State of the Union fails to satisfy community leaders
■ Many feel the president didn’t
address some important issues
By Brook Reinhard
Oregon Daily Emerald
Community leaders praised parts
of President Bush’s State of the
Union Address Tuesday night, but
were hesitant to fully endorse the
speech made by our nation’s leader.
“Tonight, I stand firm with the pres
ident and say clearly that America is
united to protect and preserve our
I
freedom,” said Rep. PeterDeFazio, D
Eugene. “While we differ in the de
tails, I look forward to working with
the administration and my colleagues
to resolve our differences and move
forward on these important issues for
Oregon and our nation. ”
DeFazio’s “important issues” in
clude legislation to stimulate the
economy, provide unemployment
assistance and come up with new
energy legislation — all of which
Bush detailed, albeit briefly, during
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his hour-long speech.
State Rep. Vicki Walker, D-Eu
gene, said Bush didn’t spend enough
time hashing out the details.
“I didn’t hear anything tonight
that told me what direction this
country is going to take to fight the
recession,” Walker said. “He gave a
very strong, patriotic message, but I
didn’t see much beyond that. ”
Stephen Haynes, a professor of
economics at the University, said
Bush’s address was uniquely suited
to the events that occurred over the
past year.
“It’s a little different than a standard
State of the Union,” Haynes said. “It
would have been interesting to com
pare it to (President Franklin Roo
sevelt’s) speech in 1942,” he said,
since Roosevelt gave his address to a
nation that faced a similar recession
in a comparably war-like time.
Journalism Professor Stephen
Ponder said the image Bush project
ed was the most important part of
his address.
“These State of the Union address
es have become very important,”
Ponder said. “The president’s suc
cess will depend on his ability to use
the mass media.”
Bush used his hour of prime-time
to focus on fighting terrorism, in
creasing homeland defense and
helping the economy recover.
“We have prevailed in the war,
and we will defeat this recession,”
Bush said. As a start to defeating the
recession, the president appealed to
Congress to “make these tax cuts
permanent.” Half the room gave
this comment a standing ovation
while Democrats remained seated
and silent.
“The president said we all need to
work together; I am anxious to work
with him to get Oregonians back to
work,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Tim Young, student representa
tive for the Oregon University Sys
tem, said Bush’s priorities may be “a
little misguided.”
“We need to see more attention
put toward education and an ade
quate health plan,” Young said. Re
ferring to the economy, Young added
iiiil
ms
Adam Jones Emerald
Jimmy Scalon watches the State of the Union Address attentively over the commotion
Tuesday night at New Max’s Tavern. He was one of many patrons who voiced concern for
the President’s economic stimulus plan.
that Federal Reserve Chairman Al
lan Greenspan “said this type of in
centive would not work. ”
Haynes said that Bush didn’t need
to go into economic specifics because
his policies were already in effect.
“There’s not a great deal one can
do except wait for the policies to take
place,” Haynes said.
Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey said
Bush will be evaluated this year on
the performance of the economy.
“If we don’t see some improve
ment in the economy, he’s in trou
ble,” Torrey said. “If we’re going to
move anything through Congress,
the president and the Senate have
got to agree with what’s going to be
done. They simply have to find a
way to find some common ground. ”
E-mail reporter Brook Reinhard
atbrookreinhard@dailyemerald.com.
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Bush
continued from page 1
as it seeks to block terrorists and
regimes that sponsor them from
committing further atrocities.
"The United States of America
will not permit the world's most
dangerous regimes to threaten us
with the world's most destructive
weapons," the president warned.
It was his third speech in a year to
a joint session of Congress, but his
first formal State of the Union ad
dress. His debut speech last year un
veiled his budget.
With the nation in recession and
Bush presiding over the first federal
budget deficit in four years, he did
not offer the usual list of spending
proposals that mark most State of
the Union speeches.
The administration is proposing
a huge increase in defense spending
— $48 billion in the fiscal year that
begins Oct. 1 — for a total Pentagon
budget of $379 billion. If Congress
approves, the increase would be the
largest in two decades.
Bush also is asking for $37.7 bil
lion for homeland security, double
the current budget for that post
Sept. 11 program. He said he would
focus these efforts on "four key ar
eas: bioterrorism, emergency re
sponse, airport and border security
and improved intelligence," accord
ing to the excerpts from his speech.
In an effort to boost the economy,
the president pushed Congress to
pass tax breaks for businesses and
extra relief for the unemployed "in
the same spirit of cooperation we
’have applied in our war on terror
ism," the excerpts said.
Bush addressed the mushroom
ing Enron debacle delicately. He
chose not to point fingers, but to call
for stricter accounting practices and
corporate disclosure.
The official Democratic Party re
sponse to Bush's address reflected
the public's broad bipartisan sup
port for the war. House of Represen
tatives Minority Leader Richard A.
Gephardt of Missouri assured the
president and the nation that the
country speaks with one voice
against terrorism.
"Like generations that came be
fore us, we will pay any price and
bear any burden to make sure that
this proud nation wins the first war
of the 21st century," Gephardt said,
according to prepared remarks.
Since Sept. 11, he said, "There has
been no daylight between us in this
war on terrorism. We have met al
most every single week and built a
bipartisan consensus that is helping
America win this war."
But Gephardt noted growing par
tisan divisions over domestic is
sues, intensified in this election
year when control of both houses of
Congress is up for grabs. The House
Democratic leader said Democrats
would not necessarily side with
Bush on such issues as tax cuts, So
cial Security, Medicare, overhaul
ing campaign-finance laws and the
bankruptcy of Enron.
"I refuse to accept that while we
stand shoulder to shoulder-on-the
war, we should stand toe-to-toe on
the economy," Gephardt said.
©2002, Knight Ridder/Tribune
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