Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The president's speech....

Here's a quick look at what the president will be talking about tonight during his State of the Union Speech. The White House issued "fact sheets" highlighting the issues to be discussed. They include:

Energy: President Bush will ask Congress and America's scientists, farmers, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs to join him in pursuing the goal of reducing U.S. gasoline usage by 20 percent in the next ten years – Twenty in Ten. We will reach the President's Twenty in Ten goal by increasing the supply of renewable and alternative fuels and by reforming and modernizing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for cars and extending the current light truck rule.
The President's energy plan also includes stepping up domestic oil production in environmentally sensitive ways and doubling the current capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)

Health Care: President Bush will announce his proposals to make basic, private health insurance available and affordable for more Americans. The President's plan includes reforming the tax code with a standard deduction for health insurance so all Americans get the same tax breaks for health insurance, and helping states make affordable private health insurance available to their citizens.

Spending Reform: President Bush will discuss three major reforms to spend taxpayer dollars wisely: balancing the budget through pro-growth policies and spending restraint, enacting common-sense reforms to help prevent billions of taxpayer dollars from being spent on unnecessary earmarks, and reforming entitlement programs.

Education: President Bush will discuss his priorities for strengthening and reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) this year.

Immigration: President Bush will call on Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill that will secure our borders, enhance interior and worksite enforcement, create a temporary worker program, resolve – without animosity and without amnesty – the status of illegal immigrants already here, and promote assimilation into our society.

On the International front, the President will offer this:
War On Terror/Iraq: The challenge playing out across the broader Middle East is more than a military conflict – it is the decisive ideological struggle of our time. For the safety of our people, America must succeed in Iraq, and the President believes his new Iraq plan is the best way to succeed. Tonight, the President will propose to establish a special advisory council on the War on Terror made up of leaders in Congress from both political parties.

Strengthening Our Military: President Bush will ask Congress for authority to increase the overall strength of our active Army and the Marine Corps by 92,000 Soldiers and Marines in the next five years.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home