Bush Speech Tries to Change the Subject

Jan. 23, 2007 — -- Iraq became the elephant in the room during President Bush's sixth State of the Union address, overshadowing the limited legislative agenda of the new energy, health care, immigration and education plans.

Bush outlined no new policies in Iraq, beyond suggesting a bipartisan advisory council in the administration's broader war on terror. He framed the U.S. presence in Iraq as a bulwark against an onslaught of Muslim terrorists who would otherwise use Mesopotamia as a safe haven from which to attack Americans and their allies.

"The war on terror we fight today is a generational struggle that will continue long after you and I have turned our duties over to others," Bush said. "That is why it is important to work together so our nation can see this great effort through."

Having spent nearly two months crafting a New Way Forward in Iraq, Bush sought to change the focus to new domestic policies. As expected, the president called for a return to balanced budgets and an end to the so-called "earmarks" lawmakers use to slip pet projects into bills without a vote.

Presidents usually outline a litany of legislative proposals -- many of them dead on arrival -- in State of the Union addresses. But in a departure that seemed to acknowledge that the House and Senate are now under new Democratic majority that has already demonstrated it is unlikely to give its imprimatur to a new legislative agenda from a Republican president, Bush instead delivered a more thematic address.

He homed in narrowly on what White House officials described as four "bold" and "ambitious" new initiatives on health care, education, immigration and energy.

Bush became the first president to utter the words "Madame Speaker" in a State of the Union address, an acknowledgment to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who presided behind him.

"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," he said. "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."

Yet the president met his most hostile -- and powerful -- audience yet for his annual summary of the nation's condition. Democrats held their focus on Iraq, a point they highlighted by choosing Vietnam War veteran Jim Webb to offer the Democratic response. Webb unseated GOP Sen. Jim Allen in an upset inspired almost entirely by his vehement criticism of the Iraq War, all the while wearing the combat boots of his son, who has been fighting in Iraq, in answer to Allen's cowboy boots.

"The president took us into this war recklessly," Webb said in the Democrats' response. "We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable -- and predicted -- disarray that has followed."

Hours before the president addressed the nation, a bipartisan panel of senators politely questioned his choice to replace Gen. William Casey as ground commander in Iraq as it repeatedly lamented his administration's past policies and his plan to increase troop numbers by 21,500. The hearing marked a reversal of presidential fortune that made it clear the president wields less control than ever before over the agenda on Capitol Hill.

Even his nominee, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, criticized a series of strategic blunders the United States has made in Iraq, in a dour assessment in which he said he could offer no guarantee for a swift or easy victory.

"The situation in Iraq is dire," Petraeus, who is expected to be confirmed quickly and easily, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "The stakes are high. There are no easy choices. The way ahead will be very hard."

In the face of congressional proposals -- including one by Sen. John Warner, the Republican from Virginia who until recently was chairman of the Armed Services Committee -- that expressed the sense that Bush's plan to increase troop levels was the wrong approach, "surge" supporter Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was almost plaintive.

"Suppose we send you over to your new job, General, only we tell you that we can't have, you can't have any additional troops. Can you get your job done?" McCain asked.

"No, sir," Petraeus replied.

The plan for an influx of new troops aroused the opposition of many in Congress and a decisive majority of Americans in recent polls. Bush nevertheless remained steadfast, saying he'd carefully weighed all options with military commanders.

"In the end, I chose this course of action because it provides the best chance of success," he said.

With unusual humility for such an address, the president then asked for congressional support.

"Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq," he said, "and I ask you to give it a chance to work.

Democrats might still reluctantly give the president's strategy a chance, but they give it little chance of success.

"Unfortunately, tonight the president demonstrated he has not listened to Americans' single greatest concern: the war in Iraq," Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a joint statement. "While the president continues to ignore the will of the country, Congress will not ignore this president's failed policy. His plan will receive an up-or-down vote in both the House and the Senate, and we will continue to hold him accountable for changing course in Iraq."

Sen Barack Obama, D-Ill., a 2008 presidential candidate, praised the president for bringing up energy and health care but added, "the real test of leadership is not what the president said to Congress tonight but how he works with Congress to find real solutions to the problems we face."

Obama reiterated his opposition to the president's proposed surge of U.S. troops to Baghdad and emphasized that he instead has "proposed not just a troop cap, but a phased redeployment that will start bringing our troops home."

Bush is expected to take his plan on the road immediately, expanding on his energy proposals in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday. Under that plan, the president set a goal of reducing gasoline dependence by 20 percent over the next 10 years. He aims to achieve that by:

Increasing renewable and alternative fuels, such as corn-based ethanol. His plan would mandate 35 billion gallons of the fuels in 2017. That is nearly five times the current target Congress set for 2012. The administration says this would displace 15 percent of the gasoline now used.

- Increasing corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards for cars. The White House estimates this would cut annual gasoline use by 8.5 billion gallons, or another 5 percent from current levels.

"For too long, our nation has been dependent on foreign oil.  And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes and to terrorists, who could cause huge disruptions of oil shipments, raise the price of oil, and do great harm to our economy," Bush said. "It is in our vital interest to diversify America's energy supply, and the way forward is through technology."

Bush also called on Congress to step up production of domestic oil and resources in environmentally sensitive ways and to double the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to 1.5 billion barrels by 2027.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act was signed into law on December 22, 1975, establishing a reserve of up to 1 billion barrels of petroleum. The reserve can hold 727 million barrels today, but is filled to just 95 percent, or 689 million barrels. To meet the president's goals, the program would have to open new oil storage sites. Candidate sites have already been selected in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Even if the oil reserve increases, so does Americans' thirst for oil. U.S. consumption of oil products is projected to increase by 24 percent by 2027.

The president's plan to increase the emergency oil storage program would cost an estimated $47.1 billion to $51.8 billion, depending on where new sites are built, Department of Energy officials said.

Expanding existing facilities costs approximately $6 per barrel for storage. If the government was able to add capacity only at existing sites, the proposed expansion would cost approximately $4.6 billion for the increased storage. Should it add new facilities, the assumed cost per barrel would be twice that -- $12 per barrel. That means $9.3 billion for the facilities. That would come on top of the cost of acquiring the crude, roughly $55.04 a barrel at today's prices, or a total of $42.5 billion.

One aspect of his proposal is clearly dead on arrival, a perennial call for oil exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The plan, which failed to pass even in a Republican Congress, stands little chance in a House and Senate newly controlled by Democrats who have taken a combative stance on Iraq and other issues, and who have made global warming and other environmental issues a central focus on Capitol Hill.

The president's health care plan is expected to face staunch opposition from Democrats in Congress. The proposal for a standard tax deduction for health care would make it more affordable for low-income individuals but would pay for the subsidy by taxing pricier health plans for any amount above $7,500 a year for individuals or $15,000 a year for families.

"Health care is a crisis in costs and coverage, and the president's plan will make both fronts worse for millions of Americans," Pelosi and Reid said in their statement.

Americans, Bush said, "must remember that the best health care decisions are made not by government and insurance companies but by patients and their doctors."

On education, Bush called on Congress to strengthen the No Child Left Behind Act, aimed at improving standards and accountability in the nation's public schools.

Bush also proposed what administration officials described as comprehensive immigration reform, calling for increased border security and a temporary worker program.

"Extending hope and opportunity in our country requires an immigration system worthy of America, with laws that are fair and borders that are secure.  When laws and borders are routinely violated, this harms the interests of our country. … Yet … we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border, and that requires a temporary worker program," Bush said.