil – and it is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting – and false." "...America is on the offensive against the terrorists..." "As part of the offensive against terror, we are also confronting the regimes that harbor and support terrorists, and could supply them with nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons…" "...Because of American leadership and resolve, the world is changing for the better…" He will discuss the progress we’re making in Afghanistan and Iraq, and renew our commitment to ensuring those countries are free and peaceful: "The men and women of Afghanistan are building a nation that is free, and proud, and fighting terror…" "The work of building a new Iraq is hard, and it is right. And America has always been willing to do what it takes for what is right." On priorities here at home, the President will discuss why he’s optimistic about our growing economy, and call on Congress to take action that will help turn our economic recovery into a lasting recovery. He will call on them to help train Americans for the jobs of the 21st Century: "America’s growing economy is also a changing economy. As technology transforms the way almost every job is done, America becomes more productive, and workers need new skills… We must respond by helping more Americans gain the skills to find good jobs in our new economy." President Bush will also discuss the importance of health care and the major cause for why Americans lack health insurance: the rising costs of health care. "On the critical issue of health care, our goal is to ensure that Americans can choose and afford private health care coverage that best fits their individual needs. To make insurance more affordable, Congress must act to address rapidly rising health care costs." Finally, the President will argue that in a time of great change in our country and world, the things that make our country strong should never change: "We are living in a time of great change… Yet some things endure – courage and compassion, reverence and integrity, respect for differences of faith and race. The values we try to live by never change. And they are instilled in us by fundamental institutions, such as families, and schools, and religious congregations. These institutions – the unseen pillars of civilization – must remain strong in America…" "All of us – parents, schools, government – must work together to counter the negative influence of the culture, and to send the right messages to our children."

"The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." Article II, Sec. 3, U.S. Constitution • History • State of the Union History Quiz • State of the Union - 2003 • State of the Union - 2002 Q1. What President delivered the first State of the Union Address?  George Washington  John Adams  Thomas Jefferson  James Madison  Franco Harris

January 20, 2004
Communications Director Dan Bartlett discussed this year's State of the Union.

January 19, 2004
Author/Historian Richard Norton Smith discussed the history of the State of the Union address.

[primeval patriot]

The police couldn't arrest them for loitering? That is pretty scary.

I don't know what's scarier, their flagrant disregard for the law or the ridiculous assertion they're hiding in the shadows.

[dennisw]

No I don't know that in fact all of the real evidence says otherwise. What is flouted is the myth about this program. The H1B program is not important enough for a business to endanger itself by breaking federal law over. It goes against all common sense to pay more for one class of worker just to keep a citizen from filling the job. If you think these H1B folks are stupid and don't know what they are entitled to under the law and that they will hesitate to go to the Feds if they feel they are being screwed then you don't know much about them. The is no incentive for companies to hire H1B applicants when the job can be done with either a regular hire citizen or a contractor who is also a citizen unless there is no other way.

Get real. If this were so American tech workers would not be loudly complaining about the HB1 program. They would all be hired ahead of HB1 workers

In fact many American techies are out of work precisely because there are HB1s flooding the job market, stealing their jobs by undercutting them on price. Willing to work cheaper.

[freedumb2003]

This problem could very well be likely as easily solved by just giving legal alien status to those illegals and their families who can already show that they active employment and have no criminal history

There is one thing that will fix this -- make the guest workers apply for it IN THEIR HOME COUNTRY!! Make the applications available from US Embassies abroad.

[Miss Marple]

Thanks to all who posted kind words about my daughter, of whom I am so proud.

She was a cleft palate who required 3 surgeries to correct, made it through 4 years of speech therapy, and graduated cum laude from her art college. She is a talented painter, a committed Christian, donates to keep an overseas child fed, and is engaged to a really wonderful young guy who is also a Christian and a painter.

I often think about how partial birth abortions are done because of cleft palate, and it makes me sick.

For those who are fearful of this birth defect, plastic surgeons have perfected this repair surgery and do a great job in making these children look great. My daughter is beautiful, and turns heads when she appears. She is getting married next month, and I am grateful to God that she will be walking down the aisle on her father's arm.

God only sends us burdens we can bear, and this burden we were given 25 years ago has become the greatest blessing my husband and I could have been given.

[freedumb2003]

Prayers for your daughter and strength for your family in supporting her.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I was born with cerebal palsy from the waist down, lost my hearing at age 6, and when I was little, I always thought to myself that I was too much of a financial burden on my folks. Later in life as I got a bit older and wiser, I realized, that I was the best gift my parents ever got. :-)

[ArneFufkin]

Well, I said "shadow" :^). But, it wasn't the engineering of a "movable type" press that was the elegant invention, it was the seizure of the dissemination of public information away from the despotic control of Kings, Popes and other authority figures that made the printing press one the most influential human inventions of all time. The concept, not the vehicle.

[clamper1797]

Maybe you better check your "facts" ...

http://www.h1b.info/about.php About the H-1B Visa
by JJ Kuhl (May 2003 revision)

In March 2003, the American Engineering Association reported that the U.S. high-tech sector lost 560,000 jobs--a 10 percent decline--between January 2001 and December 2002. During the same period, companies sponsored more than this number of high-tech workers on H-1B and other temporary visas.

The Immigration Act of 1990 established an annual quota of 65,000 H-1B visas. The stated purpose was to bring "the best and the brightest" to American shores. This number of available visas became a fixed requirement under the World Trade Agreement.

During the late 1990s, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), whose members include the major US technology companies and the India outsourcing companies, lobbied both Congressional Democrats and Republicans with high campaign contributions to raise the H-1B cap to 195,000 workers annually. They succeeded once in 1998 to raise the cap temporarily to 115,000, but that wasn't enough for ITAA. They lobbied again in 2000 and the following is what happened.

On Tuesday, October 3, 2000, at 3:45 PM, a House of Representatives clerk announced the Senate passage of S. 2045. An act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to H-1B nonimmigrant aliens (ironically named the "American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000"). Immediately following, the Speaker pro tempore announced that she would postpone further proceedings on the remaining motions and that any record votes on postponed questions would be taken on October 4th.

On the evening of October 3rd, a presidential debate between Bush and Gore was occurring and the majority of Representatives, as well as the press, were preparing for the debate. As it had been announced that no further votes would be taken, most Representatives left.

But at around 5:30 PM an email was sent announcing that an H-1B debate would begin shortly. Major supporters of the increased H-1B cap came to the House for the vote. Only approximately 40 out of the 435 members were present.

A bit prior to 6:30 PM, Cannon (R-UT) made a motion to suspend the rules and pass Senate bill S2045 (which had been passed that morning) instead of voting on the House bills, one of which (introduced by Smith (R-TX)) included worker protections and had properly gone through the Judiciary committee-however, it was known that the tech companies opposed those worker protections.

There were only two copies of the Senate bill in the House that night, in non-compliance with House Rules. Mr. Cannon had one, the Speaker had the other, although it is interesting to note that the Speaker's copy of S. 2045 that the House clerk read into the congressional record (which is the only knowledge of the bill for the other Representatives there that night) was not the bill that was ultimately enacted. The numbers entered into the record (on page H8699 under "Sec. 2. Temporary Increase in Visa Allotments") were (1) 80,000 for fiscal year 2000; (2) 87,500 for fiscal year 2001; and (3) 130,000 for fiscal year 2002.

The Speaker allotted control of 20 minutes each to Cannon and Conyers (D-MI), leaving little opportunity for debate. Rorabacher (R-CA) stated, "This legislation is nothing more than a betrayal of American working people." Owens (D-NY) said, "What we are doing here is steamrolling through a cap. We will have a cap which amounts to almost 600,000 people over a 3-year period."

Smith (R-TX) was vocal in the issues he had with the Senate bill and his upset with it being railroaded through the House that night by Cannon, Conyers and Lofgren (D-CA). In the record, Smith detailed the polls of the American public that were overwhelmingly against raising the labor importation cap. In addition, he noted, "The goals of preventing abuse of the program and providing efficient services to employers and workers are not being achieved. Evidence suggests that program noncompliance or abuse by employers may be more prevalent than under other laws."

Using various procedural moves, the GOP leaders ended the debate quickly and called for a voice vote, even though the House was nearly empty. Needless to say, the H-1B increase was passed with no vote record, and only Cox News Service reported on it.

Since the day this passed, the new annual maximum of 195,000 H-1B visas have been issued in spite of the economic downturn, and the majority of these H-1B visas were used in Information Technology professions.

The official cap is not the actual number of H-1Bs admitted to the US each year as some are exempt from the cap. As a result, during 2002 there were a total of 312,000 new H-1B visas issued, in spite of record unemployment. (The cap of 195,000 is set to expire in October 2003 and return to the 65,000 annual cap as established in the Immigration Act of 1990. ITAA has been lobbying to maintain the high cap permanently.)

The result of this labor glut is that US citizen IT workers aren't even obtaining job interviews. This is especially true for older, more experienced American IT workers. US students graduating with engineering degrees are also being shut out of the job market.

These workers, often rejected on the employer claim of "over-qualification," have state-of-the-art skills far in excess of the majority of their H-1B replacements, many of whom have little or no experience. (IT education is a recent phenomena in India, as it began about ten years ago in a Catholic school in Bangalore. INA ACT 203 [8 U.S.C. 1182] (the result of the 10/3/00 legislation) contains subsection B2 --Aliens who are members of the professions holding advanced degrees or aliens of exceptional ability. The vast majority of H-1B visa holders do not have advanced degrees and have limited skills, yet obtain their visas through this category.)

In many cases, American workers have been forced to train their H-1B replacements in order to obtain severance packages when they are laid off.

Since the H-1B cap was raised in 2000, 9 out of 10 new jobs in IT have been awarded to H-1Bs. By the end of December 2001 more than 890,000 H-1B workers were employed in the United States. Add to this the 312,000 from 2002 and you have a total of 1,202,000 H-1Bs replacing US citizens and green card holders by year end 2002.

Special interests have imported more than 17 million non-citizens to glut the labor market between the years 1985-2002.

In addition, there has been a recognized bias among H-1B (and L-1) hiring managers to hire only those of the same sex, age and ethnic origin as themselves, in direct non-compliance with US labor laws. Few of these activities have been reported.

As bad as this is, companies are also using L-1 visas to go beyond the H-1B cap. L-1s are intra-company transfers used to transfer aliens to work for a US firm or subsidiary of a company which already employs them outside of the US. There are over 325,000 L-1 visa holders in the US and that number is growing rapidly, as there is no cap on L-1s.

As an example of this practice, Microsoft in November 2002 announced plans to build a half-billion dollar complex in Hyderabad, India. With this new development center, Microsoft can use L-1 visas to displace further US citizen employees and will not be subject to H-1B caps. Other major companies in the US are doing the same. This is why reform is needed across all US visa types and not just for H-1B visas alone. It was through the use of these "special" visas that all of the September 11th terrorists secured admittance to the United States. There is virtually no security or monitoring of these special visa holders.

Further compounding the already gloomy economic condition, recent research from Forrester Research indicates that the percentage of offshore outsourcing for US IT budgets took a leap from 12 percent in 2000 to 28 percent in 2003. META Group, Inc. predicted that offshore outsourcing overall would grow more than 20 percent annually.

Special visas and offshore outsourcing go hand-in-hand, as many companies import H-1B and L1 workers, force US citizens to train them, then offshore the work and lay off their US staff. Also, offshore development contracts usually have a US presence of H-1Bs and L1s to perform "face-time" with their US clients and to lobby for further offshore work. This tactic has been highly successful for the major Indian offshore outsourcing companies like Infosys, Cognizant, MphasIS, Wipro, Tata (all members of ITAA) and other companies who have gotten into this profitable game.

Like I said .. you don't know what your talking about

[joanie-f]

Upon the suggestion of a FReeper friend, checked into this thread before calling it a day. I now assume he has a bit of the sadist within him.

Haven’t read most of the responses on this thread, but, if the first couple hundred are any indication, this is a love fest of which I want no part. Too many people fall in line behind the Republican banner, or the ‘conservative’ label, simply because of what both used to represent. This president is no conservative.

Although I admire almost all of what this administration has done in Iraq – originally questioned the priority of going in there, but believe that what has been (and what will yet be) accomplished there is monumentally good – the rest of this President’s (especially domestic) leadership is deplorable.

The most recent announcement of his amnesty program represented, to my mind, one of the last-stage nails in the ever-more-sealed coffin of this republic.

I did not hear the address tonight. Perhaps that makes me less than qualified to respond to what was said. If so, forgive my presumptuousness. But I did read a good deal this afternoon about what it was to contain. So nice to hear about all of his new initiatives. I heard reports all day about the many kinder, gentler spending programs that will be proposed (no doubt with no method with which to fund them). The two programs that caught my ear were a jobs retraining program so that our people can be prepared for jobs of the twenty-first century, and new healthcare initiatives (didn’t hear the details of those .... and don’t want to. The prescription drug bill set the precedent. I will assume this new stuff is just more of the same.)

I’d like to ask our President exactly what public education is for if it isn’t in large part to recognize abilities in our children, and teach them the skills that will enable them to seek meaningful employment after their education is complete. If our public schools, and institutions of higher education, aren’t preparing our children for jobs of the twenty-first century then what exactly are our public school tax dollars, and college tuitions, being used for? And why on earth do we need a new socialist federal bureaucracy to do what they were intended to do? Why not then abolish the Department of Education?

And if one would argue that it is the older employees who are losing their jobs and need retraining for jobs of the twenty-first century I would suggest that the older employees who need this retraining are most likely employees who have been working in America’s dying manufacturing sector, which is finding itself daily moved overseas. So are we going to be retraining our steelworkers, machinists, tool and dye makers, model makers, construction workers, engineers, designers and the like to do information collecting and paper pushing? Such ‘retraining’ is an admission that we are no longer an industrialized society, but have become a nation of information collecting, service oriented, paper shuffling people who will have to depend on the rest of the world (most of whom despise us) for the nuts and bolts that it takes to run a country, and to remain free and secure. The need for this kind of ‘retraining’ is not a positive. It is a terrible omen.

As for healthcare, the idea that all citizens deserve healthcare or the provision of drugs, no matter their willingness to work or save in order to afford them, is socialism at its worst. Conservative leadership and socialist programs cannot co-exist. Conclusion: this president is no conservative.

The slide into socialism is fiscally expensive. Each new entitlement program or bureaucratic department that is implemented requires boatloads of money. But no worries. The burgeoning deficit is no problem. We’ll just fire up the printing presses (actually, do we ever shut them down anymore? I seem to hear them humming 24/7.)

For those who are gaining some comfort from the occasional figures which are touted as signs of an economic recovery I say keep your ear to the ground. The consumer cannot continue to fuel this recovery with ever mounting personal debt (taken a good look at record personal debt and bankruptcy figures lately?). Taken a good look at the balance of trade lately? Taken a good look at how many American jobs have moved to China, India, Canada, the Philippines, Ireland, Israel …. ? Taken a good look at the amount of foreign investment in US paper? Ever considered what the effect on the American economy will be if just a fraction of those foreigners decide to pull their money out of US treasuries?

Speaking of which: announced last Thursday, with no fanfare at all (but sure got my undivided attention): the US Treasury will call for redemption on May 15, 2004 treasury bonds originally issued in 1979 (at 9.12% interest) which were supposed to mature in May of 2009. Most of these bonds are held by private investors who had assumed that they were interest-secure for thirty years. These bonds are being called early to reduce the cost of federal debt financing. Bonds not turned in by their owners by May 15, 2004 will completely stop earning interest.

We’re living on borrowed money because of the ever-burgeoning obscene federal deficit. And this President shows no genuine interest in halting the vicious, deadly economic cycle. As far as I know, treasury bonds have never been called before. Forget the fact that the original private purchasers of these bonds are having their interest income cut short by five years. Of even more significance is the fact that if the foreigners who are kindly digging our credit hole deeper find out that they can't trust US interest rates either …. (I won’t even finish that thought. It would be an economic nightmare possibly unlike any we have ever experienced – the great depression not excluded.)

So, submit your bonds for mandatory redemption five years early because your government has gone on a fifty-year spending spree and can no longer afford to pay the promised interest. What to do with your money then? Beats me. The powers that be in American monetary policymaking have things so screwed up (thank you Mr. Greenspan and associates) that one never knows whether to fear inflation or deflation, or whether the dollar will have any value at all against foreign currencies a year from now. There are no longer any such things as free markets, natural economic laws, or tangible-backed currencies.

At least where economics are concerned, it kinda makes the term national security seem like a nostalgic pipe dream.

Where have the real conservatives gone? Those who call themselves conservatives have sold their birthright to the highest bidder, and thrown their country to the wolves.

~ joanie

[Afronaut]

The actions of the Republican party will put a RAT in the WH. Get that straight.

I have been through this with Jim here before and with the Arnold vote. If you are satisfied with Bush then please Vote for him.

I just ask you to look very carefully at what he is proposing. See if it is as big of a crisis as I am trying to get across to many people here. Bush lost my vote. I have a list, but to kiss the ring of Fox was the last straw.

It's my vote, not the Republicans.

[freedumb2003]

>>I often think about how partial birth abortions are done because of cleft palate, and it makes me sick.<<

I never heard that -- that is just sick. The Left makes up in vanity what they lack in morality!

(I just saw your last message -- I'm late to the thread tonight -- still praying until she is 100%)

[Ophiucus]

Your list omitted Reagan - Army (Cavalry) then transferred to the Army Air Corps.

I believe that not serving in the military detracts from your citizenship qualilfication.

Unfortunate statement. Serving should augment the sense of honor and duty towards this nation and being a citizen but it should not give license to denigrate those who do not.

While recommended, it could be impractical. How large would our military be if all citizens were enrolled at point in their life? What would happen to the quality of personnel with the resulting high turnover rates of some kind of manditory service? What would happen to the worth of service if compulsory to make all better citizens.

[gcruse]

This said it well, I thought.   Jacked Up!

[Victoria Delsoul]

"Not an Amnesty" Amnesty for Illegals -- F

LOL! That's what I say sometimes when I read some of the amnesty articles… WTF!

GW said emphatically tonight…. read my lips (OK, my post)… No Amnesty.

[ican'tbelieveit]

The selfishness of some people never ceases to amaze me. And I have to assume that it is the left that support PBA for a "cleft palate" or other issues since they push the right to have them so vehemently.

I think of my son having psoriasis. Every day is a battle with keeping his skin healthy. But I would never, ever dream of not having him in my life every single day. And some day (when he is old enough), he is going to make some lucky young woman a very good husband (I am training him, hehe).

[MEG33]

I am so glad she had parents like you.I have been through a similar scary bout of dehydration ,etc.with my adult daughter.It really frightened me.She was hospitalized,too.I'll pray all goes well for your daughter.

[A Citizen Reporter]

"The concept, not the vehicle."

Sure, I think we are saying the same thing. I'd agree with that, but I'm not willing to say that Drudge was the concept....I guess.....

[BigSkyFreeper]

It's the 2nd time Bush has said NO to Amnesty. First he said he opposed it outright, then tonight he said "NO Amnesty".

[tpaine]

Well said.

[CyberAnt]

Well .. get used to it .. they did the same thing in 2000.

One secret is to just ignore them .. let them have their little rant and DON'T RESPOND. It really gets their goat!! It actually gets to be fun. Remember .. they're not saying these things because they believe them .. they're saying these things TO WATCH YOU EXPLODE. It's a game. The only way to win is not to play!