Liveblog: 2007 State of the Union
Jan 23, 2007 Politics
Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere we go. New updates will be on top as I write, then reversed for an easier read when the evening is over The log reads top to bottom.
8:59: Brit Hume (I’m watching Fox News Channel’s coverage): the address is supposed to be “40 minutes long without the applause.”
9:02: Introductions have begun. The Supreme Court members have entered the House chamber.
9:03: The President’s cabinet (minus one, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales) enters.
9:04: Michael J. Fox is near the First Lady’s box in the gallery.
9:07: Nancy Pelosi, rather than Dennis Hastert, will be seated behind the President, alongside Vice President Cheney.
9:09: President Bush has entered the chamber, and is making his way down the aisle.
9:11: Hume: Watch how he recognizes Speaker Pelosi, should be one of the first things he says.
9:13: Bush is the first to ever begin an address with the words “Madam Speaker.”
9:15: “I congratulate the Democrat majority.”
9:17: “Our citizens don’t much care what side of the aisle we sit on, as long as we are willing to cross that aisle when there’s work to be done.”
9:17: 41 straight months of job growth, 7.1 million new jobs. Must be continued with not more government, but more enterprise.
9:19: We can eliminate the deficit without raising taxes. We cut it in half ahead of schedule, and we can eliminate it within 5 years.
9:19: Addressing earmarks, which are slipped into bills “when not even C-SPAN is watching.”
9:20: Earmarks should be cut at least in half by the end of this Congressional session.
9:21: We can fix Medicare and Medicaid, AND save Social Security
9:23: No Child Left Behind passed with bipartisan support 5 years ago. Achievement should be continued… parents of children should have the ability to choose a better school than their present one. NCLB “has worked for America’s children, and I ask Congress to reauthorize this good law.”
9:24: We can help the poor and children, but for many, insurance is the best way to meet their needs.
9:25: Tax breaks for those who have to purchase health insurance on their own, rather than through their workplace. [I misheard this initially. Anyone who contributes to their own health insurance, either on their own or through their workplace, would get a tax deduction. To offset that, employers' contribution to your insurance would count as taxable income. --P]
9:26: To protect doctors from “junk lawsuits,” must pass medical liability reform.
9:27: Good medical decisions aren’t made by government and lawyers, but by patients and their doctors.
9:28: Temporary workers should be allowed in through an orderly legal path, so as to allow the Border Patrol to focus on drug smugglers and terrorists.
9:29: Existing illegals must be dealt with “without animosity, and without amnesty.”
9:30: For too long, our nation has been depedent on foreign oil.” “It is in our vital interest to diversify…and the way forward is through technology,” including wind, solar, and nuclear power.
9:31: Must invest in cleaner coal, and cleaner ways to produce ethanol.
9:31: “Let’s reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20% in the next 10 years.”
9:32: Modernize fuel efficiency standards the way we did with trucks… increase domestic oil production, and double capacity of the Strategic Petroleum Preserve.
9:33: Water break.
9:34: Senate must give judicial nominees “a prompt up-or-down vote on the Senate floor.”
9:35: “To win the war on terror, we must take the fight to the enemy.”
9:37: “For each life saved, we owe a debt of gratitude to the public servants” who stop terrorists.
9:38: For the terrorists, the war began long before 9/11, and won’t stop until their visions are fulfilled.
9:39: bin Laden: “Death is better than living on this earth with the unbelievers among us.”
9:39: Hezbollah second only to al Qaeda in the number of American lives they’ve taken
9:41: “More than a clash of arms, but a decisive ideological struggle…”
9:42: Condi looks pissed for some reason, I can’t tell why. Maybe she’s just focused, I dunno.
9:43: Iraq held three elections in 2005.
9:45: “Let us find our resolve and turn events toward victory.”
9:45: Iraq must stop the sectarian violence in its capital, but they aren’t ready to do this on their own.
9:46: “We didn’t drive al Qaeda out of their safe haven in Afghanistan only for them to set up a new safe haven in a free Iraq.”
9:48: For America, an all-out battle between al Qaeda-backed Sunnis and Iran-backed Shias is the nightmare scenario. For our enemy, it’s the objective.
9:50: “Whatever you voted for, you didn’t vote for failure. I ask you to give this new strategy a chance to work.”
9:52: Special advisory council on the war on terror… grow the military to face all the challenges ahead… increase 92,000 in the next 5 years
9:53: Design a civilian reserve corps, similar to the military reserves.
9:54: “The world will not allow the regime in Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons.”
9:54: NATO has taken over operations in Afghanistan, the first time they’ve deployed outside the North Atlantic.
9:55: “We must continue to fight HIV/AIDS, especially on the continent of Africa,” as well as malaria in 15 African countries.
9:56: Recognizing guests in the gallery: Dikembe Mutombo recognized, is sitting next to Laura Bush.
9:58: Julie Aigner-Clark, founder of Baby Einstein.
9:59: Wesley Autrey, the New York City subway hero I posted about previously.
10:01: Army SGT Tommy Rieman, Silver Star recipient.
10:02: “This is a decent and honorable country, and resilient too. We’ve been through a lot together, we’ve met challenges and faced dangers, and we know that more lie ahead. Yet we can go forward with confidence, because the state of our union is strong, our cause in the world is right, and tonight, that cause goes on. God bless.”
10:03: Brit Hume: length of speech was average for Bush, approx. 50 minutes including some 60 applause breaks. Not Bush’s longest, but dwarfed by Clinton’s 90-minute speech in 2000.
10:04: This address, like most States of the Union, are more laundry-list speeches than “a soaring and thematic address. “President is shaking hands with folks on the House floor.
10:05: Salute to Speaker Pelosi and recognition of guests in the gallery got more applause than any of the other points in the speech, but reception was certainly polite.
10:06: President is signing autographs, working the crowd. “No wonder no one was looking at me, they were all reading the book!”
10:06: Camera is just watching and listening while the President greets the members one on one… very interesting to hear, and get this side of Bush’s personality. Dennis Kucinich appears to have circled around and greeted the President twice.
10:07: One unamed representative, an older lady: “Are we gonna get a kiss, Mr. President?” He gives her a peck on the cheek. A male representative behind him: “Can I have one?” [laughter]
10:15: Sen. Jim Webb with the Democrats response: We can’t rebut what’s been mentioned in this speech, but we hope he’s serious about what he’s said.
10:16: This is the seventh time Bush’s mentioned energy independence, but the first time he’s faced a Democratic Congress.
10:17: Economy: Some may say the economy’s never been better, The stock market is at an all-time high, but these benefits are not being properly shared.
10:17: Productivity is at it’s highest point, but wages and salaries for workers are at all-time lows.
10:18: Middle-class is losing its place at the table. White collars are now seeing this too.
10:19: Congress is working to get the right things done, for the right people, for the right reasons.
10:20: Webb family pictures.
10:21: We’d hoped our leaders were right, and we owed and gave our loyalty, but they owed us too: sound judgement, clear thinking… President took us to war recklessly, without taking warnings to heart.
10:21: Our reputation has been damaged overseas. Majority of our country, military [Wha??? Evidence, please. --P], and of Congress no longer supports how the war is being handled [almost said "no longer supports the war" but caught himself].
10:22: Comparing current class situation to Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency.
10:23: Comparing Iraq war to Korean War, which Eisenhower ended after a stalemate.
10:24: “These presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people, and the health of our relations around the world. We’re calling on this president to take similar action in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.”
