President Bush today tackled an array of subjects in a press conference with reporters.
The topics included: the state of the U.S. economy, including high energy and food prices; the progress of military operations in Afghanistan; the plans for extra spending on the war in Iraq; presidential relations with Congress; the decision by former President Jimmy Carter to meet with leaders of the terrorist group Hamas; and Bush’s expectations of how the next president will approach the war on terror.
When my grandfather died in July 2006, I posted to Beltway Blogroll the ballad that he wrote years ago as a sarcastic tribute to the Environmental Protection Agency whose overbearing regulations helped run his family out of the oil and gas business in West Virginia.
Now that I don’t work at National Journal, I’m not sure how long Beltway Blogroll will remain online so I am reprinting the lyrics to “Ode To The EPA” here and uploading the audio for it. Enjoy. I know I will for years to come. Thanks, Grandpa Tumblebug.
Here’s the audio, followed by the lyrics:
When the EPA gets a hold on you,
they say, “Now, sir, this is what you’re gonna do!”
And when you get it done, they say, “This is not enough.”
Now we gotta change it, or they’ll slap a fine on us.
They closed up the steel mills, they shut down the mines;
now they’re working on oil and gas for a time.
If you wonder why the fall in our economic way,
you can put the blame completely on the EPA.
They tell us that Freon, which is heavier than air,
floats up to the ozone and makes a hole up there.
They try to tell us that the earth is warming up from this;
if it gets any warmer, we will all freeze to death.
[The following verse was added after the recording.]
Now chlorine is a chemical, that’s used everywhere,
From the kitchen to industry and chemical warfare.
It purifies our water and makes it safe to use,
Now the EPA thinks that’s gotta go, too.
The people of the USA should be aware
what the EPA is doing to our country fair
Now our jobs are gone and our factories are dead.
We have to buy our clothes from the Orient instead.
When our Congress set up the EPA,
they gave it the power to destroy USA.
What Hitler and Tojo couldn’t do across the tide,
now the EPA is doing inside.
Chorus
They say, “You gotta change this, you gotta change that.”
They make so many changes that I don’t know where I’m at.
They’re paddin’ up their bank accounts with our money
While they play a little game called their “job security.”
President Bush gives his annual State of the Union address Monday and today offered his radio audience a glimpse into the priorities he will discuss in the speech.
Those priorities are economic growth and national security. Here are excerpts of Bush’s radio address:
“You should know that while economic growth has slowed in recent months, the foundation for long-term growth remains solid. And I believe that with swift action, we can give our economy the boost it needs to continue expanding and creating new jobs for our citizens.”
“In August, Congress passed a bill that strengthened our ability to monitor terrorist communications. The problem is that Congress set this law to expire on February 1st. That is next Friday. If this law expires, it will become harder to figure out what our enemies are doing to infiltrate our country, harder for us to uncover terrorist plots, and harder to prevent attacks on the American people.”
In this week’s Democratic address, Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota emphasized efforts to boost the economy but also suggested a negative link between economic woes and national security. While praising bipartisan work by Congress and Bush to aid the economy, he also took partisan shots at Bush.
“President Bush has given us a fiscal policy that has piled up mountains of debt by insisting we fight the war in Iraq with borrowed money,” Dorgan said. “Even as his policies have escalated this unbelievable federal debt load, he continues to insist on giving more tax breaks to the super wealthy. Now, the American people know that doesn’t add up. That has to change.”
Challenging period. Downturn. Continued instability. Jeopardy. Presidents don’t use those kinds of words willingly to describe the American economy, but President Bush did in his weekly radio address today. Bush said the economy is in such bad shape that it needs an artificial boost from the government.
“After careful consideration, and discussion with members of Congress, I have concluded that additional action is needed to keep our economy growing and creating jobs,” Bush said. “Congress and my Administration need to work together to enact an economic growth package as soon as possible.” He said enactment of a stimulus package is “our most pressing economic priority.”
Bush’s goals for the stimulus package are for it to equal about 1 percent of gross domestic product, to encompass broad-based tax relief, and to be immediate and temporary. He said it should be aimed at boosting both business investment and consumer spending.
Separate from the short-term economic stimulus package, Bush urged Congress to make previous tax cuts permanent. “Unless Congress acts,” he said, “the marriage penalty will make a comeback, the child tax credit will be cut in half, the death tax will come back to life, and tax rates will go up on regular income, capital gains, and dividends.”
Democrats also emphasized America’s economic woes in a weekly radio address delivered by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts. He agreed with Bush that “the need for action is now undisputed, so we should act together and we should act quickly.”
“Democrats stand ready to work with the president and congressional Republicans to put together a bipartisan package, including tax rebates for most Americans and one-time increases in programs directed at those who are bearing the heaviest burdens in this economy,” Frank said. Democrats are “guided by the need for increased assistance to those who are unemployed, to those hit hardest by the increases in food and energy costs, and, importantly, to those who have lost their homes or are struggling to avoid foreclosure.”
President Bush is currently touring countries in the Middle East, so the topic understandably has been on his mind of late. It has been the subject of his first two weekly radioaddresses for 2008. Here are excerpts from them, with the audio below:
“I came away encouraged by my meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Each side understands that the key to achieving its own goals is helping the other side achieve its goals. … In plain language, the result must be the establishment of a free and democratic homeland for the Palestinian people, just as Israel is a free and democratic homeland for the Jewish people.”
“I believe that a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians that defines a Palestinian state is possible this year. … The United States cannot impose an agreement on the Israelis and Palestinians — that is something they must work out themselves. But with hard work and good will on both sides, they can make it happen.”
“A democratic Palestinian state is in the interests of the Palestinians. It is in the long-term security interests of Israel. And it is in the interests of a world at war with terrorists and extremists trying to impose their brutal vision on the Middle East.”
“I know it is not always obvious why events in the nations of the Middle East should matter to the American people. But in the 21st century, developments there have a direct impact on our lives here.”
“At its core, the battle unfolding in the Middle East is more than a clash of arms. It is an ideological struggle. On one side are the forces of terror and death. On the other are tens of millions of ordinary people who want a free and peaceful life for their children.”
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