What do we expect?
The Domestic Agenda:
Health care. Bush will propose a tax deduction of $7,500 for individuals and $15,000 for families regardless of whether they buy their own health insurance or receive medical coverage at work. He also would subject employer-sponsored health care benefits to taxation, meaning those with more policies worth more than the deduction would see a tax hike. But those who get policies at work worth less than the deduction, the preponderance of workers with employer-provided insurance, would get a tax break. Another proposal would give some federal money now going to hospitals and other facilities to states for programs to reduce the number of uninsured.
Energy. Bush is expected to call for a sharp escalation in the federal mandate on use of ethanol as a renewable fuel alternative, a goal that may prove difficult to meet. He also may seek the power to raise fuel economy standards for passenger cars, authority he also asked for last year. Some Democrats worried the plan would give transportation officials overly broad authority to change the system.
Education. Bush will push for Congress to renew his education accountability law, No Child Left Behind, which expires this year. Democrats will expect him to go along with increases in spending to help schools make the required progress under the law.
National Security:
Bush was not expected to rehash the speech he gave less than two weeks ago laying out his revamped plan for Iraq, the centerpiece of which is a 21,500-troop increase in the U.S. military presence. Instead, he was to broadly defend his stand that Iraq is part of a war on terror that will make Americans safer.This post will be updated throughout the day as more information comes available.
UPDATE: Over at The Corner, K-Lo reports:
Tony Snow just said (on The Today Show) that the president is going to talk about immigration in a way that is "visionary" tonight in the State of the Union. Hey, go for it. Goodness knows we could use some law-abiding, non-patronizing vision on this front.UPDATE 2 - AP News Alert:
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush will call in his State of the Union message for Americans to cut their gasoline consumption by 20 percent by 2017.That's great...but unless he has a PLAN for doing this it is meaningless...
UPDATE 3 - From Reuters:
About 30 million Americans could face a tax hike under President George W. Bush's plan to expand health insurance coverage and address rising health care costs, the White House said on MondayThe LAST thing we need is yet another big government entitlement program...
UPDATE 4 - AP News Alert:
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush will seek in his State of the Union message to dissuade skeptical lawmakers who are ready to oppose his Iraq war build up, the White House says.The only way this works is if he announce a plan to cut and run...and I don't think you'll be hearing that during tonight's speech...
