SOTU - My Thoughts

Everyone and his brother has been talking/commenting/submitting their views about President Bush's state of the union address so I might as well give my two cents worth on the shebang.

The beginning of the speech was a complete bore. I totally do not agree with his portrayal of the No Child Left Behind act which he says has been such a huge success. Every teacher I've spoken with has said they have been forced to dumb down their tests so those students who are lacking can move ahead, rather than have the entire class stay behind because a few students can't meet the standards. GPA's may be up, but ACT & SAT scores are down.

Bush's health care plan will for sure get shot down by the Dems. The system needs to be overhauled so that those insured people who are in good health are not paying for the unhealthy and uninsured through their own premiums and deductibles. The first step in doing this would be to ween the masses off of the overabundance of prescription drugs being taken for every ache, pain, and discomfort. The focus should be on wellness, and not on sickness. The pharmaceutical and insurance companies are to blame for this one.

Oh immigration. Of course we all want secure borders and some type of immigration reform. However, granting those who are here illegally a temporary workers permit is not that answer. It may not be straight up amnesty, but it is definitely giving an unfair advantage to those who have broken our laws to begin with. Plus, Bush didn't even touch on the fact that the entire immigration system is so over-worked and under-staffed that many people with criminal backgrounds and ties to terrorism are falling through the cracks.

Bush's push for energy independence through alternatives is a great idea, however, it's still easier said than done. Of course, the system will never change unless its economically feasible for the auto and energy companies to develop alternatives. Here's an idea that might solve the problem, but could at least help with our dependence upon the middle east.

Great idea about electing the impartial, qualified judges. Of course they still have to go through the approval of the Senate. Good luck with that one.

Terrorism. This is where Bush sounded like the man of principle we elected. He sounded more confident and determined about this part of the speech than any other. The additional troops being sent to Iraq should help clean up Baghdad, however, we should've had this surge a long time ago, not as a last ditch effort. The Civilian Reserve Corps is a great idea, as is the increase in active duty military.

I don't agree with the president's HIV/AIDS relief plan. Although he did not mention the specifics of it, generally the idea of AIDS relief is to give them all condoms, thinking that will help stop the spread of disease. We all know how high the failure rate of condoms is so how is this going to work? Teach them to control themselves, don't give them a reason to be more self indulgent.

Everything being said, it wasn't the president's best speech ever, but he certainly came out with a lot more firepower than I was expecting.