2008 Woodie Awards
State of Bush's America continues to be strong
AJ Atchue, Opinion Editor
Issue date: 2/8/06 Section: Commentary
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Five years into his tenure as president, it's hard to argue that President Bush has ever faced a rougher period of news and criticism than the past year. Progress in stabilizing Iraq has certainly moved slower than expected, Bush failed to win support in Congress for his proposed overhaul of Social Security, and he was roundly blasted for his response to victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
With his poll numbers hovering in the 40s, the lowest levels of his presidency, Bush gave a State of the Union address on Jan. 31 that was largely muted and aimed at middle of the road Americans. Far from his bold "axis of evil" speech in 2002, or laying out the case for war against Iraq in 2003, or even his passionate call for privatizing Social Security last year, this speech was uncharacteristically modest.
Last year, Bush faced the facts when calling for private retirement accounts to be set up. The current Social Security system will face a deficit in the coming years, especially as baby boomers retire, and that's not just going to change on its own. Unfortunately, Democrats and much of America decided to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the issue. After all, we can't offend the powerful elderly constituency by daring to touch Social Security.
As a result, this year Bush only proposed the creation of a commission to examine the full impact of baby boom retirements on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. As he said, by 2030, paying for those three entitlement programs will consume 60% of the entire federal budget by themselves. Something needs to change before then, but I won't be holding my breath.
Noticeably absent from the speech was any mention of Katrina and the devastation that it left. One might point out that Bush wouldn't want to revisit what turned out to be a political sore spot for him. However, that was also largely invented by his critics. The federal response could have been faster, but it certainly wasn't Bush's fault that Louisiana officials were as slow as they were in dealing with a crisis in their own state.
With his poll numbers hovering in the 40s, the lowest levels of his presidency, Bush gave a State of the Union address on Jan. 31 that was largely muted and aimed at middle of the road Americans. Far from his bold "axis of evil" speech in 2002, or laying out the case for war against Iraq in 2003, or even his passionate call for privatizing Social Security last year, this speech was uncharacteristically modest.
Last year, Bush faced the facts when calling for private retirement accounts to be set up. The current Social Security system will face a deficit in the coming years, especially as baby boomers retire, and that's not just going to change on its own. Unfortunately, Democrats and much of America decided to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the issue. After all, we can't offend the powerful elderly constituency by daring to touch Social Security.
As a result, this year Bush only proposed the creation of a commission to examine the full impact of baby boom retirements on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. As he said, by 2030, paying for those three entitlement programs will consume 60% of the entire federal budget by themselves. Something needs to change before then, but I won't be holding my breath.
Noticeably absent from the speech was any mention of Katrina and the devastation that it left. One might point out that Bush wouldn't want to revisit what turned out to be a political sore spot for him. However, that was also largely invented by his critics. The federal response could have been faster, but it certainly wasn't Bush's fault that Louisiana officials were as slow as they were in dealing with a crisis in their own state.
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