Bush Preps for Prime Time

By Pamela Mortimer

Monday’s State of the Union address may be President Bush’s last opportunity to capture the public’s attention and put it to good use. According to sources, Bush plans to pressure Congress, and more specifically the Senate, to complete "an economic stimulus package" as quickly as possible. The president will also reference improved security measures being taken in Iraq and will attempt to reassert that he is the only one who can make the decision about when U.S. troops will come home. There will also be other topics of conversation, many of them "modest".

One item on President Bush’s agenda is to push the reduction of "earmarks", a Capitol Hill tactic used to slip pet projects into existing spending bills. The president will make a pledge to veto any bill that does not cut its earmarks by 50 percent in comparison to items that are already in the current budget. In addition, Bush will announce plans to sign an executive order on Tuesday ordering agencies to ignore any future earmarks that are not actually written into law, but rather tucked into obscure "report" language. The White House says that the move, if successful, will force Congress to bring its spending out into the open.

Since this is the final State of the Union for Bush, topics will be split between domestic and foreign issues. Sources expect few surprises and no sign of big initiatives. When addressing difficult issues, many expect the same rhetoric to apply to this press conference: Blame Congress.

No matter how he might try, Bush cannot blame the Democrats for his failure to overhaul Social Security and immigration laws, plans that met their demise on Capitol Hill. Along with opposition from the Dems, Bush also "ran into walls" that were constructed by members of his own party. White House press secretary Dana Perino has been noted as saying that it is "unrealistic to expect Congress to take on big problems".

One thing the public will not get is Bush taking a nostalgic look back on his presidency.

"I can understand how many people, especially those that cover the president in the press, could see that the president would approach this as his legacy speech," Perino said. "But no, not at all. This is a very forward-looking speech."

The president will also comment on Iran, Middle East peace talks, the spread of democracy, and the U.S. attempts to fight against disease and hunger rampant in the world’s poorer nations. Regarding the economy, he's expected to rehash the bipartisan rebate program that is expected to provide rebate checks to 117 million families and $50 billion in incentives for businesses to invest in new growth.

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are expected to be in attendance. John McCain will remain in Florida.