I missed the Bush speach last night...?

Question

Can anyone give me a brief summary of what was said. Thanks in advance.

Don't really comprehend political speeches well for some reason. Thanks to all of you who answered nicely.

Sorry, meant to spell speech. knew it looked funny

Answer 1

--congratulations, democrats, for winning the majority
--let's work together
--let's balance the federal budget
--let's reduce earmarks
--lets save social security, and fix medicare/medicaid
--let's reauthorize the "no child left behind act"
--let's have a standard tax deduction for health insurance
--let's use existing federal money, to create a grant program that gives govenors "money (& flexibility)" to get private health insurance to those in need
--let's expand health savings accounts
--let's help small businesses through association health plans
--let's enourage health transparency
--let's pass medical liability reform
--let's pass comprehensive immigration reform...enforce immigration laws at the work site, etc.
--let's continue to diversify america's energy supply
--let's set a mandatory fuel standard
--let's reform and modernize fuel economy standards for cars
--let's step up domestic oil production
--let's establish a special advisory council on the war
--let's support our troops in the field — and those (24,000) on their way...
--let's increase in the size of our active army and marine corps by 92,000 in the next five years
--let's design and establish a volunteer 'civilian reserve corps'
--let's continue funding our efforts to fight HIV/AIDS
--let's provide $1.2 billion over five years so we can combat malaria in 15 african countries
--let's fund the 'millennium challenge account'
--let's continue to support the expanded trade and debt relief





"...we enter the year 2007 with large endeavors underway, and others that are ours to begin....
"...we must have the will to face difficult challenges and determined enemies — and the wisdom to face them together....

"...some in this chamber are new to the house and senate — and i congratulate the democratic majority. congress has changed, but our responsibilities have not. each of us is guided by our own convictions — and to these we must stay faithful. yet we are all held to the same standards, and called to serve the same good purposes: to extend this nation's prosperity ... to spend the people's money wisely ... to solve problems, not leave them to future generations ... to guard america against all evil, and to keep faith with those we have sent forth to defend us....


"...our citizens don't much care which side of the aisle we sit on — as long as we are willing to cross that aisle when there is work to be done. our job is to make life better for our fellow americans, and help them to build a future of hope and opportunity — and this is the business before us tonight....


"...[a] growing economy ...is what we have...
"...three economic reforms that deserve to be priorities for this congress:
1) we must balance the federal budget....without raising taxes. what we need to do is impose spending discipline in washington, d.c...
2) "...earmarks...these special interest items are often slipped into bills at the last hour....in 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to over 13,000 and totaled nearly $18 billion....let us work together to reform the budget process ... expose every earmark to the light of day and to a vote in congress and cut the number and cost of earmarks at least in half by the end of this session....
3) "...entitlements...with enough good sense and good will, you and m can fix Medicare and medicaid — and save social security....


"...the 'no child left behind act' has worked for america's children — and i ask congress to reauthorize this good law....


"...i propose two new initiatives to help more americans afford their own insurance...
1) "...a standard tax deduction for health insurance that will be like the standard tax deduction for dependents....
2) "...help the states that are coming up with innovative ways to cover the uninsured...take existing federal funds and use them to create 'affordable choices' grants....giv[ing] our nation's governors more money and more flexibility to get private health insurance to those most in need....


"...other ways that Congress can help...
--expand Health Savings Accounts ...
--help small businesses through association health plans ... --reduce costs and medical errors with better information technology ...
--encourage price transparency ...
--and, protect good doctors from junk lawsuits by passing medical liability reform...


"...comprehensive immigration reform...
"...we should establish a legal and orderly path for foreign workers to enter our country to work on a temporary basis...
"... enforce our immigration laws at the worksite, and give employers the tools to verify the legal status of their workers...
"... resolve the status of the illegal immigrants who are already in our country — without animosity and without amnesty...



"...diversify America's energy supply...
chang[e] the way America generates electric power...
--clean coal technology ...
--solar and wind energy ...
--clean, safe nuclear power...
--battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles,
--clean diesel vehicles...
--biodiesel fuel...we must continue investing in new methods of producing ethanol...

"...we need to...
--[set] a mandatory 'fuels standard' to require 35 billion gallons of renewable and alternative fuels in 2017...
--reform and modernize fuel economy standards for cars the way we did for light trucks...
--step up domestic oil production...

"...i ask congress to double the current capacity of the 'strategic petroleum reserve'....



"...to win the war on terror we must take the fight to the enemy....
"...our success in this war is often measured by the things that did not happen....
"...the evil that inspired and rejoiced in 9/11 is still at work in the world. and so long as that is the case, america is still a nation at war....
"...it remains the policy of this government to use every lawful and proper tool of intelligence, diplomacy, law enforcement, and military action to do our duty, to find these enemies, and to protect the american people...
"...the great question of our day is whether america will help men and women in the middle east to build free societies and share in the rights of all humanity. and i say, for the sake of our own security ... we must....
"...this is not the fight we entered in iraq, but it is the fight we are in. every one of us wishes that this war were over and won. yet it would not be like us to leave our promises unkept, our friends abandoned, and our own security at risk....
"...our goal is a democratic iraq that upholds the rule of law, respects the rights of its people, provides them security, and is an ally in the war on terror....

"...the iraqi government must stop the sectarian violence in its capital. but the iraqis are not yet ready to do this on their own...we are deploying reinforcements of more than 20,000 additional soldiers and marines to iraq...
"...in anbar province — where al-qaida terrorists have gathered and local forces have begun showing a willingness to fight them — we are sending an additional 4,000 united states marines, with orders to find the terrorists and clear them out....

"...we did not drive al-qaida out of their safe haven in afghanistan only to let them set up a new safe haven in a free iraq...



"...if american forces step back before baghdad is secure, the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists on all sides. we could expect an epic battle between shia extremists backed by Iran, and sunni extremists aided by al-qaida and supporters of the old regime. a contagion of violence could spill out across the country — and in time the entire region could be drawn into the conflict....

"...for america, this is a nightmare scenario. for the enemy, this is the objective. chaos is their greatest ally in this struggle. and out of chaos in iraq, would emerge an emboldened enemy with new safe havens ... new recruits ... new resources ... and an even greater determination to harm america.
to allow this to happen would be to ignore the lessons of september 11th and invite tragedy. and ladies and gentlemen, nothing is more important at this moment in our history than for america to succeed in the middle east ... to succeed in iraq ... and to spare the american people from this danger....


"...i have spoken with many of you in person. i respect you and the arguments you have made. we went into this largely united — in our assumptions, and in our convictions. and whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure.
our country is pursuing a new strategy in iraq — and i ask you to give it a chance to work. and i ask you to support our troops in the field — and those on their way...



"...i propose to establish a special advisory council on the war on terror, made up of leaders in congress from both political parties. we will share ideas for how to position america to meet every challenge that confronts us. and we will show our enemies abroad that we are united in the goal of victory....

"...i ask the congress to authorize an increase in the size of our active army and marine corps by 92,000 in the next five years...

"...[let's] design and establish a volunteer 'civilian reserve corps...allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when america needs them...



"...i ask you to continue funding our efforts to fight HIV/AIDS. i ask you to provide $1.2 billion over five years so we can combat malaria in 15 african countries. i ask that you fund the 'millennium challenge account'...[and to] continue to support the expanded trade and debt relief...

"...dikembe mutombo...julie aigner-clark...wesley autrey...tommy rieman...in such courage and compassion, ladies and gentlemen, we see the spirit and character of america — and these qualities are not in short supply. this is a decent and honorable country — and resilient, too....


"...we can go forward with confidence — because the state of our union is strong ... our cause in the world is right..."


http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1581787,00.html

Answer 2

First, Bush recognized Speaker Pelosi -- first woman, and how proud her father would have been (pretty gracious, actually)
Then
Bush put forth his domestic agenda --
(a) Health care subsidies for those who can't afford it (with a tax to the individuals of those who can)
(b) Balance the budget; eliminate private earmarks (of course)
(c) Immigration "reform" -- (GOP not sure) including a guest worker program.
(d) Energy independence (which he's been saying for years now with nothing) -- he actually spit out "global climate change." (Wow.)
(e) Tort reform (yeah right.)
Then he tried to tackle the war -- basically saying that we can't cut and run, even if mistakes were made or we're in a situation we didn't expect to be in. Terrorists this, terrorists that.
Then he highlighted 4 "courageous" americans -- a guy who pulled another guy away from being killed by a subway (the vehicle, not the restaurant), a mother who started "Baby Einstein" and turned it into a $200 million company, a guy who came to the US to be a doctor but became an NBA player and went back to Africa and built a hospital in his hometown (Matumbo), and a soldier from Iraq who was awarded the silver star for bravery. He noted that Americans were strong, hardworking, and courageous, and that the state of the union was strong.

As a democrat, I thought it was a pretty good speech, and I hope the dems follow through with his domestic agenda. Much of it is middle of the road / liberal, and we might have the irony that a Republican president signs into law a whole bunch of progressive initiatives (just like Clinton signing into law a bunch of conservative initiatives, like NAFTA and welfare reform).

Answer 3

All candidates and the President, too write "bullets"... short pieces . Then the speech writers pick it up and elaborate. Bush sounds much better now than he did in his first term because his head speech writer says it took her awhile to find his voice. Speechwriters do not just make up what a candidate says. They simply refine it. I admire Bush for taking on immigration and social security again. I thought he might leave that for the new President.

Answer 4

A brief summary isn't possible, not for me anyway. lol He addressed many issues. Here's the official press release http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html

I hope that helps.

I think he did great job, probably one of the best speeches he's ever made.

And he did NOT say that poor adults did not need healthcare. Holly you're better off to go read what he said, rather than to depend on biased individuals. Go read it and make up your own mind.

Answer 5

not putting you down holly but why can people log in here but cant do a quick search and read it for themselves.

Mostly likely Holly whatever someone tells you here is goin to be their interpretation of what was said.. which may be not at all reality. I would read it or watch it yourself. I watched it on MSNBC's page.

Answer 6

Here is the whole speech on video with the responses following afterwards....Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?category=Politics&subcategory=State_Union_subnav

Answer 7

Introduction
Applause
Another introduction
More applause
Rhetoric interspersed with applause
"God Bless America"
Standing Ovation Applause

The same as every state of the union I've ever watched.

Answer 8

9-11 !!! 9-11!!! Islamofascists! CUT TAXES on the super rich! God bless Halliburtion and Dumbyaland... I mean the US of A.

Answer 9

Why not just read it? Then you don't have to worry about a biased interpretation:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070123-2.html

Answer 10

Global warming is real, we're going to work on that
Iraq sucks, we are going to send more troops and work on that
The economy rocks, but we're still going to work on that
Terrorist can bite my ***, so we're going to work on that
We all need to work together, so we're going to work on that
I'm going to start a Civilian Guard.. so we're going to work on that


not saying I agree with or think everything he said is true.. just that this is basically what he said.

Answer 11

Apparently you missed spelling class too...speech