If America is addicted to oil, as President Bush said Tuesday night in his State of the Union speech, the treatment plan he sketched out is likely to be long and costly.
And even if the country achieves the goals Bush set in his speech, the U.S. would remain heavily dependent on oil imports from volatile regions for years to come.
Bush proposed making ethanol, a corn-based fuel that currently is less efficient than gasoline, competitive with gas within six years.
“Six years is really ambitious,” said Mark Edelman, an economist at Iowa State University. “That’s really going to take some ramping up of research and funding.”
Edelman said Bush’s proposed $59 million increase in research funding to $150 million in 2007 is significant but that many of the most promising ethanol technologies “at this point are pretty much in the beginning stages of research.”
If that goal is met, and other breakthroughs are achieved, the U.S. would cut its reliance on oil from the Mideast by 75 percent by 2025, Bush said in his speech.
Other major sources
That is a big cut, but not nearly as large as it sounds. The U.S. gets only 20 percent of its oil from the Middle East, according to the Department of Energy. Far more oil comes from Africa and Venezuela, where governments also are either unstable or unfriendly to the U.S.
The framing of energy policy was one of several instances in which Bush painted an optimistic picture, glossing over certain details.
In addressing the steep rise in federal spending during his administration, which has stirred protests from some followers, Bush chose words that appeared designed to portray him as a budget cutter.
“Every year of my presidency, we have reduced the growth of non-security discretionary spending,” Bush told Congress.
But the president was using a budgetary term that excluded some of the most costly expansions of government spending during his administration.
His new prescription drug program, which began Jan. 1, and a large increase in federal farm subsidies he approved are counted in a different category: entitlement spending.
And there has been steep growth even in discretionary spending unrelated to security. Excluding spending for homeland security, defense and relief for Hurricane Katrina, domestic discretionary spending has jumped 33 percent since 2001, according to an October report by the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Other spending excluded
Brian Riedl, federal budget analyst for the foundation, added that the administration’s figures also exclude follow-up “emergency” spending bills that Congress passes every year.
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“They’re twisting the definition of spending in a ridiculous way so that he can make it look like he’s spending less,” Riedl said.
On another issue, Bush portrayed strong showings by Islamic fundamentalist political parties in recent Middle East elections as evolutionary steps toward democracy and liberty.
But many observers, including some in the president’s party, say results in Egypt, the Palestinian territories and Iraq may portend further instability and the rise of anti-American governments.
Bush’s education plan, part of his American Competitiveness Initiative, would set aside $380 million in new federal money to improve the quality of math, science and technology education in the nation’s elementary and high schools. The initiative calls for training 70,000 new teachers for advanced high school math and science classes, encouraging 30,000 math and science professionals to become adjunct high school teachers.
Persuading 30,000 math and science professionals to head to schools, where the pay is notoriously low, might prove difficult. School districts nationwide already have programs that help professionals move into the classroom without having to obtain a full teaching license.
Michael Lach, director of science programs for Chicago Public Schools, said, “What is really lacking is good, qualified [basic] science and math teachers,” adding that many teachers of a particular subject don’t have enough training in that subject.
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Voices of solidarity, protest also dog address
Loyal guest: Among First Lady Laura Bush’s guests at the State of the Union address was Rex, a bomb-sniffing German shepherd who served in Iraq. Rex’s owner was badly injured and wanted the dog to come home with her. The Air Force resisted, but an act of Congress cleared the way.
Cabinet absentee: Every year, one Cabinet member skips the address so the government would be able to function if an attack or accident hit the Capitol during the speech. This year’s no-show was Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson.
The robes: Enjoying front-row seats were four members of the Supreme Court, the most to attend a State of the Union address since the late 1990s. Two new faces–Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel Alito–joined Justices Stephen Breyer and Clarence Thomas. Breyer is the only court member to attend all State of the Union speeches since 2000, when none of the justices showed.
Chicago protest: Demonstrators estimated by police to number about 500 chanted for Bush to resign at a “The World Can’t Wait. Drive Out the Bush Regime!” rally in Chicago’s Federal Plaza and a march afterward. “I marched for civil rights, and now they’re taking them away,” said Charles Hendricks, 70. “It’s time for America to stand up for something that’s worth something.”
Stand-up: The president got a good laugh when he said that this year the first of the Baby Boomers turn 60, “including two of my dad’s favorite people–me and President Bill Clinton.” The elder Bush and Clinton were once bitter political rivals but are now friendly and worked together on relief efforts after the South Asian tsunami in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina last year.
Coincidence: On the television schedule opposite Bush’s speech were “Overhaulin'” (The Learning Channel), “Anything to Win” (Game Show Network), “Mad Money”(CNBC), “Mission: Organization” (HGTV) and “The Most Extreme” (Animal Planet).
–Tribune staff and news services
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