The State of the Union: money and war top President Bush's 2008 concerns.[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] President George W. Bush was clearly enjoying himself. He grinned as the sergeant at arms SERGEANT AT ARMS, An officer appointed by a legislative body, whose duties are to enforce the orders given by such bodies, generally under the warrant of its presiding officer. stepped into the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on January 28 and announced to a room filled with the nation's most powerful people: "The president of the United States The head of the Executive Branch, one of the three branches of the federal government. The U.S. Constitution sets relatively strict requirements about who may serve as president and for how long. !" Members of Congress reached out to shake Bush's hand and hug him as he walked toward the front of the room. They handed him pens and paper to autograph autograph Any manuscript handwritten by its author; in common usage, a handwritten signature. Aside from its value as a collector's item, an early or corrected draft of a work may show its stages of composition or “correct” final version. . Some patted him on the back and whispered in his ear. When the applause finally let up, the president began his final State of the Union address “State of the Union” redirects here. For other uses, see State of the Union (disambiguation). The State of the Union is an annual address in which the President of the United States reports on the status of the country, normally to a joint session of Congress (the . "Seven years have passed since I first stood before you at this rostrum rostrum /ros·trum/ (ros´trum) pl. ros´tra, rostrums [L.] a beak-shaped process. ros·trum n. pl. ros·trums or ros·tra A beaklike or snoutlike projection. ," Bush said. "In that time, our country has been tested in ways none of us could have imagined. We faced hard decisions about peace and war, rising competition in the world economy, and the health and welfare of our citizens ... together, we showed the world the power and resilience of American self-government." THE ECONOMY War, the U.S. economy, and the welfare of the American people An American people may be:
The State of the Union address is the president's chance to share his or her most ambitious plans for the coming year. Bush proposed that the government quickly spend nearly $150 billion to pump up the U.S. economy. Many families would get tax rebates tax rebate n → devolución f de impuestos; reembolso fiscal tax rebate n → ristourne f d'impôt tax rebate of $300 or more, and they would be expected to spend the money. Their spending sprees Noun 1. spending spree - a brief period of extravagant spending spree, fling - a brief indulgence of your impulses would help businesses, which could then create more jobs and buy more equipment and services from other businesses. The government also would add financial incentives for companies to keep growing. "To build a prosperous future, we must trust people with their own money and empower them to grow our economy," Bush told his audience of Congress members, Supreme Court justices, military leaders, and other dignitaries and invited guests. WAR AND TERRORISM The other big issue in the president's address was terrorism. Bush took office in January 2001. Eight months later, terrorists hijacked four U.S. airliners and crashed them in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. gush vowed to bring the terrorists to justice, and he sent U.S. troops into Afghanistan to find them. At home, Bush increased security and surveillance of both foreigners Foreigners alienage the condition of being an alien. androlepsy Law. the seizure of foreign subjects to enforce a claim for justice or other right against their nation. gypsyologist, gipsyologist Rare. and Americans. In his 2003 State of the Union address, he made a case for going to war in Iraq. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "The terrorists oppose every principle of humanity and decency de·cen·cy n. pl. de·cen·cies 1. The state or quality of being decent; propriety. 2. Conformity to prevailing standards of propriety or modesty. 3. decencies a. that we hold dear," Bush said in his latest speech. But he said he also sees progress around the world. He talked about the elections in Ukraine Elections in Ukraine gives information on election and election results in Ukraine. Ukraine elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a five year term by the people. and Afghanistan, saying they were victories for freedom. He also said he sees progress against insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. in Iraq. The president took time to praise people as well. He urged U.S. organizations to continue leading the fight against world hunger and poverty. And he applauded the fourth graders and eighth graders who recently earned the highest U.S. math scores on record. Bush said he wants to help U.S. schools become even better by strengthening the No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), commonly known as NCLB (IPA: /ˈnɪkəlbiː/), is a United States federal law that was passed in the House of Representatives on May 23, 2001 , his school testing law. Bush's written speech wasn't very long, but it took him nearly an hour to deliver it because his fellow Republicans in Congress applauded loudly after each of his major points. The top Democrats in Congress--House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid--were less impressed. They said the president had "offered little more than the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. . At a time when our economy is on shaky ground Shaky Ground was a TV sitcom which starred Matt Frewer as Bob Moody, a hapless, but supportive and caring father. Robin Riker played his wife and Jennifer Love Hewitt as his daughter. The show aired on FOX for the 1992-1993 season. and our leadership around the world is eroding, the status quo won't do." ONE MORE YEAR A president's final year can be tough. U.S. presidents are limited to two terms, and Bush is in his second term now. Because he will be gone soon, he has less influence over Congress. People call it the "lame duck An elected official, who is to be followed by another, during the period of time between the election and the date that the successor will fill the post. The term lame duck generally describes one who holds power when that power is certain to end in the near future. " period. Bush's public approval rating has also sunk to its lowest level. Bush says that won't stop him, though. "Tonight, with confidence in freedom's power, and trust in the people, let us set forth to do their business," the president said as he wrapped up his final State of the Union address. "God bless America." PREDICT THE NEWS What else do you think the president will have to tackle in 2008? Tell us at edce@weeklyreader.com.
PROPOSALS FROM BUSH'S SPEECH
Energy Health Education War on Terror
Fund new Improve the tax Call for a Push Congress
technology code to help $300 million to make
that can those who do initiative to permanent the
generate not get let poor antiterrorism
coal power insurance students in law on
and capture through struggling surveillance
carbon employers. schools of phone calls
emissions. Expand health transfer to and e-mails
Increase the savings private or involving
use of accounts and public schools people who
renewable reduce medical outside their are in the
power. lawsuits. districts. United States.
Medicare,
Budget/ Medicaid,
Economy Social Security Immigration
Move quickly Members of Continue to
on adoption Congress secure the
of a nearly should offer country's
$150 billion proposals for borders while
economic these programs creating a
stimulus and come up lawful way for
package of with bipartisan foreign
tax rebates solutions to workers to
for families keep them come here
and help for operating. and support
businesses. the U.S.
economy.
SOURCE: White House/AP
TEST YOURSELF
What Was on Bush's Mind?
These words appeared repeatedly in President
George W. Bush's State of the Union addresses.
Words and number of times used
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
God, prayer,
providence 2 5 3 2 2 3 1
Freedom,
democracy,
liberty 19 9 13 36 24 9 22
Education,
students,
schools 4 4 17 3 4 8 16
Health care,
Medicare,
patients 3 12 17 4 4 3 4
Terrorism,
terrorist(s),
attacks 23 20 15 13 17 21 23
Judiciary, judges,
court(s) 0 0 3 4 6 3 1
SOURCE: The American Presidency Project/AP
Note: Table made from bar graph.
Get Talking Ask students: What is the State of the Union address? Why is it important? Background * The U.S. Constitution says the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the Stale of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ex·pe·di·ent adj. 1. Appropriate to a purpose. 2. a. Serving to promote one's interest: was merciful only when mercy was expedient. b. ." It doesn't say that the information has to be spoken. In fact, every president from Thomas Jefferson in 1801 to William Howard Taft in 1912 wrote his State of the Union update as a letter to Congress instead. * One member of the president's Cabinet always skips the State of the Union speech as a precaution. This year, the missing person was Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, a former governor of Idaho. The secretary of the interior is eighth in line to the presidency under the Presidential Succession Act The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 () establishes the order of succession to the office of President of the United States in the event neither a President nor Vice President is able to "discharge the powers and duties of the office. of 1947. (See www4 .law.cornell.edu/uscode/3/19.html.) Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, one member each of the House and Senate has also skipped the speech. * The tradition of the opposing party's giving an official response started in 1966, when Lyndon Johnson was president. This year, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Gilligan Sebelius (born May 15 1948) is currently serving as the forty-fourth Governor of Kansas.[1] She is the second female governor of the state of Kansas, and is currently chairwoman of the Democratic Governors Association. gave the Democratic response. You can watch it at tinyurl.com/24cfaw. * To hear or read President George W. Bush's 2008 State of the Union address, go to www.whitehouse.gov. Doing More Have students study the structure of gush's State of the Union address. The speech looked back at his first seven years, moved to current challenges, then discussed the future. Have each student use that structure to write his or her own address. It could be a State of the Union, State of My Class, State of Myself, or State of My Team address. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion