Congressman Doyle Responds to President Bush's State of the Union Speech

Washington, DC - U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14)today made the following comments on President Bush's State of the Union speech:

"If the President expects his speech to rejuvenate his second term, he's likely to be sorely disappointed. The President has put together a laundry list of policy proposals that are either non-starters or non-answers.

"That's really a disaster in the making for the American people, because our country faces a number of serious challenges today that demand strong, thoughtful action from the federal government.

"Today, for example, we still face a serious threat from terrorism, but we also face other, equally serious foreign policy threats from around the world as well. The President has still not convinced me that he has a workable plan for a successful exit strategy for Iraq - let alone plans for dealing with the nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, for example.

"We face a number of major challenges at home as well - like rebuilding the Gulf Coast states devastated by hurricanes, providing all Americans with affordable, high quality health care, ensuring that we continue to have access to affordable, reliable energy supplies, making certain that all Americans can look forward to an old age free from fear and need, and creating decent jobs someone can support a family on.

"On all these fronts, the Bush Administration has a record of poorly conceived, terribly implemented policies that have produced a disproportionate number of mediocrities and outright failures. Fortunately, the major new proposals he made in his State of the Union request last year - like Social Security privatization and health care "reform" - died quick and merciful deaths, despite Republican control of Congress. There is nothing in the President's speech tonight that suggests to me his new proposals will fare much better - in most cases, the President's approaches are too ideological and too far out of the mainstream.

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