Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Just before President Bush went to Congress Monday night to report on the state of the union, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland was on National Public Radio talking about the state of his state.
Facing a budget deficit that could top $1 billion, Strickland, a former member of Congress from the Mahoning Valley, was quick to turn the spotlight on Washington.
The Democratic governor’s message to the Republican president and the Democratic controlled Congress could be summed up thus: Get your act together and reignite the faltering national economy.
Whether Bush gave Strickland any reason for optimism remains to be seen.
It is telling, however, that the president did not begin his speech with words that have become almost traditional, having been used by him and his predecessors in past years: “The state of the union is strong.” He did offer a version of that line toward the end of the address.
It almost seemed that the president was not sure how Congress would react to such a rosy assessment given the myriad problems confronting the United States today.
It wasn’t only Strickland bemoaning the devastating effects the collapse of the national economy are having on main street. From California to Nevada to New Jersey, the story is the same: Governors are being forced to make deep cuts in spending and to find ways of generating new revenue.
Thus the question: Will the $150 billion economic stimulus package that President Bush urged Congress to pass without delay and without major changes — the bill was developed by the White House and Democratic and Republican leaders of the House of Representatives — be enough spur economic growth?
Long-term proposition
Even with the prediction of half a million jobs being created this year as a result of Americans spending the tax rebates they would receive and the tax breaks for businesses, the nation’s long-term economic stability and expansion are uncertain, at best.
Bush’s successor will inherit the economic turmoil that has jarred the nation.
Over the last six or so years, Ohio has lost more than 200,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs and there was nothing in Monday night’s state of union speech to suggest that the White House has a strategy in place to restore America’s industrial might.
Indeed, the half million jobs that may be created immediately will more than likely be in the service sector — in stores and other places where America shops; they won’t be in the factories.
It is this reality that has prompted Democrats in the Senate to propose their own $156 billion stimulus plan that would include tax rebates for senior citizens and extend federal unemployment insurance benefits for jobless Americans in all states by 13 weeks. There would also be additional benefits for workers in states with high unemployment.
In the end, President Bush’s last State of the Union speech was uninspiring and uneventful, which was to be expected given that he is a lame duck. But he could certainly have boosted the morale of the American people by announcing a forward-thinking initiative to create jobs, such as a nationwide road and bridge rebuilding program.
Many independent studies have pointed to the deterioration of America’s transportation infrastructure.
Had the president offered such a proposal, he would have had at least one member of Congress squarely on his side — U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, who suggested Monday afternoon that such a rebuilding program would create the kinds of jobs that would certainly spur the economy.