Tonight President Bush gave what was only his fourth televised press conference since he won presidency in 2000. It's no secret that President Bush hates the press, and who can blame him, the majority of them give him quite a bum wrap. But things have become so muddled and deadlocked on Capitol Hill over the past month that things needed to be set straight. Partisan politics has become so polarizing and biting that everyone seems to be at a standstill as far as Social Security, UN Ambassador Bolton, and Bush's judicial nominees. And so this evening Bush, with an air of lightheartedness and a stern 9 minute speech, made it clear where he stands.
The main subject of his speech, and some of the questions, was what interested me the most: the future of social security. It's no secret where I stand on the issue, and that I've made it a point for the College Republicans at SHU to focus on the issue this semester. For the most part, Bush and Vice President Cheney have been traveling the country promoting private accounts but have said little about their other plans to fix the system. They never claimed private accounts would fix it alone, so there had to be other changes to make the whole boat solvent again. Tonight, Bush announced those proposals:
It's a plan drawn out by a Democratic Senator (a move showing Bush's bi-partisan agenda on the matter) that involves a sliding scale for increased benefits, favoring lower income workers. Everyone gets increased benefits as they retire, however lower income workers (those who paid into the system with minimum wage all their lives) will get a bigger payout than the wealthier Americans. While some Republicans (like my Dad) may not enjoy this idea, since it is a major re-distribution of wealth, I think it's a step in the right direction. You figure, the middle class and wealthier workers are more likely to invest in the private accounts program, therefore gaining back more to begin with... so it would all balance out. Bush presented a much sharper, clearer plan for fixing Social Security, something none of the leading Democrats in Congress have been able to do.
He then spoke on gas prices, and the importance of developing other forms fuel. He spoke about his energy plan, which has already been approved by the House, which calls for a number of things: building more refineries, advancement of clean nuclear power, and the drilling of ANWR (finally!). He also emphatically stated that there will not be price gouging at the gas stations across the country.
The question and answering session, which took up a majority of the event, focused on everything across the board, from the North Korean threat, to Putin selling arms to Syria, to No Child Left Behind and religion in politics.
Bush is having a hard time right now, and there isn't much he can do about it. The Dems in the Senate are causing a stink, all stemming from their still-sore wounds received in the past election, and Bush going on national TV to plead his case is definitely going to help. Bush has sort of been sitting back on his hands over the past month, allowing these talking heads to walk all over his stances on things. Well now Bush is fighting back, taking it to the people, and making himself clear. The public (and polls have shown) are tired of the partisan bickering going on in Congress. Nothing's getting done, and too many people (and I'm not going out on a limb when I say it's mainly Democrats) are just being negative without providing solutions. Bush did that tonight... so let's see who catches on.
