President Bush will be giving his final State of the Union address this evening, but before he does I wanted to take an opportunity to talk about some key points Congressional Democrats will be focusing on this evening. Last year, Congress had some remarkable accomplishments in 2007. We implemented the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, made the largest investment in education since the GI bill, increased the minimum wage, and successfully pushed through legislation to take care of our veterans who have done an excellent job in taking care of us.
This evening, we are hoping that President Bush will discuss plans to effectively work through bipartisanship to move the country forward. The American people are being squeezed at all ends right now, wages haven’t meaningfully increased in years, the mortgage crisis threatens home ownership, the price of gas and groceries are moving ever higher and job growth has been anemic. I believe the economic stimulus package will provide quick results, although not permanent, to give aid to our aching middle class. In the long term, we need to address the sub-prime lending crisis and tackle the banking practices that allowed this to happen in the first place. I doubt we will, but I’d certainly like to hear an effective plan on the direction of Iraq, though I’m not holding my breath.
His thoughts on health care reform would be helpful, and I’d certainly love to hear him explain his veto on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program which would provide healthcare for 10 million children. Regardless, although we might not see any surprises, we are hoping to see glimpses of compromise this evening as the President take the podium before the joint-session this evening.
|
Posted by Congressman Tim Ryan (01-28-2008, 09:54 AM) filed under
General
|
Comments:
Comment by: Jody
January 29, 2008 09:29 AM
Why did Congress decide that the economic stimulus package should include rebates for businesses? It makes more sense to me that lower income people/families receive money to either catch up on bills and/or buy something they might not be able to afford, which in turn would go back to business.
|
Submit a Comment
