Adams on "State of the Union"

The following is Independent Presidential hopeful Steve Adams' response to the President's sixth "State of the Union" address, which he told to the Conservative President 2008.

Steve Adams' Response to the 2007 "State of the Union" Address:

A president can promise or propose anything in a speech, but can later blame anything that is undone on a Congress unwilling to listen to his plans. My overall view was “Not enough and why wait?” I will quote President Bush several times.

“I will submit a budget that eliminates the federal deficit within the next five years.” – Why not now? There is no reason to wait. Eliminate the deficit now and start working on the debt.

“In 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to …nearly $18 billion. …cut the number and cost of earmarks at least in half by the end of this session.” – again, zero earmarks now. Use my taxes and your taxes for things the government must do, not pet projects of Congress. This is unconscionable.

Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid: “…yet somehow we have not found it in ourselves to act. So let us work together and do it now.” – Nice promise, but no details. These programs, as long as we keep them, must be part of a balanced budget.

Healthcare: “...standard tax deduction for health insurance…Families with health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes on $15,000 of their income. [more numbers]” – Sounds like more confusing legislation on the way. What happens to those with healthcare with income over $15,000? Are they taxed more? Is this merely redistribution of wealth, punishing those who have healthcare? “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”, Karl Marx?

“My second proposal is to help the states that are coming up with innovative ways to cover the uninsured…” – I agree that states should have more control as I prefer multiple local solutions rather than one huge federal mess. However it is important to note that insurance is not a right. Neither is healthcare, housing, utilities, food, a car to get to work, daycare, and everything else someone might need. We have the right to pursue happiness. The government is not required to hand it to us.

Immigration: “laws that are fair and borders that are secure…We will enforce our immigration laws at the worksite, and give employers the tools to verify the legal status of their workers – so there is no excuse left for violating the law.” – Agreed

Immigration: “Yet even with all these steps, we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border – and that requires a temporary worker program.” – A country that cannot secure our own border is ridiculous.

Energy: “For too long our Nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes, and to terrorists… We must continue changing the way America generates electric …we must also step up domestic oil production…” – Agreed, but it must be immediate. We have to rebuild domestic oil discovery and infrastructure immediately and move to alternatives as soon as possible. Electricity generated by the continually changing, market driven, cheapest solution is our long term solution.

“To prevail, we must remove the conditions that inspire blind hatred, …helping moderates, reformers, and brave voices for democracy." – We must work for peace where it is possible, but we cannot modify conditions across the world to make people love or tolerate us. We must be ever vigilant for their attacks and be steadfast to isolate or attack those that threaten us.

“This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we are in. Every one of us wishes that this war were over and won. … turn events toward victory… Our goal is a democratic Iraq … consequences of failure would be grievous and far reaching.“ – Our goal here has been ever changing; enforcing UN resolutions, removing a dictator, and bringing democracy. We are a beacon of freedom, but we cannot force our style of government on others. Will we next tell King Abdullah of Jordan or King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia that they must abdicate their thrones to form democracies? Our goal must now become bringing our sons and daughters, fathers and mothers home. This means immediately changing the current rules of engagement to favor our troops over any politics; talking to the commanders in the field to create a careful and swift exit strategy for all our military; and making it blatantly obvious to the Iraqis that they will soon control their own destinies.