Post by Moses on Feb 2, 2006 13:37:40 GMT -5
FEBRUARY 1, 2006
NEWS ANALYSIS
By Richard S. Dunham
A Probusiness State of the Union
Bush's speech was studded with points that are dear to Corporate America. Some even have a good chance of being enacted
President Bush's 2006 State of the Union address was a familiar stew: a dash of Reaganesque optimism, a pinch of Clintonian small-bore initiatives, a heaping teasthingy of Truman-like tough talk, and a generous portion of warmed-up leftovers from previous policy speeches. But as familiar as the ingredients of the President's Jan. 31 oration were to viewers, they formed a tasty recipe for American business.
The reason: The President's domestic agenda was dominated by an "American Competitiveness Initiative" that's strongly supported by the vast majority of the business community, from large corporations to Main Street shops.
While only a few items on Bush's wish list were new to a State of the Union audience, it was significant that he focused on economic issues pushed hard by business, rather than on the social agenda of religious conservatives. Facing tough economic competition from India and China, the President called for "a better path" on economic policy, "an agenda for a nation that competes with confidence.... Americans should not fear our economic future, because we intend to shape it."
Among the items Bush cited are many dear to business leaders. Among them:
Fiscal responsibility. Companies have been pushing the President and the Republican Congress to get tough on spending after four years of record-high deficits. John J. Castellani, president of the Business Roundtable, hails Bush's professed commitment to shrinking nonsecurity discretionary spending. [If it were the deficit they cared about, and not screwing American citizens, they would ask for drastic cuts in the wasteful, destructive, and much larger "security" budget]
"The federal government does not have unlimited resources," Castellani says, "and our nation's leaders should give a priority to policies that will keep America's economy growing, ensure a healthy business climate, and create more opportunities for workers." The President will have to work with fiscal conservatives in his own party to trim some of the legislative pork that has larded the budget and fattened the deficit.
Immigration. Despite intense pressure from social conservatives and conservative GOP populists, Bush stood firm against immigration restrictions that cut off economic opportunities for all newcomers. "We hear claims that immigrants are somehow bad for the economy, even though this economy could not function without them," he told lawmakers, some of whom are pushing immigration law changes that Bush opposes.
Such talk is music to the ears of businesses that rely on [cheap] immigrant labor. But the President will have to hang tough to avoid tough immigration restrictions sought by his party's right wing.
Trade liberalization. Bush rebuked protectionists in his own party and isolationists in both parties. The doubters, he argued, embrace "forms of economic retreat, and they lead in the same direction: toward a stagnant and second-rate economy." The President's rallying cry sent a clear message to opponents of new trade pacts that the White House would continue to seek further multinational agreements. With a deeply divided Congress, the future of trade legislation remains cloudy.
Tax cuts, not tax reform. [Again proving that business is not concerned w/ the deficit, but it is simply an excuse to exercise their ideology of changing our country to a free field for business] The President didn't talk about broad tax reform, and that's fine with most leading businesses. The reason: A major overhaul of the tax code would produce corporate winners and losers, and companies would rather have lower rates than a wide-open battle over the tax system. So Bush is likely to win friends in the corporate community by instead nudging Congress to make his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent. But unless the President's approval ratings edge higher, it'll be a difficult assignment in '06.
Math and science education. The President threw his weight behind a proposal strongly pushed by Business Roundtable and the high-tech alliance TechNet: spending federal funds to improve math and science programs in U.S. schools. Bush endorsed a plan formulated by Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to train 70,000 new math and science teachers, to bring 30,000 math and science professionals into public school classrooms, and to improve remedial education in science and math.
Republicans and Democrats alike joined with the business community to hail the limited initiative, reminiscent of the small programs favored by former President Clinton. Says House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio): "With an increasingly mobile work force and a rapidly expanding global marketplace, it is critical for workers to have the education and skills necessary to adapt to new opportunities." Such sentiments show why a relatively inexpensive initiative like this will likely become law this year. [Again, their disingenuity about the deficit]
Health care. The President won a bipartisan standing ovation when he said affordable health care was essential to keeping American competitive. His solution, unlike Hillary Clinton's sweeping changes of 1993, will be embraced by business. He asked Congress to increase spending on information technology [no-- to create databases that decreases privacy and give gov and bus access to private info] , expand Health Savings Accounts, and provide "the same tax advantages" for small businesses and individuals to buy health insurance as are afforded to large companies (see BW Online, 1/31/06, "Health Care's Electronic Elixir?").
Even before the speech, business groups were jumping on the Bush health-care bandwagon. "The President's common-sense, market-based reforms will lead to dramatic improvements in health care," says U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas J. Donohue, "and Congress should move swiftly to implement them."[preying on the American people for fees and cash] Donohue and Bush are girding for a showdown with congressional liberals. The President will have to use any political capital he can accumulate to win passage of major health-care changes.
Energy costs. Like consumers, businesses have been hurt by rising energy prices, and the President renewed his call for long-term energy self-sufficiency. His weapons: home-grown American products such as ethanol and green technology. He wasn't an Al Gore clone, but the President didn't mention drilling under the Alaskan tundra or other controversial pronouncements of the past.
Though much of the business community likes what Bush said, some wanted to hear more about aggressive production and short-term relief from soaring natural gas prices. Says National Association of Manufacturers President John Engler: "We had hoped President Bush would forcefully address this fundamental contradiction in our energy policy and were disappointed that he did not." With gas prices on voters' minds, energy policy is sure to remain atop the political agenda in '06. But bipartisan policymaking appears unlikely.
Tort reform. The President pushed all the right buttons with a pro-business perennial: limiting liability from lawsuits. [eradicating recourse when corps kill or injure citizens] Specifically, he focused on medical liability. That follows the Administration's incremental strategy on tort reform. Rather than seeking a wide-ranging law reining in trial lawyers, Bush and the congressional Republican leadership are trying to eat the apple one bite at a time. It's an uphill fight, but Bush will have strong business support, as well as backing from the medical establishment, this year.
Overall, the President's competitiveness agenda was overshadowed by his discussion of the war on terrorism and his global campaign for democracy. Those international topics will likely form the basis for George W. Bush's historical legacy. Then again, the speech's economics portion will sound the right notes in the corporate world. And in the short run, keeping the business community happy is vital to underwriting Republican campaigns in the 2006 midterm elections.
[These campaign contributions are just pay to play--bribery-- not "free speech" as the functionaries appointed to the Supreme Court will claim.