Democrats Say Bush Speech Slights Average Americans
reuters.com
Tue January 20, 2004 11:01 PM ET
By Vicki Allen and Joanne Kenen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats seeking to oust George W. Bush from the White House on Tuesday harshly criticized as empty promises for ordinary Americans the State of the Union speech by the president they hope to succeed.
They also accused Bush of pursuing reckless policies abroad that have alienated allies and left the United States to bear most of the costs and casualties of the Iraq war.
"The State of the Union may look rosy from the White House balcony or the suites of George Bush's wealthiest donors. But hard-working Americans will see through this president's effort to wrap his radical agenda with a compassionate ribbon," said former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who hoped to bounce back from his third place finish in the Iowa caucuses in next week's New Hampshire primary.
Bush in a wide ranging speech defended the war in Iraq, outlined the ongoing threat of global terrorism, promised to promote economic growth and job creation, called for making permanent tax cuts he pushed through Congress and unveiled modest domestic initiatives on improving health and education.
But Democrats said he was ignoring the needs of average Americans while pushing policies that benefit the wealthy.
"I think there's just two different worlds here, the world the president talks about and the world Americans are living in," Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who won Monday's Iowa caucuses, said on NBC.
"While CEO pay is up and Wall Street profits are up, the average American only earned three cents on the dollar more. Workers are hurting all across America," Kerry said.
North Carolina Democratic Sen. John Edwards, whose campaign got a boost in Iowa where he finished second, sounded a similar note when he delivered a speech called "The State of the Two Americas."
"When the president says, 'The state of our union is strong,' you need to ask 'which union Mr. President?"' Edwards said. "Because the state of George Bush's union -- the America of the Washington lobbyists, special interests and his CEO friends -- is doing just fine. They get what they want, whenever they want."
NEW AXIS OF EVIL
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who bypassed Iowa to focus on New Hampshire, said, "The sad fact is that today, two years after he coined the term, we've got a new axis of evil ... of fiscal policies that threaten our future, foreign policies that threaten our security and domestic policies that put families dead last."
Clark said Bush will "spend billions on the war in Iraq, missile defense, and sending a man to Mars. But he's going to spend a grand total of $120 million for job training. That's just $15 for each unemployed American. That's not much more than the cost of bus fare to the training center, lunch, and coffee."
Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the most conservative Democratic contender, said Bush "seems to be in a state of denial about the state of our economy, our health care system and our relations with the world."
Democrats in Congress also ripped Bush for pursuing "a go-it-alone foreign policy" and mishandling the economy.
"The president led us into the Iraq war on the basis of unproven assertions without evidence; he embraced a radical doctrine of pre-emptive war unprecedented in our history, and he failed to build a true international coalition," said House of Representatives Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.
"America must be a light to the world, not just a missile," she said.
Criticizing Bush's call to make permanent the tax cuts he pushed through Congress, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota said, "America can't afford to keep rewarding the accumulation of wealth over the dignity of work."
Daschle said the "massive tax cuts that were supposed to spark an economic expansion have instead led to an economic exodus" that has failed to create jobs. |
