After reading a bunch of thoughts by other people on the State of the Union address I have to agree with a few things. First, the speech lacked substance in the sense that few specific programs or initiatives were unveiled. However, to me that's mostly a good thing as I think we already have a surfeit of government. I was disappointed, however, that no new initiatives to reform health care were unveiled.
But something that also stood out to me about the speech was the Democratic applause after Bush said "Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security." Think about that, Social Security is headed for insolvency, Bush proposed reforms to help save it, and Dems are cheering the fact that it failed.
Megan McArdle sums up my feelings pretty well:
But something that also stood out to me about the speech was the Democratic applause after Bush said "Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security." Think about that, Social Security is headed for insolvency, Bush proposed reforms to help save it, and Dems are cheering the fact that it failed.
Megan McArdle sums up my feelings pretty well:
...There were the Democrats, clapping joyously at the news that they'd voted down Social Security reform. They looked like adolescents mocking authority. Memo to Dems: if the American voter wanted sullen, rebellious adolescents in Congress, they would have sent their own, if for no other reason than to get them out of the basement. George Bush let them applaud their intransigence for a while, then said, "Now we still have a giant entitlement problem." This made the Dems look foolish enough. But, in keeping with the role of teen rebel who is not paying close attention to teacher, they kept applauding. Brilliant! Why didn't those Machiavellian Republicans think of positioning themselves as the party that's glad we have a gigantic, intractable entitlement problem? About halfway through the moment, some of the brighter senators seemed to realise that they were applauding something that they oughtn't to be. But by then, they apparently figured it was too late to back down, and the best course of action was to bull through as if they'd intended all along to celebrate multi-trillion dollar budget shortfalls.Like I keep saying, these people just aren't serious.
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