Dawn Xiana Moon: Melodic folk pop infused with passion and honesty. From Chicago.

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Monday, February 06, 2006

Commentary on the State of the Union, Part II

This is the second part of my thoughts on the State of the Union address--Bush's statements are in italics. Part I is here.

With so much in the balance, those of us in public office have a duty to speak with candor.

This is coming from Bush? He’s notorious for withholding information and inaccurate implications. While I don’t think he technically lies that often, he has a tendency to see things his way so strongly that no other alternatives are allowed.

And, as we honor our brave troops, let us never forget the sacrifices of America's military families.

Agreed. Even those who have see problems with the war should not forget the soldiers.

I ask you to reauthorize the Patriot Act…. I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected Al Qaida operatives and affiliates to and from America.

These measures set dangerous precedents. Say we trust Bush. Once he’s out of office, will we trust the next president not to misuse that power? What prevents operatives from spying on normal Americans? The administration is under fire right now because they were spying on Americans without getting court approval.

The only alternative to American leadership is a dramatically more dangerous and anxious world.

We are not the saviors of the world. While I do think we should take some responsibility for the world around us, it’s arrogance to presume that we are the salvation of the planet.

Because America needs more than a temporary expansion, we need more than temporary tax relief. I urge the Congress to act responsibly and make the tax cuts permanent.

But on the other hand, we're paying interest on an increasing national debt. And Bush’s new budget proposal increases funding to the military (outside of what we’re spending on Iraq and Afghanistan) for things like the National Missile Defense Program, which would not have stopped 9/11 (while cutting funding to many other, debatably more important areas). Military spending during the year of his election was higher than it was at the height of the Cold War, even adjusting for inflation. Is this a responsible use of our resources?

So tonight I ask you to join me in creating a commission to examine the full impact of baby boom retirements on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This commission should include members of Congress of both parties and offer bipartisan solutions. We need to put aside partisan politics and work together and get this problem solved.

This actually seems reasonable. Can you imagine what we could get done if the two parties would work together?

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