2008 State of the Union focuses on economy by Zuzana Zelenakova

On Monday President Bush delivered his annual State of the Union speech. He focused on troubling situation in US economy and urged Congress to approve $150 million rescue plan. "At kitchen tables across our country, there is concern about our economic future," he stated. However, some people already questioned the size of the stimulus package wondering if it is big enough to deal with the recession. On Iraq, always a main topic of his addresses to the Congress, he declared his decision to send another 30,000 troops to the fight last year to be a success. The increase has helped to restrict violence, but US troop withdrawal from the country is far away and thus the end of the conflict too. As far as the two previous goals are concerned, immigration and Social Security, Mr. Bush left those to Congress to deal with. He also threatened to veto any tax increases in his final year. "A modest speech with modest goals," David Gergen, former advisor to Reagan and Clinton administrations, called it. And indeed there is truth in that for George Bush used his previous speeches to promote big issues such as invading Iraq, developing alternative fuels or partially privatizing Social Security.

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080128/ap_on_go_pr_wh/state_of_union;_ylt=Aui.0yZwuFpBsHbQBCFlNk6s0NUE

by Zuzana Zelenakova for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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