- forming a commission to assess baby-boomer impact on social security, medicaid and medicare.
- medical liability reform
- "move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make dependence on middle eastern oil a thing of the past"
- increasing funds for science and technology. research and development tax credit.
it seems like this is the first time he's acted like a compassionate conservative. i think the country could really use more.
10 comments:
But he is a hypocrite! The worst thing we could do to make the Socail Security burden great is to have massive deficits now, since this piles on the debt. In arguing for tax reduction he is deepening the hole that we find ourselves in. Social Security debt is no different from Treasury debt. Both assume that today's young adults will be delighted to pay for our cruise vacations and for the perscription drugs that were taken ten and twenty years before. Fat chance.
Hydrogen fuel? This is the president that mocks conservation and the ethic of living lightly on the earth.
nice. now can you take those big words and make them into a coherent argument? that would be nice. tantrums make it difficult for the rest of us.
kp,
you show good wisdom and mercy and charity - which i think we need as followers of Jesus when it comes to politics.
i am not a rep or a dem but a christian. i have my issues with bush as i did with clinton - different issues but issues none the less.
but i think if bush moves forward with these things good can come from a presidency that has done much harm.
i thought some of the same things as i watched, and i also thought the same things Art is saying... that i will hope he is being honest.
Same here, largely Bush said what I wanted to hear from him. I just hope he means it.
Re: energy, in particular, I think that given our current situation, we need to aim higher than the president indicated in his speech. I don't want to cut our dependence on Middle Eastern oil by 75% by 2025 (or whatever); I want to cease our oil economy by 2010. That may be unrealistic, but it would at least indicate that the president actually realizes the need for urgency.
Sarcasm alert: I *love* the idea of creating a *commission* to *study* the effects of the Baby Boomers on Social Security et al. As if we don't know it'll break us. As if we didn't know that aborting 40 million workers born in my generation and those since then is creating the shortfall to begin with. (deep breath)
Anyway, I find "The Fourth Turning" by Strauss and Howe plausibly describes how the president's stated domestic agenda may turn out: GenX-ers tacitly giving up our social security benefits to pay for Baby Boomers' retirements and the millennial generation's 'competitiveness initiative'. More thoughts on my blog, eventually.
It could just be me, but everything he spoke on seemed to be the same tired rhetoric he's used for past speeches. And don't get me wrong here. Were he to actually do something about these points which you've cited, things might be different. For example, the point on the "petroleum based economy." He mentioned something about this in every SOTU speech he's made, but with little progress on the matter. And i fear the talk on Social Security is just another primer on his wanting to demolish it.
I guess I feel like I've heard him mention these things before, and it seems just seems I'm hearing the same cold tired rhetoric.
granted, bush did speak of going to mars a couple years back. but still, all of you have to admit, using the words "addicted to oil" is something we never would have expected from him.
look, i'm not the biggest fan of bush, by any means. but, i also realize that he is a human being just like me, and that it's very possible that 2005, which was a hellish year for him, has actually forced him to consider his actions and now he is trying to do something positive.
the whole spiel he gave about improving technology education and trying to create better forms of energy...that might seem like empty rhetoric, but the fact is that this is one of the few ways that the U.S. is going to stay on top economically as other countries, most especially asian countries, start to raise up generations that are superior to ours in mathematics and science. also, this is another way of addressing the whole problem with out-sourcing; you can't outsource technological innovation and creativity to another country.
his speech last night was remarkably different from other SOTU addresses. granted, he said his bit about 9/11, terrorism, etc. but he also said a lot of things that are true. Social security IS a broken system, regardless of what you think. it was invented for a time, and it is not a system that has enough flexibility to grow with the populuation. and since it takes commissions and studies to actually convince people of things that are obvious, i think Bush calling a commission to study baby boomer impact on SS is a good thing! and all his talk on the need for new energy technology - that's a good thing!
presidents aren't judged or remembered by SOTU addresses; they're judged by what they do. and bush is in the phase of his presidency where's he's starting to think about what history will tell of him. i can only think that he's now realizing he wants to do something positive, because of the previous fiascos he's created. so, maybe you all should consider the possibility that he's wising up. it's possible, isn't it? the only reason you might not think it's possible is because you've internally limited him to the possibilities of your preconceptions. don't be a victim of this type of thinking. bush is a human, just like you, and he has the capacity to second guess himself.
if he really is trying to do something positive, and i'm the dude out in the street saying "no, no, he can't change, he'll always be the same", then what does that say of me? for those of us who profess to follow Christ, our capacity to be charitable to other human beings should be a thing of practice, not just our own empty rhetoric. and this is one place we all can start. when you become so jaded such that you lose hope in the goodness of people, then you lose the hope of Christ.
Make no mistake, I'm not attacking you or anything. I think it good that you've found something worth holding to in the speech. All I'm saying is that we've seen Bush say one thing and do the opposite for 5 years now. Personally, I find no reason to think he's about to change course. Once he actually does something he says that he's going to do, I'll take a closer look.
Regarding Social Security, he has mentioned this in previous SOTU addresses. Before Bush took office, Social Security was set for the next 70 years. Unfortunately, due to tax cuts and war payments they've borrowed money out of the SS chest with no intention of paying it back. Now they're just simply using the rhetoric that "There's no money left, we need to do something." Effectively, I feel like they're trying to stalemate the system in order to reverse FDR's New Deal.
Regarding your last statement, "when you become so jaded such that you lose hope in the goodness of people, then you lose the hope of Christ." I don't think I agree. The only hope I've lost in the goodness of people is the result of our wantoness to sin. But lost hope in humanity only stengthen's my hope in Christ.
No ill thought here toward you man. Appreciate the post and your thoughts on it. :)
He says he is gong to assess the baby-boomer impact, but since he's rich, he doesn't have to worry about living by any of the things he decides about it. His old age and that of his children and his other rich friends and their children are all taken care of already.
Making dependence on middle eastern oil a thing of the past as we plunder our nation and the environment around our nation in any way he chooses.
Increasing funds for the science and technology of only the things he chooses-which doesn't include stem cells, any kind of biology that isn't in accordance to religion.
KP, let me say that along with James' statements, while I may be hopeful that you are right about Bush's change of heart, I am not very confident of it. Clinton's final days in office consisted of pardoning a ton of criminals; what damage can Bush's best intentions do?
Saying that America is addicted to foreign crude oil is stating the obvious. Saying that America is addicted to spilling enemy blood is telling the hard truth. It's this truth that requires a change and a repentance on behalf of American foreign policy, American government, and possibly even American people in general.
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