State of the Union speech falls short -- Jesse Jackson
When will our troops return home from Iraq? What is the President’s plan to prevent factory jobs from going abroad? What is his plan for providing healthcare for the estimated 45 million Americans who have no insurance coverage? And how much money will he commit to address the AIDS epidemic spreading rapidly in black communities in the U.S. and around the world? The President’s 2005 State of the Union address failed to answer the questions that people care about. And for Americans who expected President Bush’s speech to bring a divided America closer together, the speech was a major disappointment, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson said. “The President’s State of the Union address looks at the world and our nation from a top down philosophy,” said Rev. Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. “From his plan to privatize social security, curtailing class-action lawsuits that hold corporations accountable, to his proposals granting tax breaks to corporations who take their businesses and jobs offshore, his state of the union offers windfall hand-outs to the haves and possibilities for the have-nots.” For 53-mintues, said Rev. Jackson, it was business as usual, a speech full of new promises, disguised in political trickery. Remember the wolves in sheep’s clothing, Rev. Jackson said. President Bush boasts about creating 2.3 million jobs last year, but failed to concede that there has still been a net loss of jobs in virtually every state under his administration. He talks about fighting for Democracy abroad, but he avoided the concerns about Democracy being threatened at home. [more]