State Of The Union Address

1. Outline the State of the Union Address.

            After a brief acknowledgment of Coretta Scott King, Bush devoted nearly the first half of the speech to the war on terror (with a message directed at Iran), then combined pledges to fight AIDS with his desire to renew the Patriot Act.  Much of the rest concerns how the administration plans to expand the American economy, cut domestic spending, reduce American dependency on foreign oil, and plans to improve scientific education while ending scientific research involving human embryos.  He ends on a note similar to the start, mentioning Martin Luther King.

2. Pick out the economic issues/problems to be tackled.

            Bush aims to make the tax cuts permanent, “to examine the full impact of baby Boom retirements” on entitlement programs, an improved guest worker program for immigrants, affordable health care, breaking American dependence on foreign oil, and encouraging private-sector scientific research.

3. How does the present Administration plan to achieve these?

            Bush announced two new initiatives – the Advanced Energy Initiative, designed to develop cleaner, renewable sources of energy, and the American Competitiveness Initiative, which would improve scientific education and help private-sector science firms expand their research efforts.

4. Do you see any supply-side economics in the plan? Explain what supply-side economics is and tell why you answered yes or no to this question.

            Because supply-side economics involves incentives for businesses to expand, increase productivity, and create jobs, then both of the announced programs would certainly fit the supply-side philosophy because the government would help businesses develop new energy technologies and perform physical-science research with funding and tax breaks.

5. What was said about tax cuts-how will these help the economy? Or will they?

            Bush asserts that Americans will face severe tax increases unless Congress makes the tax cuts permanent, implying that allowing them to expire will hinder prosperity and directly harm Americans’ finances.  (This assumes that Americans will then spend or invest this extra money.)  In addition, the American Competitiveness Initiative would offer tax credits to businesses engaged in scientific research, though it is unclear if these tax breaks would require that firms spend the money on expanding their research.

6. Why does this Administration believe this plan will work?

            Bush claims that “our economy grows when Americans have more of their own money to spend, save, and invest,” and he believes that it would allow taxpayers to put more money back into the American economy.  Otherwise, he keeps this part of the speech short and says little.

7. Did you hear anything about the restructuring and rebuilding efforts in Iraq that may affect the economy?

            Bush’s plan to continue the war in Iraq without a concrete timetable will certainly affect the economy (likely benefiting large war contractors), as well as plans to reconstruct that nation’s infrastructure, which would presumably involve a large number of businesses, including construction and a variety of technological firms.

8. What is your opinion of the present Administration’s plan?

            Bush appears to address things the country needs, but I am uncertain whether he plans to deliver on these.  Given his ties to the oil industry, I am unsure if his plans for alternative energy sources will lead in new directions, and the fact that he is continuing the war in Iraq makes one wonder if his domestic agenda will receive sufficient funding and attention.

REFERENCES

Anonymous. (2006).  State of the Union 2006.  Retrieved 2 February 2006 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2006/index.html.