Bush SOTU Address Success
I think Bush did a great job in State of the Union address. He has laid the groundwork for months of work at the Capitol and for the 2006 campaign. As I said in my earlier post, if the 2006 electorate is concerned about Hamas, Iran, Iraq, Al Queda or any other foreign policy menace, we win. There is no doubt that foreign policy will be a top issue for voters. Bush will be great at leading the GOP to victory.
posted by ssc | 1/31/2006 09:56:00 PM
I agree. Generally a good speech. I would have liked to have seen him be more strong on the Congressional lobbying scandal, but at the same time I was honestly surprised he went as far as he did.
I don't think he went far enough on energy independence. I'm almost always against increased government spending, prefering real cuts to 'cuts in the rate of growth', but I see our energy needs as one of the top few national security issues. I'd like to have seen him proposed a "Manhattan Project" sized program to solve this problem. Americans have shown what they can do when put to the task, and this is a task worth undertaking.
On a lighter note, I'm always dismayed by how few members of Congress know how to clap. I suspect there's not a lot of rhythm there.
I'm not so sure about a "Manhatten" project for energy. With the A Bomb, we knew that it was possible... we just needed to build enough machines to enrich enough Uranium. Have we even gotten to that point with Fuel cells?
Anyways, what would be do with all the oil if we stopped using it. It would just sit in the ground bubbling away.
I don't have any interest in stopping our use of oil. We'd still need it for many many things. I would, however, be very interested in dramatically cutting the amount that we use for the sole purpose of stopping the flow into many of those countries who wish to harm us. I think Dick Morris said it well last night prior to the President's speech - "This might be the first war in history where one side is funding the whole thing".
Sure, there will still be demand for oil, but I'd like to get to the point where the middle east's primary industry is supplying raw materials for glass.
I could not agree with you more, which is why I'm an advocate of the government getting involved in this. Private industry won't do it until the economics work.
If you'll note, I didn't say anything about our reserves, although I do think we ought to do more drilling here. My interest is in becoming independent of the middle eastern countries, not doing it to save the world. National Security and sound (short/middle term) economic policies don't often go hand in hand.
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