The Hill’s Alex Bolton analyzes President Bush’s final State of the Union Address.

When President Bush entered office in 2001, our State of the Union had a budget surplus and our country was on its way to eliminating much of its public debt. Since that time, the American people have watched as this Administration has not only squandered that surplus but created three of the largest deficits in the history of our nation. President Bush has added more than three and a half trillion dollars to the debt owed by our government to our creditors. And he has done this through massive tax cuts for the very wealthy at the expense of our hard working middle class Americans. And tonight it is reported that he will once again blindly ask the Congress to make those tax cuts permanent.

Before our very eyes, our President is selling off our economy to the highest bidder. This President has presided over an economy that has seen good-paying American jobs shipped overseas. And President Bush and his Administration have sat idly by during most of the past year as the home mortgages of hard working American families have been bought by foreign creditors. Literally, the roofs over the heads of many Americans are owned by foreigners. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night, I actually stumbled upon my notes from last year’s State of the Union Address, and I was amused to find that they were very similar to my notes from this year’s speech. Both this year and last, President Bush spoke about fiscal responsibility and our economy; and both this year and last, I remarked how our poor economic and fiscal state is a direct result of President Bush’s rampant borrow-and-spend policies.

On fiscal responsibility, President Bush is years late and many dollars short. He has led the American people to believe that they can have all of the spending programs they want and cut taxes, and we can just borrow the money from China to pay for these things. On this President’s watch, a $5.6 trillion projected surplus has vanished, and in its place, we have record deficits, a rising mountain of debt, and a sluggish economy. We now find ourselves facing a possible recession, and President Bush’s irresponsible economic policies are to blame. Read the rest of this entry »

At a time when the challenges facing our country and our economy have never been greater, the American people are looking for a new direction and new leadership from Washington.  But tonight all the American people heard from the President was the same old rhetoric and the same old ideas. The time has come to reject the status quo, and to trade no ideas for new ideas; lethargy for leadership.

After nearly 4,000 American casualties and more than $500 billion dollars, the misguided war in Iraq continues to be plagued by mismanagement and failed policies. While reduced violence in Iraq is encouraging, the goal of the surge – political reconciliation – has not been achieved. The will of the American people must be done. We require bold leadership in charting a new course that puts Iraqi’s in charge of their country and brings an end to the war in Iraq.

I am glad that President Bush has recognized the recent advances in stem cell research. This again highlights the need for a new, national initiative supporting all types of ethical cell-based research, including embryonic stem cell research. We must establish a robust national stem cell research program with a strict ethical framework. Read the rest of this entry »

America needed to hear from a leader last night, but instead we heard from a follower: a president following his same, worn out and ineffective solutions to the real problems facing the American people.

The president called for spending more and more and more, and he would do so by mortgaging America again and again and again. He wants to borrow everything from foreign countries; this was a speech by a president who has lost touch with reality.

Every time he used the word “trustâ€? he needed to add “and verifyâ€? because this Administration has regularly employed a state of denial when asked to provide leadership at home and abroad. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night President George W. Bush gave his final State of the Union Address. Like many Americans, I am relieved that we are finally entering the last days of George W. Bush’s Presidency. Sadly President Bush’s legacy is one of bitterly divisive partisan politics, failed policies, bureaucratic mismanagement, and tragic incompetence.

His policies have been near catastrophic for our country on everything from the misconduct of the war in Iraq to the disastrous handling of our economy here at home. During the last seven years under George Bush, we have seen a historic explosion in the federal deficit and in wasteful government spending, as well as a blatant disregard regard for laws that protect our environment, public health and safety, and our privacy. This record of failure led the American people to demand a new direction for our country in the November 2006 election. Read the rest of this entry »

The President’s 2008 State of the Union address will, at best, be a good attempt to spin a bad story. He’ll talk up the economy though we can clearly see it is failing. He will question spending, despite the $10 billion he sends to Iraq every month. The President will insist there has been progress with the war, though our troops are no closer to coming home. And he’ll purport to care about America’s children, knowing he has twice vetoed the state children’s health insurance legislation – putting 10 million of our children at risk.

I expect the President to talk about showing compassion, yet he refuses to see the devastation caused when families lose their homes, when the sick have no healthcare, when hospitals close, when our school systems fail, and when our nation’s infrastructure crumbles. The President’s priorities are off base, his policies are suspect, and his politics are oftentimes, unconscionable. But even in the face of all this, we, in the Democratic Congress still stand ready to help the Administration find effective solutions to our national challenges.

I have no doubt that as I watch President Bush tonight, I will think: “what might have been,� for America if the President had been willing to do what America does best: compromise, under thoughtful leadership. We have recently seen the practical engagement by this President in the Middle East, North Korea, and with the bi-partisan economic stimulus plan; but, unfortunately, most of what I believe he will say tonight will be “re-served� ideas that have not gained support of the American people. For example, the President’s recent claim of fiscal conservatism in his last two years of his eight year term where the deficit ballooned, shows that his legacy will be one of posturing, not policy.

The policies of the Bush administration over the past seven years have taken a serious toll on hardworking families across America. The middle class is being squeezed and families in the Tampa Bay area are no exception.

We are committed to standing up for hardworking families and fighting for a new direction for our great country. Families need affordable and accessible health care. Families need relief from prices at the pump, which can be achieved through new energy policy and independence from the middle east oil barons.

Families also are counting on us to develop creative solutions to skyrocketing prices of property insurance that have had a devastating effect on middle class families particularly in Florida.

The American people are tired of seven years of misplaced priorities and want to hear that the President will work with Congress to ease the burdens of a struggling economy. The economic stimulus package developed by House leaders is a start, but more action is needed to demonstrate that President Bush recognizes the harsh impact of his policies on hardworking families.