Summary of State of the Union 2007

Here’s a little outline of the State of the Union speech last night.

But first, some analysis.

If you actually listened last night (some people “boycotted”), most of it sounded like a shopping list.

Most of the time, Bush states his goal, but not how he’s going to do it. He knows his destination, but it looks like Mapquest is down.

Most of this is proposals, but some of it is ideas that have been put into effect that the media hasn’t reported much of.
-------------------------------------------------
I. Economy
A. Federal Deficit
- Plan for it to be gone in 5 years
B. Earmarks
- Cut in half this session
C. Renew Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security
II. Education
A. Students should be able to switch schools/Superintendents should be able to fix schools
B. More money for struggling students
C. Reauthorize No Child Left Behind
III. Healthcare
A. Standard Tax Deduction
- Families with health insurance will pay no income taxes or payroll taxes on $15,000 of their income
- Single households with health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes for $7,500 of their income
B. States that provide everyone with basic health insurance should get extra federal money
C. Expand Health Savings account
D. Association of Health Planning
E. Price transparency
F. Medical liability reform
IV. Immigration
A. Temporary worker program
B. “Without Amnesty”
V. Energy
A. Alternative Energy
- Ethanol, clean coal
B. Reduce gas usage by 20% in 10 years
C. Mandatory Fuel Standard
D. Double the capacity of the strategic petroleum reserves
VI. Judges
A. “Give those nominees a fair hearing, and a prompt up-or-down vote on the Senate floor”
VII. Terrorism\Iraq
A. What’s happened with terrorism since 9/11
B. Surge
C. Bipartisan special advisory council on the war on terror
D. Volunteer civilian reserve Corps.
VIII. Africa\AIDS
A. Funding for people with AIDS
B. Millennium Challenge Account

The full text of his speech can be found here.