Response to the State Of The Union

So although Pres. Bush painted a rosy picture of the State Of The Union, Newsday laid the chips on the table:

The nation needed a stiff shot of reality from the White House last night. Unfortunately, much of what it got from President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address was election year sleight of hand.

Bush is coming off a bad year in which his credibility and approval ratings took a beating. He's mired in an unpopular war in Iraq and hog-tied by federal deficits and debt at home. He needs to turn things around. Straight talk about the nation's challenges would be a good start.

There was some of that last night. Bush noted "a duty to speak with candor," alluded to mistakes in Iraq, and said military tactics and the approach to reconstruction there have been adjusted. He acknowledged the problem of high gas and oil prices, and called for a concerted effort to achieve greater energy independence - a new and important initiative. He was upfront about the problem of exploding entitlement spending and the economic challenge from nations such as China and India. And we give him credit for his proposals to boost science and math education.

But Bush framed the international challenges to our security and economy as choosing between isolationism and engagement. It's a phony choice. The United States is deeply engaged in the world, both militarily and economically. The question is whether we are proceeding wisely and, in Iraq, to be kind, the jury is still out.

On domestic issues, the need for candor is just as acute. Middle America is taking a beating. Unemployment and inflation are low and the economy is growing. But household income has dropped five years in a row. The price of gasoline is up. So is the cost of health care and the number of uninsured Americans. And there's been no progress in ensuring that Social Security and Medicare remain solvent.

The bungled federal response to Hurricane Katrina revealed a stunning incompetence. And due to Bush's embrace of warrantless eavesdropping, detainee abuse and jail without charges or trials, the U.S. Constitution and the nation's standing as the champion of freedom and the rule of law have become casualties of the war on terrorism.

In the face of all that, Bush continued to push his misguided goal of an imperial presidency above the courts and Congress. And he offered only small-bore initiatives that would nip around the edges of big problems - expanding health savings accounts, for instance, and establishing a commission on entitlement reform. But with baby boomers about to put unprecedented demands on Social Security and Medicare, Bush called for spending restraint - incredible after years of runaway spending on his watch - and for making his unaffordable tax cuts permanent. This was a speech long on problems but short on solutions.