Great Economy Is Bad News
By Tom Barrett (01/28/04)
Sullen Democrats hissed and made stupid faces as the President described the growth and strength of our nation's economy in his 2004 State of the Union address. For the last year they have been praying every day for the economy to worsen, so one cannot blame them for being upset when faced with facts that prove our nation's economic health is improving. A bad economy is the only chance they have for putting one of their cronies in the White House, and it is clear their prayers are not going to be answered. So a lot of Democrats chewed a lot of antacid tablets last Tuesday night.
Once again, Teddy Kennedy wins the prize for the Stupidest Facial Expressions During a State of the Union Address. He has an edge on his competitors, because he wears a perpetual scowl. All he has to do is throw in a little extra surliness and shake his head (which causes his jowls to flap) and he wins every time. He did his best work whenever the President mentioned lowering taxes or giving seniors prescription drug benefits. However, Teddy is getting on in years, so there is hope for the second prize winner in the Stupid Facial Expressions category, Charlie Rangel. The cameras zoomed in on him for some R-rated looks that would make children cry in fear (good thing it was late night). He thought he was expressing disapproval, but he just looked dumb.
As a party, the Democrats once again took away the award for Rudeness During an Important Event While the Whole World is Watching. They actually hissed at the President when he spoke about making the tax cuts (which have given us this great economy) permanent. They don't care that the tax cuts have made the nation more prosperous. They don't care that they look petty and foolish in the eyes of other nations that look to us as a super power. All they care about is that the economy is proving that tax cuts are good for America, and that makes them furious.
It amazes me that grown men and women can act like petulant children at an important event such as the State of the Union address. Don't they realize that they owe the people who elected them some dignity and (if I can use an old-fashioned word) character? Paul Harvey once lamented the dearth of giants on the political landscape. "There are so few. We're up to our ankles in pygmies." The rude performances of most on the left side of the aisle this week definitely put them in the pygmy category.
But all was not petulance and sullen expressions. Although the speech was not what I would call a "barn-burner," the President had a lot of good news for the nation. If you were not privileged to watch his address, I will highlight some of the most important points. You can also read the entire address on the web via the link I have provided below.
THE WAR ON TERROR IS WORKING. Because of the strong and courageous actions we as a nation have taken, there has not been another attack on our soil since 9/11. Afghanistan and Iraq have been freed with minimal loss of life on both sides. Saddam Hussein, the most ruthless dictator since Adolph Hitler has been removed from power. The Taliban, who like Saddam tortured and murdered their own people, have likewise been removed. Two-thirds of al-Qaeda leaders have been captured or killed. Funding for terrorist groups worldwide has been blocked or disrupted. Untold numbers of acts of terror, both in this country and abroad, have been thwarted because of George W. Bush's leadership.
Bush's resolve is paying off in other ways. For years Libya has been a threat to world peace and to our nation particularly due to their nuclear weapons program. Clinton did nothing about this grave danger except to talk. ("It depends on your definition of the phrase 'nuclear weapon'.") Bush acted. When Bush took out Saddam, Mohammar Kadaffi realized that he could be next. Libya has voluntarily agreed to give up its weapons of mass destruction. And it is starting to look like the same message is getting through to North Korea.
But in her pitiful attempt to rebut the State of the Union address, arch-liberal Nancy Pelosi referred only to President Bush's "radical doctrine of preemptive war." She forgets that Clinton followed the same "radical doctrine," as did many US Presidents that preceded him. Only a fool sits back and waits to be destroyed before acting. But in fact, the action in Iraq is not a preemptive war as the liberals would have us believe. This war started on January 17, 1991. President Bush's father bowed to United Nations pressure and didn't finish the job. He should have pushed on to Baghdad and removed Saddam then. His son didn't start a war; he finished the job his father and an international coalition of nations started.
Pelosi said the Democrats have "a better answer to terrorism." She wants every shipping container that enters the United States to be inspected. Nancy Pelosi is a raging socialist, but she is not stupid. She knows what she proposes is impossible. Her only reason for proposing it is to try to make Bush look bad when he doesn't accomplish an impossible task. Only three to four per cent of containers are inspected currently. If we drafted every federal, state and local police official, and threw in all of our military personnel to help the customs people, we could not inspect every container. Pelosi knows that the real answer is immigration reform, but it would be politically unwise to suggest something that could actually be accomplished. This is the woman that the Democrats elected to be their Leader in the House of Representatives!
"THE TAX RELIEF YOU PASSED IS WORKING," Bush told the assembled Senators and Congressmen. He was being kind, because many in the chamber that night had worked tooth and toenail to defeat Bush's tax reforms. But enough politicians realized that their jobs were on the line unless they gave America some relief from our heavy burden of taxes that the measures passed.
Bush knew that his fight for tax reform could have cost him his reelection. But his political courage (which means caring more about the oath he took and the people he serves than about reelection) has paid off. To quote the President again, "You have doubled the child tax credit from 500 to a thousand dollars, reduced the marriage penalty, begun to phase out the death tax, reduced taxes on capital gains and stock dividends, cut taxes on small businesses, and you have lowered taxes for every American who pays income taxes."
The result? America took the money Bush gave them back and put it to work. The stock market is soaring, unemployment is dropping, and interest rates are among the lowest in decades. More people own their own homes than at any time in our nation's history. Because of the demand this has created, new home construction is at a 20 year high. Manufacturing activity is rising. Inflation is extremely low. And most important, overall economic growth in the third quarter of 2003 was the fastest in nearly 20 years. Tax reform is driving one of the strongest economies we have ever seen.
In his commentary on the address, Larry Kudlow, respected economist and television commentator, had this to say about the tax cuts. "Since they went into effect the stock market and the economy have sprung to life."
Yet the only thing Dour Daschle (Pelosi's Democrat counterpart in the Senate), in his equally pitiful response to the President's speech, could come up with was a weak statement that "The President asks us to use Social Security to pay for these tax cuts." First, the tax cuts have already paid for themselves. They are accomplishing their purpose. The dollars that have been plowed back into the economy have increased the tax base. This means there are more profits to tax, which allows Americans to pay a smaller percentage of taxes on a larger pool of money.
His response is dishonest in another way. Bush made one brief mention of a plan he has put forth before, one that would allow young people to invest a small part of their own social security money in a way that would bring them far better returns than the inefficient way government handles social security money. Yet Daschle dishonestly implies that the money to pay for the tax cuts (which, as I mentioned, actually pay for themselves) by taking it from a ninety-year-old widow's social security check. The Democrats have used this type of dishonest fear-mongering for years. It is beneath contempt.
BUSH UPHELD HIGH MORAL STANDARDS. During this address, our President once again proved that he is a moral man, a man who is guided by the Word of God. He made it clear that he would support a Constitutional Amendment to defend marriage if activist judges and liberal states continue to push for homosexual "marriages." He promised to increase funding for abstinence education to answer the growing problem of sexually transmitted disease among our young people. (Clinton would have increased funding for condoms and told the kids, "Have fun. Follow my example.") Because he is not a socialist (as so many in Congress are), Bush said, "A government-run health care system is the wrong prescription." Instead he proposed 100% deduction of money contributed to health care savings plans. And he promised to veto any attempt to repeal the prescription drug benefit for seniors that he fought so hard for.
Finally, the President promised to unleash the compassion of America's religious institutions. Government bureaucracies prevented churches and church-based programs from receiving government funds for such things as substance abuse and prison after-care programs. This in spite of the fact that Bible-based programs have been proven over and over again to be more effective. Where secular programs have had small success in keeping graduates off drugs and alcohol, Christian programs have been extremely successful, because they give their graduates the power to stay clean through the Word of God. Likewise, recidivism rates (the percentage of ex-convicts who end up back in prison) are dramatically lower in faith-based programs than in secular ones. Bush issued an executive order directing government agencies not to discriminate against a program because it was religious. In his address, he said he would ask Congress to make that executive order a law.
There was only one area in which I disagreed with the President's comments. He said that he does not believe in amnesty for illegal aliens, because that would reward them for breaking the law and encourage further illegal immigration. I fully agree with that concept. Then he said, "My temporary worker program will preserve the citizenship path for those who respect the law, while bringing millions of hardworking men and women out from the shadows of American life." To me that is just semantics. Amnesty by any other name is still amnesty. We have tried it before, and our immigration problems got worse. At a time when one of our nation's biggest problems is illegal immigration, because of its potential for importing terrorists, I think it is folly to do anything that makes it easier for people to have entered this country illegally to gain legal status. Instead, we should be directing our efforts to finding and deporting these people, while we protect our borders to prevent more from entering our nation.
Let me close by quoting three important statements the President made on January 20, 2004.
"America acts in this cause with friends and allies at our side, yet we understand our special calling: This great Republic will lead the cause of freedom."
"For diplomacy to be effective, words must be credible - and no one can now doubt the word of America."
"In their efforts, their enterprise, and their character, the American people are showing that the state of our Union is confident and strong."
INTERNET LINKS FOR THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2004/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040120-7.html
AMERICA'S NEWSPAPER EDITORS' COMMENTS ON THE ADDRESS:
"It's hard to argue with the overarching priorities George W. Bush set out confidently in his State of the Union speech -- protecting Americans from terrorism, strengthening the U.S. economy and making health care more accessible. Mr. Bush has proven himself to be a president who can get things done."
-- Editorial, "Shake It Up," Orlando Sentinel, January 21, 2004
"Bush claimed, correctly, that 'Because of American leadership and resolve, the world is changing for the better.' Thanks in large part to his willingness to remove Saddam Hussein, thuggish regimes in Libya, North Korea and Iran appear to be getting the message that with this president, dangerous behavior and illicit nuclear ambitions can have unpleasant consequences."
-- Editorial, Chicago Tribune, January 21, 2004
"Mr. Bush showed himself Tuesday to be no less the confident leader he was upon taking the oath of office three years ago. The world has changed, but his values and resolve have not wavered.
-- Editorial, The Wichita Eagle, January 21, 2004
"With the power of his office, Bush demonstrated last night that he won't retreat an inch before the Democrats' attacks.
-- Editorial, "Bush Makes His Case," Boston Herald, January 21, 2004
"It is hard to argue the American people are not safer today than they were a year ago, now that Saddam Hussein has been turned out of power and is in the custody of the U.S. military.
-- Editorial, San Diego Union-Tribune, January 21, 2004
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