State of Union speech to lay out modest goals
Published 10:33 pm Sunday, January 27, 2008
WASHINGTON — Beginning his final year in office with low approval ratings, a Democratic Congress and a nation fixated on choosing his successor, President Bush is preparing a State of the Union speech today that will accentuate unfinished business and lay out modest goals.
In his radio address Saturday, Bush said he would use his speech to urge congressional action to stimulate the economy and to authorize a warrantless wiretapping program that provides legal immunity for phone companies that cooperated with administration surveillance efforts before laws were changed.
Bush’s speech will be “focused on the future,” rather than providing a review of the president’s first seven years in office, White House press secretary Dana Perino said, and would “reflect the president’s mind set that he is going to sprint to the finish.”
But the central policy measures Bush plans to highlight, according to senior aides, are issues that have run into major objections: Extending the eavesdropping legislation, perpetuating the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, and renewing the 2002 overhaul of education programs encompassed in the No Child Left Behind law, among others.
But policy advocates across Washington — particularly longtime allies uncertain about the reception they might receive from the next president — have been busy seeking to gain a presidential nod, in a phrase or sentence, for their projects and goals.
The National Association of Manufacturers, for example, would like Bush to call for reducing corporate tax rates and a seek greater federal funding for bridges, roads and railroads, said spokesman Hank Cox.
Cal Dooley, the president and CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said his trade group wanted to see Bush call for greater funding for the Food and Drug Administration, to increase inspection of imported food products.
White House officials acknowledged that the initiatives Bush would present as his new goals for 2008 would be relatively small policy proposals, some of which he could implement by executive order and avoid a tangle with Congress.
What aides called the president’s “realistic” agenda will feature no new calls for past administration initiatives, such as overhauling immigration laws or Social Security. Likewise, Bush is not expected to detail plans for operations in Iraq once the ongoing troop surge ends as planned in July. A senior administration official involved in Iraq policy said the president was wary of pre-empting a scheduled report in March by Army Gen. David Petraeus, the Iraq commander, and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad.
A president presenting the address in the lame-duck eighth year faces special challenges. With few exceptions, “such speeches don’t count for much,” said Leo Ribuffo, a George Washington University professor of American history. This one, he added referring the president’s final year, “counts least of all.”
State of the Union
President Bush will deliver his final State of the Union address from 6 to about 7:30 p.m. today. For live coverage, check major broadcast and cable news channels.
